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6 May 2003 : Column 625W—continued
Savings Gateway
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the savings gateway is open to anyone living in the pilot areas who is entitled to the new child tax credit; and if he will make a statement on eligibility, with particular reference to how the measure of income used in determining the level of a tax credit is defined. [110898]
Ruth Kelly: Eligibility to participate in the Saving Gateway pilots is not determined by entitlement to the new child tax credit and is therefore unaffected by the measurement of income used in determining the level of child tax credit. Eligibility for a pilot Saving Gateway account is dependent on individuals of working age satisfying one of the following conditions:
- Household earnings of less than £15,000 if an individual has children or a disability.
- Individual earnings of less than £11,000 if an individual does not have children or a disability.
- Individual is out of work and receiving benefits.
Further development of the Saving Gateway will be made in light of evaluation evidence.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Savings Gateway accounts have been opened in each of the five pilot areas. [110901]
Ruth Kelly: At the end of April 2003, 835 Savings Gateway accounts had been opened with savings of almost £60,000. The following table shows how many accounts have been opened in each pilot area.
| Pilot Area | Number of accounts |
|---|---|
| Cambridgeshire | 115 |
| Cumbria | 148 |
| Gorton | 97 |
| Hull | 231 |
| Tower Hamlets | 244 |
Smuggling
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of a 40 per cent. reduction in anti-smuggling staff in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [110718]
John Healey: Modern smuggling is carried out by well-organised, well-financed and highly adaptable criminal groups who use ever more sophisticated methods. To tackle them, Customs are building more intelligence-led, flexible and mobile teams capable of far greater impact than the smaller, static, predictable and less productive teams that, in some locations, they will replace.
The changes are designed to improve the effectiveness of Customs Law Enforcement in Wales. Customs' impact on smuggling—rather than the number of
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officers maintained in fixed locations—is the most important factor in these changes. The actual numbers to be deployed in Wales will match the assessed risk.
Sustainable Timber
Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his Answer of 24 March, Official Report, column 64W, on sustainable timber products, what efforts are made to check that companies listed on the OGC buying solutions website as supplying sustainable furniture and timber products are in fact supplying sustainable furniture and timber products; and if he will make a statement. [111013]
Mr. Boateng: Any supplier claiming to supply sustainable furniture and timber products is expected to provide relevant evidence of this, including for example details of independent third party certification. Should evidence become available that any company included on an OGCbuying.solutions framework agreement has knowingly obtained timber products from an unsustainable source they would be removed from the published list.
Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his Answer of 24 March, Official Report, column 64W, on sustainable timber products, on the basis of what information the list of companies supplying sustainable furniture and timber products is supplied; and if he will make a statement. [111014]
Mr. Boateng: Suppliers on the list have successfully tendered on a value for money basis for inclusion in OGCbuying.solutions framework agreements and offer sustainable furniture and timber products. Where possible, third party independent evidence from organisations such as the Forestry Stewardship Council and the Timber Research and Development Association is provided.
Tax Credits
Mr. Simon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims for tax credits were outstanding on 6 April 2003 which were submitted (a) online using the internet and (b) on paper, and received by the Inland Revenue on or before 31 January 2003. [109240]
Dawn Primarolo: About 2.7 million claims for child tax credit and working tax credit were received by the end of January 2003, including 255,000 online.
Awards are already being paid except in the small proportion of cases where further information is needed to make a decision on the claim. In these cases the Inland Revenue should already have been in touch with claimants to ask for that further information.
Mr. Colman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Putney constituency he estimates will benefit from the new family tax credit over the coming financial year. [110463]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Andrew Dismore) on 14 April, Official Report, column 539W.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many advertisements the Inland Revenue have placed on (a) local commercial radio broadcasting in
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Buckinghamshire and (b) local newspapers circulating in Buckinghamshire to promote the take up of (i) child tax credit and (ii) working tax credit. [110471]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue's national campaign to encourage take-up of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit has used a variety of media including television, radio, online and national newspapers and magazines. There has been some targeted local publicity to encourage claims for the Child and Working Tax Credits, although there has been no advertising on local commercial radio or in local newspapers specifically in Buckinghamshire.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people he estimates in the Buckingham constituency are eligible for (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit; and how many people he estimates will take up these credits. [110472]
Dawn Primarolo: In the South East of England, 670,000 families are expected to receive the Child Tax Credit and 140,000 families are expected to receive the Working Tax Credit (including some who also get the Child Tax Credit).
Vera Baird: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the first figures from the Inland Revenue will be released to show the percentage take up of tax credits by constituency. [110857]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of take up rates are not available below the national level. Statistics on the number of Child and Working Tax Credits awards will be published quarterly, beginning in August 2003.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families he expects will be eligible for the (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit in 2003–04. [110937]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 1 May 2003]: A total of 6 million families are expected to receive the new tax credits. This total is made up of around 5.75 million families with children and 250,000 families without children.
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households' entitlements to (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit will be reassessed in the current financial year. [111387]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) on 28 April, Official Report, column 162W.
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households have applied for (a) child tax credit, (b) working tax credit and (c) both; and how many of these households are eligible for (i) child tax credit, (ii) working tax credit and (iii) both. [111391]
Dawn Primarolo: There is a single form for these tax credits. By 28 April 2003, over 4 million families had claimed. In addition, 1.3 million families with children on Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance are already benefiting from the increased level of support and will be transferred to Child Tax Credit by October 2004.
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Statistics on the Child and Working Tax Credit will be published quarterly, beginning in August 2003. The first set of statistics will cover awards at early July 2003.
Linda Perham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the London Borough of Redbridge are eligible for child tax credits. [111747]
Dawn Primarolo: In London 700,000 families are expected to receive the Child Tax Credit.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people living in the London Borough of Wandsworth are eligible to claim the working families tax credit; and how many award notices have been issued to families in the borough. [111192]
Dawn Primarolo: In London 700,000 families are expected to receive the Child Tax Credit. 130,000 families are expected to receive the Working Tax Credit (including some who also are also expected to receive the Child Tax Credit). Statistics on the number of Child and Working Tax Credit awards will be published quarterly, beginning in August 2003. The first set of statistics will cover awards at early July 2003.
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