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27 Jun 2006 : Column 375W—continued
Special Advisers
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what role is played by special advisers in answering parliamentary questions asked of his Department. [80652]
John Healey: The ‘Code of Conduct for Special Advisers’ states that a special adviser may review papers going to the Minister and give assistance on any aspect of departmental business.
Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many letters about tax credits from hon. Members have been received by (a) the tax credits office and (b) his Department’s Ministers in each month since April 2004. [75792]
Dawn Primarolo: For information up to and including May 2005, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 4 July 2005, Official Report, columns 98-99W.
Details for the further period 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2006 were around:
| Letters from hon. Members to TCO | |
| Month | Number |
In addition to those received by the Tax Credit Office, Treasury Ministers received around 2,100 letters from hon. Members in the same period.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many additional tax credit payments were made in each (a) month and (b) quarter since April 2003; what the value was; and if he will make a statement. [76472]
Dawn Primarolo: For the number and value of additional tax credits payments in 2003-04 and 2004-05, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 July 2005, Official Report, column 2035W to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field).
It is no longer necessary for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to issue manual payments in cases of hardship following an in-year adjustment. Instead, a new process allows for an adjustment on the tax credits system to reduce the rate of recovery of an overpayment in-year. Information on the number of payments adjusted in this way is not available.
HMRC’s Code of Practice 26 (COP26) ‘What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?’ explains the circumstances in which additional payments can be made if payments are reduced to recover a previous year’s overpayment but the maximum rates of recovery outlined in COP26, are still causing financial difficulties.
Around 250 such payments, with a total value of around £17,500, were made to around 60 claimants in 2005-06.
Monthly and quarterly information is not available.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 19 January 2006, Official Report, column 1485W, on carers, if he will estimate what the annual cost would be if tax credits were paid to carers allowance recipients on the basis that the 35 hours per week spent caring that qualifies them for caring allowance as an income replacement benefit was considered equivalent to earned income for 35 hours per week of employment. [80400]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated annual cost if tax credits were paid to carers allowance recipients on the basis that the hours spent caring were equivalent to working for 35 hours per week is around £1 billion. This estimate does not take into account any behavioural changes or any resulting reduction in benefit payments.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residents in each ward in Luton, South received (a) child tax credit and (b) tax credit in 2005-06; and what the average value of such credits was. [80508]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, North (Edward Miliband), on 10 May 2006, Official Report, column 246W.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) in what circumstances a parent would be eligible to claim the child care element of working tax credit if the child care professional employed was (a) a family member and (b) resident in the family home; [80847]
(2) if he will take steps to ensure that relatives who care for children in their own home are eligible for working tax credit. [80848]
Dawn Primarolo: Entitlement to the child care element of working tax credit is set out in regulation 14 of the Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rate) Regulation 2002.
The child care element of working tax credit is not payable in respect of child care provided by a relative of a child, wholly or mainly in the child’s home. It is only available for the costs of formal child care and is in line with the Government’s commitment to promote good quality and safe provision.
VAT
Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce VAT on all forms of construction to the lower rate. [79867]
Dawn Primarolo: VAT is not chargeable on the construction of new dwellings and certain charitable buildings, or on any approved alterations to certain protected buildings.
Under European VAT agreements a reduced rate of VAT of not less than 5 per cent. is available for certain works of construction, renovation and alteration of housing.
To date the Government have been sparing in their use of reduced rates and only applied these where they offer the best targeted, most efficient support for our objectives. In the area of construction, this has included the application of reduced VAT rates for certain residential conversions, to support the creation of new homes through better use of the existing housing stock, and the renovation of housing that has been empty for more than three years, to help bring vacant homes back into use.
While all taxes are kept under review, there are no current plans to reduce VAT on all other forms of construction.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to reduce VAT on social housing labour costs. [80366]
Dawn Primarolo: VAT is not chargeable on the construction of new dwellings or on any approved alterations to certain protected dwellings. Under European VAT agreements a reduced rate of VAT of not less than 5 per cent. is available for certain works of construction, renovation and alteration of housing.
To date, the Government have been sparing in their use of reduced rates and only applied these where they offer the best targeted, most efficient support for our objectives. In the area of housing, this has included the application of reduced VAT rates for certain residential conversions, to support the creation of new homes through better use of the existing housing stock, and the renovation of housing that has been empty for more than three years, to help bring vacant homes back into use.
While all taxes are kept under review, there are no current plans to reduce VAT on any other social housing labour costs.
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