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12 Jan 2006 : Column 765W—continued

Child Benefit

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons the weekly amount of child benefit paid to the first child in each household is higher than the rate paid in respect of other children in the household; and if he will make a statement. [41424]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government are committed to helping families with children through the financial support system. Its approach is based on the dual principles of providing financial support for all families with children, recognising the extra costs and responsibilities associated with bringing up a child; and offering more help to those who need it most, when they need it most. In the Child Poverty Review (2004), the Government also set out its long-term aspiration to improve the financial support available to large families.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of taxing child benefit at the marginal rate of tax; and if he will make a statement. [41433]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government's system of financial support for families with children is built on the principle of progressive universalism, delivering help for all families and more help for those who need it most. Universal child benefit forms the foundation of this system, recognising the extra costs and responsibilities associated with bringing up a child. The Government believe it is right that society should recognise the importance of family life by providing financial support for every family with a dependent child, and will not tax child benefit. Child benefit is complemented by child tax credit, which delivers greatest support to those who need it most, including families on lower incomes, those with children under one, and parents of disabled children.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual revenue yield of taxing child benefit at the marginal rate of tax. [41485]

Dawn Primarolo: An estimate of the annual cost of exempting tax on Child Benefit for 2005–06 is published in Table 7 of 'Tax ready reckoner and tax reliefs', published alongside the pre-Budget report.

Child Trust Fund

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Child Trust Fund vouchers issued to date have been used to open accounts which are valued at (a) £500 and (b) £250; and if he will make a statement. [41465]

 
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 December 2005, Official Report, column 1783 to the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr. Davey).

Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005

Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement on the operation of sections (a) 1 and (b) 2 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005; [41736]

(2) when he expects each section of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 to come into force; and if he will make a statement. [41737]

Dawn Primarolo: Most of the provisions of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 were brought into force by Commencement Order (Statutory Instrument 2005 no. 1126) with effect from 5.45 pm on 7 April 2005 shortly after the Act had received Royal Assent. The Order provided for the remainder of the Act to come into force on 18 April 2005.

Those sections, including sections 1 and 2, brought into force on 7 April enabled preparatory work to begin on the setting up of HM Revenue and Customs and the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office. The transfer of functions from the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise was completed on 18 April, when the new Departments were launched.

Details of the current Commissioners can be found in HM Revenue and Customs' Annual Report 2004–05, which is available in the House Library.

Council Tax

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2005, Official Report, column 1964W, on council tax, if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) internal guidance and manuals and (b) external guidance for local authorities in Wales that the Valuation Office Agency produced for the Welsh council tax revaluation. [39961]

Dawn Primarolo: No internal guidance or manuals were produced by the Valuation Office Agency for local authority departments in Wales for the Welsh council tax revaluation. Copies of external guidance will be placed in the Library.

Departmental Expenditure

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has spent on (a) online and (b) non-online self assessment in each year since 1997; and how much was spent on (i) set up and maintenance of the website, (ii) advertising and (iii) investigation of fraud and error; and if he will make a statement. [38348]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is as follows:

(i) The Inland Revenue's on-line service for self assessment tax returns went live in 2000–01 (on 3 July 2000). Costs provided are for set up and maintenance of that website based service.
 
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£ million

	(i) Set up and maintenance of website
1998–99	0
1999–2000	0
2000–01	7.4
2001–02	7.3
2002–03	10.0
2003–04	6.5

(ii) In respect of costs of advertising attributable to self assessment may I refer the hon. Member back to the answers given to him on 18 July 2005, Official Report, column.1334W and 19 November 2003, Official Report, column 1093W and the reply to the hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin) on 5 January 2004.

(iii) HMRC do not separate the costs of compliance for online/non online filers. The information can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
 
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Economic Activity (Ethnic Groups)

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the economic activity rates were for (a) men and (b) women in each ethnic group in the last year for which figures are available. [40661]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 12 January 2006:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about economic activity rates for ethnic groups. (40661)

The attached table gives the estimate of the economic activity rates for people of working age by ethnic groups for the twelve month period ending December 2004 from the Annual Population Survey.

As with any sample survey, estimates from the Annual Population Survey (APS) are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Economic activity rates for people of working age⁽¹⁷⁾ by ethnicity and sex: United Kingdom—12 months ending December 2004

	All persons		Men		Women
	Levels (000s)	Activity rates (%)(20)	Levels (000s)	Activity rates (%)(20)	Levels (000s)	Activity rates (%)(20)
Total(18)	28,327	78.0	15,503	83.2	12,824	72.6
White(18)	25,388	79.5	13,826	84.1	11,562	74.6
of which:
British(19)	24,089	79.6	13,124	84.2	10,965	74.8
Other white(19)	1,299	77.1	702	82.9	597	71.3
Mixed	185	71.1	91	77.8	94	65.5
of which:
White and Black Caribbean	52	69.3	24	73.5	28	66.2
White and Black African	25	75.5	11	79.8	14	72.4
White and Asian	50	67.5	29	77.2	21	57.4
Other mixed	58	74.3	27	81.9	31	68.5
Asian or Asian British	1,060	63.8	658	76.7	402	50.1
of which:
Indian	555	74.0	320	81.1	234	66.1
Pakistani	251	51.8	178	71.8	73	30.9
Bangladeshi	91	48.0	67	70.5	24	25.3
Other Asian	163	68.9	93	77.4	71	60.3
Black or Black British	545	69.9	273	75.8	272	64.9
of which:
Black Caribbean	269	76.8	132	80.3	138	73.8
Black African	251	63.7	129	72.0	122	56.7
Other Black	24	72.0	12	72.6	12	71.4
Chinese	105	59.4	56	63.0	49	55.8
Other	279	63.1	166	71.8	113	53.6

⁽¹⁷⁾Includes men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.
⁽¹⁸⁾Includes people who did not state their ethnic origin.
⁽¹⁹⁾Excludes Northern Ireland. Detailed level ethnicity questions are not asked of the white group in Northern Ireland.
⁽²⁰⁾Economically active as a percentage of all persons in the relevant ethnic group.
Source:
ONS—Annual Population Survey

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