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30 Oct 2006 : Column 235W—continued
Military Tax-free Bonus
Mr. Flello: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his assessment is of whether the tax free bonus will affect the entitlement of soldiers in receipt of tax credits. [97424]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 23 October 2006 to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field).
Office of Government Commerce
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) budget and (b) total number of employees were of the Office of Government Commerce in each year since 2000. [97915]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Treasury’s Departmental Report 2006 (Cm 6830).
PR Contractors
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which (a) public affairs and (b) public relations companies were contracted to work for (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department between 1997 and 2002. [98036]
John Healey: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 1064W.
Public Service Broadcasting Licences
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the contribution to Exchequer revenue of public service broadcasting licences was in each year since 2000; what estimate his Department has made of such revenue in each year up to 2015; and if he will make a statement. [97112]
John Healey: The answer is in the following table:
| Licensees collectively paid | |
| £ million | |
The communications regulator, Ofcom, is responsible for setting the level of payments.
Sport Budget
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the basis was for his statement on GMTV on 25 October that the Government have a budget of £1.5 billion for sport; and if he will provide a breakdown of that budget by source. [98118]
Mr. Timms: The £1.5 billion figure used by the Chancellor in his statement on GMTV on 25 October is the investment being made in PE and school sport for the five years to 2008. The exact amount is £1.559 billion, of which £739 million is being invested by the Department for Educations and Skills, £239 million by the Department for Culture Media and Sport, and £581 million is being invested in facilities by the Big Lottery Fund’s New Opportunities for PE and Sport initiative.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions took place with (a) the Department for Education and Skills, (b) the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, (c) Sport England, (d) UK Sport, (e) the Youth Sport Trust and (f) London 2012 before the Chancellor’s announcement on sport of 25 October 2006. [98145]
Mr. Timms: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide range of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Statistical Independence
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to respond to the results of the consultation on independence for statistics; and when he plans to introduce legislation on this issue. [97974]
John Healey: The Government will respond to the consultation on independence for statistics in due course and plan to introduce legislation on this issue as soon as possible.
Stern Report
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Stern Report on the economics of climate change to be published; and if he will make a statement. [98477]
John Healey: The Stern Review on the economics of climate change was published earlier today.
Sustainable Communities Programme
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the funding of the infrastructure for the Sustainable Communities programme in (a) Northamptonshire and (b) England. [97474]
John Healey: The Government's response to Kate Barker's review on housing supply at PER 05 set out, among other things, the Government's ambition over the next decade to increase new housing supply in England to 200,000 net additions per year and a Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 Policy Review into Supporting Housing Growth.
The Policy Review is examining the infrastructure implications of meeting housing growth ambitions across England, as well as in the growth areas. The review will inform CSR negotiations, including with DCLG.
Tax Credits
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research has been conducted into the problems encountered by self-employed people claiming tax credits; and if he will take steps to change the system to take better account of the needs of the self-employed. [95480]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC has ongoing research into tax credits as part of its active external research programme. Details can be found on their website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/activities.htm. The self-employed participate in many of these studies. The research findings will be of interest to all claimants, including the self-employed, and where relevant any distinct conclusions which can be made for this group will be drawn.
Tax Credits benefit the self-employed as well as employed families. There are rules in the system to cater for their particular needs.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit verification checks have been (a) set aside and (b) granted an easement since April 2001. [97661]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 18 July 2006, Official Report, column 363W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 341W, on credit overpayments, why HM Revenue and Customs made an error in paying tax credits to claimants subject to immigration control; and if he will make a statement. [98218]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 18 July 2006, Official Report, column 363W.
UK Investments
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of (a) UK investments in the US and (b) UK lending to the US Federal Government in 2005-06; and what percentage of such UK investments is represented by UK lending. [97397]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 October 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the total value is of (a) UK investments in the US and (b) UK lending to the US Federal government; and what percentage of such UK investments is represented by US lending. (97397)
The information shown in the table below is taken from Table 10.1 of the annual Balance of Payment yearbook: The Pink Book 2006. A geographical breakdown of the UK's International Investment Position is available up to 2004 and is consistent with the 2006 edition of the Pink Book.
| Investment levels as at 31 December 2004 | |
| £ billion | |
| Source: ONS Pink Book 2006 | |
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not have data available for US lending to the UK. They are included within US other investment in the UK in the table above, but this also includes deposits from the US with UK residents (together with some other very much smaller components).
ONS does not have data for UK lending to the US Federal Government.
Unclaimed Assets
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been invested in youth and community facilities through the unclaimed assets programme since its inception. [97914]
Ed Balls: As set out in the 2005 pre-Budget report, the Government welcome the banking industry’s commitment to establish a scheme to allow genuinely unclaimed assets to be reinvested in the community. The Government and industry have agreed that the definition of an unclaimed asset should generally cover bank and building society accounts where there has been no customer activity for a period of 15 years, as that will best identify those accounts that are genuinely unclaimed. No assets have been invested as work on setting up the scheme is ongoing.
VAT (Unions)
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much VAT was collected from (a) registered trades unions, (b) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and (c) Vendside Ltd. in each year since 1998. [98324]
Dawn Primarolo: Consistent data sources back to 1998 are not available but the following table shows VAT receipts from registrations classified as trade unions since 1999.
| Trade unions | |
| Net VAT receipts (£ million) | |
Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 does not permit HM Revenue and Customs to disclose information relating to the tax affairs of individual taxpayers.
Wages and Incomes
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) average wage was for (i) full-time male, (ii) full-time female, (iii) part-time male and (iv) part-time female employees and (b) average household income was for working age households in the Peterborough city council area in (A) cash and (B) constant price terms in each of the last 10 years. [97518]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 October 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question what the (a) average wage for (i) full-time male, (ii) full-time female, (iii) part time male and (iv) part time female employees and (b) average household income for working age households was for working age households was in the Peterborough City Council area in (A) cash and (B) constant price terms in each of the last 10 years. (97518).
Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work. I have attached tables containing statistics on earnings from the ASHE for the years 1997-2006 for the Peterborough City Council area. The second table shows these earnings statistics expressed in 2006 prices by uprating with the Retail Price Index (RPI).
Average household income for working age households by council area is not available. Household income statistics for all households in the UK, based on the Family Resources Survey, are produced by the Department of Work and Pensions. Additionally the Office for National Statistics has produced statistics for wards for 2001-02 only. These estimates are based on a statistical model and are experimental statistics—they have been developed in accordance with the principles set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice but are not accredited as National Statistics.
The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes, but because of its sampling frame, it has difficulty capturing data on people with very low pay. It is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold.
| Gross weekly (cash £) pay for employee jobs( a) by place of work—Peterborough | ||||||||
| £ | ||||||||
| Median | Mean | |||||||
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time | Part-time | |||||
| Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
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