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23 Feb 2004 : Column 111W—continued
Water Supply/Sanitation
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the UK Government are taking to ensure that the agreement on
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sustainable development reached at the World Summit is fully implemented in respect of the halving by 2015 of the number of people without access to an adequate water supply and proper sanitation. [155491]
Hilary Benn: The key commitments on water and sanitation made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) were:
- a re-affirmation of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water;
- halving by the year 2015 the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation; and
- an agreement to develop integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005.
In May 2003, a Sustainable Development Task Force was established to help ensure effective follow-up of the UK's WSSD commitments, and monitor progress towards sustainable development against the UK's 1999 sustainable development Strategy, "A Better Quality of Life". The Task Force, chaired by Defra Secretary of State, Margaret Beckett, brings together Ministers from across Whitehall with colleagues from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and some key stakeholders.
The last Task Force meeting, on 4 February 2004, considered DFID's draft Water Action Plan, which describes how DFID intends to take forward its commitments in water and sanitation, and continue to contribute to achieving the MDGs in a way that recognises that such efforts are most effective when they support plans drawn up by developing countries themselves. This will be presented to Parliament shortly.
World Trade Organisation
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has received from the World Trade Organisation on (a) meeting the targets and (b) implementing the policies agreed in Cancun. [155150]
Hilary Benn: Since Cancun all World Trade Organisation members have committed themselves to working to implement the Doha development commitments. While this is welcome, it is imperative that we turn these commitments into progress. The recent WTO General Council agreed on chairs being appointed to the general council and the negotiating groups. We must now seek to ensure that these negotiating groups agree adequate work plans on agriculture and Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), and on a resolution to the Singapore issues.
TREASURY
National Insurance
Ms. Drown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual cost to (a) employees and (b) others in (i) 10, (ii) 20 and (iii) 40 years of reducing the lower earnings limit for National Insurance (A) by £17 and (B) altogether. [155939]
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Dawn Primarolo: Estimated increases in National Insurance contribution income of (A) reducing the primary threshold by 17 per week in 2003–04 or (B) reducing the primary threshold to zero, are shown in the following table.
| (i) 2013–14 | (ii) 2023–24 | (iii) 2043–44 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Effect on primary contributions of reducing the primary threshold | ||||
| (A) by 17 per week | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.3 | |
| (B) to zero | 12.0 | 12.3 | 12.2 | |
| (b) Effect on secondary contributions if the secondary threshold is also reduced | ||||
| (A) by 17 per week | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.7 | |
| (B) to zero | 14.2 | 14.4 | 14.3 | |
Notes:
Figures are for Great Britain, on an accruals basis and the effect on total contributions allocated to both the NIF and NHS in 2003–04 price terms.
Results based on the long-term estimates published in the Quinquennial Review of the National Insurance Fund as at April 2000 (Cm 6008) assuming 2 per cent. a year real earnings growth. No allowance has been made for the effects of the most recent (2002-based) population projections, or any other information which has become available since the results underlying the Quinquennial Review were prepared.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of underpayments not pursued by the National Insurance Contributions office for tax years (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01, (c) 2001–02 and (d) 2002–03; how many underpayments of less than £150 were not pursued in each of those tax years; how much these totalled in each of those tax years; and if he will make a statement. [153288]
Dawn Primarolo: National insurance contributions identified as due, but not paid and subsequently written off, amounted to £189 million in 1999–2000; £180 million in 2000–01; £145 million in 2001–02; and £275 million in 2002–03. The amount in 2002–03 includes insolvent companies' debts accrued before July 2001 which were cleared from the accounts as part of a special exercise in that year.
National insurance contributions may be written off where pursuit is unlikely to be successful, for example, because a company is insolvent; or where it is regarded as neither practical nor cost effective to pursue the debt, for example, because the debtor has gone abroad. Underpayments of less than £150 are not identified separately and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Close Companies
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of close companies that may currently be operated with the primary purpose of reducing owners' personal tax liability; [151943]
- (2) what estimate he has made of the loss to the Treasury from close companies that may currently be operated with the primary purpose of reducing owners' personal tax liability. [151944]
Dawn Primarolo: The vast majority of companies are run with the primary purpose of generating profits for shareholders, and a wide variety of strategies might be employed to minimise owners' tax liabilities.
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Consequently, it is impossible to say how many close companies are operating with the primary purpose of reducing owners' personal tax liability.
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of close companies which may operate with the primary purpose of reducing their owners' personal tax liability; and what value of tax revenues he estimates may thus be lost to the Exchequer. [154863]
Dawn Primarolo: The vast majority of companies are run with the primary purpose of generating profits for shareholders, and a wide variety of strategies might be employed to minimise owners' tax liabilities. Consequently, it is impossible to say how many close companies are operating with the primary purpose of reducing owners' personal tax liability or estimate the tax and national insurance that might be lost from such companies.
Copyright
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate HM Customs and Excise has made of the loss of government revenue from counterfeiting and copyright theft in each of the last five years. [154956]
John Healey: No such estimates have been made.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the impact of corporation tax rates on business in Northern Ireland. [155483]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government has received a number of representations on a wide range of subjects. The Government has cut corporation tax rates for all companies—since 1997 the main rate has been reduced from 33 per cent. to 30 per cent. and the small companies' rate from 23 per cent. to 19 per cent. The UK now has the lowest rates of corporation tax in history.
Demography
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the size of population in the Chorley constituency was in each of the last five years; and what projections have been made for each of the next five years. [155307]
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. Lindsay Hoyle, dated 23 February 2004:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the population of the Chorley constituency over the last five years, and the projected population for the next five years. (155307)
- The Office for National Statistics does not currently produce mid-year population estimates on parliamentary constituency boundaries. The lowest geography at which mid-year population estimates are currently published is local authority areas. However, Chorley is an unusual case in that the Parliamentary Constituency currently has the same boundaries as the Chorley Borough Council area. Therefore, the population estimates for the two areas will be the same.
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- The population estimates for Chorley Borough Council area for the latest five years available, are given below. Published population estimates are rounded to the nearest 100 people.
| Population (Thousand) | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 98.4 |
| 1999 | 98.8 |
| 2000 | 100.0 |
| 2001 | 100.6 |
| 2002 | 101.3 |
There are currently no official subnational population projections consistent with this series. The last official long-term subnational projections were based on 1996 population data and did not take account of the significant new information produced by the 2001 Census.
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