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TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the case for changes in the basis of air passenger duty from payment per passenger to payment per flight, and for relating it to the

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amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants produced during the flight; and if he will make a statement. [147831]

John Healey: The use of economic instruments to encourage the aviation industry to take account of and, where appropriate, reduce its contribution to global warming, local air pollution and noise pollution was considered in the Air Transport White Paper, published in December 2003. The White Paper supported widened use of airport charges linked to the level of local noise and air pollutant emissions. In addition, we announced that, as part of the Government's commitment to using economic instruments to help tackle greenhouse gas emissions, the UK will push hard at international level to secure agreement on including aviation in the EU's emissions trading scheme.

Levels of all taxes, including air passenger duty, are reviewed Budget-by-Budget, taking account of a range of social, economic and environmental considerations.

Financial Products (Risk Warnings)

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the need for a risk warning to be attached to (a) all financial products and (b) documentation about pensions. [148381]

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Services Authority requires regulated financial products to be promoted in a manner that is clear, fair and not misleading.

In particular, for investment products it requires firms to adequately describe the risks involved. In the case of personal and stakeholder pensions, it specifically requires firms to explain those risks to the consumer before the product is bought.

The Department of Trade and Industry is currently consulting on the provision of risk warnings for consumers as part of its ongoing review of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Tax Credits

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to develop a substitute eligibility test for working tax credit fast-track; [148388]

(2) what plans he has to conduct a reappraisal of the fast-track eligibility rules for claiming working tax credit. [148389]

Dawn Primarolo: There are no plans to change the eligibility rules. As with other issues, we continue to keep the policy under review.

Unemployment (Warrington, North)

Helen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change in the level of unemployment in the Warrington North constituency has been since 1997. [148248]

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

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Letter from Colin Mowl to Helen Jones dated 19 January 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment in the Warrington North constituency. I am replying in his absence. (148248)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definitions. For Parliamentary constituencies, information about unemployment rates, but not levels, is available. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Warrington North constituency.

ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including Parliamentary constituencies. The annual average number of JSA claimants in the Warrington North constituency decreased by 763 from 2,041 in 1997 to 1,278 in 2003.

Armed Forces (Departure Payments)

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the proposed early departure payments for members of the Armed Forces which will replace pension payments will attract national insurance contributions. [147575]

Dawn Primarolo: The early departure payments will not attract national insurance contributions, since they will be made under a statutory scheme and would not be considered as earnings derived from employment.

Banking Regulation

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which banks have a licence to operate in the UK; and when each received its licence. [149498]

Ruth Kelly: Under the Financial Services and Markets Act (2000), banks, building societies and credit unions are authorised by the Financial Services Authority to accept deposits in the UK.

Details of the banks and other institutions which are authorised with permission to accept deposits in the UK and the date when they received authorisation can be found on the Financial Services Authority's website (www.fsa.qov.uk).

Child Tax Credit

Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer per year of increasing by 100 per cent. the rate of child tax credit in respect of children under five. [148619]

Dawn Primarolo: The annual cost would be approximately £3 billion per year.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the Buckingham constituency (a) have applied for, (b) are eligible for and (c) received the child tax credit in 2003–04. [149191]

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated number of families receiving tax credits in the Buckingham constituency at 3 July 2003 is shown in "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Geographical analyses—July 2003", which is on the Inland Revenue website at: www. inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.

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htm. The estimates are based on a sample of cases, and are subject to sampling uncertainty. Estimates for January 2004 will be published on 30 January 2004.

No estimates are available at the constituency level of the number of people who have claimed tax credits or who are eligible for them.

Citizen Information Project

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) on what dates he has met Scottish Ministers to discuss the Citizen Information Project and its implications for Scotland; [147920]

(2) how many members of staff have been seconded from the Register Office for Scotland to work on the Office of National Statistics' Citizen Information Project; [147921]

(3) whether the Office for National Statistics' Citizen Information Project will cover information held by offices and agencies responsible to the Scottish Executive; [147922]

(4) which parts of the Citizen Information Project's current work programme includes matters of responsibility for the Scottish Executive; and what reporting procedures have been put in place for this work. [147923]

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

Letter from John Pullinger to Ms Annabelle Ewing, dated 19 January 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions on the Citizen Information Project. I am replying in his absence. (147920, 147921, 147922, 147923).

The work announced by the Chief Secretary on 6 January is about the development of a UK population register. The aim is to cover the UK because a number of the public sector organisations (such as UK Passport Service, Inland Revenue) that might supply basic data to construct the register, and that are among the potential users of the register, cover the whole of the UK. The current work is on project definition, to explore more fully the potential scope of a register and to develop a more detailed proposal.

The Chancellor has not met Scottish Ministers to discuss this work, but the project team has been in close touch with the Registrar General for Scotland and Scottish Executive officials, who have kept Scottish Executive Ministers informed of developments. The Chief Secretary has corresponded with his Cabinet colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Scotland, on several occasions. The issue of how the register might be used and taken forward in Scotland will be considered during this next stage of the project. Should legislation be required, it would be for the Scottish Parliament to decide whether any register should be used to support the administration of devolved services.

The project team will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations, other government departments, agencies and local authorities. The Scottish Executive was represented, by the Head of its 21st Century Government Unit, on the Steering Group for the project's feasibility study. The Scottish Executive and the General Register Office for Scotland will be similarly involved in the governance of the current stage of the project.

No secondments of staff to the CEP team from any organisation have yet been arranged for the current stage of the project.

I am copying this letter to the Registrar General for Scotland.

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