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Plastic Bags
Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2006, Official Report, column 1743W, on plastic bags, if he will carry out a follow-up assessment to that carried out in December 2002 of the longer-term impact of the operation of the Irish plastic bag tax since its introduction in March 2002. [84520]
John Healey: There are no current plans to re-assess the Irish plastic bag tax.
Somalia
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to include a self-identification question for Somali people in the next census. [84948]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 July 2006:
As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what plans there are for the inclusion of a self-identification question for Somali people in the next census. (84948)
We are currently undertaking a programme of consultation and testing on ethnicity and national identity. It will not be possible to confirm what questions are to be included in the 2011 Census until the consultation and testing programme is complete and formal approval is given by Parliament in 2010. There are currently no plans to include a tick-box for ‘Somali’ but people who wish to identify themselves as Somali are likely to be able to do so through a ‘write in’ response option. A White Paper setting out the Government’s proposals is scheduled to be published in Autumn 2008.
A report on the findings of the initial consultation exercise was published on 8 March 2006—‘The 2011 Census: Assessment of initial user requirements on content for England and Wales’ and can be found on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/consultations/2011Census_response.asp
Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value is of tax credit overpayments written off for each quarter since 2001. [76481]
Dawn Primarolo: End of year adjustments leading to an overpayment of tax credits for 2003-04 were only finally identified after April 2004 when HMRC started finalising awards for that year and the department began considering disputed overpayments in June 2004.
For the value of tax credits overpayments written off between June 2004 and March 2006, I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 4 July 2005, Official Report, column 101W, 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 282W, 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 497W, 15 November 2005, Official Report,column 1214W, 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 567W and 5 June 2006, Official Report column 189W, and to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on 26 January 2006, Official Report, columns 2249W-250W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish estimates of tax credit fraud and error for 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [78152]
Dawn Primarolo: The HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits. Error and Fraud Statistics 2003-04” was published on 11 July 2006, and is available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/random-enquiry.pdf
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been affected by errors in administration of tax credits in each of the last three years. [79481]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
For HM Revenue and Custom’s performance against its accuracy targets relating to tax credits for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 19 June 2006, Official Report, column 1626W.
Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his assessment is of the sensitivity with which the tax credit computer system is used when dealing with a surviving spouse; and if he will make a statement. [81522]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC’s guidance for staff handling tax credits claims involving a claimant who dies can be found at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ntcmanual/changes_cofc/ntc0170 032.htm
Teenage Pregnancies
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many girls under the age of 16 years (a) became pregnant and (b) gave birth in the Ribble Valley constituency in each of the last 10 years, broken down by age. [84757]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 13 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 the Kibble Valley constituency in each of the last 10 years, broken down by age. (84757)
Numbers of conceptions in Ribble Valley county district for the years 1995-2004 are shown in the following table. Figures for 2004 are provisional.
Information
on conceptions is routinely published for local authorities and
strategic health authorities. Figures cannot be
provided by parliamentary constituency because of the risk of disclosing
individual's information due to small differences with local authority
boundaries.
ONS does not publish figures by single year of age below the age of 16 by either local or health authority and also does not release figures for individual years because of the risk of disclosing individual's information.
Numbers of livebirths in Ribble Valley county district for the years 1995-2004 are shown in the following table.
The total number of births to girls aged under 16 in each year is too small to be released because of the risk of disclosing individual’s information. Therefore total number of births in the 10 year period (1995-2004) is given in the following table. Figures cannot be broken down by single year of age, for the same reason.
Birth figures cannot be provided for Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency for the same reason as provided for conceptions.
| 1995-2004( 1) | Number |
| (1)Conceptions
for 2004 are
provisional. | |
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage pregnancies there was in (a) Southampton, (b) Portsmouth, (c) Hampshire and (d) the combined area of the three in each year since 1990; and what the teenage pregnancy rate was in each case. [84342]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 13 July 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the (a) number and (b) rate of teenage pregnancy was in (i) Southampton, (ii) Portsmouth,(iii) Hampshire and (iv) the combined area of the three in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (84342)
Available figures are estimates of the number of pregnancies that resulted in a live birth, stillbirth or termination.
