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8 Sept 2003 : Column 93W—continued

TREASURY

Cancer (Gullet)

Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many patients were diagnosed with cancer of the gullet in (a) 2002, (b) 1998, (c) 1994, (d) 1990, (e) 1986 and (f) 1982. [127451]

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. Simon Burns, dated 8 September 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many patients were diagnosed with cancer of the gullet in (a) 2002, (b) 1998, (c) 1994, (d) 1990, (e) 1986 and (f) 1982. [127451].

Oesophageal cancer is commonly referred to as "cancer of the gullet". The numbers of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of cancer of the oesophagus in England for the years requested are given in the table below.

Figures for 2002 are not available. The latest published figures are for 1999, as shown in the table. The first release of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of cancer in England for 2000 will be published on the National Statistics website at the end of August 2003.

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Registrations of newly diagnosed cases for oesophageal⁽¹²⁾ cancer in England, persons, selected years

	(12)Malignant neoplasm of oesophagus
1982	3,924
1986	4,339
1990	4,981
1994	5,611
1998	5,730
1999	5,893

Note:

For the years 1991 to 1994, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision Code (ICD-9), code 150. For the years 1995 to 1999, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), code C15.

Source:

Office for National Statistics.

Pre-eclampsia

Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many babies (a) died and (b) were stillborn as a result of pre-eclampsia in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [127447]

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. Simon Burns, dated 8 September 2003:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on the number of babies that (a) died or (b) were stillborn as a result of pre-eclampsia, during the last twelve months for which figures are available. (127447)

In January 1986, with the introduction of a neonatal and stillbirth certificate in England and Wales, it is no longer possible to identify a single underlying cause of death, as equal weighting is given to the main conditions in the infant and the mother.

In England and Wales for 2001, 60 babies under the age of one and 123 stillbirths had a mention of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia on the death certificate, including Hemolysis anaemia, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelet count syndrome.

There were also 17 babies under the age of one and 37 stillbirths that had a mention of pregnancy induced hypertension which was not specified as eclampsia or pre-eclampsia.

Strokes

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from strokes and stroke-related diseases in each year between 1995 and 2002. [127700]

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

Letter from Len Cook to Chris Grayling, dated 8 September 2003:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many people died from strokes and stroke-related diseases in each year between 1995 and 2002. (127700)

I refer you to the answer given in Hansard on 17 July 2003, column 463W to Paul Burstow MP. This indicated that figures are to be found in the annual reference volumes "Mortality Statistics: Cause DH2" and provided an explanation of changes in the data series in 2001.The latest publication in this series contains figures for stroke for 2001 and is available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme health/Dh2 28/DH2No28.pdf.

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Aggregates Levy

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been raised from the aggregates levy in each region in the UK since the levy was introduced. [127212]

John Healey: Aggregate Levy revenue receipts and forecast revenues were published in Table C8 of this year's Financial Statement and Budget Report [HC 500]. These are provided for the UK as a whole and are not available by geographical region.

Mr. Mates: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much was raised by the aggregates levy on (a) virgin aggregate and (b) processed aggregate products in Northern Ireland in financial year 2002–03; and how much is forecast to be raised by the levy on each in Northern Ireland in each financial year from 2003–04 to 2006–07; [127740]

(2) what steps he has taken to monitor the environmental effects of the aggregates levy in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland; and what the results have been; [127741]

(3) when his officials last visited Northern Ireland to assess the impact of the aggregates levy on (a) the economy and (b) the environment in Northern Ireland. [127742]

John Healey: Data for revenue collected under the aggregates levy come from levy returns submitted by aggregates businesses and so do not include information on different types of aggregate exploited. These data are recorded for the UK as a whole and are not separately available for Northern Ireland. Revenue forecasts for the aggregates levy are also made for the UK as a whole, and not by region. Revenue raised by the aggregates levy in 2002–03 is published in Table 2.1D of Financial Statistics, June 2003, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Revenue forecasts for 2003–04 are given in Table C8 of this year's Financial Statement and Budge Report (HC 500).

