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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 Section of the Joint Committee (EEC-Norway) met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [217257]

Dawn Primarolo: The UK was not involved with these meetings, which are the responsibility of the European Commission. Consequently the information requested is not available.

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 Section of the Joint Committee (EEC-Iceland) met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [217258]

Dawn Primarolo: The UK was not involved with these meetings, which are the responsibility of the European Commission. Consequently the information requested is not available.

Euro

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the eventual phasing out of national designs on euro notes and coins is planned; and what (a) volume and (b) value of euro notes and coins has been repatriated since the inception of the euro. [217386]

Mr. Timms: The informal ECOFIN Council of Verona agreed in April 1996 that euro coins should have a distinctive national obverse side, the designs for which were decided by each member state. Arrangements concerning the technical specifications of euro coins were formally set out in Council Regulation (EC) No. 975/98 of 3 May 1998. Arrangements concerning the transfer of euro notes and coins are the responsibility of the European Central Bank and can be found on their website: www.ecb.int

Football Testimonials

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to end tax-free testimonials for professional footballers; and if he will make a statement. [216745]

 
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Dawn Primarolo: The proceeds from footballers' testimonial events may already be chargeable to tax under present law. Whether they are or not depends upon the circumstances of each individual case. We have no current plans to change this. However, we keep all aspects of the tax system, including this one, under review.

Freedom of Information

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of the recent release of documents relating to the United Kingdom's exit from the ERM in 1992 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [217136]

Mr. Timms: No Treasury Minister or special adviser had any involvement in the release of these documents. I understand that the documents were obtained within the relevant cost limit.

Health Treatment (Charitable Donations)

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of exempting charitable donations for health treatment from income calculations in relation to tax credit entitlements. [216328]

Mr. Timms: All charitable donations which qualify for Gift Aid, whatever their purpose, should be deducted from the calculation of income when claiming the child and working tax credits. Information is provided in the guidance notes that accompany the tax credits claim form and annual declaration. There is also a working sheet available on request from the Inland Revenue Tax Credits Helpline to help claimants make such deductions when working out their income for tax credit purposes.

Home Repossessions (North Durham)

Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many home repossessions there have been in North Durham in each year since 1990. [217129]

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham (Mr. Steinberg) on 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1294W.

Departmental Policies (Huddersfield)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Huddersfield constituency, the effects on Huddersfield of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [216875]

Mr. Timms: The Government have put in place a broad programme of both macroeconomic and microeconomic reform since our election in 1997 designed to better the economic performance of all parts of the UK. Since these policies were implemented the economic performance of the Huddersfield constituency has improved considerably. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen
 
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by 53 per cent., long-term unemployment has fallen by 90 per cent., and long-term youth unemployment by 91 per cent.

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./

Inheritance Tax

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the total value of gifts made in a year which become exempt from inheritance tax because they have been made at least seven years before death; and what estimate he has made of how many people make such gifts in a year. [216682]

Dawn Primarolo: Information to make reliable estimates is not available.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact on the inheritance tax yield of changing the rate at which inheritance tax is chargeable to (a) zero per cent. for sums between £0 to £300,000, (b) 40 per cent. for sums between £300,000 to £600,000 and (c) 50 per cent. for sums over £600,000. [217169]

Mr. Timms: The proposed regime would produce additional yield of about £30 million in a full year.

Insulation Material

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for the environment of the differential rates of VAT applied to insulation material when bought privately and when installed. [216335]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are committed to improving household energy efficiency, as part of their programme to meet the Energy White Paper targets and see the use of economic instruments as an effective way to implement environmental policy.

The Government apply a reduced rate of VAT for the contractual installation of energy-saving materials in certain circumstances and have a long-standing commitment to pursue an amendment to the EU sixth VAT directive to permit a reduced rate of VAT for the purchase of energy-saving materials for DIY installation.

Evaluation of policy initiatives to protect the environment, including tax measures, is being carried out as part of the climate change programme review. This review is due to report its findings in the summer.

Ivory

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what weight of ivory and how many ivory products were seized by HM Customs and Excise since March 2004. [216082]

Dawn Primarolo: Details of ivory seizures, including weight where available, made by HM Customs and Excise in the first half of the fiscal year 2004–05 will
 
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appear in the combined Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise spring report, due to be published in May 2005. A copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Landfill Tax

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was generated by the landfill tax in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2002–03. [217396]

Dawn Primarolo: Landfill tax receipts are published by Customs and Excise in the Landfill Tax Bulletin, a copy of which can be found on the UK Trade Information website at www.uktradeinfo.com.

Landfill tax receipts for the financial year (net of landfill tax credit scheme payments) are as follows:

	£ million
2002–03	541
2003–04	607

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