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17 May 2006 : Column 1076W—continued
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff surveys have been conducted in his Department in each of the last three years. [70555]
John Healey: There have been three Treasury-wide staff attitude surveys in the period, one in each year.
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what facility is available for senior civil servants in his Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department. [70556]
John Healey: HM Treasury operates a corporate credit card programme, which is available to any member of staff (subject to appropriate authorisation) who is frequently required to travel on official business.
HM Treasury also operates a Government procurement card (GPC) programme, which is available to any member of staff (subject to appropriate authorisation) to enable them to make small-value purchases on behalf of the Department.
Digital Switchover
Mark Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of potential revenue from the sale of UHF spectrum released by the digital switchover programme. [71359]
John Healey: HM Treasury has made no such estimate, as it is not possible at this stage to make any reliable assumption of the market value or potential auction proceeds of the spectrum released by switchover.
Divorce
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many divorces there have been in the UK in each year since 2000, broken down by ethnic group. [71221]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 17 May 2006:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your request for the number of divorces in the UK since 2000, broken down by ethnic group. (71221)
As ethnic group is not collected by the Court Service at the time of divorce, the information requested is not available centrally. The total number of divorces in the UK for each year since 2000 is available in Table 2.1 of Population Trends, available at www.statistics.gov.uk/poptrends.
EU Customs Union Committee
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the UK members of the EU Customs Union Committee; on which dates this Committee met during the past 12 months; and whether the minutes of the Committee meetings are published. [70907]
Dawn Primarolo: The EU Customs Union Committee met on the following dates:
5 April 2005
5-6 May 2005
21 June 2005
18 July 2005
8 September 2005
22-23 September 2005
28 October 2005
21 November 2005
6-7 December 2005
10 January 2006
26-27 January 2006
13 February 2006
23-24 February 2006
14 March 2006
27-28 March 2006
4 April 2006
20-21 April 2006
5 May 2006.
Officials from HMRC and UKRep represented the UK. The Minutes of the meetings are published on the Council Secretariat's website:
(http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_fo/showPage.ASP?id=1&lang=en&mode=g)
Financial Reporting Advisory Board
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will appoint a representative from each of the three main political parties as a full member of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board. [71597]
Mr. Timms: No. The Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB) is an independent body fulfilling the role required by the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 as the
‘group of persons who appear to the Treasury to be appropriate to advise on financial reporting principles and standards’
for government. The board acts independently in setting accounting standards for government. It exists to promote the highest possible standards in financial reporting, ensuring that any adaptations of, or departures from, generally accepted accounting practice are appropriate.
FRAB submits an annual report to Parliament, outlining its activities for that year. In addition, as part of its publication scheme under the Freedom of Information Act, the FRAB publishes the minutes of its meetings (together with supporting papers) on its website (www.frab.gov.uk) once the minutes have been agreed at a subsequent meeting.
The board's membership reflects the constituents it serves (with representation from, for example, departments, audit agencies, the NHS and the devolved administrations) plus representation from the private sector. Parliament's interests are already met by having a parliamentary observer, supported by the Committee Office Scrutiny Unit.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to appoint a new Parliamentary Observer to the Financial Reporting Advisory Board. [71598]
Mr. Timms: I am pleased that the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South (Mr. Flello) has agreed to be the Parliamentary Observer to the Financial Reporting Advisory Board. He recently attended his first board meeting.
Government Spending
Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total capital expenditure on roads was in England in each year since 1999-2000. [65731]
Dr. Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.
Details of capital expenditure on roads in England are published annually in “Transport Statistics Great Britain”, which is a major publication within the scope of National Statistics, and can be found in the House Library. Table 1.15 of “Transport Statistics Great Britain 2005” sets out both central and local government capital expenditure on roads. The data is broken down by country and across the time series 2000-01 through to 2004-05. Data for 1999-2000 can be found in the 2004 edition.
