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PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his statement of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 148, what subsequent communication with the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee he has had in respect of disquiet over the 45-minute claim made by members of the Defence Intelligence staff prior to the final publication of the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, of September 2002; and whether the Defence Intelligence staff brought to his attention the disquiet after he requested that if people had any evidence on the matter they should produce it. [132490]

The Prime Minister: None.

This matter was considered by the Intelligence and Security Committee in its report on "Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction—Intelligence and Assessments" (Cm 5972), copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House. It has also been covered in both written and oral evidence to the Hutton Inquiry which has been published on its website at www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk.

TREASURY

Capital Gains Tax

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to impose capital gains tax on all sales of domestic houses. [134415]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have no such plans.

Family Income

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the net income

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of a family with two children (a) aged 20 in full time education and (b) aged 12 with a gross income of (i) £13,000, (ii) £13,500, (iii) £14,000, (iv) £14,500, (v) £15,000, (vi) £15,500 and (vii) £16,000 a year; and what assessment he has made of the sources of that net income. [134061]

Dawn Primarolo: The general definition of a child, as given in the Households Below Average Income publication, is an individual aged under 16 or an unmarried 16 to 18-year-old on a course up to and including 'A' level standard. On this basis a 20-year-old in full time education is treated as independent in the tax and benefits system.

Given annual gross earnings, a single full-time earner family with a dependent child aged 12 will have an annual net household income in 2003–04 that is tabulated as follows:

Grossearnings	Income tax	National insurance	Child benefit	Working tax credit	Child tax credit	Net income
13,000	1,610	921	835	707	1,980	13,992
13,500	1,720	976	835	523	1,980	14,142
14,000	1,830	1,031	835	339	1,980	14,293
14,500	1,940	1,086	835	155	1,980	14,444
15,000	2,050	1,141	835	0	1,951	14,595
15,500	2,160	1,196	835	0	1,767	14,747
16,000	2,270	1,251	835	0	1,583	14,898

Housing Supply

Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the progress of the Barker review of the issues affecting housing supply in the UK; what recent discussions he has had with Kate Barker; when he expects to receive the (a) interim report and (b) final report; and if he will publish (i) the reports and (ii) all the inquiry findings. [134393]

Ruth Kelly: The Barker review was commissioned by the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister as an independent review. As set out in its terms of reference, the review has undertaken to deliver its interim report this autumn, around the time of the pre-Budget report. The final report will be delivered in spring 2004. Both reports will be publicly available, and make clear the findings of the review.

During the course of the review, Kate Barker has undertaken a range of meetings with interested parties from both the public and private sector, including the Chancellor and the Deputy Prime Minister. The review also invited submissions from relevant organisations and has received over 120 responses. These responses, and the review's terms of reference, are available online at www.barkerreview.org.uk.

Insurance and Corporation Taxes Act

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue has been generated for the Inland Revenue by sections 660A to 669 of the Insurance and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 in each year since 1997; and what forecasts he has made of future revenue generation. [133857]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available as the amounts charged by these sections of the 1988 Act are not reported separately.

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Mortgages (Fixed Rate)

Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with Professor David Miles regarding his review of the fixed rate mortgages market in the UK; if he will make a statement on the progress of the review; when he expects to receive the interim report; when he expects to receive the final report; and if he will publish them. [134391]

Ruth Kelly: The Chancellor commissioned Professor David Miles to carry out an independent review into the UK mortgage market. We expect the interim report to be delivered around the time of the pre-Budget report and the final report to be delivered by Budget 2004.

Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make public the findings of the Miles review of the fixed rate mortgages market in the UK. [134392]

Ruth Kelly: Yes.

Inland Revenue (Customer Services)

Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many and what percentage of telephone calls to Inland Revenue contact centres which were not classed as engaged or abandoned were answered within 20 seconds in each of the last 12 months; [126382]

(2) how many and what percentage of attempted telephone calls to Inland Revenue contact centres reached an engaged tone in each of the last 12 months; [126383]

(3) how many and what percentage of telephone calls to Inland Revenue contact centres were abandoned in each of the last 12 months. [126384]

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Dawn Primarolo: The tables give figures for the 12 months to August 2003, for calls attempted, received, handled, abandoned and receiving the engaged tone for all Inland Revenue contact centres in Great Britain, including those dealing with calls concerning the child and working tax credits, WFTC, DPTC, taxes and national insurance. They also give figures for the estimated number of callers attempting those calls. They do not include the many hundreds of thousands of calls handled by the Northern Ireland contact centres, the child benefit centre and the Inland Revenue's network of local offices, using a range of telephony services.

