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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:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment rates. I am replying in his absence. (110683)
- The attached table gives the information requested for the twelve month periods ending December of each year from 1997 to 2002. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
(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
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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:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about employment rates in local authority wards. (110684)
- I regret to inform you that the data you requested are not available from the Labour Force Survey. However, Census data on employment will be available at ward level on 30 June.
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:
- advertising all senior posts and highlighting that we are an equal opportunities employer;
guaranteeing an interview to people with disabilities who meet the minimum requirement for our recruitment programmes;
participating in the Cabinet Office scheme for people with disabilities, offering two placements this summer; and
continuing to support the department's active Disability Advisory Group, sponsored by the Permanent Secretary, to ensure the interests of people with disabilities are taken on board when developing management and personnel policies.
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]
- (2) whether the IMF has issued interim reports on the work of its Iraq task force; [111454]
(3) whether his Department is working with the World bank to provide it with primary economic information on Iraq. [111452]
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
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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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