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8 Dec 2003 : Column 331W—continued

Preventive Health Strategies

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much per head of population has been spent by the Government on preventive health strategies in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [140497]

Mr. Boateng: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Public Health gave to him on 4 December 2003 (Official Report, column 182W).

8 Dec 2003 : Column 332W

Aid and Trade Conference

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those invited to the conference the Treasury is hosting in February 2004 to discuss aid and trade. [142724]

John Healey: The Treasury is delighted to be hosting a conference on behalf of Lord Carey of Clifton and Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach to discuss issues surrounding trade and aid. The conference is being organised by Christian Responsibility in Public Affairs whose

8 Dec 2003 : Column 333W

invitees will include representatives from faith groups, media, business, government, and non-governmental organisations from across the UK.

Air Passenger Duty

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's policy is on (a) reducing and (b) providing an exemption from air passenger duty for (i) Merseyside and (ii) Objective 1 areas. [142180]

John Healey: The Government have no such plans.

Art Acquisition

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has spent on the acquisition of works of art in each year since 1997, broken down by amounts spent on (a) paintings and (b) sculpture; what the single most expensive piece of art purchased by his Department since 1997 was; how much it cost; and what the total revenue raised by his Department through sales of its works of art has been since 1997. [142370]

Ruth Kelly: The amount spent by the Treasury is as follows.

	£
1997–98 to 2001–02	nil
2002–03	46,534
2003–04	41,505

This expenditure relates to paintings, prints and photography for the Treasury's refurbished building, occupied in the summer of 2002. The most expensive pieces were two items at £3,500 each; the next most expensive was £525. No works of sculpture have been acquired. No departmental-owned works of art have been sold during this period.

Census (2001)

Mr. Collins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the results of the 2001 census at parish level; and if he will make a statement. [142330]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Collins, dated 8 December 2003:

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As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking when the results of the 2001 Census at parish level will be published. (142330)
The results of the 2001 Census for parishes in England and communities in Wales form part of the series of reports to Parliament. Although the remaining release timetable is currently under review, it is planned to release the parish results in March 2004.
Results for many parishes can already be derived using the results for small areas published in August-September 2003, together with information also available from the Office for National Statistics on how these small areas relate to parishes.

Council Tax

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the proportion of income represented by net payments of council tax after benefits in each income quintile from 1996–97. [142419]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

National Statistician and Registrar General

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jim Cousins dated 8 December 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the proportion of income represented by net payments of council tax after benefits in each income quintile group from 1996–97 onwards. (142419)

Estimates in the following table are produced from the Office for National Statistics' analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income" published on the National Statistics website on October 21st 2003 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis includes measures of income inequality for the United Kingdom as a whole based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey. This is a sample survey covering about 7,500 households in the UK and sample sizes are only sufficient to give approximate estimates. In particular, results for the lowest quintile are less reliable than for others because of greater variability. The Family Resources Survey would have been an alternative source with a larger sample size, but the taxes and benefits analysis has been used for consistency with answers to other recent parliamentary questions.

The table shows, from 1996–97 to 2001–02, the net council tax paid by all households in Great Britain as a percentage of gross income and for each income quintile group where households are ranked by equivalised disposable income. Council tax is not paid in Northern Ireland. 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 for GB. For example, the 1st quintile boundary is the income level below which one fifth of those households are estimated to lie.

Net council tax paid as a percentage of gross income by equlvalised disposable income quintile, 1996–97 to 2001–02: Great Britain

	1996–97		1997–98		1998–99
Quintile	Income boundary (£ per year)	Net council tax as % of gross income	Income boundary(48) (£ per year)	Net council tax as % of gross income	Income boundary (£ per year)	Net council tax as % of gross income
Bottom		3.2		3.3		3.9
	8,059		8,564		8,832
2nd		2.8		2.9		3.1
	11,393		11,936		12,582
3rd		2.4		Z5		2.6
	15,619		16,442		17,281
4th		2.0		2.0		2.1
	22,063		23,588		24,384
Top		1.3		1.4		1.4
Average for all households		1.9		2.0		2.1

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		1999–2000			2000–01			2001–02
Quintile	Income boundary(48)(£ per year)	Net council tax as % of gross income	Income boundary(48)(£ per year)	Net council tax as % of gross income	Income boundary(48)(£ per year)	Net council tax as % of gross income
Bottom		4.2		4.2		4.8
	9,193		9,821		10,397
2nd		3.4		3.3		3.3
	13,221		13,893		14,717
3rd		2.7		2.1		2.8
	18,324		19,134		20,042
4th		2.2		2.2		2.3
	26,295		27,296		28,596
Top		1.4		1.5		1.4
Average for all households		2.2		2.2		2.2

⁽⁴⁸⁾ Boundary point between equivalised disposable income quantities

Source:

Office for national Statistics, based on the analysis 'The effect of taxes and benefits on household income', published on the ONS website and in Economic Trends.

Customs (Shoreham Harbour)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future of the HM Customs Unit based at Shoreham Harbour. [141094]

John Healey: UK criminality is becoming ever more sophisticated and organised. To meet these threats Customs need to change tactics and respond by operating more flexibly and organising and targeting their law enforcement activity to respond to the greatest risks.

The activities carried out by Customs staff based in Shoreham are no longer concentrated in and around the locality. More often the operational teams will be working together with colleagues from larger principal offices dealing with criminals who operate on a UK-wide scale. Customs have therefore outlined proposals to consider bringing together posts from Shoreham with other Law Enforcement staff in larger centralised locations by 2006.

I am informed that discussions with local staff affected by these proposals and with the departmental trade union will take place before any final decisions are taken.

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