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25 Oct 2004 : Column 1057W—continued
EU Directives (UK Overseas Territories)
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the (a) EU Savings Directive and (b) EU Code of Conduct on Business Taxation on the revenue of UK overseas territories. [193788]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government keeps under review the impact of all international developments on the overseas territories.
Frozen Assets
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the organisations who have had their assets frozen by the Government where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an organisation is involved in the financing of terrorism; and how much has been frozen in each case. [193604]
Mr. Timms: All organisations and individuals whose assets have been frozen in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions, associated EC Regulations and domestic legislation are listed, by HM Treasury instruction, on the Bank of England's Financial Sanctions website. Forty accounts, totalling some £370,000, are currently frozen by UK financial institutions.
Asset freezing is an essential measure in countering the financing of terrorism by denying terrorists and their financiers access to funds across the world. The UK acts at home and abroad to protect British interests so that our people can go about their business freely and with confidence.
Information Officers
Mr. Dorrell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent government information officers were employed by HM Treasury in each year since 1997. [192940]
Mr. Timms: The number of Government Information Officers employed by HM Treasury in each calendar year since 1997 is shown in the following table:
| Number of Information Officers (FTE) | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 5 |
| 1998 | 4 |
| 1999 | 4 |
| 2000 | 6 |
| 2001 | 7 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2003 | 7 |
| 2004(31) | 5 |
(31) Up until 30 September 2004
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Landfill Tax
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide further financial support to the landfill tax credit scheme as part of the forthcoming public spending review. [193295]
John Healey: The landfill tax credit scheme is worth £48.3 million in 2004–05. The 2005–06 level will be determined as part of the usual Budget process.
Meat Smuggling
Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what actions HM Customs and Excise is taking to stop meat being smuggled into the United Kingdom from overseas. [193793]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Customs and Excise role is to tackle illegal imports of meat and other products of animal origin arriving in Great Britain from outside the EU.
In discharging this role Customs:
Target their detection staff, including detector dog teams on those routes of entry that make the greatest contribution to the risk of disease flow to the UK;
React to specific disease notifications from Defra—for example, in relation to the recent outbreaks of Avian Influenza;
Seize and destroy smuggled products of animal origin wherever detected;
Share information and intelligence with other enforcement agencies;
Prosecute offenders in serious and appropriate cases;
Work with Embassies and High Commissions to explain the rules to travellers coming to Great Britain;
Produce a range of publicity, including:
leaflets, posters, and advertisements in travel magazines;
working with airlines to encourage them to show an information video or make an announcement explaining the rules on inbound flights;
and together with Defra, producing 7 million ticket wallets and flyers explaining the rules for issue to UK travellers.
Minimum Wage (Warrington)
Helen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Warrington are in receipt of the minimum wage. [193301]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Helen Jones dated 25 October 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about how many people in Warrington are in receipt of the minimum wage. (193301)
The information requested is not available.
However, the Office for National Statistics does calculate estimates of the number of jobs paid less than the minimum wage, and below various other earnings thresholds, for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions. A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles and data which might be useful can be found on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vink-5837&Pos-1&ColRank-1&Rank=272
Public Liability Insurance
Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the costs of public liability insurance. [192909]
Mr. Timms: The Government is aware of widespread concern about increases in the costs to firms of public liability insurance. In 2003, the Office of Fair Trading conducted a study which examined why premia have increased in product, public and employers' liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance. The study noted that premium increases have followed several years of falling costs. It concluded that the market for liability insurances has not failed and suggested a number of areas of improvement. The OFT have said they will keep the liability insurance market under review.
Tax Credits
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber were in receipt of each of the tax credits or predecessor benefits (i) at the latest date for which figures are available and (ii) in each year since 1995; and how much on average each of the tax credits was worth to its recipients in each year. [191225]
Dawn Primarolo: Child and working tax credit were introduced in April 2003. Sample-based estimates of the number of recipient families in each area at July 2003 and January 2004 appear in the published geographical analyses. No estimates of average awards will be available until these awards are finalised.
Working families' and disabled person's tax credits were available from October 1999 to March 2003. Sample-based estimates of the number of recipient families in each region, and their average awards, appear in the published Quarterly Enquiries from October/November 1999 to January/February 2001, with estimates of the number of recipient families in each local authority and constituency also appearing from April/May 2000. From May 2001 to November 2002, counts and average awards appear for each area in the published geographical analyses, which are based on data for all cases.
All these publications can be found on the Inland Revenue website, at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm. Children's tax credit was available in 2001–02 and 2002–03. A sample-based estimate of 360 thousand families in Yorkshire and the Humber benefited in 2001–02, with an average value of £470. No reliable estimates are available below regional level, and estimates for 2002–03 are not yet available.
Family credit was the predecessor benefit to working families tax credit. Sample-based estimates of the number of recipient families in each region, and their average awards, are shown in the published Quarterly Enquiries, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. Counts of the numbers of recipient families in each local authority at March 1999 and August 1999 are shown within Neighbourhood Statistics at the National Statistics website, www.statistics.gov.uk. under the subject "Economic deprivation". I understand from the
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Department for Work and Pensions that counts for earlier periods, and average awards, could not be compiled without incurring disproportionate costs.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many requests for remission of overpayments of tax credits have been submitted; [192984]
(2) what the average time taken is from submission of remission of overpayments of tax credits requests to the final decision being made. [192985]
Dawn Primarolo: Tax credits claimants can use a variety of channels to ask the Inland Revenue to reconsider their decision to recover an overpayment, including face to face at Inquiry Centres, by telephone or by letter. The majority of requests are made using a specific form, TC846W, which helps claimants explain the circumstances of their case. By the end of September 2004, about 80,000 families had submitted a form TC846W, or had requested reconsideration face to face, by letter or by telephone, which required a detailed review of the case. Information on the average time taken to deal with these requests is not available.
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