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20 May 2004 : Column 1199W—continued

E-Government

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a decision was made to proceed with the Inland Revenue's e-Government programme; and what consultation took place before the decision to proceed with the programme. [174027]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue started to develop 'e' channels in March 1999 in response to the   Modernising Government White Paper and the Chancellor's Budget announcement that internet filing of tax returns for individuals was to be developed. The 'e' services Programme was more formally established in April 2001.

Export Subsidies

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what discussions he has had with his French counterpart on EU negotiations with the World Trade Organisation on the removal of export subsidies; and if he will make a statement; [174268]

(2) what discussions he has had with his French counterpart regarding export subsidies in connection with World Trade Organisation trade requirements in the context of the Doha Round. [174801]

Mr. Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bristol, North-West (Dr. Naysmith) on 13 May 2004, Official Report, columns 460–62.
 
20 May 2004 : Column 1200W
 

Income Tax

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost implication to the Treasury of all pensioners being exempt from income tax for the first £10,000 of their earnings; and how many pensioner households this would affect. [171641]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 10 May 2004]: The cost of exempting the first £10,000 of income from income tax for all pensioners would be £2.2 billion in 2004–05. This measure would affect approximately 3.0 million pensioner households. This estimate is based on the 2001–02 Family Resources Survey, and excludes any behavioural response to the change. Well over half the cost is accounted for by the top 20 per cent. of pensioner households.

Plastic Bags

Phil Sawford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce a tax on plastic bags. [174974]

John Healey: The Chancellor continues to keep all taxes under review. The Government currently have no plans for a plastic bag tax.

Prescription Drugs (Import Controls)

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what controls are available to prevent individuals importing drugs that are available in the UK by prescription only. [174472]

 
20 May 2004 : Column 1201W
 

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise are responsible for detecting and preventing the illegal import of drugs controlled under section 3(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971. There are no import prohibitions on prescription-only medicines unless they contain drugs that are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act, such as Valium. A Home Office drugs licence must accompany such drugs if they are to be imported legally. When Customs detect such drugs illegally imported, either in the post or at ports or airports, they seize them and prosecute the importers where appropriate.

Sports Facilities

Mr. Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of granting mandatory rate relief to all sports and leisure facilities in line with that granted to community amateur sports clubs. [174051]

Mr. Raynsford: I have been asked to reply. There was never any intention to grant mandatory rate relief to all sports and leisure facilities. The relief is targeted at community based sporting activities. Many premises defined on the rating list as "sports clubs" and "leisure facilities" are commercial profit-making companies. There would be no reason to offer relief to commercial companies to be funded by the general taxpayer.

Teenage Pregnancies

Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many conceptions in women aged (a) 11,
 
20 May 2004 : Column 1202W
 
(b) 12, (c) 13, (d) 14, (e) 15, (f) 16, (g) 17, (h) 18 and (i) 19 there were in each year since 2000, broken down by strategic health authority; and if he will make a statement; [174522]

(2) what the rate of conceptions in women aged (a) 11, (b) 12, (c) 13, (d) 14, (e) 15, (f) 16, (g) 17, (h) 18 and (i) 19 was in each year since 2000, broken down by strategic health authority; and if he will make a statement. [174523]

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

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Amess, dated 20 May 2004:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent questions asking for conception numbers and conception rates for women aged between 11 and 19 for each year since 2000. (174522, 174523)

Numbers of conceptions are estimated from registrations of births and notifications of abortions. Miscarriages before the 24th week of gestation are not included.

Numbers and rates of conceptions at ages under 14, and by single year for ages 14 to 19, are shown in the tables. The information is provided for all strategic health authorities in England, for the years 2000 to, 2002. The figures for 2002 are provisional estimates, since complete abortions data is not yet available. Information on the number of conceptions at age 19 is not available for 2002, and information on conceptions at age 18 is only available at national level for this year.

In order to protect the confidentiality of individuals, ONS does not publish these figures by single year of age below age 14, given the small number of cases.

