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18 Apr 2006 : Column 568W—continued
Tax Relief
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total amount of (a) tax relief given to top rate income tax payers in (i) 2005–06 and (ii) 2006–07 and (b) the reduction in tax expenditure were such tax relief available as a maximum only at the basic rate of income tax in each year. [63859]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not readily available.
Tax Returns
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs is entitled to refuse to issue a receipt to an agent submitting a tax return on behalf of a client. [63437]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him in respect of question 58409 on 14 March 2006, Official Report, column 2134W.
Telephone Numbers
Anne Milton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) 0845, (b) 0800 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him. [56545]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1902W and 15 December 2005, Official Report, column 2260W.
(a) It is estimated that over 500 individual 0845 numbers—available for public use—are administered by, or on behalf of, the Chancellor's Departments and agencies. A comprehensive list of all numbers involved is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
(b) 0800 numbers are listed in the following table:
18 Apr 2006 : Column 569W
(c) 0870 numbers are listed in the following table:
There are no 0845, 0800 or 0870 telephone numbers for the public that are administered by HM Treasury.
Unemployment
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the unemployment rate for (a) men and (b) women in (i) England, (ii) the North East, (iii) the Tees Valley and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency was in each year since 1997. [62836]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 18 April 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. (62836)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS)
- following International Labour Organisation definitions. Official unemployment estimates for countries and Government Office Regions are available from the quarterly Labour Force Survey but, on this occasion, the annual LFS and APS data for England and the North East are presented in order to be directly comparable with the estimates for the smaller areas.
Table 1 shows unemployment rates for England, the North East, the Tees Valley (here defined as comprising the unitary authorities Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton on Tees and Darlington) and the Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland parliamentary constituency. The estimates shown are for each 12 months ending February 1998 to February 2004, from the annual LFS, and for the 12 months to March 2005 from the APS.
These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Changes in the estimates from year-to-year should be treated with particular caution.
ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Table 2 shows the annual average number of JSA claimants as proportions of the resident working age population, for England, the North East, the Tees Valley and Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland parliamentary constituency, for the calendar years 1997 to 2005.
Source:
Annual local area Labour Force Survey/Annual Population Survey
Source:
Jobcentre Plus administrative system
18 Apr 2006 : Column 571W
Valuation Office Agency
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has paid to EDS in each year since 1997; and what role EDS plays in providing services to the VOA. [62297]
Dawn Primarolo: The Valuation Office Agency no longer holds data in a readily accessible form for the financial years prior to 1999. In the financial years from 1999–2000 to 2004–05 the Agency paid to EDS the following amounts:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 11.3 |
| 2000–01 | 9.9 |
| 2001–02 | 8.0 |
| 2002–03 | 9.1 |
| 2003–04 | 13.8 |
| 2004–05 (to June 2004 only) | 4.0 |
Value Added Tax
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whom he consulted before reducing value added tax on emergency contraception; and if he will make a statement. [62872]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer to hon. Member to the regulatory impact assessment on the reduced rate of VAT for contraceptive products, published in 'Budget 2006 regulatory impact assessments', and available from the House of Commons Library or www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./media/1E6/1B/bud06_rias_896.pdf
John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to change the rules under which (a) goods which have been repaired abroad and reimported bear no VAT and (b) goods which have been replaced as faulty abroad and reimported bear full VAT. [63273]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has no plans to change the current treatment for import VAT purposes of goods exported for repair that are replaced. Any goods imported as replacements for those previously exported for repair are treated as new imports as they cannot fulfil the conditions of Section 126 of the VAT Regulations 1995. Therefore, for replacement goods, import VAT is payable on the full import value in accordance with the normal valuation rules.
18 Apr 2006 : Column 572W
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to his Department has been of (a) all VAT fraud and (b) missing trader VAT fraud in each year from 2001–02 to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [63201]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of total VAT revenue losses—the VAT gap" and missing trader VAT fraud, between 2001–02 and 2004–05, are available in the paper Measuring Indirect Tax Losses", published in December 2005. HMRC do not produce forecasts of VAT fraud, so an estimate for 2005–06 is not available.
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