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Climate Change Levy

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received in support of the climate change levy; and from whom. [17483]

Mr. Boateng: Numerous representations were received during the development of the levy, and these are listed in Table A.3 of Lord Marshall's November 1998 Report "Economic Instruments and the business use of energy".

More recently, the Government have received representations supporting the levy from a variety of environmental organisations and other interested parties.

National Insurance Numbers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 12 November 2001, Official Report, column 538W, on national insurance numbers, if he will disaggregate the payroll errors found in the tax year 2000–01 by type. [17224]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 22 November 2001]: Following my answer of 12 November 2001, Official Report, column 538W, the breakdown of payroll discrepancies found in the tax year 2000–01 by type is as follows:

Type of discrepancy	Number of discrepancies
Personal details on payroll—resolved without amendment to national insurance record	420,937
Personal details on national insurance record—resolved with amendment to national insurance record	281,559
None of these has security/benefit fraud implications	31,010
Incomplete/incorrect national insurance numbers on payroll	36,802
Total	770,308

Of the total figure, 22,777 cases were referred for potential fraud investigation. None of the 31,010 unresolved personal details cases were referred for investigation.

26 Nov 2001 : Column: 636W

Leukaemia

Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of leukaemia have occurred in (a) adults and (b) children over the last 10 years in (i) Plymouth and (ii) Devon; and how these figures compare to the average in England and Wales. [17335]

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 26 November 2001:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on how many cases of Leukemia have occurred in (a) adults and (b) children over the last ten years in (i) Plymouth and (ii) Devon; and how these figures compare to the average in England and Wales. (17335)

The numbers of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of leukaemia ¹ in children and adults in Plymouth Unitary Authority, the whole of Devon, and England and Wales in 1989–1998 (the most recent 10 years for which figures are available) are given in the table below. The corresponding age standardised rates are shown to enable comparisons to be made between areas.

	Plymouth UA	Devon	England and Wales
	Children (0–14) years
Number of cases	24	76	4,206
Rate(12)	5.0	4.2	4.2
	Adults (15 years and over)
Number of cases	314	1,358	49,642
Rate(13)	12.7	11.0	9.7

⁽¹¹⁾ Leukaemia was identified in 1989–1994 by ICD9 codes 202.4 and 204–208; and in 1995 onwards by ICD10 codes C91-C95

⁽¹²⁾ Rates per 100,000 population. Directly age standardised using equal weights for the three age groups, 0–4, 5–9 and 10–14

⁽¹³⁾ Rate per 100,000 population. Directly age standardised using the European standard population truncated by removing the age group 0–14

Mortgages

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the ability of mortgage lenders to implement the new regulatory regime for the selling of mortgages by August 2002. [17713]

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is considering this as part of a wider review of the responses to the consultation on its draft mortgage sourcebook—published by the FSA as CP 98.

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations have been received on the proposal for mortgage lenders to monitor mortgage brokers' adherence to the new rules for regulating the selling of mortgages. [17714]

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 23 November 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) on 20 November 2001, Official Report, column 137W.

Mr. Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Services Authority regarding the implementation of the new regulatory regime for mortgages; and if he will make a statement; [18033]

26 Nov 2001 : Column: 637W

(2) what representations he has received from the Council of Mortgage Lenders on (a) the inclusion of mortgage advice and mortgage intermediaries in the new regulatory regime and (b) on moving the date of N3 from August 2002 to 2003; and if he will make a statement. [18034]

Ruth Kelly: I hope to make an announcement about the timing of N3 and related matters shortly.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will modify his proposals for mortgage regulation by (a) limiting the circumstances in which pre-application disclosure will apply and (b) putting back N3 to February 2003. [18168]

Ruth Kelly: I hope to make an announcement on the timing of N3 and related matters shortly.

Insurance (Genetic Information)

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he issues on the use of individual genetic information by insurance companies. [17393]

Ruth Kelly [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The Government have established an advisory body, the Genetics and Insurance Committee (GAIC), to consider applications by the insurance industry on the use of specific genetic tests and to make recommendations on whether particular tests are appropriate for use by the insurance industry. Insurance companies have agreed to abide by the decisions of GAIC.

