| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Mar 2005 : Column 700W—continued
Burmese Imports
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value of imports from Burma was in 2004; and what the value was of each category of import. [223426]
John Healey: The total value of imports from Burma in 2004 was £74 million. The value broken down by category is available from HM Customs and Excise's website www.uktradeinfo.com and is shown in the following table:
NES=not elsewhere specified
(16)Commodities as classified according to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Rev. 3 system.
(17)Figures are provisional.
Source:
Overseas Trade Statistics, HM Customs and Excise.
22 Mar 2005 : Column 701W
Buses
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition of local he uses in his proposals for providing free local bus travel for pensioners; whether he has costed the extension of this provision to ferries plying between points within the United Kingdom; and whether his proposals will apply to nations for which local transport is a devolved matter. [223306]
Mr. Timms: The definition of local is set out in the Transport Act 2000. We have not costed extending this provision to ferries. It is for the devolved Administrations and Northern Ireland Ministers to determine policies in this area.
Child Trust Fund
Mr. Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his Department's projections of the cost of the Child Trust Fund in each year from 2005–06 to 2010–11. [223032]
Mr. Timms: The AME accruals cost to the Exchequer of the Child Trust Fund is forecast at £240 million in each of the fiscal years 2005–06 to 2010–11.
Correspondence
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct the Tax Credit Office to reply to the letter of 28 January from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding his constituent, Mr. A. Palla of Peterhead, passed to it by Inland Revenue Scotland. [221621]
Dawn Primarolo: The Tax Credit Office (TCO) replied to the hon. Member's constituency office address on 22 February 2005. I have asked the TCO to send him a copy of their reply.
Hon. Members can call the TCO's MP Hotline, details of which are available on the parliamentary website, if they wish to discuss an individual constituent's tax credits claim.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct the Tax Credit Office to reply to the letter of 7 December 2004 from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding his constituent, Mr. E. Mustoe of Fraserburgh. [221622]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Tax Credit Office (TCO) replied to the hon. Members office address on 12 January 2005. I have asked the TCO to send him a copy of their reply.
22 Mar 2005 : Column 702W
Hon. Members can call the TCO's MP Hotline, details of which are available on the Parliamentary website, if they wish to discuss an individual constituent's tax credits claim.
Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ask Mr. Rushton, Assistant Director of the Tax Credits Office, to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Normanton sent on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. C. of Kirkhamgate, Wakefield and their claim for tax credits outstanding from September 2004. [221882]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 15 March 2005]: The Inland Revenue replied to my hon. Friend on 14 March 2005. Hon. Members can call the Tax Credit Office MP Hotline, details of which are available on the parliamentary website, if they wish to discuss an individual constituent's tax credits claim.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on which dates the Inland Revenue sent a substantive reply to each communication received from (a) the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight and (b) his constituents in relation to case no. 2004/08001519; whether the targets set for replying to letters were met in each case; what arrangements are in place to compensate constituents for financial loss and distress arising from delayed or erroneous handling of claims; and if he will make a statement. [222935]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 21 March 2005]: The Inland Revenue aims to reply to 80 per cent. of letters within 15 working days and 95 per cent. within 40 working days.
The Inland Revenue replied to the hon. Member regarding case no. 2004/08001519 on the following dates:
They also wrote to his constituent on the following dates as a result of telephone contact with her:
The Department aims to reply to the hon. Member's most recent letter within target.
The Revenue's approach to paying compensation is outlined in their Code of Practice 1, 'Putting things right', which is available on the Department's website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk and a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
22 Mar 2005 : Column 703W
Defence
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the additional £400 million defence spending announced in his Budget statement of 16 March is (a) a provision for the cost of operations and (b) an addition to the Ministry of Defence's Request for Resources 1. [223404]
Mr. Boateng: The £400 million has been added to the special reserve for the costs of military conflict in Iraq and other international obligations, as set out in paragraph 6.10 of Budget 2005 (HC 372).
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Ministry of Defence's departmental expenditure limit is for 2005–06. [223405]
Mr. Boateng: The latest departmental expenditure limit figures for the Ministry of Defence for 2005–06 are in Table C13 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2005 (HC 372).
These figures do not include the cost of current major operations.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Ministry of Defence's near cash departmental expenditure limit is for 2005–06. [223406]
Mr. Boateng: Table 13.1 of the 2004 Spending review (Cm 6237) sets out the cash equivalent" of the Ministry of Defence's DEL.
The figures in the table do not include the cost of current major operations.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reasons are for the difference between the figures given for the special reserve provision in paragraph A137, page 202 and in table C13, page 261 of the Budget 2005 (HC 372). [223407]
Mr. Boateng: Paragraph A137 sets out the additional provision that was allocated to the Special Reserve in Budget 2005. The line entitled Unallocated special reserve" in Table C13 shows what remains in the special reserve after allocations to Departments.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reasons are for the difference between the figures given for the Ministry of Defence's reserve budget in Spending Review 2004 (Cm 6237) and the Budget 2005 (HC 372). [223408]
Mr. Boateng: There is no reserve budget specifically for the Ministry of Defence. However, since Spending Review 2004, the Government has added additional resources to its special reserve to make prudent provision for the costs of the military conflict in Iraq and its other international obligations.
These additions are explained in paragraph 6.7 of Cm6408 (Pre-Budget Report 2004) and paragraph 6.10 of HC372 (Budget 2005).
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |