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15 Oct 2004 : Column 424W—continued
Standards Board for England
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding was allocated to the Standards Board for England in each year since its establishment; and what the estimated cost is for 2005–06. [190790]
Phil Hope: The information requested is tabled below.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Grant paid to the Standards Board for England | |
| 2001–02 | 2.646 |
| 2002–03 | 6.514 |
| 2003–04 | 8.944 |
| 2004–05 | (9)8.94 |
| 2005–06 | (10)— |
(9) Expected grant
(10) To be agreed
Travellers
Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many travellers' sites were available (a) on the latest date for which figures are available and (b) in 1997. [190742]
Keith Hill: As at January 2004, the latest date for which published figures are available, there were 313 local authority sites available to Gypsies and Travellers in England. In January 1997, there were 327 local authority sites available.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the total number of travellers' caravans in England (a) on the latest date for which figures are available, (b) in 1997 and (c) in 1974. [190741]
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Keith Hill: As at January 2004, the latest date for which published figures are available, there were a total of 14,362 Gypsy and Traveller caravans in England. In January 1997, this figure stood at 12,796. The bi-annual Count commenced in 1979 and therefore data is not available for 1974.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Attorney-General will make it his policy to adopt the legal opinion of Rabinder Singh QC and Professor Christine Chinkin regarding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in relation to the Mutual Defence Agreement; and if she will make a statement. [189117]
Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply as the Minister responsible for this issue.
I can confirm that the Government are satisfied that the extension of the Mutual Defence Agreement for a further 10 years is compatible with the UK's obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
There is a long-standing convention, followed by successive Governments, that neither the fact that the Law Officers have advised on a particular matter, nor the substance of any advice they may have given, is publicly disclosed. This is consistent with paragraphs 2 and 4(d) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Business Regulation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions her Department has sponsored time-limited regulations on business since 2001. [190001]
Nigel Griffiths: The information requested is as follows:
Commission Regulation (EC) No 772/2004 of 27 April 2004 on the application of Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty to categories of technology transfer agreements came into force on 1 May 2004. Article 11 of the Regulation states that it shall expire on 30 April 2014;
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1400/2002 of 31 July 2002, the cars block exemption regulating the distribution of new cars in the Community includes an expiry date of 31 May 2010; and
The Renewables Obligation Order 2002 (SI 2002/914) which applies to electricity suppliers and expires on 31 March 2027.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions (a) she and (b) departmental officials have had with the European Commission in respect of the acceptability under EU state aid rules of the UK Government's proposals for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. [190769]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has discussed the matter with Commissioner Monti. DTI officials and the UK Permanent Representation in Brussels remain in close contact with Commission services.
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regulatory impact assessments (a) have been and (b) will be made for those EU Directives which will come into force in the next 12 months. [190156]
Mr. Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 1 September 2004, Official Report, column 761W, in my previous capacity as Minister for the Cabinet Office.
TREASURY
Economic Statistics (Yorkshire)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) City of York pay income tax at the basic or higher rate. [191227]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to table 3.13, "Income and Tax by County and Region", and table 3.14, "Total Income by Borough and District or Unitary Authority", on the Inland Revenue website at:
www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income distribution/table-313–2001–02.xls
www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income distribution/table-3142001–02.xls
Figures for 2002–03 will be published in November.
Income Tax (Pensioners)
Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the Exchequer would be of raising the minimum level at which income tax is payable by pensioners aged over 75 years to £20,000. [191361]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated full-year cost of raising the personal income tax allowance to £20,000 per year for those aged 75 years and over in 2004–05 is £1.7 billion.
This estimate excludes any behavioural response to the tax change and is based upon the 2001–02 Survey of Personal Incomes and consistent with Budget 2004.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the number of pensioners paying income tax in each year from 1995 to 2004; and if he will make a statement. [192145]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to table 2.1, "Number of Individual Income Taxpayers" on the Inland Revenue website: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income tax/table2 1 september04.xls
Employment (Carlisle)
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new jobs have been created in Carlisle since 1997. [191352]
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Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Eric Martlew, dated 15 October 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about jobs created in Carlisle. (191352)
While statistics of new jobs created are not available explicitly, statistics from surveys enable comparisons to be made of net changes, in numbers of jobs, from year-to-year.
The attached table shows the information requested, relating to jobs in Carlisle, for 1997 and the latest year available, 2002.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Numbers of employees | Total |
| 1997 | 40,600 |
| 2002 | 42,500 |
| Change from 1997 to 2002(12) | 1,900 |
(11) Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs.
(12) The 1997 to 2002 change has been rounded to the nearest hundred separately from rounded levels for 1997 and 2002.
Source:
1997; Annual Employment Survey, rescaled. 2002; Annual Business Inquiry
Landlord and Tenant Act
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax returns included liabilities under the new Section 42A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 in 2003–04. [190682]
Dawn Primarolo:
Section 42A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 does not impose liabilities to tax. It requires agents to hold the service charge contributions of tenants on trust in an account at a financial institution.
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As those service charge contributions are held in a trust, any income arising on the tenants' contributions is taxable in the same way as any other funds held in a trust. There is consequently no requirement for trustees to identify to the Revenue that their trusts were established in consequence of section 42A, and in many cases trust arrangements were already in place when the section 42A requirement came into force.
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