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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 30 October 2003
TREASURY
Administration Costs
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the administration costs budget of the Treasury in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [135302]
Ruth Kelly: The Treasury's administration costs expenditure is set out in successive Departmental Reports (most recently for 2003, Cm 2922) and Resource Accounts (most recently for 2002–03, HC 999).
Arms Embargo (Rwanda)
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Customs and Excise has responded to the requests by the United Nations Security Council for information on violations of arms embargoes in Rwanda by UK companies discussed in the United Nations Security Council document, "Third Report of the International Commission of Inquiry (Rwanda)", (S/1997/1010). [135132]
John Healey: I am advised that Customs investigators had met with officials from the International Commission of Inquiry (Rwanda) on 10 January 1996 to discuss Customs investigations and had also responded to a request from the UN International Tribunal on 21 March 1996. The Third Report of the Commission was published on 1 November 1996.
There had been some earlier confusion over letters from the Commission which were never received by Customs, but the Commission accepted that the requests in those two letters had been answered in the course of the above meeting.
HM Customs and Excise responded on 14 November 1996 to the Commission's requests for information about Customs investigations into arms supplies to Rwanda and exiled Rwandans.
I understand that Commission officials expressed complete satisfaction with the co-operation received from the UK Government of the day.
Business Taxation
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the aggregate charge in taxation paid by UK business was from 1997 to 2002. [134867]
Ruth Kelly: Figures on receipts from individual taxes are available in tables 2.1A to 2.1E in Financial Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, which is available in the Library of the House.
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It is not possible to apportion receipts between business taxpayers and others. This is due to a number of taxes (for example fuel duty) being paid by both business and individuals, and because markets adjust to shift the incidence of taxation throughout the economy.
Council Tax
Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much council tax was paid as a proportion of gross incomes for households in each income quintile group in London for the latest year for which data is available. [135162]
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 Hughes, dated 30 October 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how much council tax was paid as a proportion of gross incomes for households in each income quintile group in London for the latest year for which data is available. (135162)
- Estimates in the following table are produced from the Office for National Statistics' analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income" 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, for 2001–02, the average net council tax paid for all households in London and for each income quintile group where households are ranked by equivalised disposable income. 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 net council tax figures are gross council tax less reported council tax benefits and discounts. The table also shows the boundaries between equivalised disposable income quintiles, which have been calculated separately for London households. For example, the 1st quintile boundary is the income level below which one fifth of those households are estimated to lie. The results are subject to a degree of uncertainty due to increased sampling variability arising from small sample sizes.
| Quintile | Income boundary(1) (£) | Net counciltax (£) | Net council tax as percentage of gross income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom | 443 | 4.6 | |
| 11,432 | |||
| 2nd | 567 | 3.1 | |
| 17,512 | |||
| 3rd | 746 | 2.2 | |
| 25,609 | |||
| 4th | 790 | 1.7 | |
| 37,913 | |||
| Top | 886 | 1.0 | |
| All households | 686 | 1.7 |
(1) Boundary point between equivalised disposable income quintiles
Source:
Office for National Statistics, based on the analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income', published on the ONS website.
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Correspondence
Mr. Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will answer the letter to him of 20 June from the hon. Member for Taunton concerning Mr. Ken Coles of Chelston about national insurance contributions. [135878]
Dawn Primarolo: There is no record of the hon. Member's letter having been received in the Treasury. However, a copy has been requested and a reply will be sent as soon as possible.
Debt Cancellation (Second World War)
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the cancellation of continuing debt incurred by the UK (a) during and (b) in the aftermath of the Second World War. [135255]
Ruth Kelly: No specific representations concerning the cancellation of the debt incurred by the UK as a result of the Second World War have been received in recent years. However successive Governments have undertaken to meet the obligations under the terms of the debt incurred by repaying the United States and Canadian Governments in full the amounts lent in 1945.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid to the United States in settlement of military equipment provision during World War II in each year since 1973. [134946]
Ruth Kelly: From 1973 to 2000, the UK made annual repayments of principal and interest of around US$153 million, made up of a US$138 million scheduled repayment of principal and interest plus US$15 million of interest on the six deferred payments, to the United States in respect of its Second World War Loans. In 2001 and 2002, the repayments were US$152 million and US$150 million respectively.
Employment Disincentives
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 6 October, Official Report, column 1087W, on employment disincentives, if he will make such an assessment. [135110]
Dawn Primarolo: Existing survey data would not provide sufficient information to make an assessment of the disincentive for those on low incomes to change jobs because of short-term cash flow problems. The creation of a new survey, or extension of an existing one, to generate this information would entail disproportionate cost and therefore the Government have no plans to make this assessment.
Euro
Mr. Mike O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 20 June, Official Report, column 458W, on the euro, if he will list the events attended by ministers to campaign for a pro-European consensus; which Government ministers were in attendance at these events; when each event took place; if he will list the events planned for ministers to campaign for a pro-European consensus; which Government ministers will be in attendance; and what were the dates of these events. [135349]
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Ruth Kelly: The Chancellor and other Ministers have held a variety of meetings to discuss the euro in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition, Treasury officials have held more than 150 meetings with opinion formers in Britain and Europe since the Chancellor's statement on 9 June.
Growth Rates
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list (a) the growth figures for (i) England and (ii) the north-west in each year since 1992, and (b) projected figures for future years. [134895]
Ruth Kelly: UK growth forecasts will be updated in the forthcoming Pre-Budget Report. The Government do not publish forecasts for England and the English regions. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not produce estimates of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for England and the nine English regions. However, the ONS does produce estimates of nominal Gross Value Added (GVA) for these regions, which can be found on its website (www.statistics.gov.uk).
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