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8 Jun 2006 : Column 856W—continued
Treasury
Coastal Monitoring
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs staff were allocated to the monitoring of the coasts of (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) the South West in each year since 2001. [75295]
Dawn Primarolo: At present HM Revenue and Customs has some 1,200 Intelligence and 4,500 frontline Detection staff whose role includes monitoring movements across all UK frontiers.
Previous years’ figures are shown in the table.
| Detection | Intelligence | |
HM Revenue and Customs does not specifically allocate staff to any particular coastline.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 24 April 2006 from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire regarding a constituent (PO Ref: 1/43132/2006). [75952]
Ed Balls: I replied to the hon. Member on 23 May 2006 and again on 7 June 2006.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 29 March 2006 from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire regarding a constituent (PO Ref: 1/42692/2006). [75953]
Dawn Primarolo: I expect to be in a position to write to the hon. Gentleman in about a fortnight’s time in the light of the forthcoming debate in the Finance Bill standing committee on inheritance tax provisions to which your letter refers.
Drug Seizures
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many drug seizures from pleasure craft were carried out by HM Revenue and Customs in each (a) region and (b) county in each year since 2000. [75244]
Dawn Primarolo: The national information for drugs 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.
Information of drug seizures by location 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.
HM Revenue and Customs does not centrally record drug seizures from pleasure craft.
EU Funding
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of European Union funding allocated to Cornwall in each of the last five years. [72727]
Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the Structural Funds allocations to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for the current 2000-06 funding period.
The United Kingdom will receive a total of approximately 9.4 billion euros (in 2004 prices) in Structural Funds receipts from 2007-13, in comparison with 16.6 billion euros (in 1999 prices) in the current Financial Perspective. This will include a total of approximately 2.6 billion euros in Convergence funding for its poorest regions, including Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We estimate that Cornwall’s allocation for 2007-13 will be approximately a third higher than its current receipts.
Further background and details of the United Kingdom’s future Structural Funds receipts were provided in my right hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth’s written statement of 20 December 2005.
| Annual Structural Funds allocations to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly | ||
| 2004 prices | ||
| € million | £ million( 1) | |
| (1 )Using the exchange rate £1= 1.45 euro. | ||
HM Revenue and Customs Staff
Dr. Pugh: To ask The Chancellor of the Exchequer how the number of people employed as HM Revenue and Customs officers has changed in the last five years. [75678]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs became a legal entity on 18 April 2005. Before then its business had been conducted by the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise.
The numbers of staff employed in Civil Service departments and agencies, including the Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and HM Revenue and Customs are available on the Cabinet Office’s “Civil Service Statistics” website at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/index.asp
The effects of changes in departmental responsibilities on staff numbers are also available on the website.
Lease Lend and War Loans
Anne Moffat: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid to the US Administration by the UK Government in respect of interest and capital reduction on lease lend and war loans incurred as a result of the second world war in each of the last five years; what total sum has been paid to date; and what capital balance is outstanding. [75620]
Ed Balls: The following table shows capital and interest payments for world war two loans for the last five years.
| December | $ million |
Final repayment of $83 million in interest is due to be made in December 2006, subject to the UK choosing not to exercise its option to defer payment. Information on the total interest and capital payments to date for world war two loans is not currently in a readily available format. However, work is currently in
progress to tidy the data and the United Kingdom Government intend to release detailed figures on completion of the loan.
Listed Buildings (VAT)
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reasons are for the differing VAT treatment of repairs to listed buildings and alterations to listed buildings made with listed building consent. [75547]
Dawn Primarolo: When VAT was introduced in 1973, zero-rating applied to the construction and alteration of all buildings. The repair and maintenance of buildings has, however, always been standard-rated. Due to difficulties in administering the borderline between ‘repairs’ and ‘alterations’, the zero rate for alterations was largely withdrawn in 1984 by the then Government, although the zero rate for work carried out in the course of an approved alteration to a listed building was retained.