Hairdressing Bills
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether hairdressing bills declared as an election expense are treated by HM Revenue and Customs as a benefit in kind. [71022]
Dawn Primarolo: Whether a paid expense is taxed as an employment-related benefit will depend on the circumstances in which it is provided. There are no special rules for election expenses.
HM Revenue and Customs
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of Option Two mentioned in item 10 of the summary minutes of the meeting of theHM Revenue and Customs Executive Committee held on 11 October 2005; and if he will make a statement. [70673]
Dawn Primarolo: Following the postponement of the English council tax revaluation, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) considered options for reducing its work force whilst securing the investment made in consultation with HMRC's Executive Committee prior to advising Ministers.
My hon. Friends the Minister for Communities and Local Government and the Minister for Local Government explained the approach in the Second Reading debate on the Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill in the House on 7 November 2005. I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1701W.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what purpose HM Revenue and Customs purchased Mosaic UK data from Experian; whether the data was at (a) individual and (b) household level; and how much was spent. [70683]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs uses commercially available information to assist it in carrying out its functions in relation to the detection and prevention of crime and fraud, the assessment and collection of tax and improving the department's service to its customers. It would not be appropriate to comment in more detail on the acquisition (including cost) and use of particular datasets as to do so could prejudice law enforcement and commercial interests.
House Purchase Expenses
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether VAT is levied on local authority search fees; [70612]
(2) what estimate HM Revenue and Customs has made of the VAT revenue from (a) surveyor and valuation fees and (b) local authority search fees in the most recent year for which figures are available. [70663]
Dawn Primarolo: Local authority search fees are outside the scope of VAT.
No estimate of the VAT revenue has been made.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average stamp duty paid by first-time home buyers was in 1997. [70652]
Ed Balls: It is not possible to derive an estimate of average stamp duty for first time buyers from stamp duty land tax data as there is no requirement for taxpayers to provide information to HMRC as to whether they are a first-time buyer. However, the Department for Communities and Local Government estimates that the average stamp duty paid by first time buyers (excluding sitting tenants) with mortgages in 1997 was £280.
Income Tax
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the expected yield in income tax was from a 1p change in the UK (a) starting, (b) basic and (c) higher rate of income tax in each year since 1995; and what estimates have been made of the yields for future years; [70310]
(2) what proportion of the UK income tax yield was raised in Scotland in each year since 1997. [70311]
Dawn Primarolo: The latest information on expected yields from changing the starting rate, basic rate or higher rate by 1p is available in Table 1.6 “Direct effects of illustrative tax changes” which is available onHM Revenue and Customs website; http://www.hmrc. gov.uk/stats/taxexpenditures/1_6_apr06.xls
The information is for the years 2006-07 to 2008-09 and similar updated information for previous years is not available. However, estimates for previous years based on prior economic assumptions can found in Table 4 “Direct effects of illustrative changes in income tax” from earlier editions of the publication “Tax ready reckoner and tax reliefs” which are available in the House of Commons Library.
Tax receipts figures for Scotland are not readily available. Instead, the following table provides estimates of Scotland's share of UK income tax liabilities since 1997-98.
| Income tax liabilities (£ billion) | ||
| Scotland?amounts of income tax liabilities (£ billion) | Scotland’s share of UK income tax liabilities (percentage) | |
| (1) Projections |
The income tax information is based on the Survey of Personal Income (SPI), The latest survey year is 2003-04 and all estimates post that year are based on the 2003-04 SPI projected forward in line with Budget 2006 HM Treasury assumptions.
Inheritance Tax (Northern Ireland)
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many estates in Northern Ireland inheritance tax was paid in each of the last five years; and how much was paid. [70910]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table supplies the information requested for the last five years for which figures are available.
| Inheritance tax where country of domicile was Northern Ireland | ||
| Number of estates paying tax | Receipts (£ million) | |
| (1 )Receipts for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are estimated from information on the number of estates paying tax in those years. |
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