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Stamp Duty

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2005, Official Report, column 1519W, on stamp duty, if he will estimate the revenue impact for the UK; for what reasons a reliable estimate cannot be made for countriesand regions of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [221394]

Mr. Timms: The cost of raising the stamp duty threshold for residential properties to £100,000, £120,000 and £150,000 in each of the next five years is estimated for the UK in the following table:

Threshold	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10
£100,000	150	140	130	130	130
£120,000	270	260	240	260	230
£150,000	480	460	450	520	480

Projections are based on the number and value of residential and commercial transactions, derived from the Survey of Property Transactions in England and Wales, projected to the required year, in line with the pre-Budget 2004 forecast for price and volume trends. By comparing UK stamp duty receipts with England and Wales survey estimates in historic years it is possible to derive projections for the UK. However forecast trends for price and volume are not produced for countries and regions of the UK to enable production of reliable stamp duty projections at the sub UK level.

John Thurso: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the qualifying areas for stamp duty relief in disadvantaged areas in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [221008]

John Healey: We have no plans to change the qualifying areas for stamp duty land tax disadvantaged areas relief before the end of 2006.

Tax Credits

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) in how many cases where a TC846 has been returned requesting the Inland Revenue to reconsider its decision to recover tax credits had the earnings of one of the partners been omitted from the tax credit award in (a) 2003–04 and (b) the current tax year; [221097]
 
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(2) in how many cases where a tax credit case has been calculated and paid out manually has the claimant been overpaid as a result of the computer system automatically sending out any arrears due. [221098]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.

Unemployment (Wales)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of people were (a) long-term unemployed and (b) long-term youth unemployed in each constituency in Wales in each of the last 20 years. [219894]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 4 March 2005]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 14 March 2005:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about long-term unemployment. (219894)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. Tables 1 and 2 attached below, show, for those resident in each Parliamentary Constituency in Wales, the numbers and rates for long-term unemployment, and long-term youth unemployment. Long-term is classified as those unemployed for 12 months or more. The data are for the twelve-month periods ending from February 1999 to February 2004. Comparable information for earlier years is not available. As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.

ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas. For the years 1996 to 2004, Tables 3 and 4 show, respectively for all JSA claimants and those aged 18–24, the annual average numbers and percentages of claimants resident in each Parliamentary Constituency in Wales claiming for over 12 months. Comparable information for the years 1984 to 1995 is not available for Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales according to their present boundaries. Information for these years for the Constituencies, according to their boundaries as they were from 1984 to 1995, could be compiled, but only at disproportionate cost. The information needed to produce those estimates is accessible by the House of Commons Library via the Nomis system.

Since the information in Tables 1 to 4 is so extensive, copies have been placed in the House of Commons Library.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Africa (Departmental Groups)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been allocated to support the work of cross-departmental groups working on Africa-related issues in each of the last five years; how many members of staff were supporting this work in each year; and if he will make a statement. [219415]

Mr. Rammell: There are three formal cross-departmental bodies working on Africa related issues: Africa Conflict Prevention Pool (ACPP), Sudan Unit (SU), and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit (PCRU). The creation of the PCRU was announced last September but it has not yet reached the point of doing
 
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any specifically Africa related work. The following table shows the resources and staff allocated to support the work of these teams since their inception.

	ACPP		SU
	£ million	Staff	£ million	Staff
2001–02	50	1
2002–03	50	1	18	5
2003–04	50	0	23	10
2004–05	60	3	94	22

Arms Sales

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on UK arms sales to (a) Somalia, (b) Iran, (c) Lebanon, (d) Zambia, (e) Uzbekistan, (f) Yemen and (g) Syria referred to in OJ C316 of volume 47 of 21 December 2004. [211373]

Mr. MacShane: Details of UK arms sales can be found in the Government's most recent Strategic Export Controls Annual Report, published on 7 June 2004. It covers all export licensing decisions and policy developments in 2003. Information covering the first three quarters of 2004 is published in the Strategic Export Controls Quarterly Reports. All reports and further information on our work in this area can be found on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at www.fco.gov.uk, including full details of sanction regimes, embargoes and restrictions on the export of strategic goods.

Asylum and Immigration

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what scope the UK Government have under the proposed constitutional treaty for the European Union to opt out of EU policies which have as their treaty base title IV of the TEC, with particular reference to scope to opt out of the ongoing development of European asylum and migration policy. [220276]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 14 March 2005]: Title IV of the EC treaty covers measures on visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to free movement of persons. The UK's policy on participation in these measures remains unchanged since 1999 when the treaty of Amsterdam, including our opt-in protocol, came into effect. The UK's rights in this area are not restricted by the proposed constitutional treaty for the European Union: protocol 19 to the treaty retains our right to opt in to, or stay out of, these measures. Where measures are in our interest, we will opt in. Where they do not benefit the UK, we do not participate. We have successfully used our opt-in for over five years, and we will continue to do so.

Burma

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he had with the government of Burma, regarding the detention and treatment of Dr. Than Nyein, an elected Member of Parliament. [221015]

 
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Mr. Alexander: We have not made representations about this particular case.

I met the Burmese ambassador on 29 November and called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma. My statement on 30 November also called for their release. A copy of the statement is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth website: www.fco.gov.uk/policy/news/press-releases.

An EU statement, issued before the National Convention reconvened on 17 February, called for the release of all political prisoners. The EU raised these, and other concerns, during the EU/Association of South East Asian Nations Ministerial in Jakarta on 9–10 March.

In January, our ambassador in Rangoon wrote to the Burmese Foreign Minister to highlight the serious concerns expressed by members of both Houses on human rights abuses in Burma.

We hold the Burmese regime responsible for the health of all political prisoners in Burma.

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