| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Jun 2006 : Column 174W—continued
Treasury
Capital Gains Tax
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue implications of abolishing capital gains tax taper relief and reducing the annual exempt amount for individuals and trustees to £1,000 in each year from 2004-05 to 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [73828]
Dawn Primarolo: The total estimated yields on an accruals basis from abolishing taper relief and abolishing capital gains tax annual exempt amount (AEA) for individuals and trusts in 2004-05 and 2005-06 are published in table A3.1 in the Budget Report 2006. These figures exclude any behavioural response to the tax change. Similar information for years from 2006-07 onwards is not available.
Figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 regarding revenue implications of reducing the annual exempt amount for individuals and trustees to £1,000 are available only at a disproportionate cost. For current figures for 2006-07 I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to him on 18 May 2006, Official Report, column 1132W. Similar information for years from 2007-08 to 2009-10 is not available.
Census
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration has been given to including a question on scheduled caste in the next census. [73901]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 June 2006:
As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what consideration has been given to including a question on scheduled caste in the next census. (73901)
An extensive consultation exercise was undertaken last year with users of census data which resulted in over 2,000 responses. No requirement for a question on scheduled caste was identified and so such a question is not being considered for the 2011 Census. A report on the findings of the consultation exercise was published on 8 March 2006—‘The 2011 Census: Assessment of initial user requirements on content for England and Wales’ and can be found on the National Statistics website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/consultations/2011Census_response.asp
It is not possible to confirm what questions are to be included in the 2011 Census until the consultation and testing programme is complete and formal approval is given by Parliament in 2010. A White Paper setting out the Government’s proposals is scheduled to be published in Autumn 2008.
Child Poverty
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely change in spending on (a) child care, (b) child benefit and (c) child tax credit required to meet the child poverty reduction target for 2010; and if he will make a statement. [75179]
Dawn Primarolo: Between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s, relative child poverty more than doubled. This Government have committed to halve child poverty by 2010 and to eradicate it by 2020. In 2004-05 there were 700,000 fewer children in relative poverty than in 1998-99.
The Child Poverty Review, published in July 2004, set out a multi-faceted strategy for halving child poverty. Child care, child benefit and child tax credit all have important roles but must be combined with wider interventions such as work for those who can, tackling material deprivation and improving public services for poor children.
As a solid foundation for meeting the target to halve child poverty by 2010, at Budget 2006 it was announced that the child element of the child tax credit would continue to be uprated at least in line with earnings until the end of this Parliament. Any current projection of the number of children in poverty in 2010 would, however, be subject to large uncertainties around future income growth, changes in the income distribution and individual changes in behaviour in response to policy changes.
Civil Servants
Peter Viggers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants were employed in his Department before the Gershon Report; what net reductions were proposed in the Gershon Report; how many reductions have been made; and how many civil servants are expected to be employed in his Department in the Gershon target month of April 2008. [74289]
John Healey: The information requested is given in HM Treasury's Departmental Report which was published on 11 May 2006 and is available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/departmental_reports/dept_report2006.cfm.
Table 6 in Annex B sets out Treasury Group Staff Numbers between 2001 and 2008, and Annex C sets out plans and progress on Treasury Group's efficiency programme (including headcount reductions).
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 31 March. [74448]
Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 8 March, PO reference: 1/43139/2006. [74450]
Data Protection Act
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many responses to requests to his Department for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 were completed (a) within 40 days, (b) between 40 and 59 days, (c) between 60 and 100 days and (d) over 100 days after receiving the original letter in each of the last five years; and how many are outstanding. [74486]
John Healey: For 2005: (a) 8; (b) nil; (c) nil; (d) nil. There are nil responses outstanding.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what procedure his Department uses to respond to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998; and what steps the Department takes to ensure that responses to such requests are completed within 40 days. [74487]
John Healey: The Treasury provides internal guidance to all its staff on both the principles of the Data Protection Act and how to process subject access requests. Requests are routed through a central team to ensure that responses are dealt with within the time permitted.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how and by whom redactions are made to documents to be disclosed following a request under the Data Protection Act 1998; and whether a record is kept of (a) who made each redaction and (b) why it was made. [74488]
John Healey: Redactions are made by the central unit with responsibility for Information Rights, most commonly redactions protect personal data belonging to another individual, or information that is not relevant.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has a policy of setting a minimum font size at which it prints electronic documents to be disclosed under the Data Protection Act 1998 to assist those with reduced eyesight. [74489]
John Healey: Treasury has a long standing policy to provide enlarged print size on request to assist those with reduced eyesight. Documents that may be within scope of subject access requests are internal by nature, may not be in electronic format and can be very varied as such there is no standard font size applicable to such documents.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the longest period of time elapsed is between his Department (a) receiving the administration fee and providing the information requested and (b) receiving a request for information and providing the information requested under the Data Protection Act 1998. [74490]
John Healey: Elapsed time for processing subject access requests under the Data Protection Act is:
(a) no request has taken longer than 40 days to process from receipt of the administration fee.
