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14 Jul 2005 : Column 1167W—continued
Council Tax (Wales)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what use the Valuation Office Agency made of private sector firms during the council tax revaluation in Wales. [11535]
Dawn Primarolo: The Valuation Office Agency did not make use of private sector firms during the council tax revaluation in Wales
Departmental Purchasing
Chris Grayling:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the companies from which his
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Department has purchased goods and services of a total value above £1 million in each of the last three years; and how much was spent in respect of each company. [11740]
John Healey: The information for the Treasury including the Debt Management Office is set out in the following table:
(1)Value of purchases in that year was less than £1 million.
Notes:
1.All figures are inclusive of VAT.
2.The Treasury and the Debt Management Office have a combined accounts payable function so the figures include purchases by either body.
Earning (Tees Valley)
Vera Baird: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average weekly earnings is of a (a) male and (b) female full-time worker in (i) Tees Valley and (ii)the UK in the last period for which figures are available. [11903]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Vera Baird, dated 14 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what were the average weekly earnings of a (a) male and (b) female full-time worker in (i) Tees Valley and (ii) the UK. (11903)
Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period, by their place of work. This is the standard definition used for Annual Survey of Hours and Earning tables. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
I attach a table showing the average gross weekly earnings for full-time employees in Tees Valley, the constituent Unitary Authorities of Tees Valley and the United Kingdom in 2004. The Unitary Authority and UK statistics are also available on the National Statistics website on table 7: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=13101
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It has a one per cent. sample of all employees.
(2) Guide to quality:
The Coefficient of Variation (CV) is given to indicate the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality.
The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV e.g. for an average of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220.
Notes:
1.The Annual purvey of Hours and Earnings, (ASHE), carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a 1 per cent. sample of all employees.
2.The ASHE replaces the New Earnings Survey (NES) from October 2004. The main difference between the ASHE and NES being that estimates are weighted to population totals from the Labour Force Survey.
3.Average gross weekly earnings for adult full-time employees whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence.
Source:
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS
GM Crops
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action the UK Government have taken (a) to detect animal feed shipments contaminated with the unapproved BX10 variety of GM maize, (b) to prevent such illegal shipments from reaching the UK and (c) to train and equip UK port authorities to detect unapproved GM contaminants in food and feed imports. [11811]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
The detection method and reference material which was provided by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre to allow testing by member states has been forwarded to public analyst laboratories in the United Kingdom which will carry out testing for local authorities. To date, two local authorities have reported negative results for analysis carried out on imports for Btl0.
The requirement for certification of United States of America imports is in place, following the introduction of national regulations setting out the necessary enforcement powers at the end of April. Before this date, enforcement bodies were able to use general food safety powers to detain imports of the relevant products. consignments were released when the importer provided evidence that Btl0 was not present.
UK enforcement officers authorised to inspect, detain or seize food or feed are required to have specific qualifications and training. General enforcement guidance on the control of imported food and feed and, specific advice on the control of unapproved Btl0 genetically modified contamination has also been issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to the relevant
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enforcement authorities. Analysis and detection of GM contamination would be carried out by the public analyst or agricultural analyst formally appointed by the local enforcement authority.
The FSA will carry out its own surveillance work and plans for this are currently being developed. The outcome of this work will be used to inform the Commission's review of this new requirement in October.
Household Numbers
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of households in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland, broken down by Government Office Region. [12012]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 14 July 2005:
The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for an estimate of the number of households in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland, broken down by Government Office Region for the most recent year for which figures are available. I am replying in his absence. (12012)
The 2001 Census provides the most recent figures available for the number of households. Government Office Regions only occur in England, but Scotland,
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Wales and Northern Ireland are regarded as an equivalent for statistical purposes. The attached table shows the number of households in each Government Office Region in England and the total households for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The figures have been extracted from Table S027 in the Census 2001 National Report, which provides household figures.
Source:
Table S027 Census 2001 National Report.
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