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27 Feb 2004 : Column 593W—continued

Government-guaranteed Borrowing

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the instances of borrowing by private organisations since 1997–98 on which the Government have given a guarantee of any form; and what the amounts concerned were in each case. [156212]

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Mr. Boateng: All of the Government's contingent liabilities, including guarantees, which meet the reporting criteria set out in "Government Accounting chapter 26" will have been set out in annual Supplementary Statements to the Consolidated Fund and National Loans Fund accounts.

In addition, Departments' resource accounts prepared since 1999–2000 accounted for probable contingent liabilities in line with the relevant accounting standard. Thus they include those liabilities which are probable but which are not reportable to Parliament. From 2002–03, Departments have also had to disclose remote contingent liabilities where they meet the reporting criteria set out in "Government Accounting", as well as following FRS12.

Computer Initiatives

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to assess the proportion of private sector employees who received computers as a result of employer-provided home computer initiatives in each year since 1997; [157204]

(2) if he will assess the impact of the £500 annual exemption from the taxable benefit on loaned computers introduced in the Finance Act 1999. [157205]

Dawn Primarolo: The Office for National Statistics have included extra questions in their quarterly internet access survey to assess consumer awareness and take up of Home Computing Initiatives (HCI) which use the annual tax exemption on loaned computers. Industry partners are also conducting tracking which the Office of the e-Envoy and the Department of Trade and Industry will use as part of their overall assessment. The impact of HCI schemes on levels of home computer penetration and internet access will also be monitored on an ongoing basis.

Inheritance Tax

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised through inheritance tax in each of the last 20 years. [156780]

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Dawn Primarolo: Receipts of Inheritance Tax (including Capital Transfer Tax where appropriate) for 1983–84 to 2002–03 are published in Table 1.2 of Inland Revenue Statistics at the following website: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax receipts.

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the changes in inheritance tax thresholds where the limit had been uplifted by inflation since 1997; [156795]

(2) if he will list the changes in inheritance tax thresholds since 1974. [156796]

Dawn Primarolo: Inheritance Tax Thresholds since the financial year 1988–89 are shown in the following table.

Lower limit of slice of chargeable capital (£000)

	Rates of tax—40%
15 March 1988 to 5 April 1989	110
6 April 1989 to 5 April 1990	118
6 April 1990 to 5 April 1991	128
6 April 1991 to 9 March 1992	140
10 March 1992 to 5 April 1995	150
6 April 1995 to 5 April 1996	154
6 April 1996 to 5 April 1997	200
6 April 1997 to 5 April 1998	215
6 April 1998 to 5 April 1999	223
6 April 1999 to 5 April 2000	231
6 April 2000 to 5 April 2001	234
6 April 2001 to 5 April 2002	242
6 April 2002 to 5 April 2003	250
From 6 April 2003	255

Prior to 1988–89, different rates of tax were charged in respect of multiple thresholds. Details of all chargeable tax bands relating to Inheritance Tax and its predecessors from November 1974 to March 1988 are given in Appendix A.6, page 99, of Inland Revenue Statistics 1987, a copy of which is available in the Library.

Since 1997–98, the threshold has been indexed by the rate of inflation in each year except for 2002–03, when the indexed threshold would have been £247,000 rather than £250,000.

Project Aspire

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2004, Official Report, columns 569–70W, what the names were in each case of the individuals forming the Inland Revenue team which met, as part of the market making exercise for Project Aspire, with (a) EDS, (b) IBM, (c) CGEY, (d) CSC, (e) Accenture, (f) Fujitsu Services, (g) CMG Logica and (h) PWC Consulting. [156518]

Dawn Primarolo: John Yard, the Director of Business Services; Don Brown, the Aspire Project Director and Ian Pretty, Head of Aspire Stakeholder Relations formed the Inland Revenue team which met with EDS, IBM, CGEY, CSC, Accenture, Fujitsu Services, CMG Logica and PWC Consulting.

Lord Butler

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when (a) Sir Nicholas Montagu KCB, Chairman of Inland Revenue, (b) Mr. Timothy Flesher CB, former Commissioner of Inland Revenue, (c) Mr. Gabriel

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Maklouf, former Director of Inland Revenue International Division and (d) Mr. Graham Dean, former Inland Revenue employee, was informed that Lord Butler of Brockwell had joined the advisory board of IBM UK; and what action each of them took upon receipt of this information. [156519]

Dawn Primarolo: Lord Butler's appointments are not a matter on which any action by the Inland Revenue is appropriate.

Mortality Statistics

Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from (a) cancer and (b) coronary heart disease in (i) Lancashire and (ii) the North West in the last year for which figures are available; and what this represented for each 1,000 of population. [156499]

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. Evans, dated 27 February 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many people died from (a) cancer and (b) coronary heart disease in (i) Lancashire and (ii) the North West in the last year for which figures are available; and what this represented for each 1,000 of population. (156499)

The latest year for which the requested figures are available is 2002 and these are given in the attached table.

Numbers of deaths and death rates⁽⁷⁾ from cancer and coronary heart disease⁽⁸⁾ in the former county of Lancashire,⁽⁹⁾ and the North West government office region,⁽¹⁰⁾ 2002⁽¹¹⁾

	Numbers of deaths	Rate per 1,000 population
Cancer
Former county of Lancashire	4,020	2.8
North West	19,104	2.8
Coronary heart disease
Former county of Lancashire	3,149	2.2
North West	14,977	2.2

⁽⁷⁾ Crude rates per 1,000 population.

⁽⁸⁾ The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The codes used are listed below: Cancer (malignant neoplasms)—ICD-10 C00-C97.

Coronary Heart Disease-ICD-10 I20-I25.

⁽⁹⁾ The former county of Lancashire comprises the current county and the unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool.

⁽¹⁰⁾ Usual residents of these areas.

⁽¹¹⁾ Deaths occurring in 2002.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much capital spending by the private sector there has been or is projected on Private Finance Initiative or associated schemes, using the same departmental analysis as Table C18 of the Budget Report 2003, in each year from 1997–98 to 2005–06, separately distinguishing expenditure on assets that have been or will be accounted for (a) on-balance sheet and (b) off-balance sheet to the public sector client. [156159]

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Mr. Boateng: The value of capital spending by the private sector under signed PFI schemes, listed by Department and by year, is available from the PFI signed projects list on the HM Treasury website. A total of 563 PFI transactions reached financial close by 4 April 2003, with a total capital value of £35.5 billion. The estimated capital value of signed PFI contracts where capital assets are accounted for on departmental balance sheets is £20.2 billion. This represents 57 per cent. of the total estimated capital value.

Projections of capital spending under signed projects and projects at preferred bidder to 2005–06 are published in Tables C18 and C19 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2003.

PFI contracts where the assets concerned are on departmental balance sheets are reported in departmental accounts, together with disclosure of information relating to any contracts assessed as off balance sheet.

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