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2 Mar 2006 : Column 850W—continued

Debt Relief

Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress he has made on 100 per cent. bilateral and 100 per cent. multilateral debt relief for the poorest countries. [53201]

Mrs. Betty Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with international Finance Ministers on tackling world debt. [52663]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: At the G8 meeting in Moscow Finance Ministers called for full implementation of commitments made on the multilateral debt relief initiative, aid effectiveness, and increasing resources for development. They supported the decision by the IMF Board to implement 100 per cent. debt relief for 19 countries and encouraged the World Bank and African Development Bank to finalize urgently all necessary steps for implementation.

Russia also announced that it will be providing 100 per cent. debt relief to the heavily indebted poor countries. With this step forward the G8 are now all providing additional debt cancellation on the bilateral debts of HIPCs.

The UK has also proposed going further than the existing list of HIPC countries to extend relief to all low-income countries that can use the debt service savings effectively for poverty reduction. The UK is paying 10 per cent. of the share of the debt interest payments of the eligible non- HIPC countries.

Green Taxes

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of tax income came from green taxes in (a) 1997 and (b) 2005. [55139]

John Healey: The information requested on the green taxes (landfill tax, Climate Change Levy and Aggregates Levy) is given in the following table.
Environmental taxes(1) as percentage of net taxes and social security contributions
1997–980.12
2004–050.41
2005–06 (projected)0.41


(1) Landfill tax, climate change levy and aggregates levy cash receipts
Source:
HM Revenue and Customs



Income Statistics

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the income per head in the Peterborough constituency was in each of the last five years. [54913]

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the mean and median of total income by constituency can be found in table 3.15 Total Income by Parliamentary
 
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Constituency" on the HM Revenue and Customs internet website. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm#315.

The information is available only for 2002–03 and 2003–04.

Inheritance Tax

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residents in the Peterborough constituency paid inheritance tax in each of the last five years. [54912]

Dawn Primarolo: Figures for estates paying inheritance tax are not available at local levels.

Office for National Statistics

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to ensure that the Register for Births, Marriages and Deaths will not suffer from inaccuracies as a result of the Office for National Statistics' decision to move it to India. [54796]

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

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 2 March 2006:

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Population (West Lancashire)

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the most recent population figures provided by the Office for National Statistics for West Lancashire. [52777]

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

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 27 February 2006:

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