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20 Mar 2006 : Column 28W—continued
Pension Liabilities
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net present value of accrued pension liabilities in respect of (a) present and (b) former employees of his Department. [52120]
John Healey:
The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme and individual departments' pension liabilities are not available. The Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts for 2004–05 showed that the total pension liability at 31 March 2005 was £84.1 billion. The value of pension liabilities was assessed as follows:
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deferred pensions and contingent pensions for dependants in respect of members no longer contributing—£12.7 billion
Public Sector Jobs
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many public sector jobs have been created since May 1997; and at what estimated cost. [59807]
Mr. Des Browne: Data on public sector employment levels since 1997 can be found in the National Statistics quarterly publication Public Sector Employment First Release", published on the ONS website. The latest release can be foundat the following web address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0106.pdf.
There are no centrally collated figures measuring the cost of new jobs created in the public sector. Departments total expenditure on pay is recorded in table 3.7 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005, which can be found at the following web address: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/finance_spe
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nding_statistics/pes_publications/pespub_pesaOS.cfm. There are no figures, centrally collated or collected by individual Departments, that break down expenditure between new and existing public sector employees.
Suicide
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many suicides there were in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the past five years, broken down by (i) sex and (ii) age. [59471]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 20 March 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many suicides there were in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, broken down by sex and age. (59471)
The most recent year for which figures are now available is 2004. The table below shows the number of deaths with a verdict of suicide or undetermined intent by sex, age group and country of residence in the United Kingdom for the years 2000 to 2004.
(12) The cause of death for suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 for 2000 for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-IO) codes X60-X84 for Scotland from 2000 to 2004, and for England and Wales and Northern Ireland for the years 2001 to 2004.
(13) The cause of death for undetermined intent was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980-E989 for 2000 for Northern Ireland, E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for 2000 for England and Wales, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-IO) codes X60-X84 for Scotland from 2000 to 2004, for Northern Ireland for the years 2001 to 2004, and codes X60-X84 excluding pending verdicts for England and Wales for the years 2001 to 2004.
(14) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
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Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) suicides and (b) male suicides there were in the UK in each of the last five years. [59518]
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 March 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) suicides and (b) male suicides there were in the UK in each of the last five years. (59518)
The most recent year for which figures are available is 2004. The table below shows the number of deaths with a verdict of suicide or undetermined intent by sex in the United Kingdom for the years 2000 to 2004.
(15) The cause of death for suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959for 2000 for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 for Scotland from 2000 to 2004, and for England and Wales and Northern Ireland for the years 2001 to 2004.
(16) The cause of death for undetermined intent was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980-E989 for 2000 for Northern Ireland, E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for 2000 for England and Wales, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 for Scotland from 2000 to 2004, for Northern Ireland for the years 2001 to 2004, and codes X60-X84 excluding pending verdicts for England and Wales for the years 2001 to 2004.
(17) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what technical problems were experienced with the tax credit computer system in (a) November and December 2005 and (b) January 2006; how many claims were delayed as a result; and if he will make a statement. [47850]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 6 February 2006]: There were no problems with the availability of the tax credits IT system, in terms of unplanned downtime, during the period specified. However, a technical problem with the IT system meant that some 44,000 tax credit payments, which should have been made between 26 and 28 December, were paid late. All had been paid by 4 January.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there is a limit on the number of tax credit claims from 2003–04 that can be reassessed by staff in light of new information. [56946]
Dawn Primarolo:
Technically tax credit claims are not assessed and therefore cannot be reassessed". The word 'assessment' does not appear in the tax credits legislation.
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Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to reduce tax credit fraud; and if he will make a statement. [60227]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 14 February 2006, Official Report, column 1849W.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit has been in each year since their introduction; and what percentage of these costs was accounted for by administration. [59339]
Dawn Primarolo: Expenditure on Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit in 2003–04 and 2004–05 can be found in Note 3 of the Trust Statement for the Department of Inland Revenue 2003–04 and 2004–05 Accounts respectively.
For information in administration costs I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on 16 March 2006 (59081).
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