Conceptions: Numbers and rates⁽³⁰⁾ for women under 20 by age England and Wales, strategic health authority    Number, rate per 1,000 women

	Age at conception
Area	Under 14		14		15		16
2000	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
England and Wales	397	12	1,890	5.8	5,827	18.1	13,153	42.4
England	376	12	1,771	5.8	5,472	18.0	12,323	42.1
County Durham and Tees Valley	12	15	58	7.4	163	21.0	349	46.5
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	10	1.1	62	6.8	217	24.0	424	48.6
Cheshire and Merseyside	12	0.8	74	4.6	278	17.4	649	42.4
Cumbria and Lancashire	9	0.7	68	5.4	276	22.4	508	42.5
Greater Manchester	16	1.0	97	5.8	326	19.8	817	51.8
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	8	0.7	56	5.3	182	17.4	441	43.6
South Yorkshire	7	0.9	61	7.8	182	23.3	412	54.6
West Yorkshire	15	1.1	75	5.4	245	18.0	605	46.4
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	10	1.1	52	5.5	178	18.9	373	41.5
Trent	24	1.4	86	5.2	281	17.1	634	40.3
Birmingham and the Black Country	32	2.0	110	7.1	343	22.4	735	50.9
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	14	1.5	59	6.2	181	19.4	405	44.4
Shropshire and Staffordshire	5	0.5	65	6.6	185	18.7	371	39.4
Bedford and Hertfordshire	10	1.0	57	5.5	129	12.7	338	34.8
Essex	9	0.9	48	5.1	144	15.7	341	37.4
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	11	0.8	48	3.8	157	12.3	434	35.1
North Central London	17	2.5	45	6.9	132	19.7	302	47.0
North East London	14	1.4	74	7.5	232	23.0	459	47.7
North West London	18	19	53	5.7	166	18.1	369	41.0
South East London	24	2.7	80	9.2	199	23.6	488	62.0
South West London	14	2.0	51	7.7	127	19.2	275	43.0
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	7	0.7	46	4.4	161	15.7	365	36.5
Kent and Medway	13	1.3	51	5.1	170	16.9	392	39.5
Surrey and Sussex	11	0.7	74	5.0	182	12.4	420	29.5
Thames Valley	14	1.1	68	5.4	186	14.9	432	36.2
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	24	1.7	75	5.6	202	15.3	458	36.3
Dorset and Somerset	6	0.9	29	4.1	105	14.8	199	29.1
South West Peninsula	10	1.1	49	5.5	143	16.2	328	37.6
Wales	21	1.1	119	6.3	355	18.7	830	46.0

 
20 May 2004 : Column 1203W
 

	17		18		19
	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
England and Wales	20,081	66.0	26,180	87.3	30,136	94.7
England	18,757	65.5	24,518	86.8	28,263	94.4
County Durham and Tees Valley	537	73.4	689	98.3	736	97.4
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	646	74.3	849	98.2	882	94.9
Cheshire and Merseyside	1,014	69.1	1,212	85.9	1,405	97.0
Cumbria and Lancashire	839	71.7	1,084	94.9	1,100	97.0
Greater Manchester	1,223	79.8	1,659	111.2	1,822	112.6
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	571	59.4	826	86.3	865	87.7
South Yorkshire	593	80.7	738	103.1	862	98.9
West Yorkshire	953	73.2	1,248	95.6	1,394	92.2
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	575	63.2	714	77.8	881	87.2
Trent	985	64.1	1,228	81.7	1,416	87.4
Birmingham and the Black Country	1,243	86.2	1,599	113.2	1,887	122.8
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	556	62.5	732	81.9	845	93.0
Shropshire and Staffordshire	558	60.0	697	78.4	791	915
Bedford and Hertfordshire	466	49.4	641	68.2	715	816
Essex	502	58.5	644	74.4	702	816
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	637	52.7	873	71.6	1,006	83.6
North Central London	448	70.7	652	106.7	825	103.4
North East London	728	78.7	1,033	113.2	1,350	132.5
North West London	606	69.0	843	99.9	1,132	113.4
South East London	677	86.2	951	122.9	1,131	127.9
South West London	443	69.8	576	93.8	654	91.2
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	543	55.2	675	70.8	909	80.7
Kent and Medway	644	68.0	728	77.1	829	94.7
Surrey and Sussex	691	48.2	831	56.4	976	69.4
Thames Valley	615	50.8	827	68.6	980	78.3
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	643	52.5	881	72.1	993	77.9
Dorset and Somerset	356	53.8	448	68.9	475	78.3
South West Peninsula	465	55.1	640	78.7	700	84.0
Wales	1,324	74.6	1,662	95.6	1,873	99.0

⁽³⁰⁾   Rates for women aged under 14 are per 1,000 females aged 13 and rates by single year of age are per 1,000 females of the same age



Conceptions: Numbers and rates⁽³¹⁾ for women under 20 by age England and Wales, strategic health authority⁽³²⁾    Number, rate per 1,000 women

