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9 Nov 2004 : Column 657W—continued
Employment Rates
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the employment rate was in (a) Barnsley East and Mexborough, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) England in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2004. [196480]
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. Jeff Ennis, dated 9 November 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment. (196480)
The attached table gives the available percentages of people in employment resident in the Barnsley East and Mexborough Parliamentary Constituency, in South Yorkshire, in Yorkshire and the Humber and in England for the twelve month periods ending February of 1997 and 2003. More recent data are not yet available.
These estimates from the Labour Force Survey are, as with any sample survey, subject to sampling variability.
(34) Working age refers to men 16–64 and women 16–59.
(35) The percentage of all people of working age who are in employment.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey
Incomes
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) women and (b) men in the UK last year earned above (i) £25,000, (ii) £50,000, (iii) £75,000, (iv) £100,000 and (v) £150,000. [196016]
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Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to table 3.3 "Distribution of total income before and after tax by gender" on the Inland Revenue website http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income distribution/table3 3 september04.xls.
Tax Credits
Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 16 September 2004, Official Report, column 1661W, on tax credit, if he will investigate the handling of the tax credit case of a constituent of Onslow Crescent in Solihull whose name has been communicated to him. [196936]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 8 November 2004]: It would not be appropriate for me to discuss publicly the cases of individual customers. However, the Inland Revenue has made a thorough investigation of your constituent's case and will reply to the hon. Member shortly.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions are taking place with the IT contractors to resolve problems with tax credits. [192986]
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) legal and (b) other action his Department has taken against EDS in relation to the introduction of new tax credits; and if he will make a statement. [194809]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 1 November 2004]: The Inland Revenue and EDS are trying to reach agreement without recourse to formal, legal processes and have engaged in a process of negotiation supported by legal and other experts on both sides, with an independent suitably qualified neutral adviser. While discussions between the Inland Revenue and EDS are still under way it is inappropriate for me to say any more at this stage.
Mr. Tyler: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the staff of the Inland Revenue dealing with working tax credit and child tax credit have access to the general Inland Revenue computer system in order to (a) confirm the income stated on credit applications, (b) avoid errors and (c) combat fraud. [195723]
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Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 9 November 2004]: Tax credits staff can access other Inland Revenue computer systems. The tax credit computer system uses other Departmental systems to check and verify information given on tax credit claim forms. Depending on circumstances, income figures given by claimants and used in calculations may be validated against other income data held by Inland Revenue. Every step is taken to use all the information held by the Department to prevent errors and combat fraud.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many single women have benefited from (a) the child tax credit and (b) working tax credit. [196015]
Dawn Primarolo: The numbers of in-work single women benefiting up to April 2004 are shown at Table 3.1 of the various issues of "Child and Working Tax Credits. Quarterly Statistics".
Table 2.3 of each issue shows broad estimates of the number of not-in-work single adults with children benefiting from tax credits, most of whom are women. This includes all single adults with children receiving income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance.
The documents are on the Inland Revenue website, at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.
Miss Begg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of those estimated overpayments of the new tax credits as reported in Figure 6 of the Inland Revenue's Annual Report and Accounts (a) written off and (b) remaining to be recouped represents (i) recipients of the family element of the child tax credit alone, (ii) recipients of any additional elements of the child tax credit, beyond the family element, (iii) recipients of the child element of the child tax credit (with or without additional elements), (iv) recipients of the working tax credit and (v) recipients of the child care element of the working tax credit. [196315]
Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible to break down the overpayments referred to so as to attribute them to different elements in the tax credits awards
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on recovery policy regarding overpayment of tax credits. [197215]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue's Code of Practice 26 ("What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?") sets out their approach to handling overpayments of tax credits.
Mr. Denham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many recipients of working tax credit are being paid manually; and if he will make a statement. [195916]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 4 November 2004]: The number of interim payments made during 2003–04, and the reasons for these payments, are explained at paragraph 2.14 of the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General attached to the Inland Revenue Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2004.
Most such payments are one-off, and any future payment will only be made following a review of the case. Around 7,000 families (about one seventh of one
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per cent. of the tax credits total caseload) are currently being paid manually on a regular basis for technical reasons.
VAT on Fuel
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money his Department received in VAT on fuel in each of the last 12 months. [196911]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Customs and Excise do not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.
Working Age Statistics
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the total working age population was aged 16 to 34 years in each year since 1979; and what the rate of inflation was in each year. [196507]
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. David Willetts, dated 9 November 2004:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what percentage of the total working age population was aged 16 to 34 years in each year since 1979, and what the rate of inflation was in each of those years. (196507)
Table 1 shows the annual percentage of persons that were aged 16 to 34 as part of the total working age population (ages 16–64 for males, 16–59 for females) in England and Wales for each year from mid-1979 to mid-2003.
(36) Working age is defined as 16 to 59 years old for females and 16 to 64 years old for males.
Source:
Office for National Statistics.
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Source:
Office for National Statistics.
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