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24 May 2006 : Column 1853W—continued
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many divorces took place in the Hartlepool constituency in each year since 1990. [72601]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 May 2006:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for the number of divorces that have taken place in the Hartlepool constituency since 1990. (72601)
The number of divorces that took place at the Court Service in Hartlepool is shown from 1992 to 2003, the latest year available, in the table below. Data is not readily available for 1990 and 1991. It should be noted that place of divorce does not necessarily denote place of last, current or future residence.
| Divorces at Hartlepool Court 1992-2003 | |
| Divorces | |
Private Members' Bills
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those private Member’’ Bills in respect of which his Department has adopted a policy of neutrality in each session since 2001-02; and if he will make a statement. [72481]
John Healey: The information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Private Office Costs
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of (a) his and (b) the Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s private offices in the last year for which figures are available. [55713]
John Healey: The costs of the offices of the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary in 2004-05 were £1,248,802 and £513,866, respectively.
Sovereign Strategy
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what dates over the last 12 months (a) he and (b) (i) Ministers and (ii) officials in his Department met a representative of Sovereign Strategy. [72344]
John Healey: I am advised that Treasury Ministers and officials have not met with Sovereign Strategy over the last 12 months.
Tax Credits
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people living in West Suffolk received overpayments of (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit in each of the last five years. [72637]
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Paisley and Renfrewshire North received overpayment of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in 2005. [73190]
Dawn Primarolo: Child and Working Tax Credits were only introduced in April 2003.
I refer the hon. Member and my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mrs. Dorries) on 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 322W.
Estimates for 2004-05 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments and underpayments by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2004-05 are due to be published on 31 May 2006.
We do not produce statistics separately for child and working tax credits.
Tax Revenues
Matthew Taylor: To ask The Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government raised in tax revenues from Cornwall in each of the last five years. [72721]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 May 2006
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the amount of tax revenue raised in Cornwall per annum. (72721)
The ONS publishes regional estimates of Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) which include data for taxes on incomes and wealth paid by households. Regional estimates for expenditure based taxes and duties, for example VAT, are not available. Taxes paid by corporations are also unavailable on a regional basis.
Table A contains estimates of household taxes paid by residents of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly from 1995 to 2004.
| Table A: Taxes generated per annum | |
| £ million( 1, 2) | |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly( 3) | |
| (1 )These data are at current prices. They are not deflated to account for increases in prices over time. Regional data are not available on a constant price (deflated) basis. (2) These estimates are taken from the most recent release of regional GDHI data, published on May 9 2006. (3) Data are presented for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly combined. These data cannot be disaggregated in the two constituent areas. |
David Mundell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to change the system by which HM Revenue and Customs measures actual tax revenue receipts from the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. [72814]
Dawn Primarolo: There are no plans to change the system by which HM Revenue and Customs measures actual tax revenue receipts from the nations and regions of the United Kingdom.
Systems for recording HMRC tax revenue receipts are dependent on the administrative arrangement for the various taxes. For example, some taxes are collected from businesses although the liabilities are borne by individuals (e.g. PAYE) and the location of the office making the payment may not be the same as the physical location of the business. One PAYE payment scheme can cover units located throughout the country.
Geographical information is therefore only routinely available for income tax in terms of the liabilities of individuals based on their tax records which include addresses.
Although HMRC hold information on registered company addresses, companies normally operate in many locations and it is not possible to split each company's tax liability between their activity in different geographical areas. Furthermore, corporation tax is charged on total profits of a company, including income received from abroad, and a company may surrender tax losses to another company in the same group anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Valuation Office Agency
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) location and (b) cost was of each publicly funded foreign visit that Mr. Paul Sanderson, Director of Data Strategy at the Valuation Office Agency, has undertaken since May 1997. [60102]
Dawn Primarolo: The VOA’s records are not maintained in such a way as to enable detailed information relating to particular visits to be extracted. All overseas travel on official business is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Code.
