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16 Dec 2002 : Column 603W—continued
Child Trust Funds
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of (a) the banking industry, (b) building societies and (c) friendly societies regarding the provision of Child Trust Funds; what research his Department has undertaken on the provision of Child Trust Funds; and if he will publish the research. [86295]
Ruth Kelly: Proposals for the Child Trust Fund were first published in April 2001 in the consultation document entitled XSaving and Assets for All". A follow up consultation document, XDelivering Saving and Assets", was published in November 2001. A wide range of financial services providers have taken part in the consultation exercises to date. As announced in the pre-Budget report the Government will now consult with key stakeholders on the detailed implementation of the Child Trust Fund.
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will introduce child trust funds. [86665]
Ruth Kelly: The Government provided an update on the child trust fund in the pre-Budget report (paragraphs 5.55–5.59).
Cigarettes
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the assumed change in revenues was in
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the pre-Budget report resulting from the October changes to arrangements for cross-channel purchases of cigarettes for own use for financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [86865]
John Healey: The pre-Budget report public forecast for tobacco duty revenues cautiously allowed for a cost of around #100 million per year as a result of the package of measures announced in October.
Citizens Advice Bureau Service
Annabelle Ewing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the publications produced by his Department that refer people to the Citizens Advice Bureau Service for advice and assistance; and whether Citizens Advice Scotland is informed of such referrals prior to publication. [84154]
Ruth Kelly [holding answer 2 December 2002]: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer given to her by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Competition, Consumers and Markets on 3 December 2002, Official Report, column 684W.
Civil Servants
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants are employed by his Department; and how much money was spent by his Department in the last 12 months, broken down by local authority area. [87176]
Ruth Kelly: Data on the location of civil servants are not available in the format requested, except at disproportionate cost. Information is available for the Government Office Regions of Great Britain.
For information on how many civil servants are employed by HM Treasury, Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue refer to Table D of Civil Service Statistics 2001, published in June 2001. Copies of the publication were placed in the Library of the House at the time of publication.
Information regarding how much money spent by the above Departments by local authority area is not available.
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Cocaine (Death Certificates)
Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it Government policy to ensure that deaths caused by crack cocaine and cocaine are identified separately on death certificates. [86254]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from L. Cook to Lynne Jones, dated 16 December 2002:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question about ensuring that deaths caused by crack cocaine and cocaine are identified separately on death certificates. (86254)
- Deaths that may be due to drug poisoning are referred to the coroner, who has a duty to report on the cause of death on the best available evidence. As part of his investigations the coroner may order tests to be carried out to detect the presence of particular drugs or other toxins. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that these would separately identify whether the cocaine taken in the form of crack cocaine.
- The Government recognises the concern that precise levels of drug-misuse deaths are not clearly identified due to a lack of available monitored information. As part of an Action Plan to Prevent Drug-related Deaths, #320,000 is being invested in better surveillance and monitoring systems which will allow increased analysis of information from coroners' reports and provide best practice guidance and training to coroners. It is hoped that this will improve the evidence provided by coroners on death certificates to better distinguish different types of drug-misuse deaths, where evidence other than toxicology is available.
Council Tax
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what local government revenue from council tax was in each year since 1997. [86667]
Mr. Boateng: Figures for council tax in England, Scotland and Wales and domestic rates in Northern Ireland, are published by the Office for National Statistics and in Budget and PBR documents for the relevant years.
Demography
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many single (a) women and (b) men will reach the age of 60 years between 20 September and 25 December. [87602]
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. Steve Webb, dated 16 December 2002:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the number of single women and single men who will reach the age of 60 years between 20 September and 25 December 2002. (87602)
It is estimated that there will be 21,000 single women and 17,000 single men in England and Wales who will reach the age of 60 during this period. Single has been defined to include single (never married), widowed and divorced.
These figures are estimates. They have been derived using interim revised national population projections produced by the Government Actuary's Department.Data from the Office for National Statistics on the pattern of births in 1942 indicates the proportion of the total number of 59-year-old men and women in
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- June 2002 who will reach the age of 60 between 20 September and 25 December 2002. Data from national population projections by marital status produced by the Government Actuary's Department have been used to estimate the proportion who are single.
Departmental Report
Norman Lamb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it costs to produce HM Treasury's departmental report 2002; and how many copies of the report were sold at its cover price. [87231]
Mr. Boateng: The final cost of producing HM Treasury's departmental report was #4,912. 454 copies have been sold for the most recent edition (Cm 5425, published 10 June 2002). This includes copies supplied at discount by The Stationary Office Limited (TSO) to certain types of customer.
Earnings Statistics
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of average earnings in (a) the West Midlands region, (b) the West Midlands conurbation, (c) Birmingham, (d) Walsall, (e) Wolverhampton, (f) Dudley, (g) Solihull, (h) Coventry, (i) Sandwell, (j) Worcestershire, (k) Herefordshire, (l) Shropshire, (m) Warwickshire, (n) North Warwickshire, (o) Nuneaton and Bedworth, (p) Rugby, (q) Stratford-on-Avon and (r) Warwick, in the last year for which figures are available. [87029]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from L Cook to Mr. M Foster, dated 16 December 2002:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on average earnings for counties and unitary authorities in West Midlands. (87029)
- I have provided a table overleaf, showing average weekly earnings, from the 2002 New Earnings Survey (NES), the latest survey for which data are available.
- The NES can provide earnings data for small geographical areas. The release of NES data is restricted to figures that are derived from a sufficiently large sample of employees, and have an acceptable level of accuracy and I have provided the available data for the areas requested where the samples are large enough.
(13) Denotes the data has been suppressed in line with NES publication criteria.
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