House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Apr 2002 (pt 24)

Public-private Partnership (Consultants)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total external spending by his Department was on public private partnership consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PPP consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [43189]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Department does not record information about the use of PPP consultants in the form requested and an answer could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Newspaper Advertising

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department and its agencies on newspaper advertising, in each year since 1992. [46469]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information is not held in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Better Quality Services Initiative

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of the services of his Department have not been reviewed under the Better Quality Services Initiative; and when they will be reviewed. [50316]

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Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Better Quality Services (BQS) programme was launched in 1998 and adopted by the Cabinet in the Modernising Government White Paper of 1999 as a means of delivering continuous improvements in the quality and effectiveness of Government activities and services. It requires all Government departments to review every activity and service over a five-year period starting in October 1999. The scheme covers all activities in Departments, Agencies and Executive Non Departmental Public Bodies, and is similar in remit to the Best Value programme in local government.

The Department for Work and Pensions was established in June 2001, specifically to improve customer service, and two new executive agencies, Jobcentre Plus and The

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Pension Service, were launched on 1 April 2002. During this period the Department did not carry out any Better Quality reviews. We are now considering where they would be appropriate.

Shared Residency Orders

Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Lord Chancellor's Department regarding the effect of shared residency orders on the benefit entitlement of non-resident parents when custody is divided equally. [29790]

Malcolm Wicks: This Department has regular discussions with other Government Departments. This includes the Lord Chancellor's Department as necessary.

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TREASURY

Working Families Tax Credit

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what percentage of the total expenditure on working families tax credit went to each income decile in each year since the introduction of the working families tax credit; [50061]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 16 April 2002]: The estimated distribution for working families tax credit (WFTC) in 2000–01 is shown in the table. Note that to derive their decile groups people are ranked by their net incomes including WFTC.

Estimates for other years, and reliable estimates for family credit, are not available.

Percentage of total weekly expenditure on WFTC in each decile group of income, 2000–01⁽¹²⁾

Decile group of income⁽¹³⁾ Percentage of WFTC expenditure

Bottom 11

2 20

3 20

4 16

5 14

6 9

7 to 10 (Top)⁽¹⁴⁾ 10

Total 100

Decile group of income⁽¹³⁾	Percentage of WFTC expenditure
Bottom	11
2	20
3	20
4	16
5	14
6	9
7 to 10 (Top)⁽¹⁴⁾	10

Total	100

⁽¹²⁾ Estimated from families reporting receipt of WFTC in the 2000–01 Family Resources Survey. The estimates are subject to sampling error. They are rounded to the nearest 1 per cent., but should not be taken as accurate to this level.

⁽¹³⁾ Recipients of WFTC have been allocated to the decile group of income of the household in which they live (the household may include other people as well as the family in question). The decile group of each household is established by ranking individuals by the net income of the household, equivalised using the McClements scale. Net income is defined as including WFTC, after deducting tax and national insurance contributions, and before deducting housing costs.

⁽¹⁴⁾ The small sample size means that separate reliable estimates for the four top decile groups are not available.

Contracted-out Rebates

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph C48 on page 221 of the

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Budget Red Book, if he will provide his estimate of how much lower grant in the contracted-out rebates is than was expected in the pre-Budget report; and if he will provide his estimate of higher receipt in the later years of the forecasts. [51949]

Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 23 April 2002]: Lower growth in contracted out rebates than assumed in the pre-Budget report is estimated to result in an increase of £0.2 billion in net receipts from social security contributions in 2002–03. Estimates of higher receipts from Budget measures on a national accounts basis from 2003–04 are given in rows two to four of Table A.1 in the April 2002 Financial Statement and Budget report, and estimates of social security contributions as a percentage of GDP to 2006–07 are shown in Table C9.

EU Code of Conduct

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the application of the EU Code of Conduct to the Channel Isles. [51478]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 23 April 2002]: The report of the Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation to the ECOFIN Council on 29 November 1999 lists 66 tax measures in European Union member states and their dependent or associated territories which are considered to have harmful features. Nine of these are in the Channel Islands. The United Kingdom wishes to see the harmful aspects of all 66 measures removed.

Private Medical Insurance

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of (a) how many employees in the United Kingdom are covered by private medical insurance schemes provided by their employer and (b) the additional cost to those employers of the rise in national insurance contributions. [53267]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 29 April 2002]: Over 2 million employees receive benefit from private medical and dental treatment or insurance arranged and paid by employers. This does not include self-employed individuals, or company policies provided for retired employees or for employees with earnings below the P11D threshold.

An additional 1 per cent. class 1A national insurance contribution from 2003–04 on the amount of private medical and dental benefit provided by employers is estimated to raise around £10 million per year.

National Insurance

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total UK revenue collected from direct taxes and National Insurance contributions in 2000–01. [49062]

Dawn Primarolo: The total revenue collected from Inland Revenue taxes net of tax credits and National Insurance contributions in 2000–01 was £209.4 billion.

Pay Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the cost in 2001–02 was of the pay increase

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to staff in his Department, agencies and the non- departmental public bodies for which he is responsible; and what the cost of the forthcoming increase will be in 2002–03; [50404]

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Dawn Primarolo: The information is as follows:

Department, agency or non-departmental public body Cost of pay increase in 2001–02 Cost of forthcoming increase in 2002–03

HM Treasury The cost is estimated to be £924,000 at the time of settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

Royal Mint The cost is estimated to be £804,000 at the time of the settlement Royal Mint do not propose to increase pay rates in 2002–03

National Savings and Investments The cost is estimated to be £5,232 at the time of the settlement (includes accrued expenditure that is still in the process of being refined Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

ONS The cost is estimated to be £2,387,000 at the time of settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been given

GAD The cost is estimated to be £105,000 at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

DMO The cost is estimated to be £82,000 at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

VOA The cost is estimated to be £4.862 million at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

OGC The cost is estimated to be £913,000 at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

Inland Revenue The cost is estimated to be £34.3 million for staff below the SCS and £1 million for SCS staff at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

Customs and Excise The cost is estimated to be £17 million at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

Statistics Commission The cost is estimated to be £10,000 at the time of the settlement Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

Department, agency or non-departmental public body	Cost of pay increase in 2001–02	Cost of forthcoming increase in 2002–03
HM Treasury	The cost is estimated to be £924,000 at the time of settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
Royal Mint	The cost is estimated to be £804,000 at the time of the settlement	Royal Mint do not propose to increase pay rates in 2002–03
National Savings and Investments	The cost is estimated to be £5,232 at the time of the settlement (includes accrued expenditure that is still in the process of being refined	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
ONS	The cost is estimated to be £2,387,000 at the time of settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been given
GAD	The cost is estimated to be £105,000 at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
DMO	The cost is estimated to be £82,000 at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
VOA	The cost is estimated to be £4.862 million at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
OGC	The cost is estimated to be £913,000 at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
Inland Revenue	The cost is estimated to be £34.3 million for staff below the SCS and £1 million for SCS staff at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
Customs and Excise	The cost is estimated to be £17 million at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed
Statistics Commission	The cost is estimated to be £10,000 at the time of the settlement	Costs cannot be given because the pay increase has not yet been agreed

The Statistics Commission has been in existence for just under two years. The total salary costs are as follows: 2000–01 £135,528 (taken from published accounts); 2001–02 £199,000 estimated as 2001–02 accounts have not yet been published.

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