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15 Jun 2004 : Column 836W—continued
Trade (Endangered Species)
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many articles were seized by HM Customs under the Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species in each year since 1997–98. [178758]
John Healey: HM Customs and Excise reported in their Departmental Annual Reports for 1997–98 and 1998–99 details of Cites seizures for those years. Detailed information for the period April 1999 to December 2000 is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Customs' Spring Departmental Report 2004 (Cm 6224) contains details of the numbers of Cites seizures for the nine months from 1 April 2003 to 31 December 2003, and the tables show details of seizures for the calendar years 2001–03.
Seizures may be recorded by weight or number and seizures of items such as traditional Chinese medicines may be recorded either according to the individual count of capsules or according to the quantity of containers.
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| 2001 | Number of seizures | Number of items seized | Weight of items seized (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live animals and birds | 49 | 5,196 | |
| Parts and derivatives of endangered species | 204 | 15,908 | |
| 19 | 711,071 | ||
| Ivory | 40 | 347 | |
| 4 | 476,850 | ||
| Plants | 28 | 3,923 | |
| 1 | 4,800 | ||
| Other CITES listed species | 45 | 1,489 | |
| 20 | 29,376 | ||
| Preparations of oriental medicines that include parts or derivatives of endangered species | 50 | 37,205 |
| 2002 | Number of seizures | Number of items seized | Weight of items seized (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live animals and birds | 114 | 8,685 | |
| Parts and derivatives of endangered species | 238 | 9,672,827 | |
| 4 | 227,600 | ||
| Ivory | 29 | 156 | |
| Plants | 13 | 758 | |
| Other CITES listed species | 51 | 6,664,307 | |
| 30 | 107,675 | ||
| Preparations of oriental medicines that include parts or derivatives of endangered species | 60 | 5,597,596 |
| 2003 | Number of seizures | Number of items seized | Weight of items seized (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live animals and birds | 99 | 2,925 | |
| Parts and derivatives of endangered species | 144 | 2,143 | |
| Ivory | 33 | 145 | |
| Plants | 15 | 2,044 | |
| Other CITES listed species | 53 | 18,972 | |
| 29 | 73.5 | ||
| Preparations of oriental medicines that include parts or derivatives of endangered species | 20 | 5,042,728 | |
| 18 | 469.3 |
Travel Expenses Claims
Mr. Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-employed individuals who work as temporary workers under a terms of engagement for services arrangement have appealed against Inland Revenue decisions not to grant in full their claims for travel expenses. [178759]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue does not keep central records of disallowed travel expenses claimed by the self-employed or of appeals against refused claims.
The general rule for self-employed working under a contract for services is that travel expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of a trade are tax deductible.
UK Tax Burden
Mr. Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate how much extra tax revenue would be generated if the UK tax burden was at the EU average; and if he will make a statement. [178471]
Dawn Primarolo:
The latest available figures on total tax revenues and social security contributions across the EU are published in "OECD Revenue Statistics 1965–2002", October 2003 edition: p.18—Table A; p.109—Table 38; and p.111—Table 41. A copy of this publication is available in the Library of the House.
15 Jun 2004 : Column 838W
Workless Households
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of children were living in households with no-one in work in each year since 1992. [177903]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Willetts, dated 15 June 2004:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about children in workless households. (177903)
The attached table gives the estimates of the number and the percentage of children who were living in workless households for the three months ending May of each year from 1992 to 2003.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are subject to sampling error.
(9) Children under 16 years.
(10) A workless household is a household that includes at least one person of working age, and in which no one aged 16 or over is in employment.
(11) Children in workless households as a percentage of children in all working age households.
Note:
These LFS estimates have not been adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results.
Source:
ONS—Labour Force Survey
15 Jun 2004 : Column 839W
Unemployment (Coventry)
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the levels of long-term (a) adult and (b) youth unemployment in Coventry over the last seven years. [178143]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 15 June 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about unemployment. (178143)
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 reliable estimates of unemployment in the Coventry South Constituency.
ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
The table below gives total JSA claimants claiming for over 12 months and those aged 18 to 24 years old claiming for over 12 months for the Coventry South constituency. The figures are annual averages for each year since 1997. The data are not seasonally adjusted.
| All ages | 18 to 24 years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1,033 | 154 |
| 1998 | 772 | 90 |
| 1999 | 649 | 19 |
| 2000 | 450 | 10 |
| 2001 | 357 | 11 |
| 2002 | 319 | 12 |
| 2003 | 306 | 11 |
WORK AND PENSIONS
Asbestos
Mr. Paterson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the
15 Jun 2004 : Column 840W
tonnage of materials containing white asbestos in use by the farming industry; and what the total costs of disposal would be at current prices. [176644]
Jane Kennedy: Asbestos is present on a large proportion of farms in the form of asbestos cement sheeting. Much, though not all, of this material contains white asbestos. There is no requirement under the new duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises regulation to remove or dispose of asbestos-containing material if it is in good condition. HSE advice is that in this case it is safer to leave it in place and manage it.
The Regulatory Impact Assessment for the new regulation estimated the total cost of compliance for agricultural buildings at a present value of £180 million over the 50 years, 2000–50. There are approximately 163,540 agricultural premises in Great Britain. The cost of disposal was not estimated separately.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when farmers will be expected to be fully compliant with the provisions of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. [176650]
Jane Kennedy: The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 came into force in November 2002 with the exception of Regulation 4: the Duty to Manage Asbestos in Non-Domestic Premises, which came into force on 21 May this year.
Now that the new duty is in force, HSE expects duty-holders to have adopted a precautionary approach to prevent accidental exposure and to deal with emergency situations. They also expect to see a compliance strategy in place, which should set out how and when the specific steps required in the legislation will be complied with.
Assuming these steps have been taken, HSE inspectors do not necessarily require farmers or any group to be fully compliant with the duty to manage asbestos in these early stages.
However, HSE inspectors will take enforcement action where disregard for the Regulation means that people are being put at serious risk of asbestos exposure.
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