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1 Nov 2006 : Column 538W—continued
Director of Policy and Planning
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many members of staff his Director of Policy and Planning manages. [98219]
John Healey: As part of their duties two officials provide support to the Treasury's Director of Policy and Planning.
Economic Migration
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on unemployment of the level of economic migration to the UK in each quarter since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [97650]
John Healey: The Department for Work and Pensions analysed the effect of migrants from the new European Union member states from Central and Eastern Europe from May 2004 to November 2005. They found no discernible statistical evidence that these migrants had any impact on local unemployment rates. A copy of the report can be found at the following web address:
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/wp29.pdf.
EU Accounts
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with EU Finance Ministers on the transparency of the EU accounts since the publication of the last report of the Court of Auditors; and if he will make a statement. [98561]
Ed Balls: EU Finance Ministers will consider the European Court of Auditors report on the 2005 EC Budget when this is presented at the 7 November ECOFIN meeting, and HM Treasury is in regular contact with other EU Finance Ministries. It is clearly disappointing that that report, which was published on 24 October 2006, was once again unable to give a positive statement of assurance on the bulk of 2005 EC Budget expenditure. This sends a negative message to European taxpayers and the UK, and all other member states must work with the European Commission to ensure that improvements are made to the management of EC funds for which they are responsible.
Finance Acts
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many sections in Finance Acts have had retrospective consequences on the tax liability of (a) individuals and (b) companies since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98792]
Dawn Primarolo: Many sections of Finance Acts take effect from dates prior to the date on which the particular Act received Royal Assent. This is a well established and accepted feature of the way Parliament makes much of its fiscal legislation. The fact that provisions need to take practical effect prior to the passing of the Finance Bill is recognised, for example, by the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968 which gives statutory effect to provisions in advance of the passing of the Finance Bill, in particular excise duties on alcohol, petrol and tobacco.
Financial Inclusion Fund
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in the allocation of £20 million of the Financial Inclusion Fund to stimulate demand for mainstream financial services. [98679]
Ed Balls: On the advice of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce the Government are launching a campaign to promote demand for financial products and services. The campaign is working with trusted intermediaries such as charities and the social housing sector to increase awareness of financial exclusion and address the barriers to accessing mainstream banking and sources of affordable credit. The Department for Work and Pensions is managing the campaign delivery unit, in partnership with secondees from stakeholder organisations across England, Wales and Scotland. Recruitment of stakeholder managers is now nearing completion.
Firearms
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of firearms entering the UK in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98506]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table provides data on the number of firearms (including handguns, rifles and machine guns) legally imported into the UK from outside the EU since 2003. Intra-EU imports and data prior to 2003 are not available. HM Revenue and Customs has no estimate of the number of firearms illegally entering the UK.
| Firearms imports | |
| Number | |
HM Revenue and Customs Staff
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs employees have been allocated to the reduction of the importation of (a) controlled drugs, (b) illegal firearms and (c) illicit (i) alcohol and (ii) tobacco in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98507]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table provides data on annual HM Revenue and Customs staff years employed. The data for other prohibitions and restrictions (Other P and Rs) includes staff years employed on firearms. The recording system does not break the figures down beyond these four categories.
Data prior to 2002-03 is not readily available.
| Number of staff years employed | ||||
| Class A drugs | Alcohol | Tobacco | Other P and Rs | |
Illegal Imports
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of illegal items entering the UK in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98505]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs does not make its own estimates of the number of illegal items entering the UK. Lead Departments and other agencies produce estimates for certain items. Where appropriate HMRC employs these estimates for operational targeting.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of what illegal items HM Revenue and Customs has targets to reduce the level of imports; and if he will make a statement. [98504]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs’ public service agreement includes the target to maintain or increase the number of seizures from 2005-06 baselines of class A drugs and meat and other items seized under the products of animal origin regulations.
Islam and Muslim Affairs
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements his Department has in place for offering him advice on Islam and matters relating to Muslims; and who his advisers are on Islam and Muslim affairs. [94333]
John Healey: Where appropriate officials provide advice on matters relating to Muslim communities. The Treasury has arrangements in place to provide for the participation of Muslim organisations in formal consultative bodies: for example, in the Direct and Indirect Tax Technical Groups looking at alternative forms of finance.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the lead Department on domestic matters relating to Muslim communities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is the lead department on international matters. Where appropriate the Treasury seeks advice from these Departments.