	Age at conception
Area	Under 14		14		15		16
2001	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
England and Wales	398	1.2	1,883	5.7	5,609	17.4	13,099	40.5
England	374	1.2	1,774	5.7	5,247	17.2	12,255	40.2
County Durham and Tees Valley	9	1.2	51	6.7	140	18.3	371	48.4
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	9	1.0	57	6.4	192	21.7	434	48.7
Cheshire and Merseyside	16	1.0	73	4.6	225	14.2	599	37.1
Cumbria and Lancashire	12	0.9	76	6.1	203	16.3	492	40.1
Greater Manchester	17	1.0	117	7.0	328	19.6	811	49.3
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	9	0.8	54	5.2	184	18.0	417	41.2
South Yorkshire	15	1.8	67	8.3	179	23.0	387	50.0
West Yorkshire	17	1.2	78	5.5	258	18.6	600	43.6
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	11	1.1	53	5.3	150	15.2	347	35.3
Trent	15	0.9	97	5.9	283	17.8	648	40.9
Birmingham and the Black Country	28	1.8	108	6.8	332	21.8	776	51.2
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	10	1.0	54	5.7	172	18.1	357	38.0
Shropshire and Staffordshire	14	1.4	55	5.8	161	17.0	401	42.4
Bedford and Hertfordshire	9	0.8	43	4.2	127	12.6	292	28.6
Essex	10	1.0	49	4.9	135	13.9	299	31.4
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	13	1.0	70	5.3	185	14.4	426	32.7
North Central London	14	2.0	55	8.2	126	19.6	322	46.3
North East London	17	1.7	76	7.9	221	22.6	507	49.3
North West London	13	1.3	56	5.9	169	18.3	370	38.5
South East London	24	2.7	69	7.8	233	27.0	517	61.3
South West London	9	1.3	34	5.0	132	20.2	255	38.8
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	11	1.0	60	5.5	184	17.2	379	35.3
Kent and Medway	13	1.2	57	5.6	169	16.9	398	39.1
Surrey and Sussex	11	0.7	64	4.4	173	11.9	428	29.7
Thames Valley	12	0.9	49	3.8	173	13.3	414	32.0
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	16	1.2	77	5.8	196	15.0	460	35.9
Dorset and Somerset	8	1.1	33	4.6	90	12.5	244	34.3
South West Peninsula	12	1.2	42	4.4	127	13.7	304	33.0
Wales	24	1.2	109	5.8	362	19.5	844	44.6

 
20 May 2004 : Column 1205W
 

	17		18		19
	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
England and Wales	19,975	63.9	25,735	83.7	29,225	94.7
England	18,786	63.8	24,200	83.6	27,518	94.8
County Durham and Tees Valley	531	72.1	666	92.4	751	104.5
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	596	69.2	779	89.2	868	92.9
Cheshire and Merseyside	1,025	66.7	1,253	85.0	1,355	95.2
Cumbria and Lancashire	749	63.0	953	81.4	1,081	94.8
Greater Manchester	1,273	80.7	1,569	101.7	1,763	112.3
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	626	63.7	771	81.8	840	91.5
South Yorkshire	610	80.8	721	93.9	843	97.6
West Yorkshire	934	71.4	1,284	95.4	1,464	96.7
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	545	57.4	693	72.4	831	81.6
Trent	926	60.5	1,253	84.1	1,319	85.8
Birmingham and the Black Country	1,173	81.4	1,599	108.6	1,760	114.4
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	549	59.5	687	77.5	111	90.1
Shropshire and Staffordshire	569	62.5	681	76.1	739	88.3
Bedford and Hertfordshire	489	50.7	648	70.4	726	88.2
Essex	526	56.1	648	74.6	715	90.6
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	635	50.6	840	68.3	1,012	84.2
North Central London	456	67.3	673	99.4	824	113.1
North East London	762	78.1	1,063	113.0	1,374	146.9
North West London	580	60.8	860	90.8	1,044	111.1
South East London	754	93.6	1,013	125.5	1,097	131.2
South West London	432	66.8	513	79.0	644	92.7
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	583	56.4	749	71.6	886	80.7
Kent and Medway	581	57.9	763	80.9	828	97.6
Surrey and Sussex	639	45.7	833	60.6	913	69.3
Thames Valley	622	49.1	836	66.7	921	75.9
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	746	60.3	862	70.7	1,002	79.2
Dorset and Somerset	341	49.6	396	61.8	481	83.5
South West Peninsula	534	58.5	594	66.5	660	74.3
Wales	1,189	65.8	1,535	85.7	1,707	93.0

⁽³¹⁾ Rates for women aged under 14 are per 1,000 females aged 13 and rates by single year of age are per 1,000 females of the same age
⁽³²⁾ Provisional



