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12 Sept 2005 : Column 2392W—continued
Hospices
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will exempt hospices from VAT on building work and major repairs. [14232]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The construction of a new hospice is already VAT zero-rated. The repair and maintenance of existing buildings is standard-rated. While agreements with our European partners allow us to keep our zero rates as they currently stand, we cannot extend them or introduce new ones.
Identity Cards
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the public bodies that responded to the Citizen Information project in relation to the wider use of the identity card database; if he will (a) publish the responses and (b) place a copy of each response in the Library; and if he will make a statement on the progress of the Citizen Information project. [13285]
Mr. Des Browne:
The Citizen Information Project has now reported to me, as envisaged in my statement to the House on 28 October 2004, Official Report, column 53WS. The Government will now consider the CIP recommendations and I shall make a statement to the House after the summer. At that time the CIP report will be published by the Office for National Statistics, including a list of public bodies consulted.
12 Sept 2005 : Column 2393W
Income Tax
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of people in (a) England and Wales, (b) Essex, (c) the Metropolitan police area of London and (d) Southend paid income tax at the (i) starting rate of 10 per cent., (ii) basic rate of 22 per cent. and (iii) higher rate of 40 per cent. in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [14287]
Dawn Primarolo: The information for taxpayers in England and Wales is in the following table. The starting rate of 10 per cent. was introduced in 1999–2000.
Similar information by tax bands on regional or sub-regional income tax revenue statistics is not available pending a review of national statistics on income tax and personal incomes. Further details of the review can be found on the HMRC website at the following page: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/NS_Review. htm.
(88)Includes taxpayers with a marginal rate of 20 per cent. on savings, 22 per cent. on earnings and 10 per cent. on dividends.
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The number of people liable for tax in Essex county and the London region can be found in table 3.14 'Total income by borough and district or unitary authority' on the HM Revenue and Customs' website www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu.htm.
The income tax information is based upon the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) and 2002–03 is the latest survey year. The survey is based on information held by the HM Revenue and Customs tax offices on persons who are liable to UK tax.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of pensioners do not pay income tax at the basic rate, broken down by nation and region of the UK. [14862]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of taxpaying pensioners estimated not to pay income tax at the basic rate in 2005–06 is in the following table.
(89)This covers all pensioners paying income tax at the starting, savers' and higher rate only.
The number of pensioners estimated not to pay income tax at the basic rate can be estimated by subtracting the number of pensioners paying tax at the basic rate from the total pensioner population. Population estimates are prepared by the Government Actuary's Department and can be found at http://www.gad.qov.uk/Population/2003/uk/wuk03singyear.xls
Similar information at regional or sub-regional level is not available pending a review of National Statistics on income tax and personal incomes. Further details of the review can be found on the HMRC website at the following page: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_ tax/NS_Review.htm
The income tax information is based upon the 2002–03 Survey of Personal projected forward to 2005–06 in line with Budget 2005 assumptions. The survey is based on information held by the HM Revenue and Customs tax offices on persons who are liable to UK tax.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the costs of administering (a) the introduction of a lower or higher basic rate income tax level for Scotland and (b) the annual costs of such a change. [14863]
Dawn Primarolo:
The White Paper of 24 July 1997 Scotland's Parliament" estimated that costs of introducing a Scottish variable rate would be in the order of £10 million with annual costs of £8 million. As both administrations of the Scottish Parliament have indicated that they will not take advantage of the Scottish variable rate, the cost estimates have not been uprated. Doing so before a decision was made to introduce a Scottish variable rate would not produce a meaningful estimate of any change bearing in mind continuing modernisation of HMRC's IT development processes.
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Job Vacancies
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many job vacancies there were in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [14266]
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. Amess, dated 22 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about job vacancies in the United Kingdom. (14266)
The attached table shows the average number of vacancies in the United Kingdom for the three months ending in June in each of the last five years. The data are seasonally adjusted and are published monthly in the Office for National Statistics Labour Market Statistics First Release, and on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=13310&More=n.
| 3 months ending June | Total |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 667.8 |
| 2002 | 607.0 |
| 2003 | 574.1 |
| 2004 | 632.6 |
| 2005(90) | 639.9 |
(90)Provisional
Source:
ONS Vacancy Survey
Les Goodland Ltd.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to complete his inquiries as to when the Enforcement Notice was issued by the Inland Revenue against Les Goodland Ltd. of Paignton and sent to his accountant, Mr. C. Howe, of Totnes Road, Paignton. [14425]
Dawn Primarolo: I can not comment on progress in respect of a particular inquiry or in relation to a named business or individual, where details are not already in the public domain, as to do so would breach their right to confidentiality. If the hon. Gentleman would like to write to me about this specific case and make clear who he is representing I will look into the matter.
Lorry Road User Charge
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much work has been undertaken by (a) his Department and (b) private organisations to develop equipment for the administration of the Lorry Road User Charge; and how many contracts have been issued, broken down by (i) value and (ii) purpose. [12746]
John Healey:
In respect of work undertaken on the Lorry Road-User Charge (LRUC) by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to him and the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) on 19 July 2005, Official Report, column 1689W.
12 Sept 2005 : Column 2396W
The LRUC programme has also sought the advice of a range of professional consultants since it was established in 2002. In line with good practice guidance for significant Government procurements of this type, preparations for and the conduct of the procurement phase, which began in May 2004, included the advice of technical, commercial and legal specialists. The provisional total for this expenditure since the LRUC programme was established in May 2002 up to 31 March 2005, the end of the last complete year for which figures are available, was £31.2 million, representing contracts for up to 198 consultants from 22 organisations.
Seven organisations were short-listed in the procurement process for the LRUC scheme. HMRC entered into contracts with each of them for 'proof of solution' testing to be conducted at test track facilities in Berkshire, to allow them to demonstrate their credibility and that their technical solutions could work. The value of these contracts cannot be disclosed while it would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of HMRC and those organisations.
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