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8 Feb 2005 : Column 1399W—continued
Child Tax Credit
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many child tax credit appeal cases have beenreceived in each month since the inception of tax credits; [214143]
(2) how many people in each region have appealed against a decision on a child tax credit application since introduction of the credit. [214446]
Dawn Primarolo:
The information requested is not available.
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Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average timescale is for a child tax credit appeal, broken down by region. [214171]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the average time to settle a child tax credit appeal by region is not available. The Inland Revenue aims to acknowledge receipt of an appeal against a tax credits decision within two working days.
Where possible the Department aims to settle an appeal by agreement with the appellant.
Where the Inland Revenue cannot settle the appeal by agreement, it is submitted to The Appeals Service who aim to consider the appeal within 12 weeks of receipt of the submission currently achieving less than eight weeks.
Correspondence
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 5 January from the hon. Member for Northavon, regarding the tax credit entitlement of a constituent, Ms. Hewitt. [215395]
Dawn Primarolo: I will write to the hon. Member shortly about his constituent's tax credits entitlement.
Council Tax (Braintree)
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many properties there were in each council tax band in each of the Witham wards of Braintree district council in 2004–05. [215118]
Dawn Primarolo: The Listing Officer, of the Valuation Office Agency, does not hold the banding records for each of the Witham wards individually. The number of dwellings in each council tax band for properties in the Braintree district council area with an address containing a Witham postal district, in 2004–05, is:
| Band | Number |
|---|---|
| A | 971 |
| B | 5,167 |
| C | 3,423 |
| D | 1,099 |
| E | 734 |
| F | 391 |
| G | 183 |
| H | 8 |
Departmental Policies
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Pendle constituency, the effects on Pendle of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [214962]
Mr. Timms:
The Government have put in place a broad programme of both macroeconomic and microeconomic reform since our election in 1997 designed to improve the economic performance of all parts of the UK. Since these policies were implemented the economic performance of the Pendle constituency has improved considerably. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by 47 per cent.,
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and both long-term unemployment and long-term youth unemployment have fallen by 86 per cent. and 88 per cent. receptivity.
The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics. gov.uk./.
Stockton, South
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in each ward of Stockton, South claim (a) pension credit and (b) working tax credit. [215307]
Dawn Primarolo: Data from the Department for Work and Pensions shows that the number of households in receipt of pension credit in each ward of Stockton, South at 31 December 2004 were as follows:
Notes:
1.Source: IAD Information Centre, Department for Work and Pensions.
2.All wards based on Census Wards current at April 2003.
3.Benefit counts at ward level are rounded to a multiple of five to protect the confidentiality of individual claimants.
Estimates of the number of in-work families in each constituency receiving tax credits are published in Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Geographical analyses. December 2004". This can be found on the Inland Revenue website, at: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.
Estimates for April 2005 will be published in April or May 2005.
Estimates for smaller areas are not currently available.
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the Customs Co-operation Sub-committee—EEC-Albania met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214296]
Dawn Primarolo:
The EC/Albania Working Party on Customs and Taxation meets approximately once a year, in either Brussels or Tirana. The last three meetings were in Tirana (October 2002), Brussels (February 2004) and Tirana (January 2005). The next
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meeting is provisionally scheduled for the beginning of 2006 in Brussels. The Commission act on behalf of the EC. Member states can participate as observers, but none has attended. The Commission debriefs the Council Working Group after each meeting.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the Customs Co-operation Subcommittee-EEC-Romania met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214743]
Dawn Primarolo: One meeting took place under the Italian Presidency in September 2003 in Brussels and one was held in Bucharest under the Dutch Presidency in September 2004. No UK Government expert attended either meeting.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Customs Cooperation Subcommittee-EEC-Russia met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214744]
Dawn Primarolo: Only one meeting was held under the presidencies in question. This was in Moscow in October 2003. No Government expert was in attendance.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee on statistics relating to the trading of goods with non-member countries met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement; [214745]
(2) how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee on statistics relating to the trading of goods between member states met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [214746]
Dawn Primarolo: The Committee on Statistics relating to the trading of goods with non-member countries and the Committee on Statistics relating to the trading of goods with member states meet as a single Committee. Meetings were held in Luxembourg on the following dates:
| Date | |
|---|---|
| Italian presidency | 10–11 November 2003 |
| Irish presidency | 10–11 March 2004 |
| 14–15 June 2004 | |
| Dutch presidency | 24–25 November 2004 |
The UK was represented by officials from HM Customs and Excise.
Euro
Mr. Brady:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials have worked on the changeover planfor British euro membership since 9 June 2003;
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how many officials' man-hours were spent on the plan; what cost has been incurred; and if he will make a statement. [215179]
Mr. Timms: As part of the policy of prepare and decide", the Government are committed to ensuring that the UK retains a genuine option to join the single currency if that is what the Government, Parliament and the people in a referendum decide. The Euro Preparations Unit in the Treasury works with stakeholders from across the economy to ensure that euro preparations are at an appropriate level. Information on the number of officials and working hours spent on the third Outline National Changeover Plan" published in June 2003 cannot be separately identified. The costs are met from within the Treasury's three-year departmental expenditure limits.
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