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29 Jun 2006 : Column 578W—continued
Building Schools
16. Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will visit Northumberland to discuss school building programmes and school budgets in the county. [80895]
Jim Knight: I am eager for the chance to visit Northumberland to discuss school building programmes and school budgets in the county. I am looking in my diary to find a suitable opportunity.
Youth Opportunity Card
18. Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in establishing pilot projects for the Youth Opportunity Card. [80897]
Beverley Hughes: Progress is being made in establishing the Youth Opportunity Card pilots. We have chosen the ten local authorities where the pilots will run and are working closely with them and with other key partners to develop a workable delivery model. As with all initiatives there is a lot of detailed work to be done and we need to take the time to ensure we get it right.
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure (a) that funds raised from the UK air passenger duty are separately identified when they are redeployed and (b) that a greater percentage of those funds is directed to the international finance facility. [81101]
Ed Balls: The UK is committed to developing innovative financing mechanisms to support accelerated progress towards the millennium development goals, and has announced that it will hypothecate part of the existing air passenger duty to provide a long-term stream of finance to the International Finance Facility (IFF) and its pilot the IFF for Immunization (IFFIm).
The UK air passenger duty revenue is published on an annual basis at: http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index. cfm?task=airpass. The UK contribution to IFFIm will average £71 million a year over 20 years. The UK contribution to the IFF will be determined when it is launched. With the IFF, the UK could reach the equivalent of the 0.7 per cent. ODA-GNI target, which could be achieved as early as 2008-09.
Batteries (VAT)
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which VAT is chargeable on (a) wheelchair and mobility vehicle batteries and (b) the fitting of wheelchair and mobility vehicle batteries; and whether there have been any recent changes to VAT rules in this area. [80821]
Dawn Primarolo: Batteries which have been designed solely for use with a wheelchair or mobility vehicle are VAT zero-rated when purchased by: a disabled person for his or her domestic or personal use; or a charity for making available to a disabled person for his or her domestic or personal use; or certain eligible bodies which pay for them with charitable funds; or a charity which will donate them to one of those eligible bodies.
In some circumstances, the supply to a disabled person, charity or eligible body of any batteries as part of the repair and maintenance of a wheelchair or mobility vehicle is also zero-rated.
There have been no recent changes to the VAT rules in this area.
Child Poverty
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures his Department has taken to reduce child poverty in Coventry south since 1997. [80586]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government’s strategy to reduce child poverty was set out in the ‘Child Poverty Review’, published in July 2004. It consists of:
financial support for families, with more support for those who need it most, when they need it most;
work for those who can, helping parents participate in the labour market;
tackling material deprivation;
delivering high quality public services that improve children’s life chances.
Across the UK, these measures have helped 700,000 children out of poverty, since 1998-99. Tax credits are benefiting more than 420,000 families in the West Midlands region, and in Coventry South claimant unemployment has fallen by over 30 per cent. since 1997.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 23 May on correspondence forwarded to her from Jobcentre Plus. [81448]
Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.
Customs (Cornwall)
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the number of illegal items entering the UK via the Cornish coast in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [81097]
Dawn Primarolo: No estimate is available specifically in relation to the Cornish coast.
Information on operational results is published in the Annual Reports of HM Revenue and Customs. The most recent Annual Report was published on 19 December 2005. The figures for the year ending 31 March 2006 will be published in the next Annual Report.
Death Certificates
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 2 May 2006, Official Report, column 1387W, on death certificates, who possesses the authority to alter a certified copy of a registration of death. [81213]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 June 2006:
As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question, pursuant to the Answer of 2nd May 2006, Official Report, column 1387W, on death certificates, who possesses the authority legitimately to alter a certified copy of a registration of death. (81213)
The law provides for the registration officer who has custody of the death register containing the relevant record to make a correction. The register is kept by the registrar of births and deaths until all the entries in the register have been completed (there are usually 300 entries in a register). Once the register is filled it is deposited with the Superintendent Registrar for the district, who then assumes responsibility for correcting any of the records it contains. A certified copy (or certificate) is a copy of the entry in the register and must be a true copy of that entry. If an entry in a death register is corrected a certified copy of the corrected entry may be issued by the person with custody of the register.
