| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Apr 2003 : Column 543W—continued
Iraq and Afghanistan
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contingency plans he has made for funding an ongoing commitment of British forces in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan. [108464]
Mr. Boateng: The information is as follows:
The Chancellor has set aside a total of £3 billion for the military campaign in Iraq to be drawn on by the Ministry of Defence as necessary. This is to cover the costs arising from the current military operation and the immediate humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people that MOD will provide.
The UK Military forces continue to operate in Afghanistan but at a much lower level than during the period of the overthrow of the Taliban and the successful establishment of the International Security Assistance Force. Funding for such operations in 2003–04 will be provided from the Reserve once the sums have been finalised.
Liability Insurance
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had regarding compulsory liability insurance with (a) the insurance industry, (b) British business representatives and (c) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [108924]
Ruth Kelly: Officials from HM Treasury and other Government departments have meetings with a wide range of representative groups on matters related to liability for environmental damage, including in relation to insurance issues.
Pensions
Vera Baird: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether figures to show the take-up of stakeholder pensions will be broken down by (a) age and (b) gender; [108334]
- (2) when the Inland Revenue will publish figures to show the take up of Stakeholder Pension schemes (a) within the target group of people earning £10,000 to £20,000 salaries and (b) within other groups. [108317]
Ruth Kelly: The Inland Revenue has now received data on individuals contributing to Stakeholder Pensions in 2001–02 from providers. This data is currently being analysed and it is hoped that a
14 Apr 2003 : Column 544W
breakdown by earnings, age and gender and other characteristics will be available by the middle of this year.
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development regarding the pensions funding gap; and if he will make a statement on the OECD report, Financial Market Trends No. 84. [108466]
Ruth Kelly: Treasury officials discuss a range of issues of mutual interest with the OECD from time to time. Articles in Financial Market Trends reflect the views of the OECD secretariat.
Public Sector IT
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates total central government spending on public sector IT will be over the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [108766]
Mr. Boateng: It is not possible to estimate central government spending on IT over the next five years. Departmental allocations have only been set up to 2005–06.
However, we estimate that around £6 billion from within departmental expenditure limits will be spent on improving public services through Information and Communications Technology over the three years to 2005–06.
Resource Accounting and Budgeting
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when his Department first informed (a) the DTI, (b) the Office of Science and Technology and (c) each research council that the introduction of phase 1 of Resource Accounting and Budgeting was to be backdated to before 2001–02; what guidance was issued to each of the above on the timing of its application, and when; and if he will make a statement; [108833]
- (2) how much was provided by his Department to (a) the Natural Environment Research Council, (b) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and (c) the Medical Research Council to ameliorate the impact of the retrospective application of phase 1 of Resource Accounting and Budgeting; when such funding was provided; and if he will make a statement. [108834]
Mr. Boateng: The overall timetable for the implementation of Resource Accounting and Budgeting was set out in the 1995 White Paper "Better Accounting for Taxpayers Money". This announced that Resource Budgeting would take place from 2000. The 2000 Spending Review introduced Phase 1 of Resource Budgeting, which became the sole method of reporting and control for departments' budgets with effect from 1 April 2001. Prior to that, accounts and budgets were controlled on a cash basis.
Small Companies Tax Relief
Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many married couples' associated companies were
14 Apr 2003 : Column 545W
affected in (a) 1996, (b) 1999 and (c) 2002 by the status of small companies tax relief introduced under the Finance Act 1972. [108670]
Ruth Kelly: There are many ways in which companies are regarded as being under common control and it is not possible to identify those companies that are associated only because they are under the control of spouses.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the status of married couples' associated companies in terms of small companies tax relief introduced under the Finance Act 1972. [108671]
14 Apr 2003 : Column 546W
Dawn Primarolo: The Government have received very few representations that companies under the control of spouses should be treated independently for tax
Staff Union Duties
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies receive paid leave to undertake union duties; how many days they are allocated; and what has been the cost to public funds in 2002. [106735]
Ruth Kelly: The information relating to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments is set out in the table.
