---

Labour Supply

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of national insurance rates on the supply of labour. [14388]

Dawn Primarolo: Reducing national insurance contributions for those on low incomes forms part of the Government's strategy to make work pay. As a result of reforms since 1997, around 1 million lower paid employees have been taken out of having to pay NICs altogether. Cautious estimates show that labour supply has increased by around 160,000 people as a result of the entire package of measures to make work pay since 1997, including the reductions in income tax and national insurance contributions as well as working families tax credit and disabled persons tax credit.

Taxation

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what percentage of the combined burden of taxation on motoring is borne by industry; [14418]

(2) what percentage of the total tax burden was borne by business in each year since May 1997. [14433]

Mr. Andrew Smith: The information requested is not available.

Manufacturing

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many manufacturing jobs have been lost since April. [14392]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 14 November 2001:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs since April (14392).

The table below shows the number of employee jobs in manufacturing for April and August 2001 for comparative purposes.

UK	Thousand(9)
April 2001	3,864
August 2001	3,805
Change between April and August 2001	(10)-59

⁽⁹⁾ Seasonally adjusted

⁽¹⁰⁾ -1.5 per cent.

14 Nov 2001 : Column: 773W

These estimates are based on the results of regular sample surveys of employers which count the number of employee jobs. The data are published in Statbase on the National Statistics website www.statistics.gov.uk./statbase/tsdataset.asp?vlnk=342 under series identifier YEJL.

Mortality Statistics

Helen Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from (a) meningitis and (b) carbon monoxide poisoning, excluding suicides, in each of the last four years. [14407]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Helen Jackson, dated 14 November 2001:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent about the number of people died from (a) meningitis and (b) carbon monoxide poisoning, excluding suicides in each of the last four years (14407).

The data are included in the table below.

Number of deaths in England and Wales from meningitis and carbon monoxide poisoning (excluding suicides), persons, all ages, 1997–2000⁽¹¹⁾

Calendar year	Meningitis	Carbon monoxide poisoning (excluding suicide)
1997	466	156
1998	426	150
1999	399	135
2000	405	118

⁽¹¹⁾ Cause of death in these years was coded to the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD9)

Notes:

The codes used to define the terms used in the table are as follows:

Meningitis—ICD9 underlying cause codes 036, 320–322

Carbon monoxide poisoning—ICD9 nature of injury code 986

Suicide—ICD9 underlying cause codes E950-E959, E980-E989 excluding E988.8

Source:

ONS

Freedom of Information Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date his Department established a working group of officials to prepare his Department for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and on what dates this committee has met since it was set up. [14777]

Ruth Kelly: A working group was set up in October to co-ordinate preparations for the Freedom of Information Act. The first meeting of the group will be on 30 November.

Working Hours

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 6 November 2001, Official Report, column 154W, on excessive working hours, if he will place in the Library the results from the aggregated data for every sub annual period since the data was first collected; if he will place a greater level of detail on his methodology in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [14833]

14 Nov 2001 : Column: 774W

Ruth Kelly: The information requested by the hon. Member has been deposited in the Library.

Pensions

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met trade union representatives to discuss (a) miners' pension issues and (b) pension funds surpluses; and if he will make a statement. [13514]

Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 13 November 2001]: Treasury Ministers meet regularly with a wide range of groups of people to discuss a variety of topics.

Professional Contractors Group

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings he has had with the Professional Contractors Group in the last 12 months. [14852]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 3 July 2001, Official Report, column 128W.

IR35 (Training Provision)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement on how IR35 will affect training provision for IT contractors; and what new incentives are available to increase this training; [14855]

(2) what assessment he has made of the impact on IT contractors' training provision of (a) the introduction of IR35 and (b) the ending of individual learning accounts. [14854]

Dawn Primarolo: Employees who pay for their own training are not in general entitled to a tax deduction for this expense. Individuals affected by the 'service company' legislation are in a similar position. However they are entitled to an additional 5 per cent. flat rate deduction for expenses on top of all the other expenses normally available to an employee, which they can use to provide for their training needs if they so wish. The withdrawal of individual learning accounts has had the same effect on all individuals previously eligible for them, and service company workers are not affected any differently from anybody else.

Individual Learning Accounts

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the DFES regarding the decision to end individual learning accounts, with specific reference to training for IT contractors. [14853]

Dawn Primarolo: The Chancellor of the Exchequer meets regularly with his Cabinet colleagues to discuss a wide range of issues.

Income Tax (Pensioners)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people over the age of 65 years pay income tax. [14944]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to "Inland Revenue Statistics", table 2.1. The latest version can be accessed on the Inland Revenue website www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats.

14 Nov 2001 : Column: 775W

Double Taxation Conventions

Barbara Follett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will submit to the House the double taxation conventions that the Government recently concluded with Jordan and Lithuania; and if he will make a statement. [15464]

Dawn Primarolo: The conventions with Jordan and Lithuania were signed on 22 July and 19 March respectively. The texts of the conventions with Jordan and Lithuania have each been published today as a schedule to a draft Order in Council and laid before the House. After signature the texts were deposited in the Library of the House and made available on the Inland Revenue's website.

National Insurance

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures indicating the effective upper earnings limit on the equivalent of national insurance contributions for each EU member state in the latest year for which figures are available. [14390]

Dawn Primarolo: Information and details about the social security contributions systems of other EU member states, and more generally about other OECD member countries, is published annually in the OECD publication "Taxing Wages". A copy of this publication is available from the House of Commons Library.

Tax/National Insurance Receipts

Mr. Jack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the receipts of (a) income tax, (b) corporation tax and (c) national insurance for November and December and January 2002. [14300]

Dawn Primarolo: Forecasts of receipts on a monthly basis are not published.

---