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19 Dec 2005 : Column 2466W—continued
Stamp Duty
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of revenue from stamp duty on property in each of the next three financial years. [38211]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Estimated and projected revenues for total stamp taxes in 2005–06 and 2006–07 are published in Table B14 of the pre-Budget 2006 report. The component of the duty attributable to land and property (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is given in the following table:
| Stamp duty land tax | |
|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 7.0 |
| 2006–07 | 7.8 |
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Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 83W, on tax credits, how many recommendations have been made by HM Revenue and Customs internal audit relating to fraud since 2003–04. [37981]
Dawn Primarolo: Internal Audit's role is to provide an independent and objective opinion to the Chairman and Audit Committee on risk management, control and governance. Over the course of the year it will report to the Chairman and Audit Committee on a whole range of issues including fraud and compliance and make recommendations where appropriate.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of tax credits between 2003–04 and 2013–14 if (a) the yield from recovered overpayments is excluded from the calculation and (b) the reforms announced in the pre-Budget report were not introduced; [37982]
(2) what estimate he has made of the yield from recovered tax credit overpayments between 2003–04 and 2013–14 if (a) the pre-Budget reforms were not introduced, (b) the pre-Budget reforms are introduced and (c) the income disregard is raised to £25,000 from 2006–07. [37983]
Dawn Primarolo: The likely scale of behavioural change resulting from no longer recovering any overpayments could have significant costs to the Exchequer; no estimates are available of this cost.
The effect of the tax credit package is contained within table 1.2 of the 2005 pre-Budget report.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Agency Staff
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff were employed by non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which he has responsibility in 2004–05 in (a) total and (b) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (c) London. [35937]
Dr. Howells: Our non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) employ a total of 7,715 staff.
The detailed figures are as follows:
All of the UK-based staff are located in London except in the case of The British Council and The Wilton Park Academic Council. The British Council has 45 staff in Scotland, 5.8 in Wales and 29 in Northern Ireland. Within the UK there are five staff in the East of England, three in the East Midlands, three in the West Midlands, three in Yorkshire and Humber, two in the North East, three in the South West, four in the South East and 575 in London. All 69 of the staff at The Wilton Park Academic Council are based in the South-East of England, in Sussex.
Airspace (Extraordinary Renditions)
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date (a) he and (b) his officials first became aware of allegations that the United States was using civil aircraft for the purpose of the rendition of terrorist suspects. [37966]
Dr. Howells: As the US Secretary of State, Condaleezza Rice, made clear in her statement of 5 December 2005, the United States and other countries have for decades used renditions" to transport terrorist suspects from the country in which they were captured to their home country or to other countries where they can be questioned, held or brought to justice. As to the current allegations about rendition, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and his officials became aware of them when they appeared in the media.
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he (a) has written and (b) intends to write to the US Administration to ask whether UK airspace has been used for the purpose of the extraordinary rendition of anyone accused of terrorist activities since 11 September 2001; and if he will make a statement. [37280]
Dr. Howells: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) on 12 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1652–53W.
Albatrosses
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what penalties can be imposed on people who are found to be responsible for deaths to albatrosses in the waters around (a) South Georgia, (b) the South Sandwich Islands and (c) the British Antarctic Territory; and whether there are plans to change these penalties. [36085]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The incidental mortality of albatrosses and petrels in the waters of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is now virtually zero, following a very successful campaign to employ effective mitigating measures on fishing vessels.
Penalties do exist under the SGSSI Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance 2000, as amended, and the Falkland Islands Dependencies Conservation Ordinance 1975. These include a maximum fine of £250,000 for fishing vessels which breach fishing licence conditions, and a fine of £150 for those who kill, wound, capture, molest or export any
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native bird (including albatrosses or petrels). The latter penalty will be increased as part of the current revision of South Georgia legislation.
Within the British Antarctic Territory, whose territorial sea lies within the Antarctic treaty area, penalties could only be imposed on UK nationals or those operating British-registered vessels. However, longlining vessels, which pose the greatest risk to albatrosses and petrels, are not permitted to fish in British Antarctic Territory waters. Penalties exist under the British Antarctic Territory Fauna and Flora (Conservation) Ordinance 1990. The maximum statutory penalty is £5,000. There are no plans to change this figure.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to protect the albatross populations in (a) South Georgia, (b) the South Sandwich Islands and (c) the British Antarctic Territory; and how much funding was allocated to their protection in each place in each of the last eight years. [36086]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Albatrosses are protected under the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance 2000 and the Falkland Islands Dependencies Conservation Ordinance 1975; various Conservation Measures of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP).
The British Antarctic Survey are continuing with a long-term study of the breeding success of albatrosses at South Georgia. The birds are tracked by satellite to discover how they disperse at sea away from the Islands, and where they are at most risk of being killed by Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing outside South Georgia waters.
The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) ensures long-term monitoring of populations around the Island, manages tourism in such a way as to protect the breeding birds, and works with CCAMLR and the fishing industry to protect albatross species at sea.
Scientific observers are placed on all longline fishing vessels and most trawlers to develop mitigation methods and monitor their success. This has cost the GSGSSI an average of over £500,000 per annum over the last three years. In addition, specific projects ashore that contribute to albatross protection have cost GSGSSI £10,400 in 1999; £42,167 in 2000; £55,000 in 2001; £39,946 in 2002; £55,513 in 2003; £83,575 in 2004, and are estimated to be £100,000 in 2005. It is accepted by CCAMLR, Birdlife International and the IUCN (World Conservation Union) that incidental seabird deaths in the South Georgia fisheries are now negligible.
There are no breeding albatrosses on any of the South Sandwich Islands. Their protection at sea is included in the work of GSGSSI as described.
All Antarctic fauna are protected under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. This is enacted into UK legislation through the Antarctic Act 1994, which prohibits any interference with Antarctic fauna without a specific permit.
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The Government of the British Antarctic Territory has undertaken a number of environmental projects to reinforce the protection of vulnerable species in Antarctica. These have included the development of Antarctic Specially Managed and Protected Areas, under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. These projects were not, however, specific to albatross and petrel species.
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