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25 May 2004 : Column 1508W—continued

EU Budget

Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the present member states of the European Union are expected to be (a) net contributors to and (b) net beneficiaries of the European Union budget in 2004–05. [175155]

Ruth Kelly: As shown in the footnote to Table C11 of the FSBR (HC 301), the Government forecasts that the United Kingdom will continue to be a net contributor to the EC Budget in 2004–05. Publishing forecasts of the net positions of other Member States is a matter for their respective Governments.

Aggregates Tax

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been raised in tax and licence revenue from the dredging of aggregates off the East Anglian coast in each of the last 10 years. [175029]

John Healey: The information on the amount of tax raised from the dredging of aggregates off the East Anglian coast is not available. Revenue from this source and region is not separately identified in either aggregates levy or VAT payments.
 
25 May 2004 : Column 1509W
 

The royalty income over the period 1993 to 2003 from aggregate dredging licences off the East Anglian coast (east coast region comprising Great Yarmouth/Cross Sands block and Southwold) is given in the following table:

	Royalty income (£ million)
2003	5.06
2002	5.29
2001	5.36
2000	6.16
1999	4.77
1998	4.44
1997	4.71
1996	5.21
1995	4.67
1994	4.18
1993	3.67

Child Tax Credit

Colin Burgon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in the Elmet constituency are receiving child tax credit. [174876]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean) on 15 March 2004, Official Report, column 98W.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) the constituency of Huntingdon have received child tax credit. [175252]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean) on 15 March 2004, Official Report, column 98W. Estimates for each local authority also appear in the publication referred to in that answer.

Departmental Buildings

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many buildings in England owned by his Department are used at less than 25 per cent. capacity for more than three months of the year. [175980]

Ruth Kelly: None.

E-Government

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer from what date staff were employed by the Inland Revenue's e-Government programme; how many staff are assigned to the programme; and when planning began for the programme. [174019]

Dawn Primarolo: Staff have been employed on the planning and implementation of the Inland Revenue's e-Government programme from 1999. Currently there are 328 Full-time Equivalents (FTEs) assigned permanently to the programme. This includes 253 FTEs that provide support to customers who use the "e" services. (Self Assessment, PAYE, Corporation Tax, New Tax Credits and Stamps.)

Farming

Nick Harvey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will revise the tax treatment of losses made by
 
25 May 2004 : Column 1510W
 
farmers on holdings of production quotas so as to allow losses to be written off against trading profits rather than capital transaction profits; and if he will make a statement. [173913]

Dawn Primarolo: Production quotas held by unincorporated farmers are treated for tax purposes as chargeable assets and as such any losses are set against current or future chargeable gains. There are no current plans to revise this treatment.

Illegal Meat Imports

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of x-ray technology in detecting illegal meat imports; [175636]

(2) what use Customs and Excise make of x-ray technology to detect illegal meat imports; and if he will make a statement. [175749]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, North (Mr. Gardiner) on 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 116W. HM Customs and Excise use x-ray technology to detect illegal meat and other prohibited and restricted goods being imported into the UK both by passengers and in freight. The effectiveness of current equipment is continually assessed.

Customs continue to work with manufacturers to identify improved technology that would further enhance their detection capabilities.

Large Business Office

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many hours' training each Large Business Office caseworker has received in tax compliance performance in each year since 1997. [174939]

Dawn Primarolo: These figures are not available. Large Business Office caseworkers all have a Performance Development Plan according to their personal needs and experience. They receive continuous technical training on a variety of topics through formal courses and in-house awareness seminars. These include specific tax compliance knowledge and skills.

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which IT software systems have been procured by the Large Business Office since 1997; and how many hours' training each Large Business Office caseworker has had on those systems in each year since 1997. [174940]

Dawn Primarolo: The Large Business Office main IT system to manage case handling was introduced in April 1998. Training in the use of this system is provided by local support on induction to the LBO.

The main desktop support services are provided departmentally. The LBO has one designated officer in each location to support staff familiarisation with these as required.

Data analysis software products, Win Idea and SPACE, were introduced in 2003–04 for Employer Compliance staff. 20 officers are having 18 days training in their full use, to become local experts, and a further 20 in 2003–04 and 2004–05 will receive support training.
 
25 May 2004 : Column 1511W
 

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost has been in each year since 1997 of IT software systems procured by the Large Business Office. [174941]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) on 12 February 2004, Official Report, columns 1555–56W.

The main support IT, such as standard desktop services, audit tools etc. are provided nationally, and not procured by the LBO. The LBO has its own small budget for minor IT software packages and other incidentals, currently £13,000 per annum.

Lone Parents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many lone parents were employed in each of the last 25 years, broken down by constituency within each region. [175129]

 
25 May 2004 : Column 1512W
 

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

Letter from Len Cook to Chris Ruane, dated 25 May 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about lone parents in employment. (175129)

The attached table gives the estimates of the number of lone parents in employment for each region covering the three months ending May each year from 1992 to 2003. Comparable information is not available for earlier or later years. The LFS sample size is too small to give reliable information in each Parliamentary Constituency.

Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics's Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.

Lone parents⁽⁸⁾ with dependent children in employment by regions—three months ending May, each year from 1992 to 2003 £000

	United Kingdom	North East	North West	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	West Midlands	Eastern
1992	569	30	72	53	43	47	42
1993	615	29	82	51	34	53	47
1994	669	30	79	54	46	55	61
1995	725	36	81	60	47	59	62
1996	703	33	94	69	44	52	51
1997	695	34	97	68	50	61	59
1998	763	32	104	66	47	74	60
1999	795	43	106	66	47	72	60
2000	822	42	109	76	50	69	66
2001	836	33	109	79	51	71	67
2002	893	47	136	72	63	71	76
2003	894	44	132	71	59	67	74

	London	South East	South West	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
1992	76	74	42	22	55	12
1993	84	73	45	37	61	17
1994	92	86	48	38	62	18
1995	100	99	54	38	69	20
1996	96	87	56	42	63	16
1997	83	84	47	39	55	18
1998	97	92	61	45	64	21
1999	111	93	62	46	70	19
2000	108	97	58	48	72	27
2001	116	98	66	42	82	22
2002	110	111	68	40	79	20
2003	111	113	69	48	81	25

⁽⁸⁾   Refers to people who have dependent children and who are neither married nor cohabiting. Dependent children include all children aged under 16, and 16 to 18 year olds in full-time education.
Source:
ONS: Labour Force Survey, household data.

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