| Department | Number of staff with agreement to receive paid leave for union duties | Number of days allocated in 2002–03 | Cost to public fundsin 2002–03 (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt Management Office(18) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Office of Government Commerce | 8 | 56(19) | 42,293 |
| OGCbuying.solutions | 21 | 74(20) | 7,350 |
| HM Treasury | 12 | 515 | 61,000 |
| HM Customs and Excise | 250 | 17,600 | 2,500,000 |
| Inland Revenue | 228 | 51,300(21) | 5,449,201 |
| National Savings and Investments | 2 | 25 | 225 |
| Royal Mint(22) | 1 | 4 | 296 |
| Government Actuary's Department | 6 | 49 | 44,845 |
| Valuation Office Agency | 208 | 3,260 | 196,482 |
| Office for National Statistics | 11 | 827 | 85,000 |
(18) The Debt Management Office has no formal agreement in place for paid leave to undertake union duties and there was no cost to DMO in this respect in 2002–03.
(19) Each individual is allocated up to 56 days per working year for union duties. This is a notional number of days based on the average working year of 225 days. Staff may take up to 25 per cent. of the working year to undertake union duties. No instances have been recorded where this allocation has been exceeded. The average number of working days in the year is 225. This takes account of annual leave, privilege days, bank holidays and weekends.
(20) Total number of days allocated.
(21) Data from the Inland Revenue is for 2001–02, the last financial year for which this information is available.
(22) There is no cost to public funds from paid trade union activities at the Royal Mint since it is an Executive Agency and Trading Fund, which is not in receipt of "vote" funding. The Royal Mint is a net contributor to HM Treasury.
Tax Credits
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families are in receipt of the enhanced children's tax credit which is paid in the year of a child's birth. [107425]
Dawn Primarolo: There are several methods of applying for the baby rate of the 2002–03 Children's Tax Credit. These include claims to have 2002–03 PAYE codes adjusted, claims via the 2002–03 self assessment tax return and separate claims for tax repayments. About 150 thousand families had adjustments to their 2002–03 PAYE codes that included a claim for the baby rate.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many combined claim forms for the child and working tax credits have been (a) issued and (b) returned. [108479]
Dawn Primarolo: By 9 April 2003 about 6.8 million claims forms had been issued and over 3.9 million claims received (including about 485,000 on-line).
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many awards for the (a) Child Tax Credit and (b) Working Tax Credit have been paid. [108481]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 19 March 2003, Official Report, column 760W.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many child and working tax credit application reminder notices were issued in each of the last six months. [108482]
Dawn Primarolo: 3.6 million reminders to claim were sent out in November 2002, 2.2 million in February 2003 and 2.2 million in March 2003.
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people he estimates in Suffolk are eligible for (a) the Child Tax Credit and (b) the Working Tax Credit; and how many people he estimates will take up these credits in 2003–04. [108628]
Dawn Primarolo: It is estimated that (a) 460,000 families are expected to receive the Child Tax Credit and (b) 90,000 families are expected to receive the Working Tax Credit in the Eastern region in 2003–04.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit application forms have been sent out and how many completed application forms have been received, broken down by month. [106484]
14 Apr 2003 : Column 547W
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 1 April 2003]: The cumulative monthly figures to the end of February 2003 are as follows.
| Month(23) | Claim forms issued | Claims received(24) |
|---|---|---|
| August 2002 | 500 | <50(25) |
| September 2002 | 2,300 | 300(25) |
| October 2002 | 4,000 | 1,100(25) |
| November 2002 | 4,500 | 1,400(25) |
| December 2002 | 4,700 | 2,000(25) |
| January 2003 | 5,100 | 2,600(25) |
| February 2003 | 5,500 | 3,200 |
(23) Final Friday in month.
(24) Including on-line.
(25) Estimated.
Note:
All figures are quoted to the nearest 100,000.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families (a) were entitled to and (b) received the children's tax credit. [108484]
Dawn Primarolo: For the number of benefiting families, I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 5.11 of the April 2002 Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report. HC 592.
14 Apr 2003 : Column 548W
There are several methods of applying for this tax credit, including claims to have PAYE codes adjusted, claims via the self assessment tax return and separate claims for tax repayments.
For 2001–02, about 3.3 million families claimed via adjustments to their PAYE codes; the equivalent figure for 2002–03 was about 3.5 million.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |