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31 Oct 2006 : Column 318W—continued
The Tax Credit Office (TCO) received around 31,500 disputed overpayments in September 2006.
The number of overpayments where the overpayment was successfully disputed, that is, where the overpayment was written off in full or in part by the TCO because of official error, was around 1,000 in September 2006.
The figures for overpayments written off do not directly relate to those disputes that were received in the same month.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of advertising and publicity relating to tax credits has been for each year since 2003-04. [97653]
Dawn Primarolo: Total media spend, exclusive of VAT, in each year is as follows:
| £ million | |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of fraud involving the child care element of tax credits; and if he will make a statement. [97664]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of fraud and error involving child care costs were included in the document “Child and Working Tax Credits Error and fraud statistics 2003-04” available on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/stats.htm
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the methods used to steal (a) Department of Work and Pensions and (b) Network Rail staff identities in 2005-06 to use in relation to tax credit fraud; and if he will make a statement. [97668]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 18 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1357-58W, and to the HMRC publication “Tackling error and fraud in the Child and Working Tax Credits”, available on the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/index.htm
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total volume of (a) actual and (b) prevented organised tax credit fraud since April 2003; and if he will make a statement. [97669]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 17 July 2006, Official Report, columns 161-62W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the merits of returning to a system of fixed tax credit awards; and if he will make a statement. [97671]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to paragraph 5.23 of the pre-Budget report 2005.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many staff work on tax benefits administration; and how many did so in April 2006; [97672]
(2) how many staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor bodies in each year since 2000-01; how many of these staff worked wholly or partly on tax credits; and if he will make a statement. [97698]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 19 July 2005, Official Report, column 1699W.
The number of staff employed in 2005-06 can be found at part 2, figure 1, of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s standard report for 2005-06 which is available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/chronindex.asp?type=account.
Around 8,750 staff were employed in 2005-06.
Overall staffing figures for earlier years for the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise can be found in their annual reports.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated level is of systematic tax credit fraud in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [97675]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available. The 2006-07 random enquiry programme cannot start until after finalisation. Results of the 2003-04 random enquiry programme can be found in “Child and Working Tax Credits Error and Fraud Statistics 2003-04”, available at www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/index.htm.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of tax credit administration in 2005-06, broken down by main cost headings. [97696]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1950W.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many overpayments of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit were found to be a result of HM Revenue and Customs error in 2005-06. [98043]
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit overpayments have involved an element of official error since 1 April 2005; and if he will make a statement. [98134]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available.
Estimates of numbers and values of overpayments or underpayments for 2005-06 awards will not be available until family circumstances and incomes for 2005-06 have been finalised. HM Revenue and Customs statistics for 2005-06 will be available next spring.
Amounts written off due to official error will be included in the remissions figure in HMRCs accounts.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what procedures (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Department have in place for the approval of easements to tax credit verification rules; how these have changed since 2002; and if he will make a statement; [98138]
(2) whether approval is needed from (a) the Chairman of HM Revenue and Customs and (b) Treasury Ministers for easement of the tax credit verification rules. [98139]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC has operational responsibility for the administration of tax credits. The HMRC governance structure was set out in their spring departmental report, published in June 2006.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many callers to the tax credits helpline received an engaged tone and were not placed in a queue for each month since June; and if he will make a statement. [97271]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
VAT (Church Buildings)
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what discussions he has had with other EU countries about extending VAT relief to church buildings which are not listed; [97110]
(2) what assessment he has made of the merits of extending VAT relief to church buildings which are not listed. [97111]
Dawn Primarolo: European agreements governing the application of VAT reliefs mean that while the UK can retain its existing VAT zero rates, such as those for approved works of alteration to certain listed buildings, we cannot extend them or introduce new ones. It is therefore not possible to zero-rate alteration or repair work carried out to unlisted church buildings. Furthermore, the same agreements do not allow for the application of reduced rates in this area.
The Government recognise that listed places of worship are not just an essential part of our religious life but an important part of the history and fabric of our country, and that the need to use specialist craftsmen and costly materials means their upkeep can be a heavy burden, particularly on small congregations. That is why the Government have pressed the case at EU level for their repair and maintenance to be added to the supplies for which a reduced rate of VAT is available. However, while we recognise the importance of all places of worship within their communities, we also recognise that listed status means that the special architectural or historic interest in the church in question has been acknowledged and as such special tax treatment is justified on this basis.
VAT Fraud
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the upper and lower levels of missing trader VAT fraud in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98463]
Dawn Primarolo: Annual estimates of attempted MTIC fraud from 2000-01 to 2004-05 were published alongside PBR 2005 in “Measuring Indirect Tax Losses — 2005”, which is available from the House of Commons Library or from the following website: www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2005/mitl2005.pdf.
