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Amateur Sports Clubs

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures have been introduced since 1997 to give tax and rate relief to amateur sports clubs; and what plans he has to give further assistance. [32152]

Mr. Boateng: A consultation document—"Promoting Sport in the Community"—was launched on 30 November 2001, seeking views on the best way to support community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) that make a positive contribution to the community. The Charity Commission also announced on 30 November that it would recognise as charitable the

"promotion of community participation in healthy recreation by the provision of facilities for the playing of particular sports" this will confer the tax benefits of charitable status to qualifying CASCs.

Financial Services Authority

Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 890W, on the Financial Services Authority, (1) what new regulations will apply to mortgage and insurance intermediaries; [33773]

(2) if the new FSA powers will cover (a) residential mortgages, (b) commercial mortgages and (c) buy to let mortgages; and if he will make a statement. [33772]

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury will be publishing consultation papers in due course setting out the mortgage and general insurance activities that are to be regulated by the financial services authority. A broad timetable has been published on the Treasury website www.hm-treasury.gov.uk. No change is envisaged to the definition of a regulated mortgage contract that was set out in articles 61 to 63 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI2001/544) as amended by SI2001/3544. This means that, as before, regulation will be aimed at mortgages which put a person's home at risk.

UK GDP

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the performance of the UK recorded in the Eurostat reports, Statistics in Focus, General Statistics, No. 1/2002, "Regional Gross Domestic Product in the European Union 1999" and Statistics in Focus, General Statistics No. 2/2002, "Regional Gross Domestic Product in Candidate Countries 1999"; and if he will make a statement. [32870]

Ruth Kelly: Eurostat report that UK GDP per capita was above the EU average in 1999. More recent Eurostat labour market data show the employment rates of all the countries and regions of the UK are above the EU average.

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The Government are committed to raising the rate of sustainable UK growth by improving employment and productivity in all regions. The Government's approach to achieving this is set out in detail in "Productivity in the UK:3—the Regional Dimension" published alongside PBR 2001 (Cm 5318).

Euro

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 438W, for what reasons he will not list the (a) officials, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers of his Department who are involved in the preliminary technical work for joining the euro; and if he will make a statement. [31660]

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to him on 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 224W.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2002, Official Report, columns 438–39W, (1) if he will list the names of the members of the cross-party HM Treasury Euro-Preparations Committee; and if he will make a statement; [31657]

(2) which members of the cross-party HM Treasury Euro-Preparations Committee attended the meeting on 5 December 2001; what the agenda of the meeting was; and if he will make a statement. [31658]

Ruth Kelly: All parliamentary parties are invited to nominate a representative to attend meetings of the Cross Party Group on Euro Preparations. Representatives from the Labour party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National party and the Ulster Unionist party attended. Minutes of the meeting on 5 December have been sent to those representatives who attended.

Fraud

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for a common prosecution policy for tax credit fraud and benefit fraud. [32644]

Dawn Primarolo: The prosecution policy for tax credits is an integral part of the published policy of the Board of the Inland Revenue for all its tax prosecutions. The approach to prosecutions taken by the Board of the Inland Revenue and the criteria they use in deciding whether to proceed criminally with a case are set out in this published statement. The criteria used by the Board of the Inland Revenue are similar in kind to those used by the Department for Work and Pensions when they decide whether to prosecute for benefit fraud.

Tax Returns (Electronic Filing)

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of (a) individuals and (b) companies filed their tax returns electronically in 2000. [32949]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 4 February 2002]: (a) 9.324 million tax returns were issued for the year ended 5 April 2001. Of these 324,296 individual tax returns were filed electronically.

(b) No companies filed their corporation tax returns electronically. We do not currently have an electronic system for corporation tax returns.

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Tax Costs

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the (a) yield of, (b) cost of collection of and (c) number of employees collecting (i) the climate change levy, (ii) the aggregates levy, (iii) inheritance tax, (iv) capital gains tax, (v) corporation tax, (vi) income tax, (vii) value added tax, (viii) excise duty, (ix) stamp duty, (x) customs duty and (xi) national insurance. [32869]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 4 February 2002]: Inland Revenue's Annual Report contains an analysis of cost yield by tax head. No such analysis is maintained for indirect taxes, and Inland Revenue do not hold the analysis by staff numbers.

Inland Revenue's Annual Report for year ending 31 March 2001 was laid in Parliament on 18 December 2001 as Command Paper 5304. Links to this and other key documents for the two Departments will be found at http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/about/index.htm and http://www.hmce.gov.uk/about/reports/reports.htm

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies of tax compliance costs have been completed by the Inland Revenue since May 1997. [32862]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 4 February 2002]: The Inland Revenue has completed a considerable number of studies of tax compliance costs since May 1997. The most significant are: some 20 Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs), the Bath Report on the tax compliance costs of PAYE and national insurance, and the UK approach to compliance cost assessment of tax changes at the Sydney 2000 International Tax Compliance Costs Symposium.

Inland Revenue (Informers)

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims for rewards by informers were made to Inland Revenue in each of the last three years ended 31 March 2001; of those claims, what proportion in each year resulted in payment of a reward; what the average length of time was between an informer's claim and Inland Revenue's payment of the reward; of those claims rejected, how many resulted in expression of dissatisfaction by the informer; where reward was made, how many payments resulted in expression of dissatisfaction by the informer; what target standards of service Inland Revenue sets out to meet as regards its dealings with informers; whether these have been met in the last three years ending 31 March 2001; and if he will make a statement. [32719]

Dawn Primarolo: No details are recorded of the total number of claims made and, therefore, no details are available of the proportion rejected. Nor are details recorded of the total number of claimants dissatisfied at not being paid a reward.

The Inland Revenue's customer service standards for its dealings with informers are the same as for its dealings with other customers. Targets and results are set out in the Inland Revenue annual reports available in the House of Commons Library. No figures are collated separately for dealings with informers.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard to section 32 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act 1890 and Inland Revenue's current

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practice, what is the process employed by Inland Revenue, from the point an informer makes a claim, oral or written, for a reward, leading to the payment of the reward to him/her; in which Inland Revenue manual this process is set out; whether the Inland Revenue officer dealing with the claim may deny a reward upon his sole authority without appeal by the informer; in which Inland Revenue manual this process is set out; in the case where an informer deals with the Special Compliance Office by virtue of IH 1295 but where the investigation is taken up by another office of Inland Revenue, whether it is a requirement that the Special Compliance officer dealing with the informer makes his own report of the informer's value to Inland Revenue in the matter; and in which Inland Revenue manual this process is set out. [32723]

Dawn Primarolo: The Board of Inland Revenue has discretion to pay financial rewards to informers. There is no right of appeal against the exercising of that discretion.

Reward payments are exceptional and are made only where information provided leads to a recovery of duty. It follows that no consideration as to whether to pay a reward can be made unless and until actions to recover duties are concluded. It also follows that where there is no recovery of duty there can be no reward payment and, therefore, no need for further consideration.

If following the recovery of duty it is considered that a reward payment should be made, or where the informer claims that a payment should be made, the facts are reported to technical advisers at Inland Revenue Cross- Cutting Policy for consideration in line with guidance at IH 1295. There is no requirement as to who should make that report.

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