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10 Jan 2006 : Column 525W—continued
Child Tax Credit
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons birth certificates do not have to be provided as part of a claim for child tax credit. [36805]
Dawn Primarolo: Parents are required to supply birth certificates when applying for child benefit.
The tax credit IT system automatically checks whether a child matches with a record in the Child Benefit Office database. Where there is no evidence of child benefit, HM Revenue and Customs will ask the tax credit claimant to supply a birth certificate or medical card to support their claim for child tax credit.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of the common agricultural policy arising from (a) increased food prices and (b) direct costs to the Exchequer under the new financial perspective 2007 to 2013. [39459]
Mr. Des Browne [holding answer 9 January 2006]: The OECD estimates the annual cost of the common agricultural policy to EU consumers arising from increased food prices at around €50 billion each year, of which part will be borne by UK consumers. In addition, taxpayers in the UK and other member states pay the fiscal costs of the CAP. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given to his related question number 39460.
For a more comprehensive assessment of the costs of the CAP, I refer the hon. Member to the paper A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy" published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury in December, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the common agricultural policy to (a) the EU and (b) the UK under the new financial perspective 2007 to 2013. [39460]
Mr. Des Browne
[holding answer 9 January 2006]: The European Council meeting of 15–16 December agreed to set the EU budget for pillar 1 of the common agricultural policy (market-related expenditure and direct payments) for 2007–13 at €293.105 billion in 2004 prices. The rural development budget was set at €69.25 billion, excluding transfers from pillar 1 to this budget.
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The UK contributes to the budget as a whole, not to specific policies. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), question number 40045.
A wide-ranging assessment of the economic, financial, social and environmental costs of the CAP is contained in the paper A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy" published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury in December, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Contingent Liabilities
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total Government expenditure was on contingent liabilities which became payable in each year since 1992. [39621]
Mr. Des Browne: The Government do not separately record expenditure on items previously recorded as contingent liabilities. The cost of obtaining details of contingent liabilities that became payable in each year since 1992 would therefore exceed the Disproportionate Cost Threshold for answering parliamentary questions and so I am unable to provide the information requested.
Correspondence
Dr. Strang: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many items of departmental correspondence were addressed to people who had (a) died and (b) moved house in each of the last five years. [41029]
John Healey: The information requested is not held.
Debt Relief
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of corrective actions proposed by the International Monetary Fund for members whose performance is below requirements for the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative; [39758]
(2) what assessment he has made of the International Monetary Fund's plans to implement the G8 debt deal. [39759]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: On the 21 December 2005, the IMF Executive Board confirmed 19 countries as qualifying for the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. Qualifying countries will get irrevocable debt relief with immediate effect, once final administrative matters have been completed. The UK fully supports and welcomes the IMF's implementation plans for debt relief for Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Guyana, Ghana, Honduras, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Uganda and Zambia.
The IMF Board also concluded that at this stage, while Mauritania is eligible for debt relief, it will not qualify immediately due to issues regarding macro-economic performance and public expenditure management since it reached completion point in the HIPC initiative in 2002. The IMF will work closely with the authorities in the coming months to help Mauritania qualify for MDRI debt relief. The UK welcomes efforts by the IMF and
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Mauritanian authorities to establish a track record, and we hope that Mauritania will qualify for debt relief in the near future.
Departmental Expenditure
Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of pension contributions incurred by (a) his Department, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06. [39987]
John Healey: Pension contributions and other pension costs for past years are disclosed in the annual accounts of each public body, which are available in the Library of the House or from the websites of the respective bodies. Further analysis could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dormant Bank Accounts
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government will take to encourage people who may have dormant accounts to claim their money before the funds are used by the Government. [37963]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: As announced in the pre-Budget report 2005, the Government have been in discussion with the industry about continuing to follow best practice in reuniting assets with their owners.
Duty Free Allowance
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what progress has been made by the European Commission regarding his proposal to increase the duty free allowance to £1,000; and if he will make a statement; [39667]
(2) what recent representations he has made to the European Commission about increasing the duty free allowance to £1,000; and if he will make a statement. [39668]
Dawn Primarolo: The Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote to the European Commission at Budget 2005 proposing that the limit on goods (excluding wine, spirits, tobacco and perfume) brought into the EU without incurring tax or duty on arrival should be increased to £1,000. The Commission has expressed support in principle for an increase in the allowance, and we hope they will soon come forward with draft legislation addressing our request and reducing unnecessary restrictions on travellers bringing goods into the EU for their own use.
ECOFIN Council of Ministers
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the most senior UK representative was at each meeting of the EU's ECOFIN Council of Ministers since June 1997. [39899]
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.
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Economic Inactivity (London Boroughs)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the levels of economic inactivity in each London borough. [40681]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 January 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about economic inactivity. (40681)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of inactivity for local areas from the National Population Survey following International Labour Organisation definitions. The table, attached, shows the numbers of inactive people of working age, resident in each London Borough, for the 12 months ending March 2005. The table also shows the number of inactive people as a percentage of the total working age population resident in each Borough.
(28) Rate as a percentage of the resident population of working age (men aged 16 to 64, women aged 16 to 59).
(29) Estimate not available, sample size less than three could be disclosive.
Source:
Annual Population Survey
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