Teenage conception numbers and rates for Southampton UA, Portsmouth UA, Hampshire County and for the combined area of the three from 1997 to 2004 (the most recent year for which figures are available) are given in the following table. Figures for 2004 are provisional.
| Teenage conceptions: numbers and rates( 1) for Southampton UA, Portsmouth UA and Hampshire county, 1997-2004 | ||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004( 2) | |
| (a) Numbers | ||||||||
| (b) Rates | ||||||||
| (1)
Rate per 1,000 women aged
15-17. (2) Provisional. | ||||||||
Valuation Office Agency
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency has spent on its automated valuation model and associated computer databases and training. [83006]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on9 January 2006, Official Report, columns 268-69W. Work on maintaining the automated valuation model (AVM) and the associated computer database is ongoing. Expenditure on this, and the training undertaken, is not recorded separately by the Valuation Office Agency and cannot be provided without disproportionate cost.
Defence
Afghanistan
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Oral Statement of 10 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1131-48, on Afghanistan (troop levels), if he will estimate the cost of the deployment of the additional force to Helmand Province; and whether the resources to fund the cost will be added to the Special Reserve established for the three year Afghan deployment. [85111]
Des Browne: The deployment and equipping of additional forces to the Helmand Province is estimated at £50 million, broken down into £30 million for the deployment and £20 million for the purchase of Urgent Operational Requirements. This sum has been authorised by HM Treasury as a charge against the Special Reserve in 2006-07.
Body Armour
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps have been taken since September 2004 to modify enhanced combat body armour for those providing top cover on Snatch vehicles; [84532]
(2) what steps have been taken since September 2004 to modify enhanced combat body armour to provide additional protection to (a) the neck and (b) the armpit area. [84533]
Des Browne: Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA), comprises of a waistcoat cover with a para-aramid filler plus two ceramic plates. It is issued to all troops deployed on operations. The Ministry of Defence has also developed a new type of body armour to provide better protection for those undertaking Top Cover Sentry and driving duties on operations in a range of vehicles including SNATCH. The Driver and Top Cover Sentry Protection System provide the same levels of protection as ECBA and additional protection for vulnerable areas of the upper arm and neck. In addition, a further body armour called Osprey has been developed for use by foot patrols. This also provides additional neck and armpit protection as well as other capability enhancements.
Over the past two years, we have spent £120 million improving protection for ground forces in Iraq in response to the evolving threat from Impromised Explosive Devices.
Data Protection
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the ability of (a) the Department, (b) the Veterans Agency, (c) veterans’ organisations and charities, (d) regimental, naval and RAF associations and (e) the NHS effectively to co-ordinate and transfer casework; and if he will make a statement. [84839]
Mr. Watson [holding answer 13 July 2006]: The Ministry of Defence takes its responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998 very seriously, and has a network of Data Protection Officers across the Department to ensure compliance. The Act provides a framework for the protection of personal data, but it also allows the sharing of such data where the processing is necessary. This requires a balance between the legitimate interests of the Ministry of Defence or the third parties to whom the data is disclosed, and the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of individuals. Each case needs to be considered on its own merits, but it is certainly possible to share and co-ordinate personal data where it is warranted, subject to the relevant conditions set out in the Act.
Iraq
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment of the morale of troops stationed in Iraq. [82569]
Des Browne: The armed forces conduct Continuous Attitude Surveys, but it is not possible to extract from that data results specific to Iraq/Operation Telic.
Joint Personnel Administration
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 711W, on Joint Personnel Administration, how many personnel were (a) overpaid and (b) underpaid in each month since the system was initiated; and how many of those are awaiting correction. [84590]
Mr. Watson [holding answer 12 July 2006]: There have been a number of different causes of error to pay since the introduction of JPA. Some personnel have been subjected to more than one of those causes and these errors have been aggregated to indicate whether individuals were overpaid or underpaid on a given month. Of those 6,639 incorrectly paid in April, 70 per cent. were overpaid whereas 30 per cent. were underpaid. In May of those 1,175 incorrectly paid 34 per cent. were overpaid and 66 per cent. underpaid. The June figures are still being analysed for accuracy, but early indications are that of 458 incorrectly paid, 177 (40 per cent.) were overpaid and 258 underpaid.
Low-flying Activity
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what operational low-flying activity took place in the (a) Highlands of Scotland tactical training area and (b) south west of Scotland and the Anglo Scottish border tactical training area in each year between 1998-99 and 2004-05. [84729]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 5 June 2006, Official Report, columns 260-61W, and on 13 June 2006, Official Report, column 1084W.
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