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5 Nov 2003 : Column 650W—continued
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) total and (b) average liability for stamp duty land tax after 1 December for farm business tenancies; and if he will make a statement. [135604]
Ruth Kelly: I regret that this information is not available.
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Tax Credits
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people living in York have received each tax credit in each year since each was introduced. [135950]
John Healey: The numbers of families receiving the Working Families' and Disabled Person's Tax Credits in each local authority and constituency in each quarter between May 2001 and November 2002 are shown in "Working Families' and Disabled Person's Tax Credit Statistics. Geographical analyses". Estimates, based on a sample of cases, of the numbers receiving the Child and Working Tax Credits in each local authority and constituency at July 2003 are shown in "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Geographical analyses". These documents can be found on the Inland Revenue website, at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.
No corresponding estimates are available for the Children's Tax Credit.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated annual cost is of administering (a) child and (b) working tax credit. [136150]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General gave my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 30W.
VAT
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Exchequer proceeds were in the last financial year of charging value-added tax on cycle helmets. [136427]
John Healey: From 1 April 2001, the Government removed VAT from adult cycle helmets. Children's cycle helmets have never been subject to VAT.
Unemployment (Scotland)
John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were unemployed in (a) the Edinburgh West parliamentary constituency, (b) the City of Edinburgh local authority area and (c) Scotland in each year between 1985 and 1995. [136624]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. John Barrett, dated 5 November 2003:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the number of people unemployed in (a) the Edinburgh West parliamentary constituency, (b) the City of Edinburgh local authority area and (c) Scotland in each year between 1985 and 1995. I am replying in his absence. (136624)
- The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definition. However, the data for the years requested are not available. ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA) or previous unemployment benefits for local areas including Parliamentary Constituencies. Data are not fully comparable over time.
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- The table gives the average number of claimants each year from 1985 to 1995 in the Edinburgh West Parliamentary Constituency, City of Edinburgh Local Authority and in Scotland. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.
| Edinburgh West parliamentary constituency(4) | City of Edinburgh local authority | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 2,473 | 26,976 | 352,967 |
| 1986 | 2,574 | 28,112 | 360,201 |
| 1987 | 2,415 | 27,492 | 345,766 |
| 1988 | 2,012 | 23,542 | 293,598 |
| 1989 | 1,484 | 18,222 | 234,690 |
| 1990 | 1,353 | 15,708 | 202,518 |
| 1991 | 1,720 | 18,017 | 220,217 |
| 1992 | 2,039 | 20,389 | 241,031 |
| 1993 | 2,101 | 20,933 | 246,420 |
| 1994 | 1,991 | 19,606 | 231,465 |
| 1995 | 1,721 | 17,423 | 203,494 |
(4) Based on the 1981 Parliamentary Constituency wards.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Afghanistan
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when funds provided by his Department for landmine clearance in Afghanistan in 2003 were made available to de-mining teams there; what role the UN is playing in adminstering these funds; and when de-mining personnel in Afghanistan funded by his Department were first paid for this work in 2003. [135845]
Hilary Benn: In 2003 The Department For International Development has provided £2.3 million to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for mine and unexploded ordnance clearance in Afghanistan. This has provided additional support to the on-going activities of UNMAS in Afghanistan allowing an increase in the number of deployed mine clearance teams from 94 to 134 and an increase in the number of mine action personnel to over 8,000. DFID does not directly fund humanitarian demining personnel in Afghanistan.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on attacks on de-mining teams in Afghanistan. [135846]
Hilary Benn: Attacks on demining teams took place in March and April this year on the Kabul to Kandahar road. Since June 2003 the Ministry of Interior has provided four hundred guards to protect teams working on mine clearance and the reconstruction of the road between Kabul and Kandahar. As a result the number of attacks have decreased.
Aral Sea
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money (a) his Department and (b) other Departments of the Government (i) have pledged and (ii) provided to the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFSAS) since its inception; and if he will make a statement. [136311]
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Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Governments of Central Asia established the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) in the early nineties; an interstate mechanism for developing and centrally funding regional environmental and research activity aimed at improving the environmental situation in the Aral Sea region. Although the established mechanism provides for an operational framework to generate international assistance, in practice the IFAS has failed to become a functioning institution with a strong regional environmental remit. The failure is attributed to a number of factors but chiefly by the general lack of enthusiasm by the governments in the region to cooperate on practical issues.
A $12 million Water and Environmental Management Project financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), managed by an Executing Agency of IFAS, has a component to develop longer term, sustainable regional and national water management strategies; to replace the current system of annual ad hoc water allocation and distribution arrangements which is slowly breaking down. This strategy will help to develop strategic choices at the river basin level such as water allocation between and within the five states, cost sharing for operations, maintenance, rehabilitation and improvement of the existing infrastructure. The UK contributes to the GEF and last year DFID provided an additional contribution of £15 million to the third replenishment.
Departmental Energy Use
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) electricity and (b) other energy his Department has used in each year since 1997 (i) in total and (ii) per square metre; what the projected use is for each of the following years for which forecasts are made; what plans he has to reduce usage; and if he will make a statement. [135056]
Hilary Benn: For information on how much electricity and other energy DFID has used in each year since 1997 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Bradshaw) on 4 November 2003, Official Report, column 403W.
Forecasts of future consumption are still in the process of being developed. We have occupied our 1 Palace Street building for less than two years and a reliable baseline is only now emerging. Similarly, our East Kilbride office is undergoing extensive refurbishment and extension that will completely alter the energy consumption picture there, and our subsidiary London office is being vacated in 2004 so is excluded from future predictions. However the Department's aim is to reduce its energy consumption in accordance with Government targets, and to this end the London and East Kilbride refurbishments include such features as energy-efficient boilers, low-energy light bulbs and tubes, and, where appropriate, movement sensors instead of light switches to ensure that lights are not left on unnecessarily in unoccupied rooms. The offices have also had their computer monitors replaced throughout with low-energy flat screens. In addition, the London office electricity supply has been 100 per cent. from renewable sources since July 2002, while from this month the new supply contract for East Kilbride is
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10 per cent. renewable (the maximum available there). Also at East Kilbride, a feasibility study for an on-site wind turbine is currently under way. The staff Green Awareness programme includes an energy section and a computer switch-off campaign backed up by monthly monitoring and feedback.
DFID is committed to the Government's Sustainable Development Framework and Targets, which include an Energy component, and is developing an Environmental Management System based on ISO 14001 in order to deliver these. Building management systems incorporate energy reduction elements; consumption is monitored monthly and any undue increases investigated.
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