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28 Apr 2003 : Column 170W—continued
Special Advisers
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 2002–03; and what it is expected to be in 2003–04. [108498]
Ruth Kelly : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 24 April.
Suicides (Hemsworth)
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many male suicides there were in Hemsworth in (a) 1992, (b) 1997 and (c) 2001. [109914]
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. Jon Trickett, dated 28 April 2003:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many male suicides there were in Hemsworth in (a) 1992 (b) 1997 and (c) 2001. (109914)
- The figures requested are given in the table below:
| Year | Number of deaths |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 5 |
| 1997 | 7 |
| 2001 | 6 |
(31) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 and E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for the years 1992 and 1997, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending.
(32) Figures relate to deaths of people resident in Hemsworth parliamentary constituency based on its boundaries in 2001.
(33) Figures are for deaths registered in these years.
28 Apr 2003 : Column 171W
Tax Credits
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many award notices for the (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit have been issued. [108480]
Dawn Primarolo: There is a single award notice for both child tax credit and working tax credit.
By 9 April 2003, about 3.2 million award notices had been issued. This includes notices issued to single adults and to each partner in couples.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the targets for processing (a) child and (b) working tax credit claim forms and the performance against those targets. [108483]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue will be set targets for the future administration of the new tax credits system later this year once there is sufficient experience of live running to make those targets both challenging and achievable.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many calls have been made to the tax credit helpline in each month since it was established. [106142]
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many telephone calls the Inland Revenue Children's and Working Tax Credits helpline dealt with in (a) February and (b) March 2003. [107556]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 1 April 2003]: A helpline was set up in August 2002 to handle detailed inquiries about the two new tax credits. The number of calls answered at the helpline in Great Britain in each month since then is set out in the following table.
| Calls received | |
|---|---|
| August 2002 | 28,453 |
| September 2002 | 179,484 |
| October 2002 | 324,381 |
| November 2002 | 394,205 |
| December 2002 | 267,757 |
| January 2003 | 851,851 |
| February 2003 | 1,168,131 |
| March 2003 | 2,486,846 |
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many phone calls the Child Tax Credit helpline has received over the last month. [107290]
Dawn Primarolo: The latest month for which complete information is available is March 2003. The Great Britain tax credit helpline answered 2,486,846 calls in this month.
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many awards for the (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit have been paid in Northern Ireland. [110366]
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. Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the targets for processing child and working tax credit claim forms and the performance against those targets for Northern Ireland in the latest year for which figures are available. [110367]
28 Apr 2003 : Column 172W
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue will be set targets for the future administration of the new tax credits system later this year once there is sufficient experience of live running to make those targets both challenging and achievable.
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Northern Ireland (a) were entitled to and (b) received the children's tax credit in the last year for which figures are available. [110368]
Dawn Primarolo: Based on household survey data, it is estimated that about 125,000 families in Northern Ireland could benefit from the children's tax credit.
No estimate can be made of the number of families in Northern Ireland actually benefiting from the children's tax credit for 2001–02 until the Survey of Personal Incomes is compiled towards the end of this year.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications were (a) made, (b) outstanding, (c) approved and (d) refused in each of the last six months for the working families tax credit; and what the cumulative backlog in applications was at 31 March. [108795]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 14 April 2003]: The figures requested are:
| Applications received in month | Awards made in month | Other disposals in month(34) | Applications on hand(35) at last Friday in month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2002 | 335,000 | 303,000 | 62,000 | 75,000 |
| November 2002 | 166,000 | 182,000 | 27,000 | 32,000 |
| December 2002 | 55,000 | 52,000 | 19,000 | 20,000 |
| January 2003 | 54,000 | 40,000 | 14,000 | 19,000 |
| February 2003 | 34,000 | 27,000 | 9,000 | 18,000 |
| March 2003 | 52,000 | 13,000 | 6,000 | (35)53,000 |
(34) Estimated by subtracting from the number of applications received the number of awards made and the increase in the number of applications on hand.
(35) Excluding applications received but not yet registered—there were about 3,000 of these at the end of March 2003.
Tax Relief Regulations
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the Community Investment Tax Relief (Accreditation of Community Development Finance Institutions) Regulations. [109437]
John Healey: The Government have received a number of representations about the Community Investment Tax Relief. Ministers and officials have also met interested parties to discuss the tax relief.
11 community development finance institutions (CDFIs) were recently accredited for the community investment tax relief and have been enabled to raise over £35 million from private sector investors. Applications from a further seven CDFIs are currently being considered. Full details are available on the Small Business Service website.
28 Apr 2003 : Column 173W
VAT (Charities)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of irrecoverable VAT levied on charities. [109669]
John Healey: Customs and Excise does not hold data about the level of irrecoverable VAT incurred by charities.
CABINET OFFICE
Accountancy Services
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the total cost to his Department was for accountancy services in 2002–03. [109489]
Mr. Alexander: My Department does not keep central record of this information, therefore the answer can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Age Discrimination
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps the Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination. [109459]
Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office has integrated age into its equal opportunity policies and is committed to ensuring that there should be no unfair discrimination. It is the Department's policy that everyone should have equality of opportunity on the basis of their ability, qualifications and suitability for the work.
The Department will continue to tackle any negative attitudes towards older staff particularly through the training and development of managers and through the monitoring of recruitment, selection and performance statistics.
The Cabinet Office has reviewed its retirement policy for grades below the Senior Civil Service in line with the recommendations of the Cabinet Office report 'Winning the Generation Game'. The normal retirement age is 60 years but retention beyond this age up to age 70 is possible subject to departmental needs, regular attendance and effective performance.
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