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21 Oct 2002 : Column 82W—continued
Fuel Duty
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the annual income to Exchequer funds which would arise from extending the present rate of road fuel duty on unleaded petrol to aviation fuel. [75037]
John Healey: Levying duty on aviation turbine fuel at the same duty rate as that charged on ultra low sulphur petrol (ULSP), which is 45.82 pence per litre, would have raised approximately #5.7 billion in 2001–02, assuming no reduction in demand.
Correspondence
David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the delay occurred in transferring the letter of 19 August from the hon. Member for Walsall, North concerning a constituent, reference 5/07848/2002, to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [74912]
John Healey: There was initial discussion within the Treasury and then with HM Customs and Excise as to which department was best placed to address the issues raised. Following further discussion with DEFRA the hon. Gentleman's letter was transferred to that department on 16 September.
Insurance Mediation Directive
Barbara Follett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the Government's proposals for implementing the European Union's Insurance Mediation Directive. [76573]
Ruth Kelly: As I announced on 12 December 2001 (WA 890–891W) the Government proposes to give the Financial Services Authority (FSA) responsibility for regulating general insurance and reinsurance mediation. I have today published a consultation document that sets out the intended approach to regulating the sale of general insurance products following adoption on 30 September 2002 by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers under the co-decision procedure of the Insurance Mediation Directive (the Directive).
The consultation document explains that the FSA will regulate the following activities:
- introducing, proposing or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance or reinsurance;
- assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim; and
- concluding contracts of insurance or reinsurance.
The Directive requires the regulation of mediation activities in relation to all contracts of insurance. However, it provides certain exemptions for insurance sold as part of a package, including travel insurance sold with a holiday and extended warranties that are contracts of insurance.
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It is for the UK Government to decide whether to regulate those insurances that are exempted from the Directive and I have decided to defer a decision on whether the FSA should regulate extended warranties pending the outcome of the Competition Commission enquiry into extended warranties for electrical goods.
As to travel insurances that are sold with a holiday, we need carefully to weigh the consumer protection issues against regulatory costs. The Government also needs to weigh fairly the competition issues between those intermediaries that sell travel insurance direct and travel agents that sell insurance alongside a holiday. I have decided, therefore, to consult on whether to give the FSA responsibility for regulating these products. There are three options:
- No statutory regulation of sales of travel insurance sold as part of a package;
- FSA regulation to cover these sales in the same way as stand alone sales of travel insurance; or
- Industry specific regulation, requiring sellers of these products to be authorised by the FSA unless they are subject to an ABTA code which would be certified by the FSA. Sellers who were subject to the ABTA code but who also carried on other FSMA regulated activity, including selling any insurance other than packaged travel insurance, would be subject to FSA authorisation in relation to all of their regulated activities (including the activities to which the ABTA code applied).
Responses to the consultation on general insurance and reinsurance regulation, and on the options for travel insurance sold as part of a holiday, should be sent to HM Treasury by 31 January 2003.
Tax Credits (Fraud)
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the claim form of working families' tax credit does not ask if claimants are currently receiving income support; and what plans he has to include this question in future versions of the form. [74844]
Dawn Primarolo: The qualifying conditions for Income Support and Working Families' Tax Credit are mutually exclusive to the extent that Income Support is available to people who work for less than 16 hours a week and Working Families' Tax Credit is available to people who work 16 hours or more a week. There are no plans to amend the Working Families' Tax Credit claim form.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed by the Inland Revenue to work on anti-fraud measures in respect of the working families' tax credit; and what plans he has to take on additional staff for anti-fraud work in respect of his new system of tax credits. [74852]
Dawn Primarolo: As at 17 October 2002, there are a total of 755 Inland Revenue staff involved in investigating possible incorrect applications for Working Families' Tax Credit (WFTC) and Disabled Persons' Tax Credit (DPTC). We are currently developing our staffing plans for the introduction of Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC), the likely number of staff which will be involved in this work is approximately 1,100.
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National Insurance Fund
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what form the balance of the National Insurance Fund is held. [74838]
Dawn Primarolo: Any working balance is invested and provides additional income for the Fund. The Fund may only invest in Government and Local Authority stocks, in accordance with directions given by the Treasury.
Commercial Flights
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the annual income to the Exchequer which would arise from the imposition of a 17.5 per cent. sales tax on the purchase of tickets for commercial flight departures from United Kingdom airports. [75036]
John Healey: The lack of price data means it is not possible to estimate accurately the revenue from a 17.5 per cent. sales tax on the purchase of tickets for commercial flight departures.
Private Medical Insurance
Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised from taxation of private medical insurance cover offered by employers as a benefit in kind in each of the last five years. [75695]
Ruth Kelly: Information on the total income tax liability of employees and Class 1A National Insurance liability of employers on the benefit of private medical and dental treatment or insurance provided by employers is shown in the table.
| Year | Amount #million |
|---|---|
| 2001–02(19) | 390 |
| 2000–01(19),(20) | 390 |
| 1999–2000 | 270 |
| 1998–99 | 260 |
| 1997–98 | 250 |
Notes:
(19) Projected.
(20) From 6 April 2000, Class 1A NICs liability was extended to cover medical and dental treatment or insurance provided by employers.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the cost of re-introducing tax relief for pensioners paying for their own private medical insurance cover. [75696]
Ruth Kelly: The abolition of tax relief on premiums for private medical insurance for the over-60s was estimated to yield #135 million for 1999–2000 as shown in the July 1997 Financial Statement and Budget Report. A reliable updated estimate could only be produced at a disproportionate cost.
Cancer
Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the five year survival rates for (a) breast, (b) lung, (c) stomach and (d) colo-rectal cancer types; and on what authority they are based. [75692]
21 Oct 2002 : Column 85W
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. Tim Loughton, dated 21 October 2002:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the five year survival rates for (a) breast, (b) lung, (c) stomach and (d) colorectal cancer types; and on what authority they were based.
- The latest available five year survival rates for cancer of the breast (female), lung, stomach and colon are for patients diagnosed in 1993–95 and followed up to 31 December 2000.
- Five year survival rates by sex and age group for England are available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D4924.xls
- Five year survival rates for cancers of the lung, stomach and colon for all persons, and for cancer of the breast for females, all ages combined, are available for NHS regions and health authority areas in England as they were up to 1st April 2001, on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5389.xls http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5392.xls
- The methodology used to calculate the survival rates is closely based on that used to analyse cancer survival trends over the period 1971 to 1990, which is described in Cancer Survival Trends in England and Wales, 1971–95: deprivation and NHS Region 1 .
- Note:
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