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10 Feb 2004 : Column 1346W—continued

TREASURY

Atrazine

Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what quantities of Atrazine have been imported through each British port in the last 12 months. [153909]

John Healey: Atrazine is classified in commodity code 29336910, which is a set of related chemicals. The full description for this group is: Atrazine(ISO); propazine (ISO); hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (hexogen, trimethylenetrinitramine).

Imports of goods under this commodity code from non-EU countries through British ports in the last 12 months, for which figures are available are shown in the following table.

Imports, December 2002 to November 2003

Port	Net mass (kgs)
Liverpool	2,093
Felixstowe	40,000
Total	42,093

Source:

Overseas Trade Statistics, HMCE

10 Feb 2004 : Column 1347W

Benefit and Tax Errors

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on incompatibilities between working tax credit and council tax benefits processing systems, which may have resulted in errors in assessing eligibility. [152253]

Dawn Primarolo: Local authorities have made changes to their IT systems to ensure that working tax credit and child tax credit are taken into account when assessing entitlement to council tax benefit. Taxpayers are required to notify their local authority of the amount of tax credits that they receive. Arrangements are in place between the Inland Revenue and local authorities to enable relevant information about tax credits to be provided when requested.

Benefit Fraud

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of benefit fraud have been identified by Inland Revenue payroll cleanse operations in each of the last five years; how many of these were referred to the Department for Work and Pensions; and if he will make a statement. [153289]

Dawn Primarolo: When the Inland Revenue Payroll Cleanse Unit identifies potential benefit fraud cases they refer them all to the Department for Work and Pensions for their action. The numbers of potential fraud cases referred over the last five years are as follows:

	Number
1999–2000	21,151
2000–01	19,297
2001–02	7,102
2002–03	11,336
2003 to 31 January 2004	11,486

Decent Homes Standard

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what effect he estimates the Inland Revenue ruling of 24 October 2003 will have on Bridgend's ability to achieve the 2010 decent homes standard; and whether additional Government support will be available to meet this target; [154228]

(2) what estimate he has made of the effect on the welfare of tenants of Valleys to Coast Housing Ltd. if the Inland Revenue's ruling of 24 October 2003 is upheld. [154229]

Dawn Primarolo: On 24 October the Inland Revenue gave a preliminary view on the tax implications of contracts developed by a major accountancy firm. Discussions are continuing.

Health Statistics

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest figures for the death rate from (a) cancer and (b) coronary heart disease are for the (i) East Riding of Yorkshire and (ii) United Kingdom; and what they were in 1997. [154166]

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

Letter from Len Cook to David Davis, dated 10 February 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the latest figures for the death rate from (a) cancer and (b) coronary heart disease for the (i) East Riding of Yorkshire and (ii) United Kingdom; and what they were in 1997. (154166)

Death rates are included in the attached table for 1997 and 2002, the latest year for which figures are currently available.

Death rates⁽⁶⁾ from cancer and coronary heart disease⁽⁷⁾ in the East Riding of Yorkshire local authority and the United Kingdom,⁽⁸⁾1997 and 2002⁽⁹⁾

	Death rates per 100,000 population
	1997	2002
Cancer
East Riding of Yorkshire	194	176
United Kingdom	203	189
Coronary Heart Disease
East Riding of Yorkshire	153	111
United Kingdom	163	128

⁽⁶⁾ Rates per 100,000 population standardised to the European Standard Population.

⁽⁷⁾ The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for1997, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2002. The codes used are listed below: Cancer (malignant neoplasms)—ICD-9 140–208; ICD-10 C00-C97; Coronary Heart Disease—ICD-9 410–414; ICD-10 120–125.

⁽⁸⁾ Usual residents of these areas.

⁽⁹⁾ Deaths occurring in each calendar year in England and Wales, and deaths registered in each calendar year in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Higher Education Spending

Mr. Collins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend (Mr. Brown) in the last 10 days regarding future higher education spending; and what the outcome was of those discussions. [153695]

Mr. Boateng: Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals, including Members of both Houses of Parliament, as part of the process of policy development and analysis. As with previous Administrations, it is not this Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings. All such contacts are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Code.

Income Tax

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was raised from income tax in (a) the City of Edinburgh local authority area, (b) Scotland and (c) the United Kingdom in 2003. [153374]

Dawn Primarolo: The most recent information on income tax liability is given in the following table.

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	Income tax liability (£ billion)in 2000–01
(a) City of Edinburgh UA	1.0
(b) Scotland	7.3
(c) United Kingdom	105.6

Estimates are based upon the Survey of Personal Incomes 2000–01, and represents liability arising in that year.

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the percentage collection rate of income tax in (a) the City of Edinburgh local authority area, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK for 2003; and if he will make a statement. [153375]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue does not hold details of the percentage collection rate of income tax on a local or regional basis.

The following table shows the national percentage rate as at the end October 2002. These are the latest figures available. The Department's accounting year runs to the end of October and the figures are a snapshot of the position at that time. The figures also include arrears of income tax carried forward from earlier years.

Income tax
Total liabilities (£ million)	125,701.3
Receipts (£ million)	120,890.3
Percentage collected	96.17

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was raised from income tax in (a) the North West and (b) Lancashire in the last year for which figures are available. [153879]

Dawn Primarolo: The most recent information on income tax liability is given in the table.

Income tax liability in 2000–01

	£ billion
(a) North West	9.3
(b) Lancashire	1.6

Estimates are based upon the Survey of Personal Incomes 2000–01.

Ivory

Mr. Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many prosecutions have resulted from seizures of ivory and ivory products in each of the last five years. [153055]

John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) on 6 February 2004, Official Report, column 1082W.

Mr. Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what disposal methods have been used for ivory tusks and products seized by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise since 1999. [153056]

John Healey: Ivory tusks and products seized by Customs are destroyed by incineration, apart from small quantities donated on request for medical and

10 Feb 2004 : Column 1350W

other scientific research or to museums and zoos for educational purposes. In addition, Customs retain a few samples for public education and staff training purposes.

Mr. Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 496W, on ivory, what type of ivory products were seized; and what information he has collated on the country of origin in each case. [153093]

John Healey: I very much regret that my answer of 28 January 2004, Official Report, column 354W, inadvertently contained an incorrect figure. The table gives the corrected information.

	Ivory tusks		Other itemscontaining ivory
Calendaryear	Number of seizures	Number of items seized	Number of seizures	Number of items seized	Total number of seizures
2003	7	22	23	126	30
2002	4	5	18	74	22
2001	6	8	27	649	33
2000	6	19	19	84	25
1999	7	12	11	13	18
Total	30	66	98	946	128

The 1,012 ivory items seized by HM Customs and Excise since 1999 consisted of the following:

	Number
Elephant tusks	17
Knives	2
Jewellery	66
Statues	33
Carved ivory	44
Piano keys	411
Other parts of musical instruments	8
Furniture	7
Other ivory pieces	258

In addition, Customs seized the following items, which are treated as ivory for the purposes of recording seizures:

	Number
Rhino horn	1
Walrus tusk	3
Hippo tusk	15
Other tusks	30
Hippo teeth	117

Information on the country of origin of the products seized is not available.

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