Tables 1 and 2 cover the period August 2002– February 2003 and describes what is one of the country's top 10 call centre operations in broadly steady state, handling around 2 million calls per month. The number of attempted calls not being handled is in line with industry standards when related to the number of callers attempting to make those calls and the sharp peaks of activity which underlie those numbers.

Table 1Thousands

	Number ofcall attempts	Number ofcallers(1)
August 2002	5,683	1,639
September 2002	5,881	1,816
October 2002	4,413	1,793
November 2002	3,858	1,922
December 2002	3,064	1,316
January 2003	7,017	2,780
February 2003	4,812	2,408

⁽¹⁾ The number of separate telephone numbers from which call attempts were received on each day, summed over the month.

Table 2Number of calls (thousands)

	Received(2)	Handled within20 seconds(3)	Handled in more than 20 seconds	Reachingengaged tone	Abandoned(4)
August 2002	1,801	1,167	545	3,873	90
September 2002	1,935	1,117	727	3,928	90
October 2002	1,893	1,271	550	2,494	71
November 2002	2,068	1,509	464	1,762	95
December 2002	1,355	949	342	1,689	64
January 2003	3,041	1,742	1,047	3,900	252
February 2003	2,785	1,570	862	1,557	352

⁽²⁾ Where the caller selected an option for the call steering menu and was put in a queue to speak to an adviser.

⁽³⁾ Where the caller selected an option from the call steering menu, was put in a queue to speak to an adviser, and spoke to an adviser within 20 seconds of being put in that queue. Estimated for calls on the disabled person's tax credits helplines.

⁽⁴⁾ Where the caller selected an option from the call steering menu and was put in a queue to speak to an adviser but the call was terminated before the caller spoke to an adviser.

Tables 3 and 4, which cover March to August 2003, reflect a period where the Inland Revenue's contact centres dealing with new tax credits inquiries experienced call volumes so large that no call centre could have coped, notwithstanding the measures taken to increase capacity to deal with demand. Comparing the number of calls attempted each month with the number of callers, shows, particularly in April-June, a clear pattern of many callers making multiple calls, often using automatic redial equipment. During the same period, due to slow running of the IT system, there were times when calls took longer to handle, thus making it more difficult for other callers to get through.

Table 3Thousands

	Number ofcall attempts	Number ofcallers(5)
March 2003	10,007	4,005
April 2003	22,600	5,465
May 2003	16,220	4,468
June 2003	16,398	3,465
July 2003	9,195	2,526
August 2003	5,215	2,099

⁽⁵⁾ The number of separate telephone numbers from which call attempts were received on each day, summed over the month.

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Table 4Number of calls (thousands)

	Received(6)	Handled within20 seconds(7)	Handled in more than 20 seconds	Reachingengaged tone	Abandoned(8)
March 2003	4,308	1,600	1,702	1,435	1,005
April 2003	4,043	1,286	1,827	5,666	930
May 2003	2,969	1,138	1,386	3,525	445
June 2003	1,652	716	834	1,493	101
July 2003	2,192	1,135	915	2,880	143
August 2003	2,192	1,373	692	2,710	126

⁽⁶⁾ Where the caller selected an option for the call steering menu and was put in a queue to speak to an adviser.

⁽⁷⁾ Where the caller selected an option from the call steering menu, was put in a queue to speak to an adviser, and spoke to an adviser within 20 seconds of being put in that queue. Estimated for calls on the disabled person's tax credits helplines.

⁽⁸⁾ Where the caller selected an option from the call steering menu and was put in a queue to speak to an adviser but the call was terminated before the caller spoke to an adviser.

The figures for July and particularly August—when the number of calls handled only falls just short of the number of callers attempting to get in touch with the Revenue—show a steady return towards steady state with the Revenue's call centre operations much better supported by the IT system.

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