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Poverty, Chester

Christine Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to reduce poverty in the City of Chester since 1997. [84046]

Dawn Primarolo: 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 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 the City of Chester, claimant unemployment has fallen by 48 per cent. youth unemployment has fallen by 63 per cent. and long-term unemployment has fallen by 85 per cent.

10 July 2006 : Column 1647W

Public Appointments

Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many public appointments are within his patronage; what (a) salary and (b) other emoluments are attached to each; and what the comparable figures were in (i) 1976, (ii) 1986 and (iii) 1996. [83194]

John Healey: Details of the public appointments to bodies sponsored by the Treasury can be found in “Public Bodies”, copies of which are in the Library. “Public Bodies” has been published annually since 1980 and the most recent edition provides figures for 2005. Each edition of “Public Bodies” contains details on the number of public appointments and remuneration details for that particular year. Comparable information for 1976 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Seasonal Workers

Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of seasonal workers in (a) rural areas and (b) non-rural areas in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [82031]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about seasonal workers in employment in (a) rural areas and (b) non-rural areas in each year since 1997. (82031)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of types of seasonal employment from the annual Local area Labour Force Survey (LLFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS). The urban and rural identifier is not available on the annual datasets.

The table overleaf shows the available data for the 12 month periods ending from 1999-2005.

These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Employees in seasonal work, 1999 to 2005, March to February each year, United Kingdom
12 months ending	Thousand
February 1999	106
February 2000	95
February 2001	102
February 2002	87
February 2003	90
February 2004	89
December 2004	93
December 2005	80
Note: Changes in the estimates from year-to-year should be treated with caution. Source: Annual datasets

Sickness Absence

Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many days work have been lost through sickness among staff working on tax credits in each of the last three years. [81479]

10 July 2006 : Column 1648W

Dawn Primarolo: The number of sickness days taken by staff working in the tax credit office in the last three years is:

	Number
2002-03	56,345
2003-04	67,085
2004-05	69,060

The figures for 2005-06 are not yet available.

Suicide

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people committed suicide ineach of the last five years, broken down by (a) age and (b) ethnic origin, in each (i) London borough and(ii) constituency; and if he will make a statement. [82959]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 July 2006:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people committed suicide, broken down by (a) age and (b) ethnic origin, in each of the last five years in each (i) London Borough and (ii) national constituency. (82959)

Although information on country of birth is collected at death registration, ethnicity is not collected.

The most recent year for which figures are available is 2005. A table which shows the number of deaths with an underlying cause of suicide or injury/poisoning of undetermined intent by age group for each parliamentary constituency in England and Wales and for each London Borough for the years 2001 to 2005 has been placed in the House of Commons library.

Tax Credits

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the costs of administering tax credits in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07; what the original spending plans were for each year; and if he will make a statement. [82833]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 18 October 2006, Official Report, column 949W and 8 June 2006, Official Report, column 861W.

Tobacco

Mr. Illsley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent discussions his Department has had with the tobacco industry on introducing an anti-counterfeiting labelling scheme for tobacco products; [83128]

(2) if he will bring forward proposals for introducing an anti-counterfeiting scheme for tobacco products in the UK; [83130]

(3) to what extent he has examined technological solutions which other countries are using to tackle the trade in counterfeit tobacco. [83131]

10 July 2006 : Column 1649W

John Healey: In a paper published at the 2006 Budget—"New Responses to New Challenges: Reinforcing the Tackling Tobacco Smuggling Strategy"—we announced that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the tobacco manufacturers would jointly be examining a range of practical measures that could be implemented against counterfeit cigarettes, such as covert markings. HMRC and the largest UK tobacco manufacturers have established a joint working group to identify the best means of detecting counterfeit tobacco products and preventing them from infiltrating the UK retail sector. As part of its work programme, the group has shared experiences of technological anti-counterfeiting measures introduced in other countries. Several possible solutions are now being closely examined by the group, with a view to informing the Government's decisions on the way forward.

Mr. Illsley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the money lost to the UK Exchequer through the illicit trade in tobacco in the last three years. [83129]

John Healey: The most recent HM Revenue and Customs estimate of the money lost to the UK Exchequer through the illicit trade in tobacco is for 2003-04. The money lost to the UK Exchequer through the illicit trade in tobacco between 2000-01 to 2003-04 for cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco are given in Table 3.3 and Table 3.5 respectively of “Measuring Indirect Tax Losses-2005”, published by HM Revenue and Customs in December 2005 and is available from the House of Commons Library.

