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6 Nov 2003 : Column 802W—continued
Oil and Gas Industry
Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the draft EU constitution on the Treasury's powers to set the fiscal regime for the exploitation of oil and gas reserves from the UK continental shelf. [R] [135325]
Dawn Primarolo: Any changes to the provisions of the existing EU Treaties, including in relation to energy matters, require the unanimous agreement of all member states. The Government have made it clear in their White Paper, "The British Approach to the European Union Inter-governmental Conference 2003", that they will insist that tax matters continue to be decided by unanimity.
Pensions
Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates the cost would be in this financial year to the Treasury of exempting the state retirement pension from income tax. [136795]
Dawn Primarolo: The cost of exempting the state retirement pension for the purposes of income tax is £4.6 billion in 2003–04.
This estimate was based on the 2000–01 Survey of Personal Incomes and is consistent with the Budget 2003 forecasts.
Property Sales (Tax)
John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual revenue that would be raised from a 40 per cent. tax rate on profits from the sale of property. [136622]
6 Nov 2003 : Column 803W
Dawn Primarolo: Reliable estimates of the yield from imposing capital gains tax at 40 per cent. on profits from the sale of property are only available at disproportionate cost.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much, as a percentage of GDP, has been spent on (a) health, (b) education and (c) defence in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) each other member of the EU in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [136521]
Ruth Kelly: Financial year figures for UK expenditure on health, education and defence are as follows:
| 1998–99 outturn | 1999–2000 outturn | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2003–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 5.1 |
| Health | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.3 |
| Defence | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
Source:
Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2003 (Cm 5901)
Figures for EU member states are shown in the tables as follows. These are on a calendar year basis.
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 6.7 |
| DK | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| DE | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.3 | — |
| GR | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 4.1 | — |
| ES | — | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.3 | — |
| FR | 7.8 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.9 | — |
| IE | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 6.3 | — |
| IT | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 6.3 | — |
| LU | 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 5.0 |
| NL | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 5.0 |
| AT | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 5.8 | — |
| PT | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.8 | — |
| FI | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 6.0 | — |
| SE | 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 6.6 | — |
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.4 |
| DK | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| DE | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 | — |
| GR | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.8 | — |
| ES | — | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.3 | — |
| FR | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.0 | — |
| IE | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | — |
| IT | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | — |
| LU | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 5.1 |
| NL | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| AT | 6.0 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | — |
| PT | 6.7 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.9 | — |
| FI | 6.5 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.4 | — |
| SE | 7.4 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 7.7 | — |
6 Nov 2003 : Column 804W
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 |
| DK | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
| DE | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | — |
| GR | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.2 | — |
| ES | — | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | — |
| FR | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.4 | — |
| IE | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | — |
| IT | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | — |
| LU | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| NL | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| AT | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | — |
| PT | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 | — |
| Fl | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — |
| SE | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.2 | — |
Source:
Eurostat
Revenue Recovery
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 14 October 2003, Official Report, column 139W, on the Inland Revenue, if he will break down the £1.09 million by size of company from which recovery was made. [136881]
Dawn Primarolo: All of the transfer pricing cases involving recovery by Revenue Policy International in the year 2000 involved substantial multinational companies.
Tax Credits
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many nil awards have been made in respect of applications for (a) child and (b) working tax credit. [136149]
Ruth Kelly: Details of families who have child and working tax credit awards as at quarterly reference dates are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Quarterly Statistics". This appears on the Inland Revenue website at: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm
John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 22 October 2003, Official Report, column 620W, on tax credits, what plans he has to make estimates of take-up of (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit broken down by (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency. [136358]
Dawn Primarolo: As I announced on 31 October, 5.9 million families are now receiving benefits through new tax credits. Estimating take-up will only be possible when the Family Resources Survey for 2003–04 becomes available.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the average waiting time for an NHS tax credit exemptions certificate was in the last year for which figures are available; [136486]
- (2) what the procedure is for the Inland Revenue to provide details to the exemptions office of those people who are eligible for an NHS tax credit exemptions certificate; [136487]
6 Nov 2003 : Column 805W
(3) how many people were eligible for an NHS tax credit exemptions certificate in the last year for which figures are available; and how many are still waiting to receive certificates. [136488]
Dawn Primarolo: Claims for tax credits are processed as quickly as possible. Claims for which no further information is required, and which pass the various pre award checks, go through the stages of calculating the award quickly and will normally be in payment within a few days. Once an award has been made, the Inland Revenue identify the families who are entitled to a health costs exemption certificate and send the data to the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) to issue the certificates on behalf of the Department of Health. On receipt of the data the PPA processes tax credit exception claims and issues the certificate within 30 days of valid data being received. Data are sent monthly from the IR to the PPA.
Since the new tax credits were introduced in April 2003, the PPA has issued over 1.7 million certificates for tax credit claims. A certificate is issued on an individual basis and a couple would therefore receive one each.
The latest batch of data was received by the PPA on 24 October 2003 and issue of the associated certificates will be completed by 24 November 2003.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Departmental Publications
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many copies of his Department's publications for people who have been bereaved were printed in 2002–03. [135484]
6 Nov 2003 : Column 806W
Mr. Pond [holding answer 3 November 2003]: The Department produces a number of leaflets for people who have been bereaved. Around 1,300,000 copies of these leaflets were printed during 2002–03. Information on bereavement benefits is also included in general benefit leaflets.
Leaflets giving details of bereavement benefits are available from social security offices, post offices, undertakers, registrars and some doctor's surgeries.
Pensions
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland are in receipt of occupational pensions. [134589]
Malcolm Wicks: In the financial year 2001–02, an estimated 525,000 people were in receipt of occupational pensions in Scotland; this compares with 5,775,000 people in receipt of occupational pensions in the United Kingdom. A higher percentage of the population are in receipt of occupational pensions in Scotland than in the United Kingdom as a whole (9.1 per cent. in Scotland and 8.6 per cent. in the UK as a whole).
Source: Estimates from Family Resources Survey 2001–02.
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is set out in the following table:
| Gross cost | Net cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated gross cost and the cost net of savings on means-tested benefits and increased income tax revenues of introducing age additions to the basic state pension of £10 per week at the age of 75 from April 2004. | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| Estimated gross cost and the cost net of savings on means-tested benefits and increased income tax revenues of introducing age additions to the basic state pension of £15 per week at the age of 80 from April 2004. | 1.9 | 1.2 |
Notes:
1. Figures are in 2003–04 price terms and are rounded to the nearest £100 million.
2. Gross costs are estimated by the Government Actuary's Department.
3. Income-related benefit offsets are calculated using the DWP policy simulation model.
4. Income tax revenue increases calculated by the Inland Revenue using the 2000–01 Survey of Personal Incomes and April 2003 Budget forecasts.
5. The two options have been costed separately.
6. The age addition increases are assumed to be flat-rate increases and are paid in full to all pensioners of applicable age.
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