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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 3 July 2003
TREASURY
Cancer/Heart Disease
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the survival rates for (a) breast cancer, (b) lung cancer and (c) heart disease for each year since 1997 for (i) England and (ii) each region of England. [122790]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Evan Harris, dated 3 July 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the survival rates for (a) breast cancer, (b) lung cancer and (c) heart disease for each year since 1997 for (i) England and (ii) each region of England. (122790)
- The latest available breast and lung cancer survival rates are for cases diagnosed in England in 1993 to 1995 and followed up to the end of 2000. At a national level, figures are routinely presented for men and women separately, while those at regional level are given for persons only, and are given in the table below.
| Breast(1) | Lung | |
|---|---|---|
| England | ||
| Men | — | 5.46 |
| Women | 75.9 | 5.48 |
| Northern and Yorkshire | 74.0 | 4.4 |
| Trent | 74.0 | 4.4 |
| West Midlands | 76.9 | 4.8 |
| North and West | 74.8 | 5.6 |
| Eastern | 78.6 | 5.5 |
| London | 77.1 | 6.1 |
| South East | 76.9 | 5.5 |
| South and West | 75.0 | 4.9 |
(1) Figures for breast cancer exclude the very small number of cases in men.
Source:
Report: Cancer survival in the health authorities of England, 1993–2000. Health Statistics Quarterly 13 (2002), 95–103. This is available on our website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme health/HSQl 3 v4.pdf. "Cancer survival: five year relative survival rates in England by Health Authority up to 2000"; at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5389.xls for breast (female), lung, colon and prostate cancer.
There are no figures available on a nationally comparable basis for survival from heart disease in England.
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Average Wage
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the statistical reliability of the calculation of average wage levels using the (a) New Earnings survey and (b) Labour Force survey. [122518]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Michael Foster, dated 2 July 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the statistical reliability of average earnings data from the New Earnings Survey and the Labour Force Survey. (122518)
- Earnings data from the New Earnings Survey (NES) and from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are valuable in different circumstances. The NES data are available annually and are based on a larger sample than those from the LFS. The LFS data are available quarterly and for a wider range of population sub-groups than from the NES. An article describing the background and uses of ONS average earnings data was published in the February 2003 edition of "Labour Market Trends", a copy of which can be found in the Library.
- Sampling errors have been calculated for both NES and LFS estimates and are available from the National Statistics website (www.statistics.gov.uk). Given the smaller sample size of the LFS, the sampling errors tend to be larger than the equivalent NES sampling errors.
- Following an extensive quality review of the NES last year the survey is currently undergoing a significant redevelopment to further improve the quality of the estimates. The action plan for implementing the results of this review are also on the National Statistics website (www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=280). This will reduce known biases in the existing survey which arise principally from the fact that the sample only includes employees who are on Pay As You Earn tax schemes, but also because of differential response rates by size of business and region.
Child Benefit
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review (a) the procedures for transferring entitlement to child benefit to a surviving patient on the death of the parent with care and (b) the case of Mr. Roger Grey, a constituent. [121447]
Dawn Primarolo: Where a child benefit claimant dies and their partner wants to claim child benefit instead, he or she needs to make a new claim. They have up to three months to do this and not suffer a break in their right to payment. The Inland Revenue aims to do all it can, in such cases, to ensure claims are processed as quickly as possible and to maintain continuity of payment.
I cannot comment on the specific case you mention but I can assure you that the Inland Revenue is continuing to look at how to improve the service provided to customers in this situation.
Child Tax Credit
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what provision has been made by the Inland Revenue to deal with (a) changes in payments and (b) written and telephone queries in respect of child tax credit for term-time workers during the summer months. [122880]
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Dawn Primarolo: A term-time worker who has responsibility for one or more children will be able to claim child tax credit, which is paid direct by the Inland Revenue. Child tax credit is not related to work status.
Tax credit awards for 2003–04 are initially based on the family's current circumstances and their income for the 2001–02 tax year. They may be adjusted during the year for changes in income or circumstances. Final entitlement for the year will be based on circumstances during the year and the income for 2003–04, if that is lower than 2001–02 income or more than £,500 higher.
Child Trust Funds
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to make the first payments into child trust funds. [122132]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 30 June 2003]: As stated in the Budget, entitlement to the child trust fund will be backdated to include children born from September 2002. We expect child trust fund accounts to be available by 2005.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish further details of his proposed child trust funds. [122133]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 30 June 2003]: Full proposals for the child trust fund will be published later in the summer.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 22 May 2003 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms J. Knowles. [122874]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue replied on behalf of the Chancellor on 20 June 2003. The Tax Credit Office aims to reply to 80 per cent. of complaints within 15 working days and will measure their performance and report against that aim in due course.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff (a) have been and (b) will be transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions to the Treasury as a result of the introductions of the various tax credits. [121219]
Dawn Primarolo: There have been no transfers of staff from the DWP to the Treasury (or Inland Revenue) as a direct result of the introduction of the child and working tax credits and none are planned. The Inland Revenue's Annual Report to 31 March 2000 (CM 5029) shows—at page 33—that the equivalent of around 3,700 full time staff were transferred from the Benefits Agency to the Inland Revenue when WFTC/DPTC were introduced in October 1999.
Responsibility for administering the child and working tax credits rests with Inland Revenue. The DWP will continue to deliver a one-stop system of support for working age customers, including transacting their tax credits business.
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Disabled People
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people (a) in the UK, (b) in the UK workforce and (c) of working age are classified as having a disability; and what percentage of the total this figure represents in each case. [122644]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jenkins, dated 2 July 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people with disabilities. (122644)
- The attached table gives information from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), for the three month period ending February 2003, for disabled people of working age in total and for those in employment. Comparable information is not available for people younger or older than the working age group.
- The definition of 'disabled' includes those who have a current disability covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, or a work-limiting disability, or both.
| December 2002 toFebruary 2003 | Total (thousand) | Disabled (thousand) | Disabled as percentage of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| All of working age | 37,152 | 7,187 | 19.3 |
| of which: | |||
| In employment | 27,695 | 3,517 | 12.7 |
(2) People with a disability covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, or a work-limiting disability, or both.
(3) Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
Note:
These LFS estimates have not been interim-adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey.
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