10 July 2006 : Column 1650W

Under-age Pregnancy

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many girls under the age of 16 years (a) became pregnant and (b) gave birth in each London borough in each of the last five years, broken down by age; and if he will make a statement. [82954]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 July 2006:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many girls under the age of 16 years (a) became pregnant and (b) gave birth in each London borough in each of the last five years, broken down by age. (82954)

(a) Numbers of conceptions to girls aged under 16 in each London Borough for the years 2000-2004 (the most recent year for which figures are available), are shown in the attached table. Figures for 2004 are provisional.

Conceptions are made up of pregnancies that resulted in a live birth, stillbirth or termination.

ONS does not publish figures by single year of age below the age of 16 by either local or health authority because of the risk of disclosing individual’s information.

(b) Numbers of maternities in each London Borough for the years 2000-2004 are shown in the attached table.

Maternity counts are for girls aged under 16 in each year at which either one or more live birth or stillbirth occurred.

10 July 2006 : Column 1651W

10 July 2006 : Column 1652W

(a) Number of conceptions to girls aged under 16 years by area of usual residence—London boroughs, 2000-04( 1)
Area of usual residence	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004( 1)
London	1,246	1,252	1,229	1,247	1,127
Barking and Dagenham LB	45	51	43	44	41
Barnet LB	35	34	27	38	34
Bexley LB	22	34	36	27	36
Brent LB	55	52	50	54	49
Bromley LB	35	33	38	39	36
Camden LB	24	22	25	23	14
Croydon LB	78	72	68	57	63
Ealing LB	41	31	32	29	32
Enfield LB	48	43	51	58	46
Greenwich LB	43	51	45	45	49
Hackney LB and City of London	69	62	56	62	52
Hammersmith and Fulham LB	21	22	21	25	11
Haringey LB	60	59	59	46	62
Harrow LB	15	24	21	18	25
Havering LB	31	23	18	29	25
Hillingdon LB	32	37	39	48	50
Hounslow LB	34	38	25	34	36
Islington LB	27	37	30	33	35
Kensington and Chelsea LB	19	14	13	8	5
Kingston upon Thames LB	10	9	8	9	9
Lambeth LB	78	80	95	100	64
Lewisham LB	62	61	70	74	59
Merton LB	34	20	22	27	24
Newham LB	69	71	59	45	47
Redbridge LB	26	26	28	25	25
Richmond upon Thames LB	9	10	9	8	12
Southwark LB	63	68	77	83	66
Sutton LB	17	17	23	25	20
Tower Hamlets LB	39	42	34	28	35
Waltham Forest LB	41	41	49	50	30
Wandsworth LB	44	48	41	39	27
Westminster City of LB	20	20	17	17	8
(1) Figures for 2004 are provisional. Note: To preserve confidentiality, counts for City of London have been combined with those for Hackney LB.

(b) Number of maternities to girls aged under 16 years by area of usual residence—London boroughs, 2000-04
Area of usual residence	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
London	178	205	197	141	149
Barking and Dagenham LB	5	5	7	—	—
Barnet LB	—	5	—	—	5
Bexley LB	6	—	—	—	—
Brent LB	11	8	11	9	5
Bromley LB	5	—	—	—	6
Camden LB	—	5	—	—	—
Croydon LB	5	13	13	5	5
Ealing LB	7	6	8	—	—
Enfield LB	—	7	—	5	6
Greenwich LB	8	8	—	5	7
Hackney LB and City of London	8	14	9	7	7
Hammersmith and Fulham LB	—	—	—	—	—
Haringey LB	10	17	17	10	10
Harrow LB	—	—	—	—	—
Havering LB	—	—	—	—	—
Hillingdon LB	—	—	10	—	5
Hounslow LB	10	8	5	—	9
Islington LB	5	—	5	6	—
Kensington and Chelsea LB	—	—	—	—	—
Kingston upon Thames LB	—	—	—	—	—
Lambeth LB	16	13	14	17	11
Lewisham LB	11	10	13	12	7
Merton LB	—	5	—	—	—
Newham LB	14	11	16	10	6
Redbridge LB	—	10	5	6	5
Richmond upon Thames LB	—	—	—	—	—
Southwark LB	11	14	9	13	10
Sutton LB	—	—	—	—	—
Tower Hamlets LB	—	—	6	—	7
Waltham Forest LB	—	—	—	—	5
Wandsworth LB	—	9	12	—	5
Westminster City of LB	6	—	—	—	—
Note: To preserve confidentiality, counts for City of London have been combined with those for Hackney LB also counts of less than 5 have been suppressed and shown as —.

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