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15 Jan 2004 : Column 864W—continued
Tax Returns (Self-Assessment)
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the investigation by the Inland Revenue and the e-Envoy into the breaches of confidentiality relating to self-assessment tax returns filed via the internet. [147634]
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Dawn Primarolo: SA Online, the Inland Revenue tax return software was temporarily withdrawn on 27 May 2002 following reports from some customers that they had seen information relating to another person. The actual internet service for self assessment remained available to users of alternative tax return software.
The Inland Revenue acted quickly to safeguard taxpayer information. They immediately withdrew the service and called in Qinetiq, an independent security company, as well as experts from the e-Envoy's office.
After an extensive investigation Qinetiq and the experts from the Office of e-Envoy agreed that the Inland Revenue had
- identified the root cause of the problem; and
implemented the necessary changes to ensure it does not occur again.
Key findings were shared with the Office of E-envoy and other Government Departments.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the studies by the Inland Revenue into introducing new methods of payment of self-assessment liabilities. [147635]
Dawn Primarolo: IR is currently carrying out studies aimed at expanding the payment methods that are already on offer.
- Direct Debit—For customers who are interested in making regular payments on account in advance of their SA tax becoming due IR offers a limited service called Budget Payment Plan. A current study is looking to develop a national service that will extend the use of the Inland Revenue's Direct Debit systems.
Debit card—A current study is looking at the feasibility of providing, a National system to enable all IR Local Recovery Offices to accept Debit card payments.
Credit cards—Work on payment by credit card is on-going but there are many factors to consider before offering the facility to pay self-assessment debts by Credit card.
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue have met their targets for capturing the information included in self-assessment tax returns every year since self assessment was introduced and fully expect to do so again this year.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of taxpayers filed their self-assessment tax returns by the due date in 2003; and if he will make a statement. [147645]
Dawn Primarolo: 90.5 per cent. of self-assessment taxpayers filed their 2001–02 self assessment tax returns by the due date (31 January 2003).
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will change the inquiry window regarding self-assessment tax returns from running for 12 months from 31 January to 12 months from the date a return is received; and if he will make a statement. [147646]
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Dawn Primarolo: There are no plans to change the self-assessment inquiry window to run for 12 months from the date a return is received.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-assessment tax returns have remained outstanding from each year since the system was introduced; and if he will make a statement. [147647]
Dawn Primarolo: Out of approximately nine million self-assessment returns issued annually, the number outstanding for each tax year as at the end of November 2003 was as shown in the following table:
| Return year | Returns outstanding |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 36,065 |
| 1998 | 55,357 |
| 1999 | 83,954 |
| 2000 | 136,984 |
| 2001 | 219,088 |
| 2002 | 389,939 |
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers have filed their self-assessment tax returns via the internet in each year since this service became available; whether he expects that the 50 per cent. target for internet filing of self-assessment tax returns will be met by 2005; and if he will make a statement. [147648]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue received the following number of returns electronically in the following years:
- 2000–01: The number of returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue was 336,127. 296,837 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 39,290 via the Internet Service.
2001–02: The number of returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue was 419,236. 343,009 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 76,287 via the internet service.
2002–03: The number of tax returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue was 705,690. 370,051 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 335,639 via the Internet service.
2003–04: The number of tax returns received electronically by the Inland Revenue at 9 January 2004 was 649,338. 209,515 of these were received via the Electronic Lodgement Service and 439,823 via the Internet service.
Taxation Adjustments
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of adjustments in favour of taxpayers resulting from compliance cases processed by the Large Business Office of Inland Revenue in each year since 1997–98; and in which years these sums were included in the Large Business Office's total compliance performance reported in Inland Revenue annual reports. [147949]
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Dawn Primarolo: The figures for the value of adjustments in favour of taxpayers as a result of LBO inquiries are:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 132 |
| 2000–01 | 75 |
| 2001–02 | 130 |
| 2002–03 | 209 |
Data to provide this analysis is not available for earlier years.
The amounts for 1999–2000 to 2001–02 were included in the total given for the effect of LBO interventions for those years. For 2002–03 only the amount for revenue favour adjustments was shown.
Adjustments are recorded for the year in which they are settled.
UK Company Profitability
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total UK company turnover has been spent on (a) company taxation, (b) national insurance contributions and (c) corporation tax in each of the last 10 years. [148182]
Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible from the tax records available centrally to provide the information requested.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the productivity of UK companies with (a) 1–49, (b) 50–99, (c) 100–249, (d) 250–499, (e) 500–999 and (f) more than 1,000 employees has been in each quarter since 1997. [148178]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 15 January 2004:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on the productivity of UK companies. I am replying in his absence. (148178)
- The Office for National Statistics does not produce quarterly (or annual) estimates of productivity by size band of number of employees. Existing quarterly surveys are not suitable for producing output series by size band. They have a relatively small sample and do not include the very smallest companies (1–9 employees) and include very few with fewer than 50 employees in order to limit the statistical reporting burden on business.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Animal Experiments
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many animals have been used in scientific procedures in each of the last 10 years; and what action he is taking to reduce these numbers; [145438]
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- (2) what action he is taking (a) to reduce the numbers of animals used in scientific procedures and (b) to encourage the use of alternatives; [145439]
(3) what action he is taking to ensure that the use of animals in scientific experiments is restricted to those experiments where no alternative methods are available. [145440]
Caroline Flint: The number of animals used in scientific procedures in Great Britain in each of the last ten years for which figures are available is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 2,759,940 |
| 1994 | 2,772,758 |
| 1995 | 2,637,847 |
| 1996 | 2,646,026 |
| 1997 | 2,573,088 |
| 1998 | 2,593,587 |
| 1999 | 2,569,295 |
| 2000 | 2,642,993 |
| 2001 | 2,567,713 |
| 2002 | 2,655,876 |
Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the Home Office can only license the use of animals for scientific purposes where there is no non-animal alternative, and then only when both the number of animals to be used and any resulting suffering is minimised. This reflects the principles of the 3Rs—the refinement of scientific procedures, the reduction of the number of animals used and their replacement with other methods wherever possible. However, as a demand-led regulator working on a case-by-case basis, we have no control over the total amount of research taking place. That is determined by a number of factors, including the economic climate and global trends in scientific endeavour.
