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23 Nov 2006 : Column 206Wcontinued
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 individualsall were submitted by, or on behalf of, businesses.
Approvals | Refusals | |
(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. |
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.
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:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by (a) the Civil Service, excluding executive agencies and non-departmental bodies (b) executive agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in (i) 1996-7and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available (102715).
Civil Service employment statistics (including executive agencies) are published in the quarterly Public Sector Employment First Release which is available on the National Statistics website (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0906.pdf). Table 6 of the First Release provides a breakdown of Civil Service employment by department. The latest information available is for Quarter 2 (June) 2006.
The primary source of Civil Service employment statistics changed in 2004 following a cross-government review of public sector employment statistics and the introduction of a new quarterly survey. To provide the requested breakdown of Civil Service employment for government departments and executive agencies, the Cabinet Offices Civil Service Statistics publication has been used for 1997.
The employment statistics for Non-Departmental Public Bodies are taken from the Public Bodies Directory published by the Cabinet Office.
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.
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.
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.
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 | |
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.
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]
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:
As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been to reply to your question about the accessibility of birth, marriage and death certificates for the blind and partially sighted. (102468)
Current legislation only permits birth, marriage and death certificates to be issued in a prescribed format. However, if a customer of the General Register Office requests certificate information in Braille we will arrange for the certificate to be passed to the Royal National Institute for the Blind for transcription into Braille. Both documents are then sent to the customer. The customer pays only the fee for the certificate of £11.50, with the General Register Office paying the RNIB fee of £25. Local registration offices may also make use of this facility.
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:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking how many people in Scotland aged 16 and 17 earn less than (a) £5.35 and (b) £4.45 an hour and how many people in Scotland aged between 18 and 21 years earn less than £5.35 an hour. I am replying in her absence. (101580, 101582).
Earnings statistics are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for employees whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period. The standard definition used for ASHE would only include employees on adult rates of pay, however for this analysis employees on trainee and junior rates have been included. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
For estimates of employees falling below hourly earnings levels, the ASHE does not provide counts, but rather provides estimates of the proportion of total employees. The levels of £5.35 and £4.45 are the current levels of the national minimum wage for employees aged 21 and over and employees aged 18-21 years, which came into effect 1 October 2006. However, available estimates are based on the ASHE 2006, which relates to April 2006 when the national minimum wage levels were £5.05 and £4.25. The estimates of the proportion of employees in Scotland aged 16 and 17 years earning less than £5.35 and £4.45 an hour are 75 per cent. and 45 per cent. respectively. The estimate of the proportion of employees in Scotland aged between 18 and 21 years earning less than £5.35 an hour is 38 per cent. Corresponding estimates for 16-17 year olds earning less than £5.05 and £4.25 are 60 per cent. and 38 per cent. respectively, with 20 per cent. of 18-21 year olds earning less than £5.05.
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.
The estimates relate to hourly earnings excluding overtime, which differs from the hourly rate used within the national
minimum wage in its treatment of shift premium payments. This is the closest measure to the national minimum wage for which these estimates are available.
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:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking 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)
The attached table gives estimates of all employees, permanent and temporary in Scotland, and by age bands, 16 to 17, and 18 to 21 for those whose jobs are full-time or part-time, and covers the three months ending September 2006. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) does not have employment information on those aged under 16.
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