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4 Feb 2005 : Column 1185W—continued
Learning and Skills Council
Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason his Department sanctioned the severance payment to John Harwood as Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council. [214227]
Mr. Timms: The Treasury approved the final severance package for John Harwood, former Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council, on the basis that under the circumstances it represented value for money for the taxpayer.
Parking
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on (a) provision of parking spaces for civil servants and (b) parking tickets and penalties incurred by civil servants in the Department in each year since 1997. [213812]
Mr. Timms: These costs are not separately identifiable.
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide funding to the Department for Work and Pensions to allow it to increase the winter fuel allowance to pensioners. [214003]
Mr. Timms: Winter fuel payments are paid at a level of £200 a year to qualifying households with someone aged over 60 rising to £300 for households with someone aged over 80. This benefits over 11 million households.
The Government are committed to maintaining winter fuel payments at this level for the rest of this Parliament
Pre-Budget Report
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the measures contained in the pre-Budget report on (a) pensioners, (b) working families, (c) parents and (d) unemployed people in Ogmore. [213463]
Mr. Timms: The 2004 pre-Budget report announced increased financial support for working families and for pensioners.
Some 11,300 pensioners in Ogmore will benefit from increases in the Basic State Pension from April 2005. The 3,786 pensioners in Ogmore who currently claim pension credit will benefit from the decision to increase the guarantee element in line with earnings. Those aged 70 or over will also benefit from an extra £50 payment to help with their council tax and other living expenses.
From April 2005 the child element of the child tax credit will increase, in line with average earnings, by £65 to £1,690 a year. Some 3,300 working families with 6,000 children in Ogmore are expected to benefit.
From 1999–2000 to 2003–04 the employment rate in Ogmore rose by 10.9 percentage points to 68.8 per cent. The claimant count unemployment rate in Ogmore fell from 3.7 per cent. to 2.4 per cent. over the same period. Since 1997, the new deal has helped over 1,800 people into jobs in Ogmore.
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Saving Plans
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the estimated total cost to the Treasury would be if the premiums of tax exempt saving plans were raised to £600 per annum; [213190]
(2) when a review of the premium limits of tax-exempt saving plans was last conducted. [213191]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 3 February 2005]: The estimated current cost of tax-exempt savings plans, with an annual premium limit of £300 is around £70 million per year and in recent years this cost has been increasing at an annual rate of about 10 per cent. Increasing the limit to £600 per annum would potentially cost the Exchequer an extra £30 million per year in the long run. Doubling the limit does not double the cost because many tax-exempt savings plan customers do not save at the current maximum.
In line with all taxes and reliefs, the premium limits for tax-exempt savings plans are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the occasions between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004 when special advisers attended meetings with external representatives at which ministers were not present. [210550]
Mr. Timms: Special Advisers hold meetings with a wide range of external representatives in their official capacity. All such meetings are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.
Staff Training
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the costs of departmental (a) staff training days and (b) staff development days held away from the Department were in each year since 1997. [213787]
Mr. Timms: The total costs for staff training in the core Treasury, from the ledgers for 2002–03 and 2003–04 are £1,847,521 and £1,906,403 respectively. The Department's accounting system does not make a distinction between training days and development days held away from the Department. Information in respect of the earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Stationery
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Department spent on (a) stationery and (b) office supplies in each year since 1997. [213849]
Mr. Timms:
The Treasury's spending on stationery was £380,000 in 2002–03 and £308,000 in 2003–04. The Department's accounting system does not make a distinction between stationery and office supplies. Information in respect of the earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Tobacco Taxes
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total tax take from cigarettes and cigars and connected products has been in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [214059]
Dawn Primarolo: Duty receipts for tobacco products can be found in the HM Customs and Excise "Tobacco Bulletin", which is available in the Library of the House of Commons and from HM Customs and Excise website address at http://www.uktradeinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?task=bulltobac
HM Customs and Excise do not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.
Tobacco, Alcohol, Pubs and Restaurants (Employment)
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are employed in (a) the manufacture and retail of cigarettes, cigars and connected businesses, (b) public houses and restaurants and (c) the alcoholic drinks industry in the United Kingdom. [214058]
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. Laurence Robertson, dated 4 February 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about numbers of people employed in selected alcohol and tobacco-related industries in the UK. (214058)
Estimates of employment by industry are derived from employer surveys and statistics are available on number of jobs, not numbers of people.
Estimates are classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2003. The attached table shows the number of jobs in alcohol and tobacco-related industries in Great Britain, in December 2003, the latest period available.
(29) Estimates are rounded to the nearest hundred.
(30) Estimates are classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification 2003.
(31) Estimates are suppressed under the 1947 Statistics of trade, preventing the release of data that may disclose companies.
(32) Estimates include some unlicensed restaurants and cafes.
(33) Estimates include some unlicensed clubs.
(34) Estimates include agents involved in sale of food.
(35) Estimates include jobs in outlets which sell large variety of goods, of which however food products, beverages or tobacco are predominant.
Source:
Annual Business Inquiry 2003.
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