Customs and Excise officials with policy and operational policy responsibility for the levy have visited Northern Ireland on a number of occasions to meet officials and industry representatives. The most recent meeting was in June and further meetings are planned.

As with all taxes, the Government continue to monitor the impact of the aggregates levy as part of the Budget process. We recently commissioned further independent research into the effects of the levy in Northern Ireland and this research is continuing. The Northern Ireland aggregates industry has welcomed this further research and is fully involved in discussion with those undertaking it. The findings will help to inform policy relating to the levy in Northern Ireland.

ASPIRE Programme

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the suppliers with whom Inland Revenue held discussions with regard to the Inland Revenue ASPIRE programme; whether bidders for the ASPIRE programme had been subject to an Inland Revenue compliance investigation in the previous three years;

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and what tax and interest recoveries had been made from the potential bidders for the ASPIRE programme. [125019]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue had discussions with a large number of potential suppliers in the early stages of the ASPIRE competition who expressed an interest in bidding for the contract. These bidders were reduced to a short-list of BT plc, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and EDS in July 2002. As part of the development of their bids these three suppliers formed consortia with the following:

BT plc are working with Computer Sciences Corporation and SchlumbergerSema.


Cap Gemini Ernst & Young are working with Fujitsu Services.


EDS are working with Accenture.

The Inland Revenue has had frequent discussions with all seven companies since the short-listed bidders were announced.

A provision in the ASPIRE Invitation to Tender (ITT) allowed the Inland Revenue to undertake a review of the tax affairs of the companies that responded to the ITT. These reports were used as a factor in the ASPIRE evaluation.

Census

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has commissioned into the effectiveness of current methods of research used to collect data for the United Kingdom's census; and if he will make a statement. [127405]

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. Stephen O'Brien, dated 8 September 2003:

As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking about research into the effectiveness of the Census. (127405)

Work is continuing within the Office for National Statistics (ONS), taking account of the evaluation of all aspects of the 2001 Census, to gain in particular, a better understanding of differences between the Census results and the previous mid-year population estimates. This research is wide ranging, including address-matching studies in Westminster and Manchester, a review of migration statistics and comparisons of census results with national and local administrative data sources.

ONS recently published 'A demographic statistics service for the 21st century', a wide ranging review of population statistics issues that set out the areas for development in the next decade.

More specific research into the future of the census is also underway, considering the modifications that could be made to a traditional census, taking account of the lessons from the 2001 Census and the potential of new technologies. Alternatives to the traditional census approach are also being explored including: a rolling census, covering successive sections of the population each year; a sample census, only covering a percentage of the population; producing statistics from existing person-based data held by government for administrative purposes; or some combination of these. The first phase of this research will result in recommendations being published in late 2003.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was in real terms of compiling data for the (a) 1981, (b) 1991 and (c) 2001 census. [127407]

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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. Stephen O'Brien, dated 8 September 2003:

As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the total cost was in real terms of compiling data for the (a) 1981, (b) 1991 and (c) 2001 Censuses (127407)

The cost for the 2001 Census in England and Wales, is £207m over the life of the project (1993–94 to 2005–06). This cost includes amounts in respect of initial planning, development, for the funding of major tests in 1997 and the conduct of the Census Rehearsal in 1999. Costs also include scheduled contract payments, recruitment and training of all the field staff, the publicity campaign and those incurred in making any final adjustments, prior to live running, to procedures and systems following the Rehearsal.

Compared to the previous Census in 1991, the 2001 Census incurred additional real costs to cope with increases in the number of households and the increased difficulty in contacting households in today's social conditions. There were also costs resulting from expanding the census outputs to meet more demanding user requirements. However, there were savings derived from the introduction of automation of many processes.

The 2001 Census included the processing of 100% of responses to all questions, which was a major user requirement. This was not a viable option for the 1981 and 1991 Censuses using the technology available at the time, and for a number of questions only a 10 per cent sample of forms from these Censuses were processed. The cost of the 2001 Census also included the Census Coverage Survey as a key part of the methodology. This was a validation exercise on a much larger scale than the small post-enumeration surveys carried out in previous Censuses.

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