The Government published their response to the Fifth Report from the Science and Technology Committee, on genetics and insurance, on 23 October 2001. The Government support the strengthened Association of British Insurers moratorium on the use of genetic test results by insurance companies, which commenced on 1 November 2001.

Foot and Mouth

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance (a) has been and (b) will be given to regional offices of the collector of taxes as

26 Nov 2001 : Column: 638W

regards collection of (i) income tax and (ii) national insurance balances outstanding, as a result of foot and mouth disease. [17394]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 23 November 2001]: Comprehensive guidance has been given to regional and local offices throughout the FMD outbreak. The Revenue is currently working on further guidance with Customs, which will be issued shortly. It is impractical and premature to give details in advance.

The Revenue's initial guidance outlined the need to be sympathetic, considerate and helpful to people and business adversely affected by FMD.

They introduced a number of measures to help businesses during this very difficult time and continue to offer sympathetic support on a case by case basis to those that have been affected by the outbreak.

Departmental Promotions

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on information literature, advertising and campaign material in the financial years (a) 1995–96, (b) 1996–97, (c) 1997–98, (d) 1998–99, (e) 1999–2000 and (f) 2000–01; and if he will make a statement. [12254]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

VAT Registrations

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) stock and (b) net change to stock of businesses as measured by VAT registrations in each region and nation of the UK in each year since 1996, (i) in total and (ii) per capita of population. [17725]

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. Jim Cousins, dated 26 November 2001:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the stock and net change of businesses as measured by VAT registrations in each region and nation of the UK since 1996 (17725).

The information requested is shown in the following two tables.

Number of VAT-based enterprises in the UK by standard statistical region and year

	Count	Count	Net change	Count	Net change	Count	Net change	Count	Net change	Count	Net change
	1996	1997	1996–97	1998	1997–98	1999	1998–99	2000	1999–2000	2001	2000–01
North	56,375	56,080	-295	55,705	-375	56,215	510	56,395	180	56,175	-220
North West	135,350	136,585	1,235	138,145	1,560	139,900	1,755	141,225	1,325	140,885	-340
Yorkshire and Humberside	114,060	113,940	-120	113,700	-240	114,670	970	115,325	655	115,010	-315
East Midlands	105,780	105,830	50	107,515	1,685	108,310	795	109,700	1,390	110,420	720
West Midlands	131,110	130,515	-595	131,470	955	133,000	1,530	134,695	1,695	134,585	-110
East Anglia	62,620	62,465	-155	63,510	1,045	63,930	420	64,690	760	65,350	660
South East	551,375	560,475	9,100	578,680	18,205	591,625	12,945	602,400	10,775	606,580	4,180
South West	141,700	142,490	790	145,225	2,735	147,765	2,540	150,260	2,495	151,250	990
Wales	73,505	72,990	-515	72,915	-75	72,240	-675	72,525	285	72,425	-100
Scotland	114,455	114,365	-90	115,280	915	116,085	805	116,665	580	116,665	0
Northern Ireland	51,315	51,440	125	51,795	355	51,965	170	52,955	990	53,675	720
Total	1,537,175	1,547,175	9,530	1,573,935	26,760	1,595,705	21,770	1,616,835	21,130	1,626,025	6,190

Source:

National Statistics

Inter Departmental Business Register

26 Nov 2001 : Column: 639W

Number of VAT-based enterprises per 1,000 people

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
North	18	18	18	18	18	18
North West	21	21	22	22	22	22
Yorkshire and Humberside	23	23	23	23	23	23
East Midlands	26	25	26	26	26	26
West Midlands	25	25	25	25	25	25
East Anglia	29	29	29	29	29	29
South East	30	31	31	32	32	33
South West	29	29	30	30	30	30
Wales	25	25	25	25	25	25
Scotland	22	22	23	23	23	23
Northern Ireland	31	31	31	31	31	31
Total	26	26	27	27	27	27

Source:

National Statistics

Inter Departmental Business Register, Population estimates (1996–2000) and projections (2001)

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