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21 Jun 2005 : Column 930W—continued
Child Benefit (Family Reunion Scheme)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what circumstances it is possible for claimants who enter the UK under the family reunion scheme to be entitled to claim child benefit when one parent is a British national and the other is not. [6280]
Dawn Primarolo: Generally, a claimant is entitled to child benefit provided that he or she is present and ordinarily resident in the UK, and not subject to immigration control. In the case of a couple in which one of the partners is a British national and the other is not, then provided the foreign partner is not subject to immigration control, either partner is entitled to claim child benefit under child benefit legislation.
Child Trust Funds
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the potential financial effects of delaying investing Child Trust Fund vouchers by (a) a month, (b) six months and (c) a year. [5855]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is in the interests of children that parents use the Child Trust Fund voucher to open a Child Trust Fund account as soon as they feel ready to do so. The sooner vouchers are invested, the sooner Child Trust Fund accounts can start to grow.
The loss resulting from a delay in investing the voucher depends on a large number of factors such as the value of the initial voucher, the type of account invested in and the rate of return on this. If parents, friends and family intend to make contributions once the accounts are opened, delaying will further compound the loss of growth.
21 Jun 2005 : Column 931W
Climate Change Levy
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 48W, on the climate change levy, what the yield in each year was from each of the other taxes introduced in the past 10 years indicating offsetting cuts in employers' national insurance contributions. [5356]
John Healey: The information requested for taxes for which there were offsetting cuts in employers national insurance contributions (NICs) is given in the following tables.
(8)On accruals basis. Based on AL declarations on trader returns
(9)Source: Based on HMT Tax Ready Reckoner
(10)On accruals basis. Based on LFT declarations on trader returns
(11)Source: Based on HMT Tax Ready Reckoner
(12)From October 1 996
(13)Not available
Landfill tax was introduced with an offsetting 0.2percentage point cut in the main rate of employer NICs from 1997–98. It is not possible to calculate the effects of the compensation for the landfill tax on employer NICs beyond 1998–99 due to structural changes to employers' NICs in 1999, which abolished the 'entry fee', replaced the series of four rates with a single rate and aligned the point at which individuals and employers pay national insurance with the personal allowance for income tax. It is not known what a 0.2percentage point cut in the main rate pre-reform translates to in terms of a cut in the single rate post-reform.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 1 April from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire concerning inheritance tax. [6078]
21 Jun 2005 : Column 932W
Dawn Primarolo: The Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs have no record of having received the hon. Member's letter. A copy of it has, however, been requested and it will be dealt with as quickly as possible on receipt.
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidance issued to assessors by the Valuation Office Agency for valuing residential properties in the council tax revaluation. [5576]
Dawn Primarolo: The valuation date is 1 April 2005 and considerable work of preparation is being undertaken by the Valuation Office Agency in readiness for the main valuation phase which is due to commence later this summer. Part of this preparation involves updating and developing guidance and training material for VOA staff. The council tax manual which is used currently by the VOA may be found on the website www.voa.gov.uk
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what make of computer-assisted mass appraisal the Valuation Office Agency will use during the council tax revaluation in England. [5578]
Dawn Primarolo: The Valuation Office Agency's intended use of computer assisted mass appraisal for the council tax revaluation in England were announced by press release dated 10 September 2004. Since April 2005 calibration of this new technology has been under way in preparation for the valuation task which has to be completed by September 2006
Household Debt
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average (a) unsecured debt and (b) annual income per person was in each year since 1997. [6018]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Vincent Cable dated 21 June 2005:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on unsecured debt per person and annual income per person. (6018)
The information requested is shown in the table below. The data for unsecured debt (households' total financial liabilities other than secured debt) and income (households' gross disposable income) used in the calculations are national accounts series for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sectors. The accounts for the household and NPISH sectors are currently combined; separate estimates are not available.
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Departmental Relocation
Mr. Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of his Department's posts (a) have been relocated and (b) are under consideration for relocationfrom London to the deprived areas of the south east. [6257]
Mr. Des Browne: The Chancellor's Departments are implementing the Lyons Review recommendations to relocate 5,050 posts out of London and the south east by 2010. This will not exclude consideration of relocating some posts to relatively deprived areas in the south east. So far, the Departments have not identified any posts suitable for transfer to deprived areas in the south east.
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