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30 Nov 2005 : Column 519W—continued
Departmental Staff
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department were (a) civil servants, (b) contractors and (c) other staff in each year since 1997. [27458]
John Healey: The number of civil servants working in the Department can be found in Civil Service Statistics, published by the Cabinet Office. This publication is available in the Library or online at: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_of_the_civil_service/statistics/civil_service_ statistics/index.asp.
Information concerning contractors and other workers is shown in the Department's Resource Accounts within the Department Report for the 2004–05 period only. This is available in the Library or online at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/departmental_ reports/deptreport_index.cfm. This information for previous years has not been centrally recorded and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
ECOFIN Meetings
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Treasury Minister has attended each ECOFIN meeting since 1 May 1997. [31922]
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: Ministerial attendance and the outcome of each ECOFIN have been reported either by written ministerial statement, written answer or, occasionally, by letter to the chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee.
EU Budget Rebate
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the income tax rate equivalent is of the UK's EU budget rebate. [32199]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In 2004–05 the value of the UK abatement was equivalent to 2.9 per cent. of revenue raised from income tax in that year.
Exports
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of British exports to (a) the Eurozone area, (b) the pre-enlargement 15 EU member states and (c) the post-enlargement 25 EU member states in each year since 1997. [32649]
John Healey: The Information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnel, dated 30 November 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the total value of British exports to (a) the Eurozone area, (b) the pre-enlargement 15 EU member states and (c) the post-enlargement 25 EU member states in each year since 1997 (32649).
The attached table shows exports on a Balance of Payments basis in £ million for goods and services for those years for which the data are available. They are consistent with the estimates published on 9 November 2005 in the UK trade First Release and on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1119.
n/a = not available.
Financial Inclusion Task Force
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Financial Inclusion Task Force to report on lower income groups' access to non-charging cash machines. [33702]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Financial Inclusion Task Force was set up by Government to monitor progress towards financial inclusion, in particular, access to banking, affordable credit and free face-to-face money advice. The terms of reference of the taskforce do not require it to report on fee-charging ATMs, however, it has commissioned research into how low income households access their cash and transmit money. Among other things, this work will identify the extent to which fee-charging ATMs are disproportionately used by the financially excluded. The results of this work are expected next year. In addition, the Treasury continues to maintain regular contact with LINK to discuss issues relating to the ATM market and to keep up to date with any developments.
HMRC
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officers from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Department have been (a) permanently and (b) temporarily based outside the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [33237]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows the numbers of HM Revenue and Customs staff based overseas at the 1 April in each of the last five years.
| Permanently based(9) | Temporarily based | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 279 | 18 |
| 2002 | 268 | 18 |
| 2003 | 284 | 17 |
| 2004 | 285 | 14 |
| 2005 | 230 | 19 |
(9) Based at the channel tunnel entry point at Coquelles, France.
HMRC also has staff based overseas on intelligence and criminal investigation duties, but information on these cannot be made available as it might prejudice the security of those officers and HMRC operations. .
Home Information Packs
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2005, Official Report, column 1137W, on home information packs, when the Government expects to take a decision on whether to levy VAT on home information packs. [31832]
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Dawn Primarolo: The exact nature of the packs, and how they will be provided, is still under consideration by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). Draft regulations have been published for consultation by the ODPM and the consultation period ends on 30 December.
The packs will be subject to the normal rules of VAT, as set out in the VAT Act 1994, HM Revenue and Customs will discuss the VAT position in detail with ODPM.
IT Projects
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the current (a) estimated cost and (b) expected completion date is of each information technology project on the list deposited by his Department in the Library on 19 January 2004. [18870]
John Healey: The information requested is being placed in the Library of the House.
Life Expectancy
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the life expectancy of (a) men and (b) women in each (i) region, (ii) county, (iii) socio-economic group and (iv) age cohort (A) 30 to 39, (B) 20 to 29, (C) 10 to 19 and (D) 0 to 9 years. [32416]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 November 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate has been made of the life expectancy of (a) men and (b) women (i) by region and county, (ii) by socio-economic group and (iii) by age cohort (A) 30 to 39, (B) 20 to 29, (C) 10 to 19 and (D) 0 to 9 years. (32416)
(i) Figures on life expectancy at birth for males and females for English regions are published annually by ONS based on three-year rolling averages. The most recent results, for 2002–2004, are included in the table below. Results for earlier years, from 1991–1993 onwards, are available on the National Statistics website at:
ONS does not publish life expectancy results at county level. However figures for current English counties have been calculated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, using data from ONS.
- These are available on their website at:
(ii) Figures on life expectancy for males and females by socio-economic group are available from the ONS Longitudinal Study, a one per cent sample of the population. Figures showing life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by the Registrar General's Social Classes are available for the periods 1972–1976 to 1997–2001. These are available on the National Statistics website at:
(iii) All the figures referred to above are period life expectancies. For a particular area or social class in a given time period these figures are estimates of the average number of years a new-born baby would survive if he or she experienced the age-specific mortality rates for that area or social class in that time period throughout his or her life.
The Government Actuary's Department has also calculated cohort life expectancies. For people of a given age their cohort life expectancy is an estimate of how long they would live, on average, if they experienced the actual or projected age-specific mortality rates relevant to their cohort in subsequent years.
Cohort life expectancies at birth and five-yearly age intervals for the years 1981 to 2054 for the United Kingdom and its constituent countries, calculated using historic mortality rates and projected mortality rates from 2004-based national population projections, can be accessed from the GAD website at:
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