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27 Jun 2006 : Column 370W—continued
HM Revenue and Customs have closed the following offices in Wales in the previous five years:
Wyndham House Bridgend closed 19 December 2003;
East Lock Newport closed 28 September 2004; and
Crown Buildings Aberystwyth closed 10 December 2005.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs staff are allocated in Wales to work on stopping smuggling of (a) tobacco products, (b) drugs and (c) firearms. [80440]
Dawn Primarolo: There are 59 frontline operational HMRC staff in Wales operating in multi-functional teams focused on the full range of illicit smuggling activity.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what coastal cover is being provided by HM Revenue and Customs in Wales; and how many HM Revenue and Customs officers are allocated to coastal patrols in Wales. [80441]
Dawn Primarolo: Coastal cover is provided by the HMRC Fleet of five revenue cutters. No land based HMRC officers are allocated to coastal patrols.
Income Tax
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the population who paid income tax in 1996-97 are not paying income tax in 2005-06. [80181]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
Inheritance Tax
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of introducing a marginal rate of inheritance tax of 20 per cent. on estates valued above the zero-rate threshold and at less than £500,000 for the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [80299]
Dawn Primarolo: The impact on receipts of introducing from 2007-08 a marginal rate of 20 per cent. on the band of value between the inheritance tax threshold and £500,000 (indexed for inflation from 2008-09) is estimated to be as follows:
| £ million | |
| Impact on inheritance tax receipts | |
International Finance Facility
John Battle:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 March 2006, Official Report, columns 353-4W, on sterling stamp duty, what proportion of the Overseas Development Aid (ODA) budget is projected to come annually from the International Finance Facility from the time of its projected introduction until 2013; and what
contingency budget plans he has to reach the target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national income as ODA for each year until 2013 if the International Finance Facility is not introduced. [80247]
Ed Balls: The UK has announced a clear timetable to reach 0.7 per cent. ODA/GNI by 2013. With the International Finance Facility (IFF), the UK would reach the equivalent of 0.7 per cent. ODA/GNI sooner. Depending on the size of its contribution to the IFF, the UK could reach the equivalent of the 0.7 per cent. target as early as 2008-09. However, a decision on the size and timing of a UK contribution will not be made until the launch of the IFF.
With the support off other OECD DAC countries, the IFF aims to provide up to $50 billion a year in development assistance between now and 2020 to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The IFF would issue bonds on the international capital markets, leveraging additional frontloaded resources on the basis of long-term pledges from donor governments.
The frontloading principles of the IFF are already being demonstrated in the pilot IFF for Immunisation (IFFIm), which has secured financial contributions from eight countries including the UK. The IFFIm will disburse $4 billion over the next 10 years to scale up efforts to tackle preventable diseases in the world's poorest countries. The World Health Organisation has estimated that these resources will save a total of 10 million lives, including 5 million children before 2015.
Poverty
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department has taken to reduce poverty in Carlisle. [80696]
Mr. Timms: The Treasury has, in partnership with other Government Departments, tackled poverty and promoted economic opportunity through:
Promoting macro-economic stability.
Supporting work for those who can and ensuring that work pays, through the new deals, a national minimum wage and the working tax credit.
Providing financial support for groups at particular risk of poverty, such as child benefit and the child tax credit for families, and the pension credit for pensioners.
Across the UK, these measures have helped lift more than a million people out of poverty since 1997. Tax credits are benefiting more than 550,000 families in the North West region, and in Carlisle, claimant unemployment has fallen by over 50 per cent., youth unemployment has fallen by 70 per cent. and long-term unemployment has fallen by 82 per cent.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department has taken to reduce (a) child poverty and (b) pensioner poverty since 1997. [80048]
Dawn Primarolo: The Treasury has, in partnership with other Government Departments, tackled poverty and promoted economic opportunity through:
Promoting macroeconomic stability.
Supporting work for those who can and ensuring that work pays, through the new deals, a national minimum wage and the working tax credit.
Providing financial support for groups at particular risk of poverty, such as child benefit and the child tax credit for families, and pension credit for pensioners.
Since 1996-97, the number of children in relative poverty has fallen by 700,000 before housing costs, and 800,000 after housing costs have been taken account of; and the number of children in absolute poverty has fallen by 1.8 million before housing costs, and 2.4 million after housing costs.
And compared with the 1997 system, in 2006-07, as a result of the Government's measures including the pension credit, on average pensioners are £29 per week better off; and the poorest third of pensioners are £40 per week better off. 2.1 million pensioners were lifted out of absolute low income between 1996-97 and 2004-05 after housing costs. Over a million were lifted out of relative low income in the same period. Relative low income poverty fell by half a million between 2002-03 and 2004-05: the years pension credit took effect.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department has taken to reduce poverty in the Vale of Clwyd since 1997. [80047]
Dawn Primarolo: The Treasury has, in partnership with other Government Departments, tackled poverty and promoted economic opportunity through:
Promoting macroeconomic stability.
Supporting work for those who can and ensuring that work pays, through the new deals, a national minimum wage and the working tax credit.
Providing financial support for groups at particular risk of poverty, such as child benefit and the child tax credit for families, and the pension credit for pensioners.
Across the UK, these measures have helped lift more than a million people out of poverty since 1997. Tax credits are benefiting more than 240,000 families in Wales, and in the Vale of Clwyd claimant unemployment has fallen by 44 per cent., youth unemployment has fallen by 65 per cent., and long-term unemployment has fallen by 77 per cent.
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department has taken to reduce poverty in the Hartlepool constituency since 1997. [80540]
Dawn Primarolo: The Treasury has, in partnership with other Government Departments, tackled poverty and promoted economic opportunity through:
Promoting macroeconomic stability;
Supporting work for those who can and ensuring that work pays, through the new deals, a national minimum wage and the working tax credit;
Providing financial support for groups at particular risk of poverty, such as child benefit and the child tax credit for families, and the pension credit for pensioners.
Across the UK, these measures have helped lift more than a million people out of poverty since 1997. Tax credits are benefiting more than 220,000 families in the north east, and in Hartlepool claimant unemployment has fallen by 45 per cent., youth unemployment has fallen by 71 per cent. and long-term unemployment has fallen by 87 per cent.
Premium Bonds
Bill Wiggin:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was (a) invested in Premium Bonds,
(b) paid out in Premium Bond winnings and (c) not claimed by winners each month since January 2000; and how many Premium Bond holders there were in each month. [80072]
Ed Balls: Column (a) in the table shows the total amount invested in Premium Bonds since January 2000 on a monthly basis. These figures reflect total held stock rather than net debt financing or sales in that period.
Column (b) shows the amount paid out in Premium Bond prizes since January 2000 on a monthly basis.
Column (c) shows the total amount not claimed in Premium Bond prizes since January 2000 on an annual basis, as supplying monthly data on Premium Bond prizes would incur a disproportionate cost.
National Savings & Investments is unable to supply the information requested on the precise number of Premium Bond holders, as it monitors holdings, not holders. It is possible that individual holders may be counted multiple times if they have not notified NS&I that they have changed their names or address.
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