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19 Apr 2004 : Column 24W—continued
Environmental Costs
Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what general mechanisms he has identified to internalise environmental costs in the economy; and if he will list those instances where he (a) has implemented such a mechanism, (b) plans to implement such a mechanism and (c) plans to investigate possible mechanisms for implementation in the medium to long term. [165271]
John Healey: The Government's approach to environmental taxation was set out in the statement of intent on Environmental Taxation in 1997. This was developed further in 'Tax and the Environment: Using economic instruments' published alongside the 2002 Pre Budget Report, which also considered the role of tax alongside other economic instruments instruments such as tradable permits. Since 1997 the Government has introduced a number of economic instruments, which seek to internalise environmental costs in the economy such as the aggregates levy and UK Emission Trading Scheme. A list of fiscal measures that the Government has introduced can be found in table 7.2 of the recent Economic and Fiscal Strategy report.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what consideration is given to the cost of climate change in the determination of his economic strategy; [165272]
(2) what consideration he has given to the cost of diffuse industrial pollution in his economic strategy. [165273]
John Healey:
The Chancellor considers all relevant economic, social and environmental factors, including the implications for climate change and water quality, when determining the Government's economic strategy. It is one of the Treasury's objectives to protect and improve the environment by using instruments that will deliver efficient and sustainable outcomes through evidence-based policies, as set out in "Tax and the environment: using economic instruments", published alongside the 2002 Pre-Budget Report.
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Hydrofluorocarbons
Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to introduce economic instruments to reduce leakage of hydrofluorocarbons. [165276]
John Healey: The Government currently has no such plans. Decisions on taxation are made by the Chancellor as part of the annual budget process.
London Marathon
Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out his policy on imposing VAT on sponsorship payments from those entering runners in the London Marathon. [162511]
John Healey: Charities and their donors in the UK will benefit from a wide range of VAT reliefs and exemptions. In accordance with the requirements of the EU directives on which UK VAT law is based, sponsorship raised by runners for organisations that have paid for a place in the London Marathon is free from VAT. However, any payment required in exchange for a place is subject to VAT; consequently, an organisation may be able to reclaim some of the VAT it incurs in providing this service.
Office of Government Commerce
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of (a) the effectiveness of introducing a specialist buying agency in the Office of Government Commerce and (b) whether better value can be obtained from smaller suppliers. [165516]
Dawn Primarolo: OGC buying solutions is an Executive Agency of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and operates as a trading fund. It was formed in 2001 by the amalgamation of CCTA, TBA and PACE.
It has ministerial targets based on the following four assessment areas:
1. Value for Money improvements in Central Civil Government
2. Customer satisfaction
3. Return on capital employed
4. Reduction in internal costs
For the three financial years since the Agency's inception all of these targets have either been achieved or exceeded.
In some circumstances a smaller supplier could provide better value, especially when the customer is looking for a solution that is flexible, responsive or innovative. Government is taking action to encourage public sector clients to consider the smaller supplier and to facilitate easier access for them.
Passported Benefits
Miss Begg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate (a) how many people, broken down by income decile would gain from and (b) the annual cost of raising the threshold for eligibility for all passported benefits to £14,200. [165081]
Dawn Primarolo:
The principal passported benefits with thresholds below £14,200 are free school meals and welfare foods (free milk and vitamins) which are
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available to families in receipt of child tax credit, but not eligible for working tax credit, and with incomes up to £13,230 in 2003–04. Increasing this threshold to £14,200 would have a negligible impact on the number of eligible families and hence on costs.
Pensioners (Tynemouth)
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in Tynemouth constituency qualified for the 10 per cent. rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [165361]
Dawn Primarolo: All income tax payers benefit from the 10 pence starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about 6,000 and 9,000 state retirement pension age tax payers in the Tynemouth constituency in 2000–01 and 2001–02 respectively. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.
Premium Bonds
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total value of premium bond prizes that are unclaimed; and if he will make a statement. [165087]
Dawn Primarolo: At the end of January, there were 397,552 prizes unclaimed to a total value of £23.5 million.
Savings
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the savings level for each of the last five years. [165387]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Bob Spink, dated 7 April 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on savings levels in each of the last five years.
The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Households sector(15) gross saving £ billion | Households' saving ratio(16) percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 32.9 | 5.3 |
| 2000 | 36.7 | 5.5 |
| 2001 | 47.6 | 6.7 |
| 2002 | 40.3 | 5.5 |
| 2003 | 43.7 | 5.7 |
(15) Figures shown are for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sectors. The accounts for this sector are currently combined and separate estimates are not available.
(16) This ratio represents households' saving as a percentage of total available households' resources.
Source:
UK National Accounts.
Scotch Whisky (Tax Stamps)
Mr. Alan Reid:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of how
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many (a) producers of Scotch whisky and (b) other companies will benefit from the £3 million fund for assistance with capital investment to mitigate upfront costs of complying with his proposed tax stamps scheme for spirits bottles; [165231]
(2) what criteria he has used to identify those firms that will benefit from the £3 million fund for assistance with capital investment to mitigate upfront costs of complying with his proposed tax stamp scheme for spirit bottles. [165233]
John Healey: The £3 million fund for assistance with capital investment is intended to be targeted at smaller firms, and the precise design and coverage have still to be decided. It is important that grants are distributed fairly and legally and the Government are working with the industry to consider how this might best be achieved.
Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the change in the volume of the business of warehouse keepers that will be caused by his proposed tax stamps scheme for spirits bottles; and if he plans to compensate them for any losses. [165234]
John Healey [holding answer 1 April 2004]: A full Regulatory Impact Assessment will be published alongside the Finance Bill on 8 April which will identify the costs, benefits and proposed offsetting measures of the tax stamps system.
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