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Bereavement Benefit

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the Government has to carry forward into the new regime existing Inland Revenue rules allowing schemes to pay a bereavement benefit of up to £2,500 on the death of a pensioner at any age to cover funeral costs; and whether there will be transitional protection arrangements. [186729]

Ruth Kelly: Under the simplified tax rules for pensions, lump sum death benefits may normally only be paid where the member is under the age of 75 at death. This maintains the principle that pensions are to provide for retirement and not a means for passing capital through the generations.
 
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We have received representations from a small number of occupational pension schemes that pay a tax-free bereavement benefit of up to £2,500. We will be considering these representations carefully.

Child Poverty

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Government has made of (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children grew up in jobless households in (i) St. Helens and (ii) the UK, broken down by region, in each year since 1997. [186822]

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. Shaun Woodward, dated 8 September 2004:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about children in workless households. (186822)

The attached table gives the available estimates of the number and the percentage of children resident in workless households in St. Helens Local Authority District and each region of the UK, for the three months ending May of each year from 1997 to 2004.

Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling error. Estimates for St. Helens Local Authority District are based on small sample sizes and are subject to a high level of sampling variability. In particular, year-to-year changes are likely to show considerable volatility.

Number and percentage of children living in workless households 1,2UK regions, 1997 to 2004 (three months periods ending in May) ⁽¹⁹⁾

Region	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Percentage(17)
North East	23.3	25.2	25.3	22.6	22.0	19.8	24.9	23.3
North West	22.4	23.6	22.6	19.4	19.1	19.9	20.1	18.0
in which:
St. Helens LAD(18)	39	34	20	19	14	8	23	29
Yorkshire and the Humber	20.0	20.4	18.5	18.7	16.6	20.9	16.7	15.8
East Midlands	16.3	16.9	14.8	13.1	15.6	14.2	16.0	12.2
West Midlands	18.3	17.9	18.4	17.0	16.5	17.9	15.6	14.3
East of England	14.2	13.5	12.8	11.2	10.1	10.7	10.7	12.4
London	25.8	26.5	27.5	24.7	25.1	26.4	23.9	25.7
South East	12.1	10.9	10.2	9.8	9.6	11.0	10.5	10.0
South West	13.4	13.3	12.9	11.1	10.5	11.1	11.4	11.1
Wales	21.8	20.7	21.2	20.3	21.6	19.7	17.5	19.4
Scotland	19.3	18.6	17.6	17.5	16.1	14.2	16.0	18.4
Northern Ireland	20.1	19.8	19.4	21.1	19.0	20.5	18.2	20.5
United Kingdom	18.7	18.7	18.2	16.8	16.4	17.1	16.5	16.4
Thousand
North East	122	132	134	117	107	94	120	103
North West	319	335	314	271	264	277	283	245
in which:
St. Helens LAD(18)	16	12	9	5	3	1	6	7
Yorkshire and the Humber	201	200	182	182	156	194	157	146
East Midlands	132	138	121	103	122	115	132	96
West Midlands	196	190	191	178	173	187	153	144
East of England	146	141	134	116	103	113	113	128
London	356	380	400	365	369	379	342	381
South East	182	164	157	151	149	165	149	146
South West	119	117	118	101	95	99	95	96
Wales	122	118	127	120	124	114	96	108
Scotland	189	181	162	158	145	123	145	155
Northern Ireland	87	83	76	79	74	78	72	79
United Kingdom	2,171	2,179	2,116	1,941	1,879	1,939	1,857	1,825

⁽¹⁵⁾ Children refers to children under 16.
⁽¹⁶⁾ Figures have not been adjusted for households with unknown economic activity status.
⁽¹⁷⁾ Children living in workless households as a percentage of children living in all working-age households with known economic activity status.
⁽¹⁸⁾ Estimates for St. Helens LAD are based on small sample sizes and are therefore subject to a high degree of sampling variability. They should be treated with caution.
⁽¹⁹⁾ Not seasonally adjusted
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey





 
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Civil Servants

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest available figures are for the cost of (a) a Grade 5 civil servant and (b) a Grade 7 civil servant for his Department; and if he will make a statement. [187086]

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury's ranges F and E correspond to Grades 5 and 7 respectively. For a range F civil servant, the current average salary cost including London Allowances is £61,700, and the current average total staff cost including employer's NI and pension contributions is £78,700. For a range E civil servant, the current average salary cost including London Allowances is £42,200, and the current average total staff cost including employer's NI and pension contributions is £52,900.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of service is for (a) a grade 5 civil servant and (b) a grade 7 civil servant in his Department; and if he will make a statement. [187091]

Ruth Kelly: In HM Treasury, the average length of Government service for a grade 5 civil servant is 16 years, and for a grade 7 civil servant is 10 years.

Climate Change Levy

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the operation of the Climate Change Levy, with particular reference to its effect on the Government's waste hierarchy. [186984]

John Healey: The Government continually review the use of all economic instruments, including the Climate Change Levy, across a broad range of areas. The first stage of the "Review of Environmental and Health Effects of Waste Management" was published earlier this year, and the second stage will be published shortly. Together these reports will help inform policy development and the wider debate on waste management, including the case for using economic instruments.

Designated Accommodation

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many rooms are set aside for (a) the use of smokers, (b) worship, broken down by religion, and (c) nursing mothers and pregnant women in each building and set of offices for which his Department is responsible. [187319]

Ruth Kelly: There are five dedicated smoking rooms and one prayer room in 1 Horse Guards Road. Nursing mothers and pregnant women have access to the suite of welfare facilities provided.
 
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Household Saving

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of advanced dividend tax credit on levels of household saving. [186542]

Ruth Kelly: I believe the hon. Gentleman is referring to the removal of payable tax credits on dividends. This was one element of a package of measures, including lower corporation tax rates and increased capital allowances, designed to encourage investment and economic growth. Therefore it would be misleading to assess the impact of one measure in isolation.

Furthermore, the Government has introduced a number of measures to encourage saving since 1999, such as reducing the rate of tax on dividends from 20 per cent. to 10 per cent. for starting and basic rate taxpayers; introducing the lower rate of tax for savings of 10 per cent. and the Individual Savings Account. The ISA has been very successful, with around 15 million savers—one in three adults—subscribing around £140 billion into their ISAs since they came into effect in April 1999.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of reducing the maximum investment limits on Individual Savings Accounts on household saving. [186543]

Ruth Kelly: ISAs form one part of the Governments approach to savings linking with policies such as the new Child Trust Fund, reductions in the tax on Capital Gains for business assets from 40 per cent. to 10 per cent. and radical simplification of pensions with a lifetime limit of £1.5m.

A reduction from £7,000 to £5,000 a year may affect the allocation of savings between savings products for those currently investing more than £5,000 a year in an ISA. The overall effect on such savers behaviour is uncertain. We shall continue to keep the approach to savings policy under review.

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