House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 5 Mar 2004 (pt 21)

5 Mar 2004 : Column 1229W—continued

Tax Returns

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individual tax returns have been filed online in each year since the service became available. [158041]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my hon. friend the Financial Secretary gave him on 5 March 2003 Official Report, 1063W–64W, and the answers I gave to him on 9 September 2003, Official Report, 276W–77W and 15 January 2004, Official Report, 868W.

Teenage Pregnancies

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage pregnancies there were in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough in each year since 2000. [158404]

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 John Pullinger to Simon Hughes, dated 5 March 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many teenage pregnancies there were in a) Greater London, and b) each London borough, in each year since 2000.1 am replying in his absence. (158404)

The numbers of teenage pregnancies for London and for each London borough, for 2000 to 2002 (the latest year for which figures are available), are shown in the attached table.

Conceptions to women aged under 18 by London borough: 2000–02

	Number of conceptions
Area of usual residence	2000	2001⁽²⁷⁾	2002⁽²⁷⁾
England and Wales	41,349	40,966	41,868

London	6,041	6,201	6,504

Barking and Dagenham	216	215	238
Barnet	154	143	183
Bexley	139	181	172
Brent	259	236	261
Bromley	160	162	177
Camden	134	125	138
Croydon	347	336	371
Ealing	203	198	187
Enfield	211	249	296
Greenwich	222	272	250
Hackney and City of London ³	307	305	301
Hammersmith and Fulham	126	135	143
Haringey	273	281	310
Harrow	84	98	115
Havering	156	134	145
Hillingdon	181	188	206
Hounslow	160	165	158
Islington	172	175	172
Kensington and Chelsea	80	80	80
Kingston upon Thames	75	67	70
Lambeth	358	375	406
Lewisham	275	272	324
Merton	125	126	119
Newham	312	334	328
Redbridge	113	160	151
Richmond upon Thames	52	48	61
Southwark	314	335	346
Sutton	109	112	106
Tower Hamlets	189	218	184
Waltham Forest	214	216	230
Wandsworth	202	173	175
City of Westminster	119	87	101

¹ Provisional figure. ² Provisional estimate. ³ City of London has been combined with Hackney due to its small numbers of usual residents.

Trusts (Tax Treatment)

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change the tax treatment of the property portion of trusts. [158821]

5 Mar 2004 : Column 1231W

Dawn Primarolo: As stated in the Pre-Budget Report the tax treatment of trusts is under review by the Inland Revenue. They have consulted with interested parties about simplifying and modernising trust taxation and an announcement about this will be made in the Budget.

Unemployment (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of unemployment in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough was in each year since 1997. [158406]

5 Mar 2004 : Column 1232W

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

Letter from Len Cook to Simon Hughes, dated 5 March 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on unemployment in London. (158406)

The attached table gives unemployment rates for Greater London and for each London Borough, for each twelve month period ending in February from 1997 to 2002, the latest period for which information is available.

As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability. This is a particular issue given the small sample sizes at borough level.

Unemployment rate⁽²⁷⁾ in Greater London and London boroughs: 12 month period ending February each yearPercentage

	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
Greater London	9.1	7.9	7.3	6.9	6.6
Barking and Dagenham	9.6	10.2	⁽²⁸⁾—	5.9	6.4
Barnet	6.6	5.4	5.6	5.9	4.9
Bexley	5.4	7.0	7.3	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—
Brent	12.6	11.2	7.5	9.2	9.4
Bromley	4.5	5.5	3.8	3.7	3.9
Camden	⁽²⁸⁾—	7.9	6.5	6.4	8.2
City of London	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—
Croydon	6.1	5.8	6.8	5.3	5.7
Ealing	9.5	6.4	7.7	7.3	6.3
Enfield	4.9	7.2	7.5	5.5	6.4
Greenwich	13.4	10.6	7.4	9.8	7.4
Hackney	21.5	14.8	13.8	16.4	12.2
Hammersmith and Fulham	9.1	⁽²⁸⁾—	8.5	⁽²⁸⁾—	6.4
Haringey	13.6	12.2	9.8	12.7	10.4
Harrow	5.7	5.3	6.0	5.0	⁽²⁸⁾—
Havering	5.2	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—
Hillingdon	5.1	⁽²⁸⁾—	5.4	⁽²⁸⁾—	4.1
Hounslow	6.7	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	5.6
Islington	14.0	12.0	11.8	9.4	9.3
Kensington and Chelsea	⁽²⁸⁾—	10.2	10.3	7.5	6.1
Kingston-upon-Thames	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	4.4	4.8
Lambeth	14.8	7.6	9.1	9.6	7.0
Lewisham	11.6	8.3	10.7	6.9	10.3
Merton	6.6	7.1	⁽²⁸⁾—	6.1	⁽²⁸⁾—
Newham	15.3	16.7	14.3	13.5	11.7
Redbridge	10.5	8.6	5.0	7.4	6.8
Richmond-upon-Thames	6.5	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—
Southwark	16.8	13.4	12.2	12.1	10.7
Sutton	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	5.1
Tower Hamlets	19.7	13.8	9.4	11.8	12.3
Waltham Forest	10.6	9.3	7.7	5.7	6.9
Wandsworth	7.2	5.0	4.8	5.7	6.3
Westminster, City of	9.7	10.9	7.0	8.6	6.1

⁽²⁷⁾ The number unemployed as a percentage of the economically active population aged 16 and over.

⁽²⁸⁾ LFS sample of unemployed people too small for reliable estimate.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey.

Working Tax Credit

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons delays are occurring in the payment of working tax credit for those who have changed jobs in Northern Ireland; what steps he is taking to eliminate these delays; and if he will make a statement. [158282]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 4 March 2004]: The Inland Revenue is not aware of problems leading to delays in payment when people change jobs in Northern Ireland. The Inland Revenue will be pleased to look into any individual cases where people consider that they have experienced delays.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

North Korea

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of food supplies in North Korea; and what steps his Department is taking to improve them. [157557]

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Hilary Benn [pursuant to his reply, 3 March 2004, Official Report, c. 921W]: The European Commission is funding targeted food aid to North Korea through the World Food Programme and other organisations. In January it agreed to give 5 million euros. The UK contributed around £680,000 to this, not £3,338,000 as stated in the previous answer.

South Africa

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the land expropriation laws which are set to come into effect in South Africa in April. [159039]

Hilary Benn: The South African Constitution authorises expropriation of property under certain conditions for a public purpose or in the public interest. The Constitution specifically states that the public interest includes the nation's commitment to land reform.

South Africa's approach to land reform has three main planks: the restitution of land rights to those unfairly dispossessed between 1913 and 1994; a programme of redistribution to transform the racial pattern of agricultural land ownership; and land tenure reform, including particularly reform of communal land tenure arrangements in the former homeland areas.

The South African Government plan to introduce amendments to the Restitution of Land Rights Bill to allow the Minister for Lands to purchase, acquire or expropriate land for the purpose of a restitution award.

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Under the restitution process most urban claims have been settled. South Africa is now addressing the more difficult and complex rural cases, involving overlapping and competing claims. The amendments are designed to assist in determining the outcome in the most intractable cases. Any land expropriated under this process will be for the benefit of those who have a legitimate claim on that land.

Expropriation of land will be undertaken within the rule of law and will attract compensation in accordance with the Constitution of South Africa. The Amendments to the Bill require that the constitutional rights of the existing landowner/holder must be complied with and that the amount of compensation paid and the time and manner of payment must be agreed to by all parties, or by the Courts; and must be just and equitable, balancing the public interest and the interest of those affected.

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