The first estimates of attempted MTIC fraud were made for 1999-2000, and can be found in “Measuring and Tackling Indirect Tax Losses—2004”, which is also available from the House of Commons Library. The estimate for 2005-06 will be published at PBR 2006.
Welsh Demographics
Dr. Francis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what percentage of the population of (a) Wales, (b) the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot and (c) the constituency of Aberavon is over the age of 65 years; [97979]
(2) what percentage of the population of (a) Wales, (b) the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot and (c) the constituency of Aberavon is a carer. [97980]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 31 October 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what percentage of the population of (a) Wales, (b) the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot and (c) the constituency of Aberavon are (i) over the age of 65 years and (ii) carers (97979 & 97980)
(i) The latest available population estimates for Wales and Neath Port Talbot are the mid-2005 population estimates. These show that around 18% of the population in both Wales and Neath Port Talbut Unitary Authority were aged 65 years and over. Population Estimates, other than from the 2001 Census, are not normally available for parliamentary constituencies. However, for Aberavon it is possible to estimate the population based on the mid-2004 Experimental Small Area Population Estimates released on 27 October 2006, which show that approximately 19% of the population are aged 65 years and over.
(ii) Figures for numbers of carers at local level are only available from the census. On Census day (29 April 2001) 12% of people in Wales were providing unpaid care, compared with 14% of people in both the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot, and the Parliamentary Constituency of Aberavon. The figures for both Wales and the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot have been taken from table KS08 in Census 2001 Key Statistics for Local Authorities in England and Wales. The figure for Aberavon has been taken from table KS08 in the 2001 Census Report for Parliamentary Constituencies.
World Bank/IMF
Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total annual remuneration of (a) the President of the World Bank and (b) the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund was as at July 2006. [98575]
Ed Balls: The total annual remuneration of both the president of the World Bank and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund was $461,510 (£243,215(1)) as of 1 July 2005.
Consistent with established practice, in June 2006 an increase to the remuneration was proposed in line with movement in the Washington metropolitan area
consumer price index (May 2005 to May 2006). This would mean an increase of 4.2 per cent. with effect from 1 July 2006 to around $480,890 (£253,429(1)).
(1) Dollar-Sterling spot market rate at close 27 October 2006
Deputy Prime Minister
Departmental Branding
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has ordered branded (a) stationery and (b) other items. [96412]
The Deputy Prime Minister: A sign has been procured for the main entrance to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and business cards have been ordered for those staff who require them. No other branded items have been ordered. Other stationery from the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is continuing to be used.
Gifts
Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions he has consulted the permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office regarding the offer of gifts to members of other governments or governmental organisations since becoming Deputy Prime Minister. [96757]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Information relating to internal discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion and advice.
Mail (Private Companies)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of his Office’s mail is shipped using private companies; and what the cost was over the last 12 months. [95137]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Since the formation of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in May 2006, no private companies have been used to ship external mail.
Ministerial Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions he has visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [94960]
The Deputy Prime Minister: During 2005 and 2006, I have visited Scotland twice and Wales on one occasion in a ministerial capacity.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) hospitality and (b) gifts he received in relation to his visit to the MIPIM Property Development Conference in Cannes last year. [96394]
The Deputy Prime Minister: None.
Redhill Aerodrome Ventures
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with representatives of Redhill Aerodrome Ventures in the last five years. [91255]
The Deputy Prime Minister [holding answer 18 September 2006]: None.
Defence
“Not to Exceed” Dates
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the “not to exceed” in-service date at main gate was for (a) Defence Information Infrastructure (Head Office), (b) Defence Information Infrastructure (Fleet Service), (c) Catterick Garrison SDR Project-Gaza/Megiddo Lines, (d) DLO BCP Defence Electronic Commerce Service-E-Catelogues, (e) Logistics Information Technology System-Delamination for DII/F, (f) Defence Estaters Regional Prime Contracting-South West, (g) Colchester Garrison, (h) Joint Personnel Administration and (i) Projects Allenby and Connaught; and what the ‘not to exceed’ cost at main gate was for the demonstration and manufacture phase of each project, broken into (i) indirect resoure Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL), (ii) direct resource DEL and (iii) capital DEL. [93047]
Mr. Ingram: The term “not to exceed” was not used during the approvals process for the majority of the projects as they predated the use of this concept. The values and dates used in the following table are those approved at Main Gate.
Similarly, not all of the projects broke the cost down into Indirect RDEL, Direct RDEL and Capital DEL. The table therefore reflects the values approved in the relevant Main Gate, many of which are for service based contracts, not a demonstration and manufacture phase.
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