7 May 2003 : Column 679W

Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 7 May 2003

TREASURY

Employment

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which five regions had (a) the lowest and (b) the highest employment rates in each year since 1997; and what their respective rates were. [110683]

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

Letter from C. Mowl to Mr. Frank Field, dated 7 May 2003:



Working age(1) employment rates(2) by region and country in the UK—Average for January to December each year

Employment rate (Percentage)
Five Government Office Regions with highest employment rates
1997
South East78.4
South West77.1
East76.6
East Midlands75.6
West Midlands73.2
1998
South East79.4
South West77.8
East77.7
East Midlands76.1
West Midlands74.2
1999
South East79.8
South West78.4
East78.1
East Midlands76.4
West Midlands73.7
2000
South East80.3
South West78.9
East78.8
East Midlands76.3
Yorkshire and Humberside73.7
2001
South East80.1
East79.3
South West78.9
East Midlands75.8
West Midlands73.9
2002
South East79.7
South West79.0
East79.0
East Midlands76.4
West Midlands74.2
Five Government Office Regions with the lowest employment rates
1997
Northern Ireland67.1
North East67.3
Wales68.2
London69.9
North West70.2
1998
North East66.6
Northern Ireland67.0
Wales68.0
North West70.2
London70.5
1999
North East66.6
Northern Ireland67.0
Wales68.8
North West71.4
Scotland71.6
2000
Northern Ireland66.4
North East68.1
Wales69.3
London70.8
North West72.3
2001
Northern Ireland67.3
North East68.4
Wales68.5
London71.0
North West72.2
2002
Northern Ireland67.7
North East68.4
Wales69.8
London70.5
North West72.3

(1) Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.

(2) Working age people in employment as a percentage of the working age population.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey


7 May 2003 : Column 680W

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which 100 local authority wards have (a) the lowest and (b) the highest employment rates; and what the rates are in each case. [110684]

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. Frank Field, dated 7 May 2003:



Child Tax Credit

Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what change has taken place in the number of (a) physical and (b) verbal assaults on Inland Revenue staff since the introduction of child tax credit. [111834]

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Dawn Primarolo: The child tax credit was introduced on 6 April 2003 alongside working tax credit. Physical and verbal assaults on Inland Revenue staff have always been uncommon and remain so.

Civil Service (People with Disabilities)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in the Department. [110520]

Ruth Kelly: The proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in the Treasury is 1.1 per cent. against the corporate Senior Civil Service (SCS) target on disabled staff of 3 per cent. by 2005.

We are taking steps to increase the recruitment of people with disabilities across the whole of the department, including staff in senior posts. Particular actions include:


We are planning to conduct a full disability survey later this year to ensure our records of disabled staff are accurate and up to date.

Customs and Excise

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs and Excise staff have been deported under immigration law in the last two years. [111722]

John Healey: Customs and Excise have no record of any staff leaving the service in the last two years by reason of "deportation".

Debt Relief

Mr. Pike: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will support efforts to find solutions to the collapse in coffee prices at the forthcoming G8 summit; and if he will make a statement. [111569]

John Healey: Coffee growers have been hit by low prices and deteriorating quality, the result of global over-supply and structural imbalances in the industry. The Government will support efforts to find solutions at the G8 summit and in follow-up work after the summit, notably for poor countries in Africa.

There are a number of possibilities. The UK is already contributing to a sustainable coffee market by helping growers to diversify through its development programme; trying to expand the trade opportunities of commodity-dependent countries, cut tariffs and reduce the negative impact of the CAP. We are promoting foreign investment and good regulatory frameworks, increasing the aid budget to 0.40 per cent. of national income by 2005–06 and advocating more debt relief to

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highly indebted poor countries. A government-industry working group is currently looking at what more can be done to improve the livelihoods of poorer commodity producers in developing countries. The summit will consider what more can be done.

Football Clubs (Administration)

Andy Burnham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what agreement on unpaid tax the Inland Revenue has reached with each professional football club in administration in the last two years. [111572]

John Healey: When any business seeks protection from its creditors by appointing an administrator, the Inland Revenue is bound by insolvency law just like any other creditors. Due to taxpayer confidentiality, information about dealings with individual professional football clubs cannot be provided: Exemption 15 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies.

Income Drawdown

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints concerning income drawdown have been lodged in each year since 1996. [111445]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Iraq

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what work has been undertaken (a) to assess the basic economic indicators in Iraq and (b) to overcome the failure by the Iraqi regime to supply figures to international economic institutions; [111453]

John Healey: Iraq's isolation from the international community, combined with the impact of two wars and 12 years of sanctions, means that reliable data on the Iraqi economy are extremely scarce. The World bank has not maintained active operations in Iraq (the last loan approved was in 1973) and regular reports by the international financial institutions on the economy, such as IMF Annual Article IV reports, have not been compiled for some years.

In accordance with its guidelines for working with countries in conflict, the World Bank closely monitors developments in Iraq and maintains contacts with the United Nations and international donors to exchange information and build a knowledge base on the evolving socio-economic and humanitarian conditions on the ground.

The UK Government are working with their international partners to ensure the effective engagement of the International Financial Institutions in the rehabilitation of post-conflict Iraq. The collection of accurate data and the preparation of a comprehensive

7 May 2003 : Column 683W

needs assessment are key steps in that process. The UK Government are in regular contact with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on these matters.

In a communiqué issued following their spring meetings, both the International Monetary and Finance Committee of the IMF, chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Development Committee of the World bank have noted that 'the IMF and World Bank stand ready to play their normal role in Iraq's re-development at the appropriate time'. Staff in both institutions have begun initial preparations for these tasks. Beyond information available on their websites, neither the World Bank nor the IMF has so far published any recent reports on Iraq.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what tariffs exist on the importing of Iraqi goods to (a) the EU and (b) the UK. [111553]

John Healey: All imports from Iraq remain prohibited without an import licence while United Nations sanctions remain in force. Prior to sanctions being imposed in 1990, imports from Iraq were eligible for reduced rates of customs duty under the Generalised System of Preferences.

Customs duty rates of the EU and UK are one and the same. The HM Customs and Excise Tariff lists both full and preferential rates of duty and includes information on the Generalised System of Preferences. A copy is available in the Library of the House.


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