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15 Oct 2002 : Column 605W—continued

Endowment Policies

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints of mis-selling of endowment policies by independent financial advisers have been made to the FSA in the last three years. [73666]

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 17 July 2002, Official Report, columns 335–336W to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Weir).

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the proportion of people with endowment mortgages who have policies which are unlikely to pay the original sum borrowed. [73664]

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 24 June 2002, Official Report, column 707W to the hon. Member for Wrexham (Mr. Lucas).

Tax Credits

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the tax credit advertising campaign outlined in the Treasury press release dated 16 September is expected to cost, broken down into the costs of each element of the campaign. [74726]

Dawn Primarolo: On 16 September the Inland Revenue launched a multi-media campaign to raise awareness of the changes to tax credits. This advertising campaign aims to encourage claimants of the existing tax credits and potential new claimants to make an application for Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit or both. The advertising in this launch phase is expected to run until March 2003.

Expenditure on advertising is currently estimated to be as follows

Television	<#6 million
Radio	<#0.7 million
Press	<#2 million
Online	<#0.3 million
Total	#9million

Note:

All figures are inclusive of VAT

Other elements of the campaign include direct mailings to existing tax credits claimants, and a response line set up to handle telephone calls prompted by the advertising. The final cost will depend on the number of reminders issued and the demand for the response line.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which tax credit application forms (a) are available on the internet for download and (b) can be filled in on a computer screen; and how many electronic application forms have been submitted over the internet for each relevant tax credit during the last 12 months. [74728]

Dawn Primarolo: Claim forms and guidance notes for the Children's Tax Credit can be downloaded from the Inland Revenue's website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.

For the new Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, people can find out whether they qualify, get a detailed calculation and claim online at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/taxcredits.

15 Oct 2002 : Column 606W

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the new tax credit claim pack being sent to existing WFTC/DPTC and children's tax credit claimants and (b) other information available to prospective claimants, including leaflets NTC/1 and NTC/2. [74725]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue began issuing claim packs to existing recipients of Working Families' Tax Credit, Disabled Person's Tax Credit and Children's Tax Credit in mid August. The pack contains six separate items;

A covering letter

The Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit Claim form

The notes to accompany the form

A publicity insert giving an overview of the timing and the process of making a claim

A leaflet from the Financial Services authority giving advice on bank accounts

A pre-paid return envelope

Other information for prospective claimants is as follows

Web-site

Comprehensive information is available on the Internet at www.inland revenue.gov.uk/taxcredits.

Leaflets and Posters

An introductory leaflet which sets out basic information on Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit will be made available to prospective claimants. This will be followed by a more detailed leaflet. Leaflets will be produced in Welsh and will be available in large print, audio and Braille. Summary information will also be made available in Bengali, Cantonese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

A range of A3 posters, one of which will be available in the languages above, are available to raise awareness of the changes and to promote some of the elements of tax credits, for example, help with childcare costs.

Information packs have been sent to individual members of the House of Commons, The Scottish Parliament and the devolved assemblies. Copies of the claim pack, the information pack the leaflets and posters will be placed in the Library.

Paisley, North

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are benefiting from (a) working families tax credits and (b) children's tax credits in Paisley, North. [73663]

Dawn Primarolo: For the number in receipt of the working families' tax credit, I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) on 16 January 2002, Official Report, column 293W. Information about the children's tax credit (CTC) is not available by constituency. However, the number of families eligible for the CTC in Scotland is estimated to be 400,000.

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of this Department's measures to tackle poverty in Paisley, North. [73661]

Dawn Primarolo: Poverty is a complex multi-dimensional issue, affecting many aspects of children's lives—including income, health, housing, the quality of their environment and opportunities to learn. There is therefore no single measure of the number of families with children that have moved out of poverty in the Paisley North constituency.

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However, it is possible to provide figures for take-up of some measures aimed at those on low-incomes for which my Right Honourable friend's departments are responsible. In February 2002 there were 1,888 Working Families Tax Credit recipients in Paisley North, compared with approximately one thousand Family Credit recipients in May 1997. In February 2002 there were 57 Disabled Person's Tax Credit recipients in Paisley North, compared with 22 Disability Working Allowance recipients in May 1997.

Customs and Excise

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to refocus the work of HM Customs and Excise, Cowes; and what he means by the term refocusing. [73915]

John Healey: Customs plan to deploy their law enforcement resources on the Isle of Wight more proactively, unpredictably and productively across a wider area to focus more on the serious threats from drugs and cigarette smuggling and from oils, alcohol and tax fraud.

Broadband

Brian White: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in centralised procurement of broadband networks for Government use. [71401]

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in centralised procurement of broadband networks for Government use. [71405]

Mr. Boateng: My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for e-Commerce and Competitiveness at the Department of Trade & Industry announced on 26 June the letting of framework agreements by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to enable the public sector to buy broadband services more effectively; and the setting up of a Regional Broadband Unit.

The frameworks procurement is underway and contracts are expected to be awarded next spring. The Regional Broadband Unit will be operational in November 2002. As part of the Unit, an OGC team will provide procurement assistance to the public sector. In addition, a DTI team of regional broadband advisors will ensure that public sector broadband procurement has the maximum impact on regional economic development.

Euro

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with representatives in local government on the subject of preparing for entry into the euro. [73711]

Ruth Kelly: Treasury Ministers have regular discussions with representatives from all parts of Government and such discussions cover a wide range of issues.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on preparing for entry into the euro. [73710]

15 Oct 2002 : Column 608W

Ruth Kelly: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with representatives from all parts of Government and such discussions cover a wide range of issues.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to recharge each department for the costs of possible entry into the euro. [73709]

Ruth Kelly: There are no plans to recharge departments for the costs of a possible euro entry.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost of preparing for entry into the euro for (a) central Government, (b) local government, (c) business and (d) the UK economy. [73712]

Ruth Kelly: It is not possible to estimate the cost of an introduction of the euro.

The cost of a changeover would depend on the timing, the overall approach and individual management decisions.

Details of preparations in the public sector for a possible UK entry into EMU may be found in HM Treasury's Sixth Report on Euro Preparations published in July.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has started the assessment of the five economic tests for membership of the euro; and if he will make a statement. [73976]

Ruth Kelly: The Government has said that it will complete an assessment of the five economic tests within two years of the start of this Parliament. The assessment has not yet started, but the necessary preliminary analysis—technical work that is necessary to undertake the assessment within two years as we promised—is underway.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will place in the Library a document in respect of all acts of Parliament placing powers and obligations on Her Majesty's Government and other parties in the United Kingdom whose functioning would be affected by United Kingdom accession to the European currency, indicating in each case the section of each act concerned and that of the respective legislative instrument of the European Union; [74117]

(2) if he will list each new obligation which would apply to the Government and others in the United Kingdom, on adoption of the Euro as a currency, stating in each case the treaty together with the party to which it would apply. [74118]

Ruth Kelly: If Government, Parliament and the people—in a referendum—decide to join a successful single currency, the transfer of legal responsibility for monetary policy to the European Central Bank would entail changes to the domestic legislation of the United Kingdom governing the formulation and conduct of monetary policy, at least to the extent necessary to ensue compatibility with the EC Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB.

The provisions of the EC Treaty and the Statute of the ESCB which would then become applicable to the United Kingdom are referred to in paragraphs 3 to 9 of

15 Oct 2002 : Column 609W

Protocol (No 11) to the EC Treaty (on certain provisions relating to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). In addition, legislation adopted under Article 123.5 of the EC Treaty would make the provisions necessary to enable the United Kingdom to move to the final stage of economic and monetary union.

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