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7 Dec 2005 : Column 1326W—continued
HM Revenue and Customs
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in HM Revenue and Customs have been redeployed to tax credit work in each month since January; what the total staffing of the tax credit department was in each quarter since Q1 2003; and if he will make a statement. [28997]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of full-time equivalent staff in post in the tax credit office, (TC) at the end of each quarter since April 2003 was around:
| Quarter ending | Staffing |
|---|---|
| June 2003 | 3500 |
| September 2003 | 3400 |
| December 2003 | 3300 |
| March 2004 | 3200 |
| June 2004 | 2850 |
| September 2004 | 2800 |
| December 2004 | 2750 |
| March 2005 | 2800 |
| June 2005 | 2950 |
| September 2005 | 2800 |
7 Dec 2005 : Column 1327W
In addition to TCO employees extra staff are also employed to work on tax credits at certain times, depending on the variable tax credits workload, for example staff employed in HMRC contact centres. Such staff are not included in the aforementioned table , and figures for their staff are not readily available.
Income Tax
David Mundell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Scotland pay income tax. [35035]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of taxpayers in Scotland can be found on National Statistics table 2.2 'Number of income taxpayers, by country' on HM Revenue and Customs' website:
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has plans to increase the nil rate income tax band for trusts. [35150]
Dawn Primarolo: A £500 standard rate band was introduced in Finance Act 2005, below which trust income is subject to no more than the basic rate of tax. We keep all matters of taxation under review as part of the Budget process.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to introduce differential income tax rates for protective trusts, with particular reference to those formed under section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. [35151]
Dawn Primarolo: As announced in the Chancellor's pre-Budget report we are considering a relief for registered social landlords holding sinking funds in trust for tenants.
Infant Deaths
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many infant deaths there were in the UK in (a) the latest year for which records exist and (b) each of the preceding three years; and what the rate per 10,000 was for the last four years for which figures are available. [34688]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 December 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many infant deaths there were in the United Kingdom and the rate per 10,000 for the last four years that data are available. (34688)
The most recent year for which figures are available is 2004. Figures for the latest year are based on provisional number of occurrences in that year (published in the November edition of Health Statistics Quarterly). These update earlier provisional 2004
- figures which were based on number of registrations. I refer you to the answer given in Official Report 437, 10th October, Column No. 299.
| Number | Rate per 10,000 live births | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3,664 | 54.8 |
| 2002 | 3,497 | 52.3 |
| 2003 | 3,686 | 53.0 |
| 2004(14) | 3,607 | 50.4 |
(14) Provisional.
Source:
Health Statistics Quarterly28, Table 2.1.
Inflation
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average rate of inflation was in each year since 1978–79. [34680]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 December 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question requesting the average rate of inflation in each year since 1978–79. (34680).
The information requested is shown in the table below which gives average annual inflation rates for the consumer prices index (CPI) and retail prices index (RPI).
The CPI is the main domestic measure of inflation for macroeconomic purposes in the United Kingdom. It forms the basis of the government's inflate target that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is required to achieve.
The RPI is available from 1947 and its uses include the indexation of pensions, state benefits and index-linked gilts.
Both the CPI and RPI measure the average change from month to month in the prices of consumer goods and services purchased in the UK, although there are differences in coverage and methodology. These differences are summarised in the background notes to the Consumer Price Indices First Release in which these figures are published monthly. It is available to download from the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=868.
n/a=Not available.
(15) The annual average inflation rate is the percentage change in the annual average index from the previous year. The annual average index is defined as the arithmetic mean of the twelve monthly values from January to December for the year in question calculated using the published rounded monthly indices.
(16) Prior to 1997 the annual inflation rates for the CPI are estimates.
7 Dec 2005 : Column 1329W
Maintenance Service Charges/Sinking Funds
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish internal guidance issued by the Inland Revenue in (a) 1998 and (b) 2000 aimed at clarifying the tax treatment of (i) maintenance service charges and (ii) sinking funds. [35153]
Dawn Primarolo: The information contained in the internal guidance issued by the Inland Revenue in 1998 and 2000 relating to the tax treatment of maintenance service charges and sinking funds, other than information whose disclosure would be likely to prejudice the assessment or collection of tax, has already been published by the Inland Revenue and may be found on the HMRC website.
Manufacturing
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many manufacturing jobs have been lost since May 1997. [34590]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 December 2005:
While statistics for the number of jobs created or lost are not available, survey data allows us to provide a measure of the change in the number of jobs. Using the Workforce jobs series for the United Kingdom, the net decrease in the number of jobs in manufacturing from June 1997 to June 2005 was 1,078,000.
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