VAT Registration
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staff resources in HM Revenue and Customs to process VAT registration applications. [73179]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs regularly review their staffing requirements at their registration centres, as well as developing new working practices to improve productive capacity and the quality of service they provide to the public.
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints (a) he and (b) HM Revenue and Customs have received about the time taken to process VAT registration applications since 1 March 2006. [73180]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs estimate that around 170 complaints about the time taken to process VAT registration applications were received between 1 March 2006 and 19 May 2006.
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target HM Revenue and Customs have set for the time taken to process VAT registration applications. [73181]
Dawn Primarolo: Revenue and Customs aim to process complete and accurate registration applications within 21 days following receipt, although in cases where the application is incomplete and additional information is required, processing times can be longer.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Bangladesh
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make
representations to the Government of Bangladesh on its treatment of religious minorities; and whether she is monitoring the performance of Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) and Isalmi Oikya Jote (IDJ) within the Government of Bangladesh. [72517]
Dr. Howells: The persecution of religious and ethnic minorities including the Ahmadiyyas, Hindus, Christians and indigenous groups is a serious issue in Bangladesh. Our High Commission in Dhaka is actively engaged in promoting human rights in Bangladesh, raises human rights issues with the Government of Bangladesh on a regular basis, and provides funding to non-governmental organisations for human rights programmes. We take all available opportunities to underline the UK's commitment to support human rights in Bangladesh during discussions with senior Government representatives, human rights campaigners and representatives of religious and ethnic minorities, and will continue to do so. During a visit to Bangladesh in November 2005, I underlined the UK's commitment to support human rights in Bangladesh during discussions with senior Government representatives, human rights campaigners and representatives of religious and ethnic minorities. We shall continue to seek out opportunities to raise our concerns.
We take a close a close interest in Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote and maintain a constructive dialogue with them and all other Bangladeshi parties that participate in the democratic process. We continue to urge the Government and the opposition to engage in constructive dialogue on the key steps to ensure a level playing field, and free and fair and peaceful elections in January 2007 with full participation. We believe that a healthy democracy, improved human rights and a reduction in corruption offer the best route to combating extremism in Bangladesh.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make representations to the Government of Bangladesh on meeting its obligations under the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. [72518]
Dr. Howells: A team of EU diplomats visited the Chittagong Hill Tracts in November 2005. Our High Commission in Dhaka led the visit as EU presidency. The team's broad conclusion on this specific subject was that the Land Disputes Resolution Commission was not operating at a level necessary to facilitate effective implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. Problems included the complex procedures for lodging claims. The team found that the Commission was not receiving many cases for adjudication and of these few were being concluded. Local confidence in the Commission was low.
Following the team's visit, the British High Commissioner in Dhaka, as EU presidency, wrote to the Government of Bangladesh on citing the urgent need to improve implementation of the Peace Accord, including the operation of the Land Disputes Resolution Commission. The subject of the Peace Accord was subsequently raised during an EU troika visit at the start of 2006 and at the recent EC-Bangladesh Joint Commission
A member of the British High Commission in Dhaka has just returned from a visit to the Chittagong
Hill Tracts. I have asked officials to inform my hon. Friend separately of the findings of that visit.
British Passport Holders
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British passport holders she estimates live overseas; and if she will list the 10 countries where most British overseas passport holders live. [72385]
Dr. Howells: We estimate that the number of British passport holders who live overseas is approximately4.5 million. This is based on the fact that we issue approximately 450,000 passports each year through our 104 issuing posts and, as a passport lasts for 10 years, we have multiplied this figure by 10 to arrive at our estimate. This figure is different from our estimate that there are approximately 13.1 million British Nationals (BNs) living overseas, based on estimates from each country received in our Consular Annual Return. The difference, 8.6 million, is the number of BNs who we estimate do not hold a British passport.
The top 10 issuing posts are in the following countries:
| Country | 2004-05 passports issued |
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