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14 Jun 2004 : Column 631W—continued
TREASURY
Construction Industry Scheme
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Construction Industry Scheme certificates have been lost in each year since the Scheme's introduction; and what their total value is. [178016]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of tax certificates reported to the Revenue as lost in each year since the introduction of the scheme is set out as follows. The certificates themselves have no value, they simply allow the holder to receive payments without deduction.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 1,523 |
| 2000–01 | 1,597 |
| 2001–02 | 1,238 |
| 2002–03 | 1,507 |
| 2003–04 | 1,042 |
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated total annual cost to the Inland Revenue is of running the Construction Industry Scheme. [178017]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated annual cost to the Inland Revenue of running the Construction Industry Scheme is £27 million, as set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment on the Reform of the Construction Industry Scheme published at the time of Budget 2004.
Employment
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of adults aged 25 to 49 years are in employment in the UK; and what the comparable figures are for other EU countries. [177910]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. David Willetts, dated 14 June 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment in the UK and other EU countries for 25–49 year olds. I am replying in his absence. (177910)
The attached table gives the latest available figures for each EU member state.
The UK figure refers to December 2003-February 2004 and is taken from the latest UK Labour Force Survey. The other figures are the latest available European LFS data taken from Eurostat's New Cronos database. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.
14 Jun 2004 : Column 632W
Endowment Mortgages (Mis-selling)
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance has been provided to those making claims of mis-selling of endowment mortgages against small independent financial advisers about the information to be included in a claim. [178224]
Ruth Kelly: Information for policyholders is available from both the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service to help people who want to make a complaint about an endowment mortgage. The FSA factsheet "Endowment mortgage complaints" has been produced and distributed since October 2000 and has been regularly updated. The FSA also produces a more detailed guide to making a complaint which includes an example of how to write a complaint letter. Where a policyholder is not satisfied with the outcome of a complaint they can refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service who can provide further assistance to policyholders in writing or over the phone.
Gas Network (Treasury Support)
Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations have been made to his Department by Government Departments and other agencies and individuals seeking Treasury support to fund extension of the mains gas network to areas of England without such provision. [178047]
Ruth Kelly: The DTI has committed, in the Energy White Paper, to explore options for pilot projects on gas network extension.
The Treasury has spoken to a range of Departments, organisations and individuals on this issue.
Illegal Food Imports
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what quantity of illegal food imports were seized in each month of the last three years. [177960]
John Healey:
HM Customs and Excise reported in their spring departmental report 2004 (Cm 6224) that they seized 119,278 kg of illegal imports of products of animal origin for the period 1 April to 31 December 2003.
14 Jun 2004 : Column 633W
The following table shows the monthly breakdown for these seizures:
Month | Total weight of products of animal origin seized (kg) |
|---|---|
| April | 3,281 |
| May | 25,111 |
| June | 5,517 |
| July | 9,106 |
| August | 20,238 |
| September | 14,109 |
| October | 11,768 |
| November | 13,474 |
| December | 16,674 |
| Total | 119,278 |
Note:
All figures are rounded to the nearest kilogramme.
Statistics relating to seizures of illegal imports for the 2001–02 and 2002–03 financial years were published in Defra's "Annual Review of Imports of Animal Product: April 2002—March 2003", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
A monthly breakdown of the statistics for those years, and for seizures made by other agencies between 1 April and 31 December 2003, would be available only at disproportionate cost; Exemption 9 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies.
Large Business Office
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated tax yields from the Inland Revenue Large Business Office were for each year from 1997; and what the actual tax yield outcome was in each year. [174945]
Dawn Primarolo: The Large Business Office was only formed in 1997 so there was no basis to make a forecast until 1998–99. The forecast was included in the board's report.
An overall forecast for 1999–2000 for the Department was made but the make up of this figure is not available. For subsequent years no forecast of compliance yield was made.
The additional tax yield figures from the LBO for 1999–2000 to 2002–03 as adjusted are set out in the board's reports which are available in the House of Commons Library.
Those for 2003–04 are being audited for inclusion in the report for 2003–04 which will be published later this year.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 27 April 2004, Official Report, column 869W, on overseas aid, if he will list (a) countries which contribute a higher percentage than the UK of gross national income to overseas aid and (b) those countries which have set a timetable to reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national income on overseas aid. [177723]
14 Jun 2004 : Column 634W
John Healey: The UK's ratio of overseas aid to gross national income (GNI) stood at 0.34 per cent. in 2003 and is set to rise to 0.40 per cent. in 2005–06, the highest level since 1981.
Information on countries contributing higher percentages than the UK to overseas aid and those with timetables to reach 0.70 oda/GNI is available on the OECD Development Assistance Committee website at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/63/31508396.pdf.
Pensions
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pension schemes approved by the Inland Revenue have fewer than 50 members. [176825]
Ruth Kelly: This information is not held centrally. However, table 2.1 of the "Occupational Pension Schemes 2000—Eleventh Survey by the Government Actuary", which covered occupational pension schemes with two or more members, indicates that between 86,000 and 98,000 pension schemes approved by the Inland Revenue might have less than 50 members.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to pension schemes with fewer than 50 members of his proposed requirement on those schemes to secure all pensions with annuities. [176826]
Ruth Kelly: The cost of annuitising pension benefits for pension schemes with less than 50 members as opposed to paying benefits directly from the scheme will vary from case to case. Relevant factors will be the level to which scheme benefits are funded and the relative ages and benefit entitlements of the scheme members.
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