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28 Oct 2003 : Column 212W—continued

Football Clubs

Mr. Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which premier league and football league clubs have reached agreement with Customs and Excise over the last five years to pay off debts of less than their full value; and what the nature was of the agreement in each case. [135085]

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise are statutorily debarred from disclosing information relating to the tax affairs of individuals and of public and private sector bodies. Exemption 15 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies.

Homebuy Scheme (Teachers)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances equity loans under the Key Teacher Homebuy Scheme will be treated as a taxable benefit. [134602]

Dawn Primarolo: A loan to a teacher, as to any employee, will be a taxable benefit if it is on beneficial terms and made, or arranged, guaranteed or facilitated in any way, by the employer.

Ports of Entry (Controls)

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce container and goods vehicles scanning to detect illegal entry of (a) persons and (b) goods at ports of entry. [134117]

John Healey: Mobile freight scanners were introduced by HM Customs and Excise in a phased roll-out between November 2000 and April 2003 for the detection of smuggled goods. There are currently 13 Customs scanners deployed at ports around the country.

The UK Immigration Service (UKIS) currently operates a Gamma Scanner at the port of Dover for the detection of clandestine entrants. The scanner is deployed jointly with Customs and is capable of finding clandestine entrants and goods.

28 Oct 2003 : Column 213W

A second gamma scanner, owned by UKIS, was loaned to the Belgian Federal Maritime Police in August 2003. It is operated jointly by the Belgian Federal Police and the UK Immigration Service at Zeebrugge and Ostende, and on the approach routes to both ports.

Royal Forest of Dean College

Diana Organ: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Speedwell building at the Royal Forest of Dean College is classified as a charity annex in respect of VAT; and whether its usage qualifies it for zero-rating for VAT. [134200]

John Healey: Annexes to buildings constructed by charities for non-business use can be zero-rated in certain circumstances.

I understand that Customs and Excise are currently discussing the VAT treatment of the Speedwell building with the Royal Forest of Dean College.

Second World War Debt

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much debt has yet to be repaid to the US by the UK Government in settlement of military equipment provision during World War II. [134817]

Ruth Kelly: The Supplementary Statements to the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund Accounts for 2001–02, presented to Parliament on 19 December 2002, provides the latest published data on these loans. As at 31 March 2002 principal of $289,985,203 (£203,641,294 at the exchange rate on that day) was outstanding on the loans provided by the United Sates Government in 1945. A further repayment of principal, amounting to US$66,381,002.61, was made at the end of December 2002, which reduced this figure.

28 Oct 2003 : Column 214W

The new figure for the principal amount outstanding as at 31 March 2003 will be published in the 2002–03 Accounts in December 2003.

Taxes

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the proportion of (a) income tax and (b) taxes paid by each income decile in 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [134277]

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

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Laws, dated 28 October 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for an estimate of the proportion of (a) income tax and (b) taxes paid by each income decile in 2002–03. (134277)

Estimates for 2002–03 are not yet available but the attached table is based on the analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2001–02" produced by the ONS and published on the National Statistics website on October 21st 2003. The analysis can be obtained from the House of Commons library or from the National Statistics website at http://www. statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. It includes measures of income inequality for the United Kingdom as a whole based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey.

The table shows estimates of the proportion of total tax paid by households in each income decile group where households are ranked by equivalised disposable income. Tax is defined as direct and indirect taxes. Equivalisation is a standard methodology that takes into account the size and composition of households and adjusts their incomes to recognise differing demands on resources.

The table also shows the equivalised disposable income decile points, which have been calculated separately for each year. For example, the 1st decile point is the income below which one tenth of all households are estimated to lie.

Proportion of taxes paid by decile groups of ALL households, 2001–02

	Decile groups of all households ranked by equivalised disposable income
	Bottom	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	Top
Decile points (equivalised £)		8,214	10,356	12,361	14,670	17,179	19,910	23,691	28,469	37,095
	Proportions of taxes (Percentage)
Income tax	1	1	2	3	5	7	10	13	18	40
All taxes (direct and indirect)	4	4	4	6	7	9	11	13	16	26

Source:

Office for National Statistics, based on the analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2001–02'.

VAT

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to raise rates of value added tax. [134417]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General gave on 15 September 2003, Official Report, column 595W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan)

WORK AND PENSIONS

Hospital-acquired Infections

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many investigations by the Health and Safety Executive there have been into infections in NHS hospitals in each of the past five years. [132307]

Mr. Browne: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has investigated the following numbers of reportable infections to staff in NHS hospitals over the last five years:

1998–99—8


1999–2000—10


2000–01—10


2001–02—3


2002–03—7.

28 Oct 2003 : Column 215W

With very few exceptions, infections to patients do not have to be reported to HSE. HSE has investigated some such cases, for example as a result of complaints or outbreaks affecting both staff and patients. The number of these investigations is not readily obtainable, but is likely to be fewer than the above figures.

National Insurance

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the Exchequer is of the granting of automatic national insurance contribution credits to those aged between 60 and 65 years. [133534]

Mr. Pond: These credits were introduced in 1983 to remove the need for many men in the 60 to 65 age-group, whose occupational retirement age was 60, to register as unemployed solely in order to obtain unemployment credits. These automatic credits effectively replaced unemployment credits for the majority of these men. We are unable to estimate the cost because not all people who are awarded these credits need them for benefit purposes.

Bechtel

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list contracts for consultancy or work carried out by Bechtel in each year since 1997 stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [133897]

Mr. Browne [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 and has had no contracts with Bechtel.

Benefit Payments

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what percentage of (a) child benefit recipients and (b) pensioners have chosen to receive their payments into (i) a normal bank or building society account, (ii) a basic bank account and (iii) a Post Office card account; [134953]

(2) how many (a) pensioners and (b) child benefit recipients have been contacted regarding the new direct payment arrangements; how many are yet to be contacted; and what deadline the Government have set for contacting these recipients. [135000]

Mr. Pond: Key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment are available in the House of Commons Library, updated every four weeks. It should be noted that for statistical purposes, we cannot differentiate between a current bank account and a basic bank account.

The huge number of customers involved in the conversion process, some 13 million, means that the changes are being phased in over a two-year period.

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