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8 Sept 2004 : Column 1296W—continued
Household Waste (Charges)
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the fiscal implications of introducing variable charges for the collection of domestic household waste. [187277]
John Healey: The Strategy Unit report "Waste not, Want not" published in November 2002, recommended that local authorities that wish to take forward household incentive—including charging—schemes to help reduce waste volumes and increase recycling should be allowed to do so.
In response, the Government undertook to carry out further work on household incentives before reaching a decision on whether to extend the powers of local authorities and introduce pilot schemes. This work—in consultation with the Local Government Association
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and local authority practitioners—looks in particular at the practicalities of operating any such schemes, the benefits they could deliver and how potential disadvantages might be overcome.
Inheritance Tax Act
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) gross and (b) net revenue has been raised to date by the repeal under the Finance Act 1998 of section 26 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. [187474]
Dawn Primarolo: None. Section 26 was redundant following the removal of the monetary limit which originally applied to relief for charitable bequests under what is now s.23 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. A gift or bequest which could previously have been relieved under s.26 can now enjoy relief either under s.23 or under s.25 (gifts for national purposes).
Iraq (Departmental Secondments)
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the secondments of staff of the Treasury and its agencies to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq up to the transfer to the Iraqi Government; what their duties were in each case; and how many secondees continue to serve that government. [182105]
Ruth Kelly: Five Treasury officials were seconded to the Coalition Provisional Authority to support the formulation and execution of economic policy in Iraq. The Treasury officials mainly worked on budgetary issues, including preparation of the 2003 and 2004 Iraqi Budgets, execution of the budget, including payment of public sector salaries and pensions, and the new financial management law. They also worked on the Iraqi currency exchange.
At present there are no Treasury secondees serving the Iraqi Government.
Landfill Tax
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications of his Spending Review for the (a) speed and (b) quantum of future increases in the rate of landfill tax. [186985]
John Healey: The Chancellor makes decisions in the Spending Review based on a wide range of policy issues and considerations. The Government are committed to a waste management strategy which makes use of a range of policies, including spending, regulation and taxation. The standard rate of landfill tax is due to increase by £3/tonne next year and by at least £3/tonne in subsequent years on the way to a medium to long-term rate of £35/tonne. Any decisions about the rate of increases in the landfill tax will be made as part of the Budget process, taking account of all relevant policy measures and a range of social, environmental and economic factors.
National Insurance Number
Harry Cohen:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what uses of the national insurance number other than those connected with tax or benefits are authorised; whether he intends to make the national insurance number a general identifier under the Data Protection
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Act 1998; whether he seeks the views of the Information Commissioner when approving additional uses of the national insurance number; and if he will make a statement. [185952]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions response of 14 April 2003 to your previous question. Additions to the list of authorised users of the national insurance number for non-tax or benefit purposes since that date will be placed in the Library.
Responsibility for authorising use of the national insurance number is held jointly by Inland Revenue and the Department of Work and Pensions who liaise with the Information Commissioner on data protection issues. We have no plans to register the national insurance number as a general identifier under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Non-North Sea Corporation Tax Revenues
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions about the level of employer contributions to self-administered pension schemes informed his forecasts for non-North Sea corporation tax revenues in (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06, (c) 2006–07, (d) 2007–08 and (e) 2008–09 as set out in Table C9 of the Budget 2004 Red Book. [186784]
Ruth Kelly: The level of pension contributions in the economic forecast underlying the Budget 2004 non-North Sea corporation tax forecasts is circumscribed by the assumption made about the factor income shares of GDP. The assumption used is that in the medium-term, when GDP grows at the underlying trend rate, the factor shares of GDP are broadly constant. This assumption was re-examined by the National Audit Office for Budget 2004, and their conclusion was that it remained a reasonable one.
Oil Exploration Expenditure Supplement
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will raise the oil exploration expenditure supplement; [187513]
(2) what action he plans to take in response to increasing oil prices. [187511]
John Healey: The Government's focus since 3 June has been on OPEC and oil producers and their responsibilities to meet their own targets on sustainable oil prices. With the next meeting of OPEC Ministers now moved from July to September, and in light of the continuing uncertainty in the oil market, the Government announced on 20 July that it had decided to review the planned increase in fuel duty at the Pre-Budget Report.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer will report back on this issue at the time of the Pre-Budget report. Other taxes, including the oil exploration expenditure supplement, will be kept under review by the Chancellor as part of the normal Budget cycle.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes in revenues the Treasury expects as a result of rising oil prices. [187512]
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John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Waveney on 21 June (Official Report, 1205W).
Older Workers
Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged over 65 years have been in work in Northampton, South in each year since 1997. [186463]
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. Tony Clarke, dated 8 September 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment. (186463)
The attached table gives the available estimates of the number of people aged 65 and over in employment in the Northampton South Parliamentary Constituency for the twelve months ending February in 1997 and each year from 1999 to 2003. However, these estimates are subject to a higher degree of sampling and rounding error than usual, and for this reason the table also includes estimates for the East Midlands region.
Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
| Year(20) | East Midlands | Northampton, South(21) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 29 | 1 |
| 1999 | 29 | 1 |
| 2000 | 29 | 0 |
| 2001 | 33 | 2 |
| 2002 | 29 | 1 |
| 2003 | 33 | 2 |
(20) Data not available for 1998.
(21) Estimates are based on small sample sizes and are subject to a higher than usual degree of sampling variability. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey.
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