| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
10 Jan 2006 : Column 542W—continued
Inheritance Tax
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the impact on inheritance tax revenue would be of (a) not increasing the threshold above the statutory indexation in 2005–06, (b) retaining a threshold of £275,000 over three years to 2007–08, (c) cutting the threshold to (i) £250,000 and (ii) £200,000 and (d) retaining the current threshold and statutory indexation but raising the rate to (A) 50 percent., (B) 60 percent. and (C) 70 percent.. [39526]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated impact of the options on inheritance tax revenue accruing in years 2006–07 and 2007–08 is shown in the following table. In each case the comparison is with forecast revenues using the zero-rate thresholds already announced by the Chancellor of £285,000 for 2006–07 and £300,000 for 2007–08, and the rate of 40 percent. on value above the zero-rate threshold.
Notes:
1. Estimates are based on information held on a sample of taxpaying and non-taxpaying estates relating to deaths in the year 2003–04.
2. Estimates take no account of behavioural changes which may occur when tax structures and rates are changed.
3. Estimates for option (c), which involves large reductions in the threshold, are particularly approximate and have been rounded appropriately.
Inland Revenue (Sheriff Officers)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much expenditure was incurred by the Inland Revenue through using sheriff officers in each of the last eight years; and what proportion of that expenditure arose as a result of incorrect call-outs based on inaccurate information supplied by the Inland Revenue. [39622]
Dawn Primarolo: The expenditure incurred by the former Inland Revenue in respect of sheriff officer fees for the last eight years is not held. We can provide information for the six years to end of October 2004 and this is detailed as follows:
| Year to end October | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1.11 |
| 2000 | 1.29 |
| 2001 | 1.33 |
| 2002 | 1.90 |
| 2003 | 1.37 |
| 2004 | 1.14 |
Information for accounting year 2005 is not yet available.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is not aware of having supplied inaccurate information to any sheriff officer. A sheriff officer would only be instructed to serve
10 Jan 2006 : Column 543W
a Sheriff Court writ/summons or carry out diligence for established debt that is overdue and after telephone and/or written application for payment.
Interest Rates
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how often he has received representations from the elected governing authorities of (a) Guernsey, (b) Jersey, (c) the Isle of Man, (d) the Falkland Islands, (e) Gibraltar and (f) Saint Helena about interest rates set by the Bank of England since 1997. [39214]
John Healey: The Chancellor has not received any representations about interest rates from the governing authorities of the Crown Dependencies and UK Overseas Territories listed. Since May 1997 the Bank of England has had operational independence in the setting of interest rates.
Local Authorities (England)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many whole-time equivalent jobs there are in each of England's local authorities, broken down by region. [39860]
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 full-time equivalent jobs in England's local authorities. (39860)
I am placing a table in the House of Commons Library showing the number of full-time and part-time employee jobs in each unitary and local authority in England in December 2004; the latest period for which information is available. Part-time jobs are defined as those requiring less than 30 hours per week. Statistics for full-time equivalent jobs are not available.
These estimates are from the Annual Business Inquiry and, as with any sample survey, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Lord Turner's Letter
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 914W, on Lord Turner's letter, what the result of the inquiry headed by Nicholas Macpherson into the leak of his letter to Lord Turner was; and if he will make a statement. [40488]
John Healey: The Treasury does not comment on the progress or outcome of leak inquiries.
Malnutrition
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how many deaths malnutrition was given as the cause in London in each of the last five years. [40810]
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 recent Parliamentary Question asking for how many deaths malnutrition was given as the cause in London in each of the last five years (40810)
The latest year for which figures are available in 2004. Figures showing numbers of deaths for London where malnutrition or deprivation of food was mentioned on the death certificate are given in the table below, for deaths registered in each year from 2002 to 2004.
| Deaths | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 26 |
| 2001 | 23 |
| 2002 | 22 |
| 2003 | 27 |
| 2004 | 17 |
(38) Cause of death was defined using the codes below from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the year 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) from 2001 onwards:
ICD-9260-Kwashiorkor;
261-Nutritional marasmus;
262-Other severe protein-calorie malnutrition;
263-Other and unspecified protein-calorie malnutrition;
994.2-Effects of hunger.
ICD-10 E40-E46-Malnutrition;
T73.0-Effects of hunger.
Deaths were selected using the original cause of death.
(39) Deaths of usual residents of the London Government Office Region.
(40) Deaths registered in each calendar year.
Minimum Wage
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the workforce in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland has been employed at the minimum wage in each year since its introduction. [39794]
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 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about what percentage of the workforce in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland has been employed at the minimum wage in each year since its introduction. (39793)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) calculates estimates of the number of jobs paid less than the minimum wage for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions. Estimates are also produced of the number of jobs paid below successive 10p thresholds for the United Kingdom, including those bands around the minimum wage. These results can be found on the National Statistics website at:
Estimates of number and percentage of jobs paid at the minimum wage for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not available.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |