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4 July 2006 : Column 992W—continued
Construction Industry
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer further to his answer of 26 June 2006, Official Report, column 91W, on construction industry registration cards, how many temporary construction industry services registration cards were issued in each year since 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [81609]
John Healey: The total number of temporary construction industry services registration cards issued since 1999 is 350,000 (this figure is rounded to the nearest 50,000).
Estimated numbers issued each year since 1999-2000 are provided in the following table.
| Number of temporary cards issued | |
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will answer the letter to of 18 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Christine Hayes. [81895]
Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.
Customs (Cornwall)
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many customs officers were on long-term sick leave on 1 June of each year since 1997. [81099]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of former HM Customs and Excise (HMC and E) employees on the HMC and E payroll on long-term sickness absence on 1 June of each year since 1997 are:
| 1 June: | Number of absences |
A long-term absence is defined here as one which has lasted more than four consecutive weeks.
Drug Seizures
Mr. Leech: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many recorded drug seizures there have been around the coast of Devon and Cornwall since 2003. [81634]
Dawn Primarolo: The national information on drugs seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs since 2003 is contained in the Annual Report. The figures for the year ending March 2006 will be published in the next Annual Report.
Information on drug seizures by location cannot be disclosed. Doing so would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.
Financial Services Division
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people worked in his Department's Financial Services Division sub-departments on (a) financial crime, (b) financial services strategy, (c) financial stability and risk, (d) payments and inclusion and (e) savings and investment in each of the last five years, broken down by grade. [81706]
John Healey [holding answer 3 July 2006]: The organisational structure of the teams responsible for financial services has changed on several occasions during 2000-06. The current breakdown of staff between the five teams is shown in the table. The figures quoted are on the basis of full-time equivalent staff in post on 1 April, rounded to the nearest whole number.
The total number of staff working in the teams responsible for financial services in the finance and industry directorate of Her Majesty’s Treasury on 1 April in each of the past five years, on a broadly comparable basis, has been: 62 in 2002, 58 in 2003, 72 in 2004, 74 in 2005 and 72 in 2006. A proportion of the directorate's senior management resources also contributes to the work on financial services.
| Range | Financial Services Strategy | Financial Crime | Financial Stability and Risk | Payments and Inclusion | Savings and Investment |
Illegal Firearms
Mr. Leech: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the number of illegal firearms entering the port of Falmouth since 2003. [81633]
Dawn Primarolo: No estimate is available for the number of firearms illegally entering the United Kingdom through Falmouth.
Figures on the firearms HM Revenue and Customs have seized nationally are available in the Annual Reports of HM Revenue and Customs, the most recent being published 19 December 2005. Figures for the financial period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 will be published in the next Annual Report.
Illegal Products (Seizures)
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many seizures of (a) illegal firearms, (b) drugs and (c) cigarettes have been made in Suffolk in each of the last 5 years. [82113]
Dawn Primarolo: The national information on seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs since 2003 is contained in the annual report. The figures for the year ending March 2006 will be published in the next annual report.
Information on 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.
Income Data
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the average income per person in Yeovil constituency. [82138]
Dawn Primarolo: The latest estimates for the mean and median of total income (for taxpayers only) by constituency can be found in table 3.15 “Income and tax by Parliamentary Constituency” on HM Revenue and Customs website. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm#315.
The information is based on the latest Survey of Personal Incomes (2003-04).
Because sample sizes at constituency level are small and estimates can demonstrate a large variability from year to year, inference from the information in the table should take into account the confidence intervals in table 3.15a “Income and tax by Parliamentary Constituency, Confidence Intervals”.
Similar information including non-taxpayers is not available.
Individual Savings Account
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have taken out the maximum £7,000 individual savings account for the year 2005-06. [81861]
Ed Balls: This figure is not yet available for 2005-06. The latest published figure for the number of individuals subscribing £7,000 to ISAs is 949,000 in 2001-02. This information can be found on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/isa/table9_7_01-02.pdf
More recent data will be available later this year.
Internal Leaks
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many internal leak inquiries have been conducted in his Department in each year since 1997; [80153]
(2) whether his Department's (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers have requested a leak inquiry at the tax
credit office since January; and if he will make a statement. [81757]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 January 2006, Official Report, column 543W.
National Youth Volunteering Service
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made on the establishment of the national youth volunteering service; and if he will make a statement. [80524]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 27 June 2006]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 822W to my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office.
Personal Allowance
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the revenue implications of introducing a personal allowance of £7,185, absorbing the starting rate band on earnings and savings in the basic rate band, cutting the basic rate of income tax to 20 per cent. with tax rates on dividends unchanged, increasing the basic rate limit to £42,815, keeping the personal allowances for people aged 65 to 74 and 75 years at their current levels and abolishing all other age-related allowances; and if he will make a statement; [79293]
(2) if he will estimate the revenue implications of introducing a personal allowance of £7,500, absorbing the starting rate band on earnings and savings in the basic rate band, cutting the basic rate of income tax to 20 per cent., with tax rates on dividends unchanged, increasing the basic rate limit to £42,500, and raising all the age-related allowances to £7,500; and if he will make a statement. [79294]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is in the following table.
| Cost of tax options 2006-07 | |||||||
| Options( 1) | Personal allowance (£) | Starting rate (percentage) | Basic rate( 2) (percentage) | Basic rate limit (£) | Personal allowance (aged 65 to 74) (£) | Personal allowance (aged above 74) (£) | Additional cost (£ billion) |
| ( 1) The changes are assumed to take place in 2006-07 and the additional costs are estimated liabilities for the same year.( 2) The marginal rate on earnings.( 3) The option assumes abolishing the married couples’ allowance.( 4) The option would cost £18.3 billion with the married couples’ allowance abolished. | |||||||
The estimates are based on the 2003-04 survey of personal incomes projected forward to 2006-07 in line with Budget 2006 assumptions.
The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response to the tax changes, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.
Phoenix Engineering
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will investigate the administrative errors in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs which have identified overpayments and underpayments of tax by Phoenix Engineering Company Ltd. of Chard, Somerset; and if he will make a statement. [81756]
Dawn Primarolo: I am unable to comment on this particular company's tax affairs because of the requirement for customer confidentiality.
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