Under agreements with our European partners we can keep our existing zero rates of VAT but we are not able to extend them or introduce any new ones. The VAT treatment of repairs and approved alterations to listed buildings could therefore only be levelled if the Government were to withdraw the existing zero rate for approved alterations. The Government have no plans to do so.
Online Goods Declaration
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2006, Official Report, column 1723W, on the online goods declaration, whether paragraph 6.15 of the Carter Report has been considered in relation to the HM Revenue and Customs free declaration service. [75428]
Dawn Primarolo: Lord Carter was asked to advise Ministers on measures to further increase the use of HMRC’s self-assessment, VAT, corporation tax and PAYE online services. Lord Carter’s report was published on Budget day alongside the Government response. These can be found at: www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2006/carter-review.htm
HMRC is now consulting with businesses, taxpayers, agents and software developers on the implementation of Lord Carter’s recommendations.
Online goods declarations were not within the remit of Lord Carter’s review. However, HMRC are committed to reducing the customer’s compliance burden, and to help us do that we provide a range of electronic communications channels so that the customer can make an informed choice. Typically, this might include email, web interface and XML. HMRC will keep under active review whether or not they need to provide their own free online software or whether the software industry is able to sufficiently provide for the market while keeping customer compliance costs to a minimum.
Pensioners (Income)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of pensioners with pension income in excess of £50,000 in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [75326]
Dawn Primarolo: There are an estimated 60,000 people with pension income in excess of £50,000 in 2006-07, of whom an estimated 40,000 are above state pension age.
Pension income includes pensions and annuities paid under occupational and personal pensions schemes and state retirement pensions.
The information is based upon the 2003-04 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2006-07 in line with March 2006 Budget assumptions.
Points of Entry (Revenue and Customs Cover)
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many points of entry had permanent HM Revenue and Customs cover in each year since 2001. [75211]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs aims to maintain a permanent cover of all points of entry into the UK through intelligence-led and risk-based interventions by flexible and mobile teams.
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.
Public Expenditure (Wales)
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the identifiable public expenditure in Wales on enterprise and economic development by UK Government Departments was in each year since 1999-2000. [76048]
Mr. Timms: UK Government Departments’ identifiable public expenditure on enterprise and economic development for Wales in 2000-01 to 2003-04 is published in additional tables of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses on the Country and Regional web pages http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/4CB/DD/PESA_2006_Chapter_7_Tables_Additionalxls
Data for 2004-05 is shown in table 7.17 of PESA 2006 (Cm 6811) http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/4CB/C6/PESA_2006_Chapter_7_Tables.xls
Data for 1999-2000 is not available on a comparable and consistent basis.
Sale of Financial Products
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake a public consultation on further regulation of the sale of general insurance. [75793]
Ed Balls: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) assumed responsibility for the regulation of general insurance on 14 January 2005. The FSA’s regime served to implement the EU’s Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) in the UK.
The FSA began a review of the effectiveness of the general insurance regime in April 2006. This review will include seeking feedback from firms and consumer research.
Separately, the Treasury will review early in 2007 whether travel insurance sold as part of a package should be subject to FSA regulation. The IMD only requires the regulation of travel insurance if sold on a stand-alone basis.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what regulations apply to the selling of complex financial products on a non-advised basis. [75795]
Ed Balls: Regulations applying to the sale of complex financial products are governed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. They are implemented by conduct of business rules set by the Financial Services Authority on the principle that firms making sales on an advised or non-advised basis should treat their customers fairly and provide them with clear information. The rules are set out in the Financial Services Authority’s Handbook.
Tax Credits
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what behavioural assumptions in relation to families being required to repay tax credits are used in his Department’s (a) costings, (b) models and (c) decisions; and if he will make a statement. [75176]
Dawn Primarolo: Our assumptions are based on the expected year of recovery of overpayments for 2003-04 tax credit awards as provided in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Standard Report on the Accounts of the Inland Revenue 2004-05. The Department of Inland Revenue 2004-05 Accounts are available at:
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