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Alistair Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims for the Child Trust Fund have been received from parents after the death of a newly born child. [54562]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: 1,004 requests for payment of the Child Trust Fund in child death cases have been received.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the UK share of assessed gains to be made through deregulation as set out in the European Commission's annual report on competitiveness. [53221]
Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
The Government support the view that lower regulatory burdens help deliver growth.
The estimates in the Commission's 2004 Competitiveness Report relate to the euro zone. However, a recent study by the OECD shows that lower levels of regulation have contributed to accelerated growth in the UK by stimulating business investment and promoting innovation and technological catch up.
OECD data also shows that the UK is the second least restrictive OECD country, only marginally behind Australia, in terms of economic and administrative regulation.
The Government have launched one of the most radical reform programmes in the world to ensure administrative and other burdens arising from regulations are minimised. At the EU level, we are working hard with the EU Institutions and member states to deliver better regulation as a driver for economic reform.
Gregory Barker:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to prosecute companies being investigated for underpayment of insurance premium tax; and if he will make a statement; [54176]
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(2) how many companies are being investigated for underpayment of insurance premium tax; and if he will make a statement. [54177]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The accuracy of insurance premium tax declarations are routinely assured as part of HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) risk based compliance strategy. In cases of underpayment and evasion HMRC have a number of measures available to them including the use of financial penalties and criminal prosecution.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 9 February 2006, Official Report, column 1395W, whether the insurance companies to which he refers are authorised by the Financial Services Authority; and how many insurance companies were involved. [54314]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: All UK insurance companies are authorised by the Financial Services Authority.
The investigation of the allegations to which I referred in my reply did not uncover the underpayment of insurance premium tax by any insurance companies.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for the Government's financial inclusion strategy of the decision by the Legal Services Commission to withdraw funding for specialist support and advice on debt; and if he will make a statement. [54717]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: As part of the Government's strategy to tackle financial exclusion it has established a Financial Inclusion Fund of £120 million. It was announced in June 2005 that £45 million of this fund has been allocated to DTI to increase the provision of face-to-face debt advice and £6 million to the Legal Services Commission to pilot mechanisms of debt advice outreach for those who do not normally present themselves to debt advisers.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many recipients of tax credits in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK are involved in disputes relating to overpayment of benefit; [51945]
(2) how many people in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK receiving tax credits have been involved in disputes relating to overpayment of benefit .in each year since their inception; and how many of these disputes have been resolved. [51946]
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many completed TC846 forms have been received by HM Revenue and Customs requesting that it reconsider its decision to recover an overpayment of tax credits in each month since April 2003; and in what proportion of these requests the decision has been taken by HM Revenue and Customs to write off the overpayment. [54162]
Dawn Primarolo:
Information about disputes relating to overpayments of tax credits is not available at constituency level.
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For information about disputed tax credits overpayments to November 2005, I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1496-97W and on 6 July 2005, Official Report, column 437W.
There were around 23,500 disputed tax credit overpayments received in December 2005 and around 28,000 in January 2006. The number of overpayments successfully disputed, that is, where the overpayment was written off in full or in part, was around 1,500 in December 2005 and around 2,500 in January 2006. The figures for overpayments written off do not directly relate to those that were received in the same month.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of (a) financial assets and (b) non-financial assets of (i) Northern Ireland terrorist, (ii) fundamentalist Islamic, (iii) Basque separatist and (iv) other organisations, broken down by cause frozen by the Treasury in each year since 1997. [54754]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Assets with a total value of nearly £80 million have been frozen in the UK, as associated with Al-Qa'ida, the Taliban or other terrorist causes, although a large proportion was returned to the Government of Afghanistan. The legislation does not permit us to publish the analysis at the level of detail requested.
163 organisations have been designated under the Terrorism Order 2001 and the Al-Qa'ida and Taliban Order 2002. Of these, we judge six are Northern Ireland terrorist groups, 140 are Islamic and one is Basque. A consolidated list of individuals and entities subject to UK financial sanctions is available from the Bank of England website at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/financialsanctions/current/index.htm
Freezing action also prevents the flow of funds to listed individuals and entities. Asset freezing is part of the Government's overall strategy to create a hostile environment for terrorism and safeguard financial systems. A value cannot easily be put on those wider effects.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to his answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2808W, on VAT, how much has been paid in each parliamentary constituency under the grant schemes; [48231]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2808W, on VAT, which grant schemes are available to those (a) over 60 years and (b) on specified benefits; [48232]
(3) pursuant to his answer of 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2808W, on VAT, how many successful applications there have been for each of the grant schemes, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [48233]
Dawn Primarolo: The reduced rate of VAT applies to the installation of security goods, such as locks, bolts, security chains and spy holes for people aged 60 or over, and for those in receipt of certain benefits, allowances or tax credits, when the work is funded by a public grant scheme which has as one of its objectives the funding of the installation of energy-saving materials in the homes of those persons.
These grant schemes may be funded by the UK Government, the devolved administrations, the European Community, a local authority, or under any arrangement approved by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority or the director general of electricity supply for Northern Ireland. HM Revenue and Customs and the Treasury do not operate any such grant scheme or collect any data relating to applications or payments made under the various eligible grant schemes.
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