It is essential that we continue to regulate effectively. We must also continue to apply fully the 3Rs, and to support and encourage their development and promotion. We do this in a number of ways. For example, all applications are subjected to scrutiny within institutional local ethical review processes at licensed establishments, and are also assessed separately by Home Office Inspectors, who are all either medical or veterinary graduates, to ensure that no relevant replacement, reduction or refinement measure has been overlooked.
We are also currently exploring the recommendation by the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures that there should be a United Kingdom centre for research into the 3Rs. This is being considered by the Inter-Departmental Group on the 3Rs, led by the Home Office and also comprising officials from the Department of Health, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Office of Science and Technology, the Food Standards Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, and other agencies. The Inter-Departmental Group is also reviewing the effectiveness of the Inter-Departmental Data Sharing Concordat announced in August 2000, which commits United Kingdom regulatory authorities to help resolve legal and other obstacles and encourages
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data sharing between clients to reduce animal testing. The Inter-Departmental Group will report back to me on both of these issues shortly.
In addition, every year the Home Office makes available to the Animal Procedures Committee a budget aimed at developing or promoting the 3Rs. The amount made available to the Committee for 2003–2004 for this specific purpose is £280,000. Work aimed at improving the environmental conditions in which laboratory animals are kept and transported has also been sponsored. This is not the only money spent by Government on the 3Rs. We estimate that Government Departments, agencies and funding bodies spend up to £10 million each year on such research. Industry spends a great deal more.
On an international level, the United Kingdom Government supports the European Centre for the Validation of Alternatives Methods (ECVAM) through contributions to the European Union. It is the task of ECVAM to monitor and co-ordinate research into alternatives and to develop the processes of validation, that is, the assessment of alternative methods to see whether they are reliable and whether they produce a level of information similar to the animal based tests they are to replace.
This is not, however, an area where quick gains can be expected. In the longer term, we believe that further significant reduction in animal use will, and must, continue to rely largely on the scientific community's own efforts to develop, validate and adopt more advanced methods based on the 3Rs.
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to ensure that the highest standards of animal welfare are implemented in establishments using animals to carry out scientific procedures. [145441]
Caroline Flint: The Government are fully committed to the effective and efficient implementation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which makes provision for the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes while recognising the need to use animals in medical research, the development of new medicines, and scientific testing.
Under the 1986 Act, both personal and project licences are required. These ensure that those doing the work are qualified and suitable; that alternatives to animals are used wherever possible; that the number of animals used is minimised; and that any suffering or other harmful effects experienced by the animals have been weighed against the potential benefits (to humans or animals) and have been minimised.
In addition, work can only be carried out at designated establishments which have suitable veterinary and animal welfare personnel and the standards of accommodation and care provided for the animals must meet or surpass the provisions of Home Office codes of practice. Under the Act, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate is charged with inspecting designated places to monitor compliance with these codes of practice and the licence authorities. About 2,500 inspections are made annually of which
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two thirds are made without notice. The number of visits made to each establishment during the year is determined by its size and the type of work carried out.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been made available to the Animal Procedures Committee in each year since 1997 specifically aimed at (a) developing and (b) promoting alternatives to animal experimentation; and if he will make a statement. [145442]
Caroline Flint: Since the financial year 1988–89, the Home Office has made available to the Animal Procedures Committee a budget for the development and promotion of alternatives which replace animal use, reduce the number of animals used, or refine the procedures involved to minimise suffering (the 3Rs). Work aimed at improving the environmental conditions in which laboratory animals are kept and transported has also been sponsored. Details of completed research are published in the Annual Reports of the Animal Procedures Committee, which are available from The Stationery Office and, for recent years, on the Committee's website.
The Committee seeks to allocate 60 per cent. of the budgets provided on research into reducing, refining and replacing the use of animals in scientific procedures and another 20 per cent. on the development and promotion of awareness and use of alternatives. The Committee seeks to allocate the remaining 20 per cent. to research into the operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
The budget provided to the Committee for these purposes in each year since 1997–98 was:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 242,000 |
| 1998–99 | 182,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 259,000 |
| 2000–01 | 259,000 |
| 2001–02 | 265,000 |
| 2002–03 | 280,000 |
| 2003–04 | 280,000 |
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