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22 Nov 2005 : Column 1912W—continued
Overseas Public Assets
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money circulating in the UK financial system which is derived from the illicit acquisition of foreign states' public assets; [29691]
(2) what procedures his Department has in place for (a) identifying and (b) tracking money in the United Kingdom derived from the illicit acquisition of foreign states' public assets. [29692]
John Healey: The UK's anti-money laundering controls are supported by a robust and tested legal framework in relation to the identification and prevention of the movement of illicit funds through the country's financial system regardless of their origin.
Investigations generated by financial sector reporting to NCIS under this framework are a matter for law enforcement. It is not possible to comment on current investigations or amounts of funds concerned without the risk of prejudicing the outcome of those investigations.
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Public Service Agreements
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what baseline shares he will use to measure a reduction in the illicit market share for spirits for the purposes of measuring performance against 2004 Public Service Agreement target number 2. [29858]
Mr. Des Browne: The PSA target 1.2 states that by 2007–08 the market share for illicit spirits will be reduced by half. The methodology used to measure performance is set out in HM Customs: Public Service Agreement 2005–06 to 2007–08 technical note".
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) funding will be withheld from and (b) other action will be taken in his Department if public service agreement target number (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three is not met. [30634]
Mr. Des Browne: Performance is taken into account in spending reviews, when the increased performance information and data provided through PSAs helps to inform those areas where policies are working well, and those where further reform might be needed.
SIPPs
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to restrict holders of self invested personal pensions from using their pension funds to purchase second homes in rural areas. [24100]
Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to exempt rural homes from the provisions in the next Budget for the new self-invested personal pension scheme. [31086]
Dawn Primarolo: Pension simplification sweeps away the numerous existing tax regimes and replaces them with a single universal regime for tax-privileged pension savings from 6 April 2006. These changes have been widely welcomed by savers and the financial services and pensions industry.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review. Where there is evidence of abuse, it will take appropriate action to stop it.
Solar Photovoltaics Programme
Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what provision the Treasury has made in its allocation of funding for the Department for Trade and Industry for the capital grant required to meet the Government White Paper commitment to a 10-year solar voltaics programme in line with that of Germany and Japan. [29978]
John Healey:
Under the 2004 Spending Review, DTI received funding at departmental level for the three financial years to 2007–08. Allocation to programmes to support photovoltaics within the overall DTI budget is a matter for DTI Ministers.
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Special Advisers
John Hemming: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the special advisers in post in his Department, broken down by pay band; and what the total budgeted cost to his Department of special advisers is for 2005–06. [29416]
John Healey: For the list of special advisers in HM Treasury I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer provided by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office on 16 November 2005, Official Report, column 1257W.
Information relating to costs for 2005–06 will be published after the end of the current financial year.
Staff Discipline
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees have been dismissed by his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [29136]
John Healey: The number of employees dismissed by HM Treasury in each of the last five years for conduct and capability is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2002 | 3 |
| 2003 | 4 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
Tax Credits
Miss Widdecombe: To ask Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid to claimants as a result of errors in the tax credit system; how much has been paid in compensation for distress caused by the errors; and how many claimants have been subject to tax credit errors. [23201]
Dawn Primarolo: For information on the amount paid as a result of errors, and the number of people affected by errors, I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 2 November 2005, Official Report, column 1056W.
The circumstances in which HM Revenue and Customs will make compensation payments to its customers are explained in the Department's Code of Practice 1 Putting things right" which is available at www.hmrc.gov.uk. The Department will pay compensation for reasonable costs incurred as a direct result of its mistakes or delays and to recognise worry and distress caused by those mistakes and delays. It does not keep separate details of compensation payments made specifically due to errors or delays. For the value of compensation payments up to 31 May 2005, I refer to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 4 July 2005, Official Report, columns 95–96W. The value of compensation payments made between 1 June 2005 and 30 September 2005 was around £410,000.
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Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many copies of (a) notification of tax credit awards and (b) tax credit award guidance notes (TC602NOTES) are sent to each recipient. [26336]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is statutorily obliged to issue an award notice (TC602) to each claimant when a new claim is decided. An award notice is also sent to each claimant when their award is finalised, renewed or they report a change of circumstance. A copy of the guidance notes is issued with each award notice.
Where a claim is made through the tax credits online service, or if a claimant fails to sign their claim, they are sent an extra copy of their award notice when HMRC decide their claim. Where an unsigned claim is from a couple, HMRC send a joint award notice with an extra copy and only one set of guidance notes. The extra copy of the award notice has a declaration they should sign and return to HMRC to confirm the details on their award notice are correct.
Vera Baird: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the largest single overpayment of working tax credit in Redcar and Cleveland was in the last 12 months. [30429]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available except at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) tax credit complaints and (b) other complaints relating to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have been received by the Parliamentary Ombudsman in each month since March 2004; and if he will make a statement. [30546]
Dawn Primarolo: The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, is an independent office-holder. She operates under the provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (as amended).
The Parliamentary Ombudsman publishes information about the number of investigable complaints she has received in her annual report to Parliament. Her 2004–05 Annual Report, HC 348, was published on 20 July.
Wales
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much public money has been spent in Wales in each year since 1997; and how much public money will be spent in Wales in each year until 2010. [31045]
Mr. Des Browne:
Identifiable public spending in Wales is published in Chapter 8 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (Cm 6521). PESA also includes the
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Wales departmental expenditure limit for the years up to 2007–08. Spending beyond then will be considered in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax revenue has been received from Wales in each year since 1997; and how much tax revenue he expects to receive from Wales in each year until 2010. [31059]
Dawn Primarolo: The following figures from the ONS 2005 publication of household income show estimates of income tax, council taxes and vehicle taxes paid by households in Wales and the United Kingdom for the period 1997 to 2003. They were produced by ONS for the estimation of sub-national gross disposable household income and were published in April 2005.
| £ million | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wales | United Kingdom | |
| 1997 | 3,214 | 89,219 |
| 1998 | 3,696 | 104,820 |
| 1999 | 3,953 | 112,790 |
| 2000 | 4,148 | 122,967 |
| 2001 | 4,420 | 131,007 |
| 2002 | 4,543 | 132,222 |
| 2003 | 4,742 | 137,255 |
(21) Taxes paid by households and non-profit institutions serving households.
No corresponding information is available on taxes paid by organisations or on other taxes paid by households. Projected figures on tax revenue from Wales are not available.
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