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11 May 2004 : Column 279W—continued
Income Tax
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in South Ribble have qualified for the 10 pence rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [171997]
Dawn Primarolo: All income taxpayers benefit from the 10 pence starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about 8,000 and 6,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the South Ribble constituency in 2000–01 and 2001–02 respectively. However, year on year comparisons should be treated with caution because of sampling variation. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.
Mr. Benton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in Bootle qualified for the 10 pence of income tax in each year since its introduction. [172340]
Dawn Primarolo:
All income taxpayers benefit from the 10 pence starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates that there are about 4,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the Bootle constituency in 2000–01 and 2001–02. Estimates should be treated with caution because of sampling variation. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.
11 May 2004 : Column 280W
Insurance Policies
John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to prevent banks and insurance companies from selling unsuitable insurance policies to pensioners; and what redress can be offered to customers in such circumstances. [171772]
Ruth Kelly: The selling of qualifying contracts of long-term insurance (broadly speaking long-term insurance policies that are not pure protection products) is already regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Any firm which makes a recommendation to a customer must ensure that the contract is suitable to the customer's demands and needs, and this applies to pensioners as to other consumers.
The FSA will regulate the selling of general insurance contracts from 14 January 2005. This regime will also introduce suitability standards such that any firm which makes a recommendation to a customer must ensure that the contract is suitable to the customer's demands and needs. This also applies to pensioners as to other consumers.
International Accounting Standards Board
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed changes by the International Accounting Standards Board to IAS39 on dormant accounts held by retail banks. [171995]
Ruth Kelly: When new International Accounting Standards come into force for listed groups in the EU at 1 January 2005, retail banks will need to ensure that they comply with those standards rather than existing UK accounting standards across all aspects of their business.
Pensioner Taxation
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how tax income from pensioners has changed over the last 20 years. [171311]
Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible to separate out income tax from capital gains tax.
Stamp Duty
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has (a) to raise the level for which stamp duty is not payable on domestic property transactions in deprived wards and (b) increase the number of wards which can have stamp duty exemption under his scheme; and if he will make a statement. [171446]
John Healey: There are currently no plans to raise the threshold. The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under regular review, including the rates and thresholds of Stamp Duty Land Tax.
There are currently no plans to revise the qualifying wards.
Statistics
Mr. Roger Williams:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of
11 May 2004 : Column 281W
(a) aspartame, (b) monosodium glutamate and (c) saccharine imported into the UK in processed foods in each year since 1989. [172348]
John Healey: HM Customs and Excise are responsible for the collection of data on imports. It is not possible to identify the amount of these products imported into the UK in processed foods from the data held.
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in Stockton South in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003. [171464]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Ms Dari Taylor, dated 11 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in Stockton South. (171464)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records, the number of unfilled vacancies in the Middlesbrough and Stockton travel-to-work area was 1,830 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
Figures are not available for Stockton South alone because the vacancies are allocated to local Jobcentres, not according to constituency boundaries, and because of the practice of notifying some vacancies centrally with one Jobcentre taking vacancies for others in the same district.
Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unemployment was in Stockton South in each year since 1997. [171468]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Ms Dari Taylor, dated 11 May 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about unemployment. I am replying in his absence. (171468)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give a reliable picture of changes over time of unemployment in the Stockton South Constituency.
ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
The table as follows gives the annual average number of JSA claimants for the Stockton South constituency for each year since 1997.
| Stockton South constituency, 1997—2003 | |
|---|---|
| Number of claimants | |
| 1997 | 3,201 |
| 1998 | 2,756 |
| 1999 | 2,780 |
| 2000 | 2,575 |
| 2001 | 2,183 |
| 2002 | 2,032 |
| 2003 | 1,884 |
11 May 2004 : Column 282W
Statistics (West Lancashire)
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in (a) 1997 and (b) 2003 in West Lancashire. [171493]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Colin Pickthall, dated 11 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in West Lancashire. (171493)
According to Jobcentre Plus administrative records the number of unfilled vacancies notified to Jobcentres in Lancashire West Jobcentre Plus District was 4,730 on average during 1997. This represents only a proportion of all the vacancies available, as not all vacancies are notified to Jobcentres.
Figures are not available for West Lancashire alone because the vacancies are allocated to local Jobcentres, not according to constituency boundaries, and because of the practice of notifying some vacancies centrally with one Jobcentre taking vacancies for others in the same district.
Jobcentre vacancy statistics were withdrawn from National Statistics in September 2001 as a result of distortions to the data, which occurred following the introduction of new administrative procedures by Jobcentre Plus. Comparable figures for vacancies in 2003 are therefore unavailable.
Results from the ONS Vacancy Survey were released as National Statistics from July 2003, but are not available for local areas.
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new jobs have been created in West Lancashire since 1997. [171495]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Colin Pickthall, dated 11 May 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about jobs created in West Lancashire. (171495)
While statistics of new jobs created are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes in numbers of jobs from year to year.
The most recent year for which data are available is 2002. There were 35,900 employees in the West Lancashire constituency in 2002 compared to 33,800 in 1997, a net increase of 2,200 jobs during this period. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100, which can introduce rounding error.
The figures provided relate to employee jobs only, with self-employed jobs excluded, and are taken from the rescaled Annual Employment Survey (1997) and the Annual Business Inquiry (2002)
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