Conceptions: Numbers and rates⁽³³⁾ for women under 20 by age England and Wales, strategic health authority, (provisional estimates⁽³⁴⁾)    Number, rate per 1,000 women

	Age at conception
Area	Under 14		14		15		16
2002	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
England and Wales	359	1.1	1,652	4.9	5,111	15.6	12,376	38.2
England	335	1.1	1,562	4.9	4,786	15.5	11,630	38.1
County Durham and Tees Valley	11	1.5	44	5.7	150	19.8	332	43.3
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	11	1.3	47	5.3	162	18.2	403	45.3
Cheshire and Merseyside	11	0.7	63	3.9	235	14.9	603	38.0
Cumbria and Lancashire	15	1.2	81	6.3	190	15.1	493	39.5
Greater Manchester	14	0.8	102	6.0	284	17.0	792	47.3
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	6	0.6	55	5.1	175	16.8	390	38.1
South Yorkshire	11	1.4	57	7.0	189	23.5	410	52.8
West Yorkshire	17	1.2	99	7.0	242	17.1	541	38.8
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	11	1.1	54	5.1	122	12.1	366	36.7
Trent	20	1.2	93	5.5	256	15.4	581	36.5
Birmingham and the Black Country	22	1.4	88	5.6	290	18.4	697	45.8
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	8	0.8	53	5.4	138	14.6	393	41.1
Shropshire and Staffordshire	10	1.0	49	5.0	160	16.8	363	38.3
Bedford and Hertfordshire	11	1.0	39	3.7	101	9.9	301	29.7
Essex	4	0.4	35	3.4	136	13.4	286	29.5
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	15	1.1	58	4.3	178	13.6	413	32.1
North Central London	14	2.1	41	5.9	117	17.4	332	50.3
North East London	13	1.3	65	6.6	180	18.7	458	46.1
North West London	13	1.4	37	3.8	137	14.4	360	38.1
South East London	22	2.5	66	7.6	229	26.1	502	58.5
South West London	9	1.3	29	4.1	114	16.8	271	41.3
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	17	1.5	39	3.5	154	14.0	355	33.1
Kent and Medway	10	0.9	50	4.7	155	15.1	362	36.0
Surrey and Sussex	16	1.1	47	3.1	157	10.7	398	27.1
Thames Valley	5	0.4	41	3.1	167	13.1	368	28.2
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	6	0.4	65	4.7	159	11.9	403	30.7
Dorset and Somerset	4	0.5	21	2.8	83	11.5	179	25.0
South West Peninsula	9	0.9	44	4.5	126	13.2	278	29.8
Wales	24	1.3	90	4.7	325	17.2	746	40.3

 
20 May 2004 : Column 1207W
 

	17		18		19
	Number	Rate	Number	Rate	Number	Rate
England and Wales	19,117	58.7	24,239	76.9
England	17,876	58.3	—	—
County Durham and Tees Valley	561	73.3	—	—	—
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	663	74.4			—	—
Cheshire and Merseyside	891	55.1	—	—	—
Cumbria and Lancashire	756	60.9		—		—
Greater Manchester	1,150	70.2	—	—	—	—
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	594	58.8			—	—
South Yorkshire	554	71.6	—	—	—	—
West Yorkshire	887	64.6	—		—	—
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	518	52.0	—	—	—
Trent	935	58.7		—	—	—
Birmingham and the Black Country	1,151	75.8	—	—	—
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	508	53.2		—	—	—
Shropshire and Staffordshire	544	57.5	—	—	—
Bedford and Hertfordshire	452	44.3	—	—	—	—
Essex	500	52.5	—	—	—	—
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	606	45.9	—	—		—
North Central London	490	68.7	—	—	—	—
North East London	722	69.6				—
North West London	561	56.5	—	—	—	—
South East London	659	78.0	—	—	—
South West London	393	59.0		—	—	—
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	543	50.2	—		—
Kent and Medway	527	51.3	—	—	—	—
Surrey and Sussex	606	41.7	—
Thames Valley	603	45.7	—	—	—	—
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	628	48.8	—		—
Dorset and Somerset	355	49.7	—	—	—	—
South West Peninsula	519	56.4	—	—		—
Wales	1,241	65.4	—			—

⁽³³⁾ Rates for women aged under 14 are per 1,000 females aged 13 and rates by single year of age are per 1,000 females of the same age
⁽³⁴⁾ Provisional estimates based on incomplete abortion data.
⁽³⁵⁾ Processing of abortion data for women aged 18 and over is incomplete and therefore figures are not yet available. An early provisional national estimate has been made of conceptions at age 18, but not at other ages or subnationally.

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