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15 Dec 2005 : Column 2260W—continued
TREASURY
0870 Numbers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1902W, on 0870 numbers, what contractual arrangements Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has for the provision of the non-profit making 0870 lines. [37639]
John Healey: HMRC has contracts with two companies covering the provision of non-geographic (0870) numbers.
The former Inland Revenue currently have a contract in place with Cable and Wireless Ltd. for the provision of 0870 numbers.
In the former HM Customs and Excise, the contract for the provision of 0870 numbers is with Fujitsu Services.
Administrative Savings
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what administrative savings have been made by his Department in each of the last eight years. [34952]
John Healey:
The Treasury's underspends against its administration costs limits are set out in table 4 of the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper for each of the relevant years, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. (PEOWPs for the years 2001–02 to 2004–05 are also available at:
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http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/ finance_spending_statistics/pes_publications/pespub_index.cfm).
The Treasury's targets for efficiency gains as part of Spending Review 2004 are set out in the department's efficiency technical note, available at http://www.hm-treasurv.gov.uk/media/F8E/39/F8E390F4-BCDC-D4B3–1C4802BDA23FF16F.pdf. Progress against those targets was reported in Annex C of the 2005 departmental report http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/99E/44/deptreport2005.pdf and will be updated in the 2005 autumn performance report, due to be published on the Treasury's website later this month.
Average Wage
Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average wage in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Stoke-on-Trent was in the latest year for which figures are available. [37740]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 15 December 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question what the average wage in (a)England (b) the West Midlands and (c) Stoke on Trent was in the last year for which figures are available. (37740)
Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for full time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
The attached table shows the Average Gross Weekly Earnings for full time employees by local authority by place of work for England, West Midlands and Stoke on Trent for 2005. These statistics are also available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101.
The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
| Full-time employees—2005 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Median | Mean | |
| England | 436 | 526 |
| West Midlands | 403 | 476 |
| Stoke on Trent UA | 346 | 417 |
(21)Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
Source:
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
Biofuels (Tax Revenue)
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the tax revenue from the sale of (a) liquefied petroleum gas, (b) bioethanol/petrol blends, (c) biodiesel blended from straight vegetable oil and (d) standard unleaded petrol has been in each of the last five years. [37854]
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John Healey: Historical duty revenue figures by fuel type can be found on page 3 of the HM Revenue and Customs Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin, a copy of which can be found on the HMRC website at: http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=statbulltwo
Full year revenue figures for liquefied petroleum gas are not available for any of the last five years. Also, duty revenue figures by type of biodiesel blend are not available.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1)what estimate he has made of the revenue which will be generated annually as a result of the increase in excise duty on straight vegetable oil; [37855]
(2) what criteria biodiesel produced from straight vegetable oil does not satisfy in the amended Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979. [37856]
John Healey: There has been no increase in excise duty on road fuels, including biofuels, since October 2003. Fuel produced from vegetable oil is eligible for the rate of duty for biodiesel (currently 27.10 pence per litre) if it meets the legal definition of biodiesel for tax purposes set out in section 2AA of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979. In other cases it is liable to duty at 47.10 pence per litre, as has been the case since Royal Assent to the Finance Act 2002.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to reduce the biofuels duty levy. [37939]
John Healey: The Chancellor announces changes to taxation policy in the context of the Budget.
Budget Reports
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 517W, if he will publish the implied business investment deflator and the implied gross domestic product deflator, for each quarter and for each year since quarter 1, 1980. [37504]
John Healey: The relevant figures are provided in the following tables.
Source:
HMT calculations based on ONS data.
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Source:
HMT calculations based on ONS data.
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