(b) No request has taken longer than 40 days to process.
Departmental Press Office
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) black and Asian and (b) other people are employed in his Department's press office. [74348]
John Healey: Three and 14, respectively.
Devolved Countries (Protocols)
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what protocols are in place between HM Treasury and the Scottish Executive on the operations of the devolved countries and regions Treasury team. [74745]
Mr. Timms: The concordat between the Treasury and the Scottish Executive is available on the Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./media/7CB/25/scottish_assembly_concordat_070305.pdf and on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/concordats/hmt.asp.
Financial relations between the Treasury and the Scottish Executive are governed by the Treasury publication “Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly, A Statement of Funding Policy” which is available on the Treasury website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk).
Discounted Oil
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the potential economic impact on (a) London and (b) England of the supply to London of oil at discounted prices by Venezuela. [73600]
John Healey: If Venezuela wishes to supply oil or oil products at discounted rates to the UK that is a commercial decision for Venezuela. We are not presently aware of any firm commitment by the Government of Venezuela to do so. In the absence of this and any specific details I am unable to speculate on the potential implications for the UK economy.
Eid-Ul-Adha
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants from his Department attended the Civil Service Islamic Society Eid-Ul-Adha event in London in 2005; and what the total cost of their attendance was to his Department. [73037]
John Healey: I understand that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has written to the hon. Member with details of the Civil Service Islamic Society id-Ul-Adha event and that a copy of her letter has been placed in the Library.
Election Expenses
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether benefits enjoyed by the spouse of a candidate in an election which have been declared as election expenses, have been paid for by a third party and were provided to the spouse by virtue of his/her relationship to the candidate in connection with their activities as a candidate are taxed as a benefit in kind. [74813]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1079W.
Energy Efficiency
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to launch a further consultation exercise on economic measures to encourage residential sector energy efficiency. [74045]
John Healey:
The Government consider consultation exercises an important part of policy development. A number of recent reviews have looked at how to
encourage residential sector energy efficiency, most recently the review of the Climate Change Programme, published in March this year, which was the subject of extensive consultation. Residential energy efficiency was also covered by the Energy Review consultation which closed on 14 April 2006. The Government keep economic measures under review and any further announcements will be made as part of the Budget process.
EU Budget
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the United Kingdom contribution to the European Union budget for the period 2005 to 2008; what changes have occurred in this estimate since the Budget in March; what the reason is for these changes; and if he will make a statement. [74077]
Ed Balls: The Government’s latest estimates of United Kingdom contributions to the EU budget are presented in table C11 of the Budget (HC 968). Any revision to these forecasts will be included in the pre-Budget report later this year.
Financial Statistics
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross value added per capita was for (a) the UK and (b) each NUTS3 region in each year since 2002. [75256]
John Healey: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 June 2006:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Gross Value Added(1) (GVA) per capita estimates for the UK and NUTS3 regions in each year since 2002. (75256)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published NUTS3 GVA data up to and including 2003, the latest year for which data is available, in December 2005. UK and NUTS3 per capita data can be accessed in table 3.2 in the following link: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/NUTS3_Tables_l-12.xls.
(1 )Gross Value Added (GVA) is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) less taxes (plus subsidies) on products. These data are current price estimates which are not adjusted for changes in prices over time.
Firearms Seizures
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions firearms were seized by HM Revenue and Customs in each (a) region and (b) country of the UK in each year since 2000-01. [75245]
Dawn Primarolo: My answer of 20 October 2005, Official Report, column 1193W, to the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr. Sanders) provided details of firearms seized by HM Revenue and Customs from 1999 onwards.
This national information for firearms seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs since 2000 is contained in the annual reports for HM Customs and Excise and HM Revenue and Customs. The figures for the year ending 31 March 2006 will be published in the next annual report.
More detailed information cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.
Gross Domestic Product
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what accumulated growth in gross domestic product has been in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) London and the South East and (d) the UK since the second quarter of 1997. [74809]
John Healey: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 5 June 2006:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about accumulated growth in gross domestic product in Wales, Scotland, London and the South East, and the UK, since the second quarter of 1997 (74809). (74809)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) only compile annual estimates of regional Gross Value Added(1) (GVA) covering the countries and regions of the UK. These data are at current basic prices, and so the changes over time shown by these data include the effects of inflation as well as any increases in economic output.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |