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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1541W—continued
‘United Kingdom National Accounts—The Blue Book 2006’ which is available at the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1143&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=272
National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre between 1999 and 2005. [97810]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
The information is as follows:
| Financial year | £ million |
| (1 )Not a full financial year. | |
National Insurance
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the balance is of the National Insurance Reserve Fund; and if he will make a statement. [100458]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to paragraph 4 of the Report of the Government Actuary on the drafts of the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2006 and the Social Security (Contributions) (Re-rating and National Insurance Funds Payments) Order 2006.
Personal Debt
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average (a) unsecured debt per person and (b) annual income was in each year since 1997. [100365]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 November 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions on what the average unsecured debt per person and average annual income was in each year since 1997. (100365)
The available information is shown in the table below.
| Unsecured personal debt( 1 ) (end year) (£ million) | Average unsecured personal debt( 2 ) (end year) (£) | Average household disposable income( 3 ) (£) | |
| Notes: When using Table 64 of United Kingdom Economic Accounts (weblink given below) the database identifiers are: (1 )Unsecured personal debt = NNRG + NNRK (2 )Average unsecured personal debt = (NNRG+NNRK)/MGSL (3 )Average household disposable income = QWND/MGSL | |||
We have calculated average unsecured debt as debt per head and average annual income as household disposable income per head. The population figure used to derive this is the population aged 16+ in the United Kingdom. These estimates are expressed in nominal terms that are not adjusted for the effects of general price inflation.
The estimates for total personal debt, secured personal debt and unsecured debt (households' total financial liabilities other than secured debt), are national accounts series for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sectors. Estimates for households alone are not available.
NPISHs are legal entities which are principally engaged in the production of non-market services for households and whose main resources are voluntary contributions by households. For example, charities; relief and aid organisations; educational establishments; trade unions; professional associations, political parties and religious organisations, and sports clubs and associations.
Further data are available from table A64 in United Kingdom Economic Accounts, which is available at the following address:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1904&Pos=&ColRank=l&Rank=422
Public Sector Departments Review (Sir Michael Lyons)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what remuneration Sir Michael Lyons received for chairing the review of the location of public sector departments. [94684]
Mr. Timms: Sir Michael Lyons received remuneration of £40,000 excluding VAT, and expenses of £6,000, for conducting an 11-month inquiry into public sector relocation, meeting with key stakeholders, participating in public consultation, negotiating with Government Departments and providing strategic direction and oversight of the review.
State Pensions
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the case for using the cash flow gain to Exchequer arising from the abolition of the option to contract out of the state second pension into a defined contribution scheme from 2012 (a) to repay national debt in order to offset the increased state second pension liabilities that this change will generate, (b) to provide assistance to help small employers meet the cost of mandatory employer contributions to personal accounts, (c) to finance measures aimed at reducing the likelihood that employers will level down their pension provision when automatic enrolment increases participation in their schemes and (d) to meet the cost of tax relief on contributions to personal accounts. [90457]
Ed Balls: No such assessment has been made.
Tax Credits
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will publish the monthly HM Revenue and Customs management account information on tax credit call centre performance for each month from April 2005 to September 2006; and if he will make a statement; [95726]
(2) if he will publish the monthly HM Revenue and Customs management account information on overpaid tax credits and benefits debt balances in each month since April 2005; [95727]
(3) if he will publish the HM Revenue and Customs management account information on disputed overpayment of tax credits for each month from April 2005 to October 2006; and if he will make a statement; [95729]
(4) if he will publish the HM Revenue and Customs management account information on complaints on hand in relation to tax credits for each month since April 2005; [95730]
(5) how many tax credit renewals were outstanding in each month since April 2005; [95731]
(6) if he will publish the (a) HM Revenue and Customs narrative updates on the design and implementation of tax credit 2.T. and (b) design work to improve and develop tax credits for each month since April 2005; [95732]
(7) how many tax credit compliance team staff there were in each year since 2001-02; and if he will make a statement; [97662]
(8) what estimate he has made of the number of individuals involved in large-scale attempts to defraud the tax credits system; [97670]
(9) how many tax credit applications have been referred by HM Revenue and Customs for criminal proceedings so far in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement; [97700]
(10) what his estimate is of the three largest frauds perpetrated in the tax credits system, by value, from 2003 onwards; and if he will make a statement. [98094]
Dawn Primarolo: 772 of the 782 written questions tabled by the hon. Gentleman to the Treasury in the present Session have been answered. It has not been possible to answer the 10 questions listed in the time available before Prorogation.
