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4 Jul 2005 : Column 91W—continued
National Minimum Wage
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will exempt all individuals on minimum wage from income tax and national insurance contributions. [9402]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The personal allowance for income tax and the primary threshold for national insurance contributions would have to be raised to over £9,000 to exempt all individuals earning the national minimum wage and working a full working week of 35 hours.
This would cost tens of billions of pounds and would provide the greatest benefit to higher rate taxpayers, for whom any increase would be worth four times as much to them as starting rate taxpayers. It would also remove millions of individuals from building up entitlement from benefits such as the basic state pension.
The Government prefer to use measures that provide benefits to those that need it most.
Unlike the personal allowance tax credits can reduce a family's net tax bill below zero through payments and can provide support tailored to the family's circumstances, such as the number of children in a family.
Together with child benefit the system of tax credits offsets income tax liabilities so that the effective point at which a family with two children starts paying tax on net is now £21,200 and from April 2007 will be over £22,000.
Oil Revenues
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) actual and (b) forecast oil revenues are for the 2005–06 financial year to date. [8953]
Dawn Primarolo:
Monthly receipts to May 2005 of petroleum revenue tax (PRT) can be found on the HM Revenue and Customs website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_receipts/table1–3.pdf. Receipts of corporation tax (CT) from north sea companies are not separately disclosed.
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Budget 2005 forecasts of PRT and CT receipts for 2005–06 from UK north sea oil and gas producers can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/table11–11.pdf
Personal Finances (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average (a) unsecured debt per person and (b) annual income in London has been in each year since 1997. [8199]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Sarah Teather, dated 4 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question about average unsecured debt per person and annual income in London since 1997. (8199)
Figures for average incomes per person for London are shown in Table A. These were published on 29 April 2005. Gross disposable household income (GDHI) is the amount of money that households have available for consumption expenditure or saving. Total household incomes represent the total amount of money households receive before any deductions. Regional GDHI data are available on the national statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=7359
Regional figures for unsecured debt are not available. Average unsecured debt per person figures for the United Kingdom, are shown in Table B. These were published on 30 June 2005 in Blue Book 2005 on the national statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=l143.
The statistics used are national accounts series for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households sectors. Estimates for household alone are not available.
(24)Data are rounded.
(25)Based on the total population.
(26)GDHI estimates are a moving average based trend" of the unadjusted estimates for each region. The trending" removes some of the year to year volatility of the unadjusted series.
(27)All household income including employers' social contributions, imputed social contributions, social benefits and other current transfers received.
(28)Data are rounded.
(29)Based on the population aged 16+.
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PRODCOM Forms
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the cost to a small business of management time in completing and returning PRODCOM forms. [9585]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Weir, dated 4 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the cost to a small business of management time in completing and returning PRODCOM forms (9585).
I am keen to ensure that our inquiries minimise the load on those from whom we seek information. Our estimates are that the annual PRODCOM form costs the average small (less than 20 employees) business around £65 to complete. Some industries have been covered quarterly rather than annually and these quarterly forms have cost the average business around £39 to fill in. However, the quarterly inquiries have recently, following consultation, been dropped so businesses in the industries affected will in future—if they are selected—receive only one form a year rather than four.
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many small businesses have been required to complete PRODCOM returns in each of the last five years. [9586]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Hands, dated 4 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many small businesses have been required to complete PRODCOM returns in each of the last five years. (9586)
For most industries PRODCOM is an annual inquiry. For some however it has been quarterly. The number of small (less than 20 employee) businesses selected for each of the last five years has been:
| Numbers selected | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year to which the inquiry related | For the annual inquiry | For the quarterly inquiries |
| 2000 | 6,974 | 1,032 |
| 2001 | 6,984 | 1,023 |
| 2002 | 6,930 | 1,019 |
| 2003 | 6,970 | 1,013 |
| 2004 | 6,964 | 1,009 |
From the beginning of this year the quarterly PRODCOM inquiries have ceased. These industries are now, like the others, being covered annually. Therefore, selected firms in these industries that would previously have received four forms in the year, will in future only get one.
Mr. Weir:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the (a) maximum, (b) minimum and (c) average fine imposed on small businesses in
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(i)Scotland, (ii) Wales and (iii) England for failure to return PRODCOM forms was in each of the last five years; [9583]
(2) how much in fines was levied on businesses in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) England in each of thelast five years for failure to complete and return PRODCOM forms; [9584]
(3) how many (a) companies and (b) individuals have been fined for failure to return and complete PRODCOM returns in each of the last five years in (i)Scotland, (ii) Wales and (iii) England; [9587]
(4) how many companies have been prosecuted for failure to return PRODCOM returns in each of the last five years. [9588]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mike Weir, dated 4 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the prosecution of businesses for failures to return their PRODCOM forms, and the fines they have received (9583, 9584, 9587 and 9588).
Prosecution of recalcitrant responders is very much a last resort: we would much prefer to proceed with the cooperation of those we ask to fill in forms, and for the vast part we succeed in that. However, 5 businesses have been prosecuted and fined in the last five years for failure to return their PRODCOM forms (one in the year 2000; two in 2001; and two in 2004). One of those businesses had an address in Scotland; the others all had addresses in England. One was a business with fewer than 20 employees.
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