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21 Jul 2005 : Column 2033W—continued
Fisheries (EU Council Directive)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will amend Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Notice 263 to take account of the terms of EU Council Directive 2003/96/EC. [14891]
John Healey: No. Notice 263 explains the eligibility and procedures for reclaiming excise duty on fuel used in commercial vessels to make marine voyages. It is fully in line with Article 14 (1) (c) of EU Council Directive 2003/96/EC, which requires the exemption from duty of fuel used in commercial navigation, including fishing.
Lorry Road User Charge Division
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his intention to redeploy the HM Revenue and Customs Lorry Road User Charge division; and if he will make a statement. [12714]
Money Laundering
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people who had their application to open a bank account declined on the basis that they represented a risk of money laundering were subsequently allowed to open a bank account in the UK, having provided further information. [14014]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 July 2005, Official Report, column 1690W.
21 Jul 2005 : Column 2034W
National Statistics
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people worked in (a) inner London and (b) Greater London in each year since 1975. [13762]
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. Geoffrey Robinson, dated 21 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about employment in inner and Greater London since 1975. (13762)
The table overleaf shows the number of people working in inner London and the London region for each three-month period ending May of each year from 1992 to 2005. Estimates for earlier years are not available.
These estimates are based on Labour Force Survey (LFS) data which, as with any sample survey, is subject to sampling variability. The LFS is a survey of households, but the attached estimates are based on respondents' reported place of work rather than residence.
Source:
Labour Force Survey
Pension Credit
Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in each ward of Newport, East claim pension credit. [13313]
Mr. Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.
The information is given in the following table.
Notes:
1.All wards are based on Census wards, current as at April 2003.
2.All benefit counts at ward level are rounded to a multiple of five, to protect the confidentiality of individual claimants.
Source:
Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions, 100 per cent. sample
21 Jul 2005 : Column 2035W
Red Diesel
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress on achieving a further derogation from EU law for marine operators who use red diesel. [14083]
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with representatives of the fishing industry and other marine interests on the impact of EU Council Directive 2003/96/EC on their industries. [14893]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Members to what I said to the House on 26 May 2005, Official Report, column 865.
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to renew the derogation from EU Directive 2003/96/EC which allows red diesel to be taxed at a lower rate for private recreational marine craft; and if he will make a statement. [14794]
John Healey: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr.Carmichael) on 14 October 2004, Official Report, column 344W.
Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many requests for reconsideration of recovery of overpaid tax credits were received in total by (a) December 2004, (b) March 2005, (c) April 2005, (d) May 2005 and (e) June 2005; how many of these have been resolved; and if he will make a statement. [9839]
Dawn Primarolo: For requests received and resolved by December 2004 I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 10 January 2005, Official Report, column 129W to the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg).
| Cumulative total of requests received | Cumulative total of requests resolved | |
|---|---|---|
| March 2005 | 217,000 | 92,000 |
| April 2005 | 249,000 | 124,000 |
| May 2005 | 271,000 | 151,000 |
| June 2005 | 294,000 | 178,000 |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) tax credit cases and (b) amendments to tax credit cases were calculated clerically in (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05. [9868]
21 Jul 2005 : Column 2036W
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants have had direct payments of tax credits interrupted by the problem affecting the system for making direct payments of tax credits into bank accounts; what action has been taken to address the problem; and when he expects the problem to be resolved. [11788]
Dawn Primarolo: There is no problem affecting the system for making direct payments into bank accounts.
There were some delays in payment to new claimants and those reporting changes of circumstances in early April following a routine upgrade to the tax credits computer system. Claimants were able to request interim giro payments in cases of hardship.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with (a) Ministers and (b) officials from the Department of Health to discuss the impact of the tax credit system on social workers. [11846]
Dawn Primarolo: Ministers and officials from a number of Departments regularly discuss issues related to the tax credit system.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the largest number of adults residing in a single household in receipt of tax credits was in 2004–05; [13466]
(2) what the largest annual income for a household in receipt of tax credits was in 2004–05; [13469]
(3) what the smallest single tax credit payment was in 2004–05. [13471]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households containing higher rate income taxpayers were in receipt of tax credits in 2004–05. [13473]
Dawn Primarolo: We estimate that approximately 300,000 families containing a higher rate income tax-payer were in receipt of tax credits in 2004–05. All of these families received child tax credit only.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what projections he made prior to the launch of the child tax credit and the working tax credit of the number of awards in 2003–04 that would involve (a) underpayments and (b) overpayments; and what projections he made of the value of these underpayments and overpayments. [13687]
Dawn Primarolo: For a projection of the number of awards that may need to be reassessed due to rises in income prior to the introduction of tax credits I refer the hon. Member to page 29 of The Child and Working Tax Credits. The Modernisation of Britain's Tax and Benefit System. Number Ten". A link of this can be found on HMT website at:
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revisions he has made to the projection in his Department's spring Departmental Report that 97.1 per cent. of new claims, renewals and changes of circumstance within the tax credits system would be decided accurately in 2004–05. [13714]
Dawn Primarolo: The final figure is not yet available. The Department will publish final results for 2004–05 in its Annual Report, which will be available on its website at www.hmrc.gov.uk
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit awards were reduced in response to an alleged overpayment and subsequently discovered not to have been overpaid in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [13920]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) number and (b) value of additional hardship tax credit payments made to tax credit claimants has been since their inception. [13921]
Dawn Primarolo: In 2003–04, the Revenue made additional tax credits payments to around 32,500 claimants. In 2004–05, HMRC made additional tax credits payments to around 10,000 claimants.
The total value of the payments was around £26 million.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) complaints, (b) disputed overpayments and (c) appeals against Inland Revenue decisions are registered with the tax credits office. [13924]
Dawn Primarolo: Currently there are around (a) 5,900 complaints (b) 108,000 disputed overpayments and (c) 5,700 appeals pending at the tax credits office.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he was advised on the legal opinion of Richard Drabble QC on the practice of automatic recovery of overpaid tax credits; when he asked his Department's lawyers for advice; and what action he has taken in response. [8109]
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when HM Revenue and Customs expects to receive the legal advice it has requested on its code of practice on the recovery of overpayment of tax credits. [9948]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 5 July 2005]: It is in the public interest that decisions taken by Government Departments are taken in a fully informed legal context. Government Departments, such as HMRC, therefore regularly need to be able to obtain full and comprehensive legal advice necessary for the effective conduct of public affairs without which the quality of decision-making will be greatly impaired. As with the advice in question, such advice is not routinely brought to the attention of Ministers.
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