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29 Jun 2006 : Column 583W—continued
The figure excludes any estimate of behavioural response to the tax changes which could be significant given the scale of the changes.
There are an estimated 2.3 million taxpayers with total income below £7,185 and 1.4 million higher rate taxpayers with total income below £50,000.
The estimates are based on the 2003-04 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 2006-07 in line with Budget 2006 assumptions.
Israel
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his recent discussions with Prime Minister Olmert regarding natural gas supplies to Israel. [81345]
John Healey: Decisions on natural gas in the area are for commercial negotiation.
Not-for-profit Organisations
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has put forward to reduce VAT liability of not-for-profit institutions working in the field of social care, for (a) surgical products, (b) new buildings, (c) refurbishments to buildings and (d) other expenditure. [81079]
Dawn Primarolo: Charities, including those that provide social care, benefit from VAT relief on the goods and services that they purchase worth some £200 million per year. These reliefs include a zero rate for medical, sterilising and laboratory equipment purchased by charities for use in the course of medical research, diagnosis or treatment.
VAT is not chargeable on the construction of new buildings used for a relevant charitable purpose, or for the provision of residential care to elderly or disabled people. Similarly, the construction of a hospice for a charity is zero-rated.
No VAT is chargeable on certain adaptations designed to facilitate entry to, or movement within, certain charitable buildings by a disabled person. This includes the installation of lifts, the installation or adaptation of bathrooms and lavatories and the widening of doorways and passageways. Approved alterations to protected buildings that are used for a relevant charitable or communal residential purpose are also zero-rated.
A reduced VAT rate of 5 per cent. is also available for the conversion of a non-residential building into a communal residential building, such as a care home, and for the installation of certain energy-saving materials in certain charitable and residential buildings.
Public Service Employment
Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much and what percentage the (a) number of people employed in and (b) productivity of Government Departments has changed since 1997. [80775]
Mr. Timms: Data on public employment sector employment levels since 1997 can be found in the National Statistics quarterly publication “Public Sector Employment First Release”, published on the ONS website. The latest release can be found at the following web address: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0406.pdf. Data on departmental work forces are currently published on the Cabinet Office website. The latest release can be found at the following web address:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/employment/index.asp.
Data are not held on a measure of the productivity of Government Departments. ONS’s UK Centre for the Measurement of Government Activity publishes analyses in a regular series of Public Service Productivity articles which present and discuss estimates of the productivity performance of the key public services. These can be found at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/specific/PublicSector/output/default.asp.
At the same time, in the 2004 Spending Review Departments were set challenging targets for achieving annual efficiency gains totalling over £20 billion by March 2008. In the 2006 Budget the Chancellor announced that the Government had achieved provisional annual efficiency gains of £6.4 billion by December 2005, before the first year of the efficiency programme had been completed.
Staff Absenteeism
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working days were lost to his Department and its executive agencies in each year since 1997 due to staff absenteeism, expressed as the average annual number of absent days per employee; and what the estimated total cost to the Department and its agencies of absenteeism was in each year. [78080]
John Healey: Staff absenteeism recorded as sickness absence, in each year since 1997 is given in the table as the average annual number of days absent per employee. The departments/agencies cannot disaggregate other elements of absenteeism.
Figures regarding sickness absence are contained in the annual report, “Analysis of Sickness Absence in the
Civil Service”, published by the Cabinet Office. Reports for each year since 1999 are available in the Library and on the civil service website at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/occupational_health/publications/index.asp.
Information on the cost of sickness absence could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| Average annual number of sick absence days per employee | ||||||||
| Department/Agency | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Notes: 1. OGC was created in 2000 and OGC Buying Solutions, an Executive Agency of OGC, was created in 2001. 2. Royal Mint figures refer to non-industrials only. 3. HM Treasury included the DMO in its sickness absence reporting before 2002. | ||||||||
The information on average working days sickness absence is derived from the annual report “Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service” published on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
Stamp Duty
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less, (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) 5 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above; and if he will make a statement; [80297]
(2) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less, (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above; [80298]
(3) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £150,000 or less, (b) 2 per cent. on sales between £150,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) (i) 5 and (ii) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above; [80317]
(4) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £125,000 or less, (b) 2 per cent. on sales between £125,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) 5 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above; [80318]
(5) if he will estimate the revenue implications of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales to charge marginal rates of (a) 0 per cent. on property sales of £150,000 or less, (b) 1 per cent. on sales between £150,000 and £249,999, (c) 5 per cent. on sales between £250,000 and £499,999 and (d) (i) 5 and (ii) 6 per cent. on sales of £500,000 and above. [80323]
Ed Balls: The estimated revenue cost, in 2007-08, of restructuring stamp duty on residential property sales according to the seven marginal rate schemes (where each rate only applies to consideration above the threshold for each range) described in the question is given in the following tables:
| Percentage rate | Tax regime 1 thresholds |
| Percentage rate | Tax regime 2 thresholds |
| Percentage rate | Tax regime 3 thresholds |
| Percentage rate | Tax regime 4 thresholds |
| Percentage rate | Tax regime 5 thresholds |
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