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4 Mar 2003 : Column 909W—continued

TREASURY

Animal Welfare

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many animals are used by customs and excise authorities in the UK, broken down by species. [100368]

John Healey: As at 28 February 2003, HM Customs and Excise had a total of 56 animals of the species canis familiaris (dogs), including those in service, training and planned replacements. No other species of animal is used.

Climate Change Levy

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 7 January 2003, Official Report, column 195W, on the Climate Change Levy, why no estimate is available of levy receipts the Exchequer anticipates to receive during 2002–03 from those companies covered by negotiated climate change agreements; and if he will make a statement. [100081]

John Healey: It is not possible to estimate climate change levy receipts at a sufficient level of detail to allow tax receipts expected from those businesses covered by negotiated climate change agreements to be identified separately. The negotiated agreements and sector fuel data, which serve as a basis for the estimating revenue, do not map exactly onto one another. Also, businesses in a specific sector and/or covered by an agreement can claim for more than one relief under the levy.

It is also not possible for Customs to use data from levy receipts, since they collect the levy from fuel suppliers, while it is their customers that enter into the agreements.

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Departmental Policies (Northampton)

Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department's measures to tackle income inequality in Northampton. [100801]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have taken a range of measures to tackle income inequality since 1997, including supporting families with increases in Child Benefit and the introduction of the Children's Tax Credit; supporting low income people in and into work through introduction of the National Minimum Wage, the 10 per cent. starting rate of Income Tax, reductions in National Insurance contributions for the low paid, and the Working Families' Tax Credit (WFTC) and Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC); and supporting pensioners with increases in the basic State Pension, provision of the winter fuel payment, and for the poorest pensioners through the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).

As an indication of the coverage of some of the measures designed to tackle income inequality, 4,800 families with children in Northampton were receiving the WFTC and DPTC in August 2002, while there were 4,600 pensioner households in Northampton claiming the MIG in November 2002.

Home Insurance

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to stop mortgage lenders charging fees when customers switch their home insurance. [100742]

Ruth Kelly: None.

Insurance Mediation Directive

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what representations he has received on the decision that the Insurance Mediation Directive will be administered by the Financial Services Authority under a statutory regime; [100678]

(2) what estimates he has made of the cost to (a) insurance brokers and (b) the insurance industry of complying with the Insurance Mediation Directive; and if he will make a statement. [100679]

Ruth Kelly: The Government published a consultation document, "Regulating Insurance Mediation" on 21 October 2002 that set out its proposals on implementing the Insurance Mediation Directive. Consultation closed on 31 January 2003 and the Government received around 400 responses. Representations were received from trade bodies, insurance providers and insurance intermediaries as well as from travel agents and consumer organisations. A draft regulatory impact assessment (RIA), setting out the proposals in the consultation document, was published as annex E to the consultation document. The Government will be revising the draft RIA in the light of wider consultation responses.

Manufacturing Exports

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the value of manufacturing export from companies within the Dumfries and Galloway region in the last 10 years. [100160]

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Ruth Kelly: The estimate for value of manufacturing exports as declared by companies within the Dumfries and Galloway region is as follows:

£ million

Year	Exports value
1996	69
1997	57
1998	64
1999	56
2000	78
2001	73
2002	65

Note:

Regional trade statistics are not available prior to 1996.

The value of all exports (including manufacturing but excluding services) from this region has been approximately £90 million per year on average.

Middle East

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he plans to allow tax concessions for Britons who have been advised to leave the middle east because of the political situation in the region. [100089]

Dawn Primarolo: Under a long standing Inland Revenue practice, days spent in the UK due to exceptional circumstances beyond an individual's control may, in certain cases, be disregarded in deciding whether the individual is resident here for tax purposes.

This practice was applied on a case by case basis after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and its application to the current situation is being kept under close review.

Sure Start

Mr. Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will meet the hon. Member for Nottingham, North to discuss the Strelley/Broxtowe Sure Start and its loss of underspends caused by building delays. [94519]

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.

Officials will meet with the Broxtowe and Strelley Sure Start programme on 4 March. Pending the outcome of this meeting Baroness Ashton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Sure Start, would be pleased to meet with my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North.

Taliban

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the Taliban assets in the UK which (a) are frozen and (b) were frozen in October 2001; when assets were frozen of the Afghan National Credit and Finance and the National Trading Company of Afghanistan; and what was the value of frozen assets. [100617]

Ruth Kelly: The al-Qaeda and Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1390 allowed for the release of Taliban funds to the legitimate Government of Afghanistan. As a result, UK financial institutions have made such funds available to the Afghan Government and no Taliban (as distinct from al-Qaeda) funds remain frozen. As I indicated in my written answer of 16 October 2001, to the hon. Member

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(at column 1212W), no funds belonging to Afghan National Credit and Finance have been frozen in the UK. The assets of the National Trading Company of Afghanistan were frozen on 5 October 2001 as a temporary measure but were then unfrozen since they were not covered by UN sanctions. As my written answer explained, some £63 million sterling in 33 accounts had been frozen as at 15 October 2001. Regrettably, the sterling value of the frozen account of Khalid Al Fawwaz was incorrectly printed in the Official Report as £23.19 million; the correct figure, as stated in my written answer and as reflected in the total figure, was £23.19.

Tax (Non-residents)

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals were considered to be non-domiciled for tax purposes in the UK in each year from 1980–81 to 2001–02; and if he will make a statement. [99900]

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available.

Trust Ports

Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if trust ports classified as public corporations are required to remit an annual dividend to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. [100699]

Ruth Kelly: It is for the Department for Transport to determine whether any trust ports classified as public corporations should be required to remit an annual dividend. Any dividend would be payable to the Department for Transport.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 16 December 2002, Official Report, column 597W, if he will place in the Library the information held by the Office of National Statistics concerning the retrospective classification of trust ports as public corporations. [100702]

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

Letter from John Pullinger to Christopher Chope, dated 4 March 2003:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding information held by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) concerning the retrospective classification of Trust Ports as public corporations. I am replying in his absence. (100702)

The ONS has been working on the basis of published Annual Accounts and legislation on individual Trust Ports supplied by the Department for Transport. ONS does not hold any information of its own on Trust Ports. As stated in earlier replies, major Trust Ports have been reclassified as public corporations in National Accounts. We are continuing to examine the information about smaller ports to identify whether they should be private and public corporations.

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