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27 Mar 2003 : Column 335W—continued

Black Economy

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the level of turnover of the black economy as it pertains to the construction industry. [104852]

Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible to provide reliable estimates about the level of turnover of the black economy as it pertains to the construction industry.

Child Tax Credit

Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applicants for the Child Tax Credit from Staffordshire are waiting to hear (a) if they have qualified, (b) how much they will receive and (c) when they will be paid; and if he will make a statement. [105384]

Dawn Primarolo: Information about how many people have qualified for tax credits in Staffordshire, how much they will receive and when they will be paid is not available.

The Inland Revenue will publish statistics on the Child and Working Tax Credit quarterly, beginning in August 2003. The first set of statistics will cover awards at early July 2003.

Council Tax

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to his answer of 18 March 2003, Official Report, column 674, on council tax, whether the definition of gross council tax for Great Britain used is the same as that used for the local taxes line of the average income tax tables contained within the document "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2000–01"; [104751]

(2) to which parts of the UK the (a) domestic rates and (b) water charges element of the local taxes line of the average income tax tables contained within the document "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2000–01" are applicable. [104753]

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

27 Mar 2003 : Column 336W

Letter from Len Cook to Matthew Taylor, dated 27 March 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on whether the definition of gross council tax for Great Britain, used in the answer to your question of 18th March in the Official Report, column 674, is the same as that used for the local taxes line contained within the document 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2000–01'. In addition you asked to which parts of the UK the (a) domestic rates and (b) water charges elements of the local taxes line in the same document were applicable. (104751, 104753)

The definition of gross council tax for Great Britain, used in the answer was the same as that used within the local taxes line of the tables contained within the document 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2000–01.' However, the local taxes category used in the published tables for the United Kingdom includes council taxes, water and sewerage charges for England, Scotland and Wales and domestic rates in Northern Ireland.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the figures for council tax as a percentage of gross income in his answer of 18 March 2003, Official Report, column 674, on council tax, into figures for (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland. [104752]

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

Letter from Len Cook to Matthew Taylor, dated 27 March 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for a break down of the figures for council tax as a percentage of gross income for (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland, as given for Great Britain in the answer to your earlier question on 18th March in the Official Report, column 674. (104752)

Estimates for council taxes and income are based on the analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2000–01" produced by the ONS and published on the National Statistics website on April 19th 2002 and in Economic Trends in the May 2002 edition. The analysis can be obtained from the House of Commons library. This includes measures of income inequality for the United Kingdom as a whole based on data from the Family Expenditure Survey. Sample sizes for each country are only sufficient to allow a break down to be given by quintiles of income distribution and not by decile as given for Great Britain in the answer to your previous question.

The following table shows the estimated gross and net council tax for all households in Great Britain and (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales, for each income quintile where households are ranked by equivalised disposable income. The net council tax figures are gross council tax less benefits and discounts. The table also shows the equivalised disposable income quintile point boundaries, which have been calculated separately for Great Britain and each country. For example, the 1st quintile point for each country is the income below which one fifth of households in that country lie.

Council tax benefit is available to low income households to help them meet their local tax liability. The Family Expenditure Survey collects data on the amount of council tax benefit received by households who take up their entitlement. Where a household reports taking up their council tax benefit entitlement, this has been deducted from the council tax liability to produce the net figures.

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Council tax as a percentage of gross income 2000–01Great Britain    Percentage

			Quintile groups of all households ranked by equivalised disposable income
		Bottom		2nd		3rd		4th		Top	All households
Quintile points (equivalised	Great Britain		9,821		13,890		19,122		27,253
disposable income £ per year)	England		9,903		14,102		19,591		27,916
	Scotland		9,468		12,842		17,051		23,892
	Wales		9,182		12,191		16,316		21,067
Gross council tax	Great Britain	7.0		4.3		3.0		2.3		1.5	2.6
	England	7.1		4.3		2.9		2.2		1.5	2.5
	Scotland	7.0		4.8		3.5		2.8		2.0	3.1
	Wales	6.0		3.8		3.0		2.2		1.7	2.6
Net council tax(7)	Great Britain	4.2		3.3		2.7		2.2		1.5	2.2
	England	4.3		3.3		2.7		2.1		1.4	2.2
	Scotland	4.0		3.6		3.3		2.7		2.0	2.7
	Wales	3.0		2.7		2.7		2.0		1.7	2.2

⁽⁷⁾ Net council taxes rates after deducting discounts

Source:

Office for National Statistics, based on the analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income', published on the ONS website and in Economic Trends No. 582 May 2002.

Dormant Accounts

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what critieria are used to identify National Savings and Investments which are dormant savings and investment accounts; how much remains in such accounts; and how many such accounts there are. [104982]

Ruth Kelly: In common with other financial institutions, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) identifies a holding as dormant when it knows that it has lost touch with its customer—e.g. mail returned as undelivered. Given current IT capability, it is not yet possible to define and precisely quantify dormant holdings because the nature of some NS&I products means there may not be any contact with the holder for many years but the holding is still live.

"Unclaimed monies" in the NS&I Product Accounts relate to products which have been redeemed by the Treasury, or where monthly interest or prizes are due. These monies are regarded as unclaimed when NS&I have been unable to make the payment and where the sums involved have been transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt. The total at 31 March 2002 was 30.1m. But it is not possible to say how many such holdings exist.

Equitable Life

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to ensure that the Penrose Inquiry into Equitable Life will report as soon as possible. [105239]

Ruth Kelly: Lord Penrose is independent of the Treasury. It is, therefore, for Lord Penrose to determine the procedures for his Inquiry, including the timetable for reporting to Ministers. Lord Penrose has said that his aim is to report to Ministers in June.

The Treasury has co-operated fully with Lord Penrose's Inquiry and has provided him with all the resources which he has asked for.

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Equity Prices

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions were used in forming the assumption in paragraph 2.44 of the pre-Budget Report 2002, that equity prices will rise in line with money GDP. [105320]

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 11 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report "Audit of Assumptions for the Pre-Budget 2000 Report" (HC 959, Session 1999–2000).

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