Death Statistics
Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the most recent rate of (a) cancers and (b) stroke was in (i) Stoke-on-Trent, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England. [80605]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 29 June 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the most recent rate of (a) cancers and (b) stroke was in (i) Stoke-on-Trent, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England. [80605]
A: Cancers
The latest available rates for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2003. Registration rates per 100,000 population, by site and sex, for (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England for the year 2003 are available in Table 5 of the Annual Reference Volume, Cancer statistics: Registrations, Series MB1. These are available on the National Statistics website:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=8843 &Pos=l4&ColRank=2&Rank=272
The most recent cancer incidence rates for all malignant cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer are given in Table 1 below for (i) Stoke on Trent Unitary Authority (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
B: Stroke
There is no complete register of stroke cases. Information is available centrally on emergency admission to hospital from the NHS Hospital Episode System (HES), and on death registrations.
Figures on emergency admissions to hospital for strokes can be found on the Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base website: http://www.nchod.nhs.uk/. (Table reference numbers: 10C_5281SR7CM_04-V2 (males) 10C_5281SR7CF_04-V2 (females)). Figures are available for England, Government Office Regions, Strategic Health Authorities, Unitary Authorities and County Districts. The latest year for which data are available is for the financial year 2003/04.
The latest year for which death rates for stroke are available is 2004 and these are given in Table 2 below.
| Table 1. Incidence rates( 1) per 100,000 population for all malignant cancers( 2) , by sex, registered in Stoke on Trent local authority, West Midlands Government office region and England, 2003 | |||
| Incidence rate per 100,000 | |||
| All cancers excluding nmsc | Stoke on Trent | West Midlands | England |
| (1) Crude rates per 100,000 population. (2) ‘All malignant cancers’ are defined by codes C00-C97 excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (nmsc) code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Source: Office for National Statistics | |||
| Table 2. Death rates(1) from stroke(2) for Stoke-on-Trent local authority, West Midlands Government office region and England,(3) by sex, 2004(4) | |||
| Death rate per 100,000—Stroke | |||
| All cancers excluding nmsc | Stoke on Trent | West Midlands | England |
| (1) Rates per 100,000 population standardised to the European Standard Population. (2) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The codes used are listed as follows: Cerebrovascular diseases—ICD-10160-169; Deaths were selected using the original underlying cause. (3) Usual residents of these areas. (4) Deaths registered in each calendar year | |||
Departmental Papers
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in date order (a) Green and (b) White papers produced by his Department since October 2005. [81249]
John Healey: A list in date order of Command Papers published by the Treasury since November 2001 can by found on the website of the Office of Public Sector Information (www.opsi.gov.uk). Information relating specifically to White Papers and to Green Papers—terms which are not formally defined—is not available.
Deposited Papers
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the (a) Vote Office and (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [81242]
John Healey: The Treasury acts in accordance with the guidance issued by the House of Commons Library and makes available in the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office multiple copies of deposited papers that are likely to be required by a large number of Members.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list deposited papers placed in the Library by his Department since 2000; and when each was published. [81253]
John Healey: The Treasury does not maintain a database of the numerous documents deposited in the Library each session. However, deposited papers are available to Members from the Library of the House.
Household Incomes
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the (a) median and (b) mean household income was in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement; [80640]
(2) what the lower limit of the top decile for household earnings was in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [80641]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 29 June 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what the (a) median and (b) mean household income was in the latest year available and what is the lower limit of the top decile for household earnings for the latest year for which information is available. I am replying in her absence. (80640, 80641)
This response is based on the article titled ‘The effects of taxes and benefits on household income’ which takes account of all household income and can be found at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits, as well as in the May 2006 edition of Economic Trends.
Disposable income is the income available for spending. It includes income from all sources after the deduction of income tax, National Insurance Contributions and council tax/Northern Ireland rates.
Using data based on the above analysis the median household disposable income for 2004/05 was £20,398.
Looking at table 14, appendix 1 (page 20), the mean household disposable income for 2004/05 was £25,360 per year.
The article does also show the means for various other definitions of income, such as gross income. However, the analysis does not show the medians for these other definitions of income. These medians can be obtained on request.
The analysis is based on an “equivalised” household disposable income distribution. “Equivalised” household disposable income distribution is a process that adjusts household income to take into account the different size and composition of households.
Using table 14 in appendix 1 (page 20) from the above analysis, the lower limit of the top decile for household disposable income was £40,385 per year (2004/05). An equivalent figure for household earnings has not been provided as this is only one part of income and would show a large variation of earnings within the top decile (and other deciles).
This detailed analysis is based on the Expenditure and Food Survey, which has a sample covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
Income Tax
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many income tax payers had incomes of less than £7,185 per year in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [80638]
(2) how many upper rate income tax payers had a gross income of less than £50,000 in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [80639]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated additional cost of introducing the proposed changes for 2006-07 is in the table.
| Cost of the proposed income tax changes, 2006-07 | ||
| Current regime | Proposed option | |
| (1) The marginal rate on earnings. | ||
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