Defence
Afghanistan/Iraq
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from where the extra helicopters for the deployment for Afghanistan will be sourced; and what impact this will have on operations in other places. [85760]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the statements I made on 10 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1131-35, and 24 July 2006, Official Report, columns 74-76WS. The additional CH47—Chinooks were drawn from the UK and from the Falkland Islands.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the scale of the military threat posed by Taliban fighters. [99297]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 October 2006, Official Report, column 1377W, to the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper).
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what evidence he has of the involvement of non-Afghan nationals in the insurgency in Afghanistan. [99298]
Des Browne:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 1 November 2006, Official Report, column 423W to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey).
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on the families of British armed forces serving in Afghanistan of the broadcast by the BBC on 25 October of an interview by Taliban leadership; and if he will make a statement. [99646]
Mr. Ingram: We have made no formal assessment of the effect of this broadcast. However, supporting the families of armed forces personnel is a top priority for this Department and as part of our comprehensive package of support we provide internal fora for Service families to express their views. It is clear from these that several families shared my deep disappointment at the BBC’s decision to broadcast this interview and saw this as undermining the position of our forces.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many attacks there were on British troops in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq in each of the last three years; what the date was of each incident; what type of incident each was; what weapons were used in each; and how many insurgents were involved in each incident. [98559]
Mr. Ingram: There have been some 340 military contacts between UK forces and the enemy in Helmand province between 1 April 2006 and 31 October 2006. Data prior to this date and data on military contacts against UK forces outside of Helmand province are not held centrally.
There have been some 3,200 military contacts between UK forces and enemy forces in Iraq between 1 November 2003 and 31 October 2006 in MND(SE). This figure excludes military contacts against UK forces outside of MND(SE), over this period, as these data are not held centrally.
Information has not been provided by type or date of each incident or the types of weapons used as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of our armed forces. Further, due to the nature of these incidents, it is not possible to state exactly how many insurgents may have been involved in each contact.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has received on the countries of origin of the shaped charges being used against United Kingdom vehicles in Iraq. [99299]
Des Browne: The nature of some explosive devices being used, against British troops and elsewhere in Iraq, suggest the involvement of Iranian elements, including through Lebanese Hezbollah.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total weight of depleted uranium used in munitions expended in Iraq (a) was in the Gulf War of 1991 and (b) has been since March 2003. [99833]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 7 November 2006]: Less than one metric tonne of depleted uranium was expended by UK forces during Operation Granby in 1991 and approximately 1.9 metric tonnes was expended by UK force during Operation Telic.
Armoured Personnel Carriers
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors he took into account when he decided (a) to sell the RG-31 armoured personnel carriers to the USA and (b) not to upgrade them; and if he will make a statement. [83760]
Mr. Ingram: The Mamba Mine Protected Vehicle was based on an earlier version of the RG-31. In response to an operational requirement for a vehicle protected against blast and explosively formed projectile attack from below and small arms, fragmentation and some blast from the side 14 second hand Mamba vehicles were bought in three batches through the Urgent Operational Requirements process between 1996-99. Six were bought in 1996 for the NATO Implementation Force mission in Bosnia; three were procured in 1999 for operations in Macedonia; and a further five were bought later in 1999 for operations in Kosovo. The approval cost of the first six was around £1.2 million and the second and third batches cost £l million and £2.3 million respectively. They were used by specialist teams for explosive ordnance disposal tasks such as reconnaissance, rescue and recovery and route proving and were deployed in the Balkans until 2003.
The Mamba vehicle was delivered to the Ministry of Defence following modification of the base vehicle by the contractor, Alvis with the addition of appliqué belly armour to withstand attack by shaped-charge mines. This modification was included in the purchase cost. The extra weight of the appliqué armour was found to overload the Mambas and caused reliability and safety problems. The high level of maintenance required to keep the vehicles operational was exacerbated by a lack of commonality between the individual vehicles and poor availability of spares. In May 2001, due to road safety issues, their use was restricted to operational situations where there was a significant threat of minestrikes. Since the current version of the RG-31 is not in service with the UK armed forces we cannot comment on its ease of maintenance or reliability.
The MOD considered modifying and refurbishing the vehicles but replacement with a new vehicle was identified as the better option. As a result the vehicles were disposed of in 2004 for a total of £448k. Nine were sold to Estonia, four to a US company and one to a company based in Singapore.
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