Middle East
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish his Department’s report on economic development in Israel and Palestine. [97912]
Ed Balls: As the Chancellor made clear in a speech on 10 October at Chatham House, an economic road map can help underpin the Middle East road map. An interim progress report on Economic Aspects of Peace in the Middle East was published by the Treasury in January and G7 Finance Ministers took stock of the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip at their meeting in Singapore in September. It is expected that the final report will be published at the appropriate point when economic proposals can best contribute to progress. G7 Finance Ministers are likely to return to the issues at their next meeting.
Oil Imports
Miss Begg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the net cost to the Exchequer of imported oil was in each year since 1997. [97732]
John Healey: There is no net cost to the Exchequer from imported oil. Profits earned from UK produced oil are subject to direct taxation regardless of whether the oil is exported or consumed within the United Kingdom and fuel consumed in the United Kingdom is subject to indirect taxation regardless of its origin.
R40 Form
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure that envelopes supplied for the R40 form are wide enough to accommodate A4 paper. [98113]
Dawn Primarolo: The return envelope is designed to fit the R40 form which is not standard A4 width. The R40 form is 20 mm narrower and the envelope is 5 mm narrower than A4.
The R40 is currently being redesigned and from the April 2007 issue, HMRC intend to change both the issue and return envelopes. The issue size will be A4 to accommodate enclosures that are sent out with the form. The return envelope will be C5. This will reduce the amount of postage required.
Retirement Age
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made any estimate of (a) how much tax revenue is lost each year as a result of the default retirement age of 65 years and (b) the number of people who would wish to continue working beyond the default retirement age. [97134]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
In March 2006 we published the final regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations. It estimated an increase in tax revenues of between £8 million and £52 million in the first year following introduction of the legislation. This rises to between £40 million to £240 million after 10 years. The RIA also estimated that in the first year the legislation would lead to an initial increase in labour supply of 3,000 people aged 65 and over, leading to a total increase to 14,000 after 10 years.
Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what directions (a) he and (b) the Paymaster General have given to the new Chairman of HM Revenue and Customs in 2006 on the operation of the tax credits system; and if he will make a statement; [95736]
(2) what work his Department has been carrying out since July 2006 to improve the tax credits system. [97838]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the Chancellor’s Annual Remit for 2006-07 to HMRC which can be found at Annex A of HMRC’s Spring Departmental Report 2006 available at www.hmrc.gov.uk.
HMRC continue to develop the tax credits IT system.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost of organised tax credit fraud in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; and how many prosecutions for such fraud there have been. [97663]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to HM Revenue and Customs 2005-06 Accounts: The Comptroller and Auditor General’s Standard Report, available at http://www.nao.org.uk/ 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.
For numbers of prosecutions in 2004-05 I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 10 January 2006, Official Report, columns 557-8W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost/yield ratios for investigating tax credit (a) fraud and (b) error; and if he will make a statement. [97665]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department’s target is for reductions in the levels of tax credit (a) fraud and (b) error; and if he will make a statement. [97673]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the evidence given to the Public Accounts Committee by the Acting Chairman of HMRC on 23 October 2006.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of how many software errors which potentially caused errors in tax credit payments there were in HM Revenue and Customs’ computer systems in each reporting period since April 2003; what the latest figure is; and if he will make a statement. [97674]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on 31 January 2006, Official Report, column 411-12W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax credit overpayment made in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05 had been recovered by 30 September 2006; and if he will make a statement. [97699]
Dawn Primarolo: The amounts recovered up to 31 March 2006 are shown in Table 6 of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Standard Report on the HM Revenue and Customs 2005-06 Accounts, which is available on the HMRC website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/reports.htm.
No estimates for 30 September 2006 are available except at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what total amount of tax credit fraud has been prevented since April 2001 by (a) pre-payment and (b) post-payment checks; and if he will make a statement. [98092]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to HM Revenue and Customs 2005-06 Accounts: The Comptroller and Auditor General's Standard Report, available at http://www.nao.org.uk/
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes there have been to HM Revenue and Customs internal guidelines and procedures for appeals against disputed tax credit overpayments since 1 April 2004; and if he will make a statement. [98130]
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