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TREASURY

Euro

Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what total amount of purchases of the euro has been made by the Treasury and Bank of England since 1 January 1999. [135972]

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (1) pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Sir P. Tapsell) of 9 November 2000, Official Report, column 427, what the value is of euros purchased by the Treasury and the Bank of England since 1 January 1999; and if the Treasury and the Bank of England have made a loss as a result of these operations; [138664]

(2) how much the Treasury and the Bank of England have lost as a result of the purchasing of euros since 1 January 1999. [138838]

Mr. Cash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost is to date to Her Majesty's Government of trading operations in the foreign exchange markets relating to the euro. [138674]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answers 6 and 16 November 2000]: Net purchases of euros since 1 January 1999 have resulted from the reinvestment of the $2 billion proceeds from the nine gold auctions held to date. The currency split of the reinvestment is the same as the existing net foreign currency reserves (40 per cent. dollars; 40 per cent. euros; and 20 per cent. yen). The programme of gold sales is part of a prudent restructuring of the reserves aimed at achieving a better balanced portfolio by diversifying assets more widely. It would not be meaningful to provide a snapshot of the value of these medium-term portfolio decisions as this could be distorted by short-term fluctuations in asset prices and currencies.

The UK also participated in the concerted intervention by the G7 monetary authorities on 22 September 2000 by purchasing 85 million euros against sterling. The Government do not comment on individual currency transactions.

27 Nov 2000 : Column: 477W

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he had with the Governor and Court of the Bank of England ahead of the recent international support for the euro; and how much has been spent from UK reserves in that operation since 1 September. [134628]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 26 October 2000]: The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England. Details of intervention undertaken during September were published in the monthly Foreign Currency Reserves press notice on 4 October.

Import Duty

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 16 November 2000, Official Report, column 757W, on import duty, what studies he has undertaken of the limits, above which import duty is paid, on (a) goods ordered from abroad via the internet, post and telephone and (b) goods brought into the UK by returning travellers; and if he will make a statement. [140346]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Both issues are being kept under review.

Disadvantaged Communities

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 16 November 2000, Official Report, column 763W, on disadvantaged communities, what definition he uses for the most disadvantaged areas. [140532]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The criteria for the definition of disadvantaged areas within each of the component parts of the UK for the purpose of the Stamp Duty relief will be announced in Budget 2001.

Stamp Duty Exemptions

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the cost of stamp duty exemptions in deprived areas which will be applicable to existing residential properties in the (a) 1 per cent., (b) 3 per cent. and (c) 4 per cent. tax bands. [140350]

Miss Melanie Johnson: It is not yet possible to provide any breakdown of the cost of the relief since the areas to benefit from it have yet to be determined.

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what account the departmental expenditure limits set out in Spending Review 2000 take of the possible costs on 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 of preparation for, and conversion to the euro; and if he will make a statement. [140284]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 24 November 2000]: The results of the Spending Review covering the period 2001-02 to 2003-04 were published in July. An update on changeover planning was given in the Fourth Progress Report on Euro Preparations, published on 6 November.

27 Nov 2000 : Column: 478W

Property Conversions

Mr. Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the VAT reduction for conversion of properties referred to in the pre-Budget report will apply to (a) houses converted into flats and (b) flats converted into houses. [139935]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 23 November 2000]: The reduced rate for conversion services will apply to residential buildings converted into a different number of dwelling units. It will apply to a range of conversion services including the conversion of houses into flats and flats into houses.

Child Poverty (Wales)

Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children in Wales have been lifted out of poverty since May 1997. [140355]

Dawn Primarolo: Personal tax and benefit changes announced during this Parliament will lift around 1.2 million children in the UK as a whole out of poverty, defined as 60 per cent. of median income after allowing for housing costs. Because of the margins of error, it is not possible to model the precise effects in any country or region. However, around 5 per cent. of UK children live in Wales suggesting that on a pro-rated basis around 60,000 children in Wales will be lifted out of poverty.

Moreover, 67,000 families in Wales are now benefiting from the Working Families Tax Credit, 360,000 from the increases in Child Benefit and around 50,000 Lone Parents will have benefited from the increases in the child premia in Income Support. From next April up to a quarter of a million families in Wales will benefit from the Children's Tax Credit.

Tax Credits

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to column 4917, if he will breakdown the tax credits contained in footnote 1 of Table B8 for each year in the table; and if he will make a statement. [140193]

Dawn Primarolo: Figures for total tax credits in £ billion are shown in Table B8 of the pre-Budget report. Figures for total tax credits as a per cent. of GDP are shown in Table B8. Figures for the Working Families and Disabled Persons Tax Credits are shown in Table B20.

Over 1.1 million families currently receive the Working Families Tax Credit--nearly 300,000 more than the peak number of families receiving Family Credit. These families are, on average, around £30 a week better off compared to Family Credit.

Working Families Tax Credit

Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Wales have benefited from the Working Families Tax Credit to date; and how many children in Wales are in such families. [140372]

Dawn Primarolo: It is provisionally estimated that 67,000 families in Wales were in receipt of the Working Families Tax Credit at the end of August 2000. About 130,000 children were in these families.

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Mr. Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown of the average earnings of the main earner in households in receipt of the Working Families Tax Credit by (a) occupation and (b) employment status. [140259]

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the number of families receiving the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) at the end of May 2000 are shown analysed by the occupation group of the main earners at Table 5.1 in the WFTC Quarterly Enquiry for May 2000.

A copy has been placed in the Library. The estimates are based on a 5 per cent. sample of awards. The average gross weekly earnings of the main earners in each group are as follows:

	Number	Average gross weekly earnings of main earner
	(000)	(£)
All occupations	1,060.8	153
Managers and administrators	34.8	170
Professional occupations	25.6	187
Associated professional and technical occupations	74.5	187
Clerical and secretarial occupations	201.3	168
Craft and related occupations (non-managerial workers)	163.4	167
Personal and protective services	278.2	125
Sales occupations	147.4	129
Plant and machine operatives	120.5	163
Other occupations	15.1	176

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the families in receipt of the Working Families Tax Credit are eligible for passported benefits; and if he will list the benefits concerned. [139829]

Dawn Primarolo: The passport to benefits can apply generally to everyone receiving Working Families Tax Credit or it can be targeted on those on lowest incomes. For example Maternity and Funeral payments from the Department of Social Security Social Fund are available to all families receiving Working Families Tax Credit.

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