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23 Nov 2006 : Column 206W—continued


Wind Farms

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful planning applications there have been (i) by private individuals and (ii) by businesses for wind farms in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [102524]

David Cairns: The number of successful and unsuccessful planning applications for wind farms in Northern Ireland over the last five years may be demonstrated in the following table. None of the applications were submitted by private individuals—all were submitted by, or on behalf of, businesses.

Approvals Refusals

2002

0

0

2003

3

(1)1

2004

(1)2

0

2005

3

0

2006 (To date)

3

0

(1) In 2003, one application was refused planning permission by the Department, however, on appeal in 2004, the Planning Appeals Commission subsequently granted permission to the same application.

Treasury

Civil Service Bonuses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much was paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department each year since 2001-02; and how many civil servants received bonuses in each year; [101020]

(2) what criteria a civil servant in his Department must fulfil (a) to be considered for a bonus on top of their regular salary and (b) to be awarded a bonus. [101021]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Members for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) and for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1039W.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (a) the civil service, excluding Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, (b) Executive agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available. [102715]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 23 November 2006:


23 Nov 2006 : Column 207W

23 Nov 2006 : Column 208W
Civil Service employment—UK, not seasonally adjusted
Full-time equivalents, thousand
Quarter Total Civil Service Of which: Civil Service excl. Agencies and NDPBs Of which: Executive Agencies NDPBs( 1)

Quarter 1 (1 April) 1997(2,3)

496

197

299

106

Quarter 1 (31 March) 2006(3,4)

525

241

284

93

Quarter 2 (30 June) 2006(4)

524

241

283

n/a

n/a = not available
(1) Employees of NDPBs are not part of the home Civil Service
(2) Civil Service statistics are sourced from Civil Service 1997, Cabinet Office—excludes employees on paid maternity leave
(3) NDPB statistics are sourced from the annual Public Bodies Directory 1997 and 2006, Cabinet Office. Figures for 2006 exclude bodies sponsored by devolved administrations.
4. Civil Service statistics are sourced from Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS—includes employees on paid maternity leave (approximately 3,000)
Source:
ONS, Cabinet Office

Dividend Tax Credit

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of the dividend tax credit on the number of private pension wind-ups. [100570]

Ed Balls: No such assessment is possible.

The withdrawal of payable tax credits on dividends was part of a wider package of measures designed to improve the climate for long-term investment in the UK. This measure removed a distortion in the tax system, which encouraged companies to pay out their profits in dividends, rather than retain them for reinvestment in the business. It also allows pension schemes to make decisions on investment strategies based on their economic merits rather than for tax reasons.

Employment Rate

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the (a) effect on UK public spending and (b) yield to the Exchequer which would result from an increase in the UK employment rate of five per cent.; and if he will make a statement. [101288]

John Healey: To estimate the effects of a five per cent. increase in the UK employment rate would require a wide range of additional auxiliary assumptions to be specified such as, for example, the cause of the increase, the response of fiscal and monetary policy makers and any movements in the sterling exchange rate.

Therefore, such costings could be done only at disproportionate cost.

However, generally an increase in the employment rate would be associated with lower spending on social security payments and higher revenue yields.

Pensions

Anne Milton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average annual public sector pension payment to a former public sector worker was in (a) 1985, (b) 1995 and (c) 2005. [100603]

Mr. Timms: The average pension paid to former public servants and their dependants from central Government unfunded public service pension schemes was approximately £6,300 in 2004-05, based on figures available for the large schemes which publish accounts. More detailed figures are available in individual scheme accounts.

The average pension paid from the funded Local Government Pension Scheme (UK) in 2004-05 was approximately £3,500.

Figures for the wider public sector are not held centrally. Comparable figures for 1994-95 and 1984-85 are not obtainable without incurring disproportionate costs.

Research and Development Tax Credits

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many research and development tax credit applications were processed from (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales in each year since their inception. [100507]

John Healey: The estimated number of claims for research and development tax credits that have been processed in tax offices in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales since the inception of the scheme are given in the table.

England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland

2000-01

1,340

130

170

20

2001-02

2,500

330

330

40

2002-03

4,010

480

460

90

2003-04

4,830

490

460

90

Note: Figures are actual numbers, rounded to the nearest ten. The table does not include a small number of claims where information on the processing tax office was unavailable.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people will be employed in the seven new research and development tax credit units; how much the launch of the units is expected to cost; what estimate he has made of their annual running costs; and when they are expected to open. [100511]

John Healey: There will be 56 full time equivalent staff employed in the seven R and D units.

The units opened on 1 November 2006 and their launch was cost neutral as they are staffed with existing HMRC staff in existing HMRC locations.

There will be no separate budget for the R and D units. Their running costs will be met from the annual local compliance budget.

Registration Certificates

Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what provision is in place to make (a) birth, (b) marriage and (c) death certificates available in an accessible format for the blind and partially sighted. [102468]


23 Nov 2006 : Column 209W

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 23 November 2006:

Scottish Earnings

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people in Scotland aged between 18 and 21 years earn less than £5.35 an hour; [101580]

(2) how many people in Scotland aged 16 and 17 earn less than (a) £5.35 and (b) £4.45 an hour. [101582]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Jil Matheson, dated 23 November 2006:

Scottish Employment

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Scotland (a) under the age of 16, (b) aged 16 and 17 and (c) aged between 18 and 21 years were in (i) full-time employment, (ii) part-time employment and (iii) temporary employment in the last year for which figures are available. [101581]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 23 November 2006:


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