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15 Oct 2002 : Column 596W—continued

PEPs

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the total annual cost to PEP investors of the reduction in the dividend tax credit in April 1999 in each subsequent financial year; [74493]

(2) how many (a) general and (b) single company PEP plans were in existence in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) 2001–02; and how many UK individuals had investments in PEPs in each year; [74488]

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(3) what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to (a) each PEP plan and (b) each PEP investor of the reduction in the dividend tax credit to PEPs in April 1999 in the financial years (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01 and (c) 2001–02. [74492]

Dawn Primarolo: In respect of PEPs, the reduction in the rate of the dividend tax credit is estimated to have saved around #200m in each of the years 1999–00 to 2001–02. Reliable estimates of the number of plans and UK individuals holding plans, and hence of the average cost, are not available from adminstrative data.

Tobacco

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target Customs and Excise has set for illicit market share in the tobacco market by 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [74773]

John Healey: Customs aim to reduce the market share of smuggled cigarettes to 20 per cent. by 2003–04. This target was published in the Tackling Tobacco Strategy in March 2000, a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House and in Customs' Public Service Agreement for 2001 to 2004.

Customs' aim is to reduce the market share of smuggled cigarettes to 17 per cent. by 2005–06. This target has been published in Customs' Public Service Agreement for 2003 to 2006.

VAT Fraud

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the National Audit Office will be invited to review the methodology for calculating VAT missing trader fraud; and if he will make a statement. [74127]

John Healey: The NAO commented on the steps that Customs have taken to measure the stock of fraud in their Audit of HM Customs & Excise under Section 2 of the Exchequer & Audit Departments Act 1921 which was published on 13 February 2002. Discussions about the approach and timing of a specific review of the methodology for calculating VAT missing trader fraud are underway.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many suspect VAT registrations have been refused under the programme to counter VAT missing trader fraud; how many missing trader registrations have been identified and cancelled since August 2001; what the value is of total injunctions secured since August 2001 against missing traders; and if he will make a statement; [74128]

(2) if he will provide an update of his November 2001 estimate of the cost of VAT missing trader fraud; and if he will make a statement; [74130]

(3) what estimate he has made of the (a) percentage and (b) absolute reduction in VAT missing trader fraud since September 2000; and if he will make a statement. [74129]

John Healey: Details of the size of this form of fraud and operational activities to tackle it were first set out in the ''Tackling Indirect Tax Fraud'' document published

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at the time of the November 2001 Pre Budget Report, and will be updated on a routine annual basis in line with the commitments made in that document.

Mapeley Steps Ltd

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the financial benefits accruing to the Inland Revenue as a result of the tax status of Mapeley Steps Ltd; [74490]

(2) what revenue the Treasury has received as a result of the decision to sell Inland Revenue buildings to Mapeley Steps Ltd and what was the value of alternative bids received; [74487]

(3) when (a) he and (b) the Paymaster General were informed of the decision to sell Inland Revenue buildings to Mapeley Steps Limited; and when he was informed of the announcement by the Inland Revenue that the company was based in Britain. [74489]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise ''STEPS'' competition was announced in August 1998. The two Departments' contract with the Mapeley consortium was signed on 6 March 2001 after a full procurement exercise.

A joint Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise press release dated 9 March 2001 inadvertently referred to assets being transferred to Mapeley Ltd, a UK registered company, rather than Mapeley STEPS Ltd which is registered in Bermuda. Subsequently, a separate press statement has corrected this. Ministers were not aware of the registration of Mapeley STEPS Ltd at the time of the March 2001 press notice.

The STEPS contract with the Mapeley consortium provided for the payment of #220 million to the Departments together with a further #150 million to be reflected in lower service prices. Details of the rival bids are, as is customary, commercially confidential. However, the competition to establish which bidder offered best value for money included rigorous examination of all factors relevant under the appropriate UK and European rules. By convention, the tax affairs of individual companies are not disclosed to Ministers. No separate assessment has been made of the effect of the tax status of Mapeley STEPS Ltd.

Strikes

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will state the (a) number and (b) percentage of days lost to strike action in the (i) private sector and (ii) public sector in each year since 1997. [74385]

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

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Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Yeo, dated 15 October 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of days lost due to industrial action in the private and public sector each year since 1997. (74385)

There are no statistics specifically for the public sector but figures on the public administration; education and health industries provide most of the information on the public sector as it is today. In the table below the data for these sectors Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 75, 80 and 85 are presented alongside data for the rest of the economy.

Working days lost due to UK labour disputes

	Public administration education and health industries SIC 75, 80, 85		Rest of Economy
	No of days lost 000's	% of total days lost	No of days lost 000's	% of total days lost
1997	65	28	170	72
1998	50	18	232	82
1999	66	27	176	73
2000	221	44	278	56
2001	331	63	194	37

Employment (Scotland)

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were estimated to be (a) employed and (b) unemployed in (i) Paisley North, (ii) Renfrewshire and (iii) Scotland in each of the last two years. [73671]

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

Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Irene Adams, dated 15 July 2002:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment and unemployment in Scotland. (73671)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics for employment and unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. For parliamentary constituencies, the LFS provides estimates of employment and unemployment rates, but not levels. However, the survey sample size is too small to provide reliable estimates of unemployment for Renfrewshire Unitary Authority or Paisley North constituency.

The ONS also compiles statistics of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance credits at Employment Service local offices. They must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.

The attached tables give information from the LFS and claimant count. Labour market statistics are published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release and on the Nomish database, both of which are available in the House of Commons library.

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Table 1 Employment and ILO unemployment in Scotland; all aged 16 and overThousands, seasonally adjusted

	In employment	ILO unemployed
March to May 2001	2,396	148
March to May 2002	2,388	176

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey

Table 2 Employment rates ¹ for Scotland; Renfrewshire and Paisley North; all people of working age ² ; 1999/00 and 2000/01Per cent

	Scotland	Renfrewshire	Paisley North
Year ending
February 2000	71.3	74.5	71.8
Year ending
February 2001	73.1	75.4	63.4

Notes:

1 Total employed of working age as a percentage of all persons of working age.

2 Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey Local Area Database

Table 3 Claimant count levels for Scotland; Renfrewshire and Paisley NorthNot seasonally adjusted

	Scotland 1	Renfrewshire	Paisley North
June 2001	104,600	3,745	1,572
June 2002	102,700	3,774	1,596

Note:

1 Data for Scotland are seasonally adjusted.

Source:

Jobcentre Plus administrative system.

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