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12 Dec 2006 : Column 987W—continued
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/53D/FD/pbr06_taxreadyreckoner_234.pdf
The estimated cost of national insurance contributions associated with enterprise management incentives are published in Table B.1 (minor tax allowances and reliefs) on the HMRC National Statistics website:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/bl_apr06.pdf
The restrictions governing the Enterprise Investment Scheme, the Enterprise Management Incentive and Venture Capital Trusts mean that the costs of tax relief relate predominantly to smaller, high-risk companies, or to individuals investing in such companies. The lower rates of corporation tax apply to companies with profits below certain levels. Estimates of the costs relating specifically to SMEs as defined by employees, turnover or asset size would depend on the precise definition adopted.
Regional figures for these costs are not available. However national statistics published on the HMRC website include some information on Enterprise Investment Scheme claims by Government Office Region, classified according to the registered address of the company, which may differ from the region where the investment took place:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/ent_invest_scheme/menu.htm
Tax Credits
Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of the employees at the tax credits contact centre at Queen’s Dock, Liverpool are employed on a temporary basis through employment agencies. [104940]
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in each ward in Eastbourne constituency are in receipt of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit. [105110]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Sir Peter Soulsby) on 29 November 2006, Official Report, column 735W.
Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to reduce overpayments of tax credits. [106351]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Lady to the written ministerial statements made by the Paymaster General on 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 55WS and 6 December 2006, Official Report, column 15WS.
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are receiving working tax credits in each local authority ward in Darlington; and what the total cost was of these payments in the latest period for which figures are available. [108220]
Mr. Timms: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, South (Sir Peter Soulsby) on 29 November 2006, Official Report, column 735W.
Timber
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of (a) income tax relief and (b) corporation tax relief on income and profits from timber sales in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [105238]
Ed Balls: The profits from timber businesses have been exempt from both income tax and corporation tax since the 1988 Finance Act and therefore any associated reliefs are entirely unnecessary. For this reason, it is not possible to provide an answer to either part of the question.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of capital gains tax exemption on the increase in value of standing timber for each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [105239]
Ed Balls: Figures for cost of capital gains tax exemption on the increase in value of standing timber are not available.
Woodlands
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of (a) business property relief on commercial woodlands and (b) heritage relief on woodlands of outstanding scenic, historic and scientific interest as part of the inheritance tax system in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [105240]
Ed Balls: The information held by HMRC is not sufficiently detailed to provide an estimate of the value of inheritance tax business property relief and heritage relief associated with woodlands.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of VAT relief in relation to woodlands in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [105241]
Ed Balls: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT relating to individual goods and services. There are no VAT reliefs which relate specifically to woodlands.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Bolivia
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the general strike in four provincial capitals in Bolivia on (a) human rights in that country and (b) regional stability. [108052]
Mr. Hoon: We follow events closely in Bolivia through our embassy in La Paz. We are aware of the current tensions between the Bolivian Government and the opposition, which includes some provincial governors. These tensions revolve around the on going dispute over voting mechanisms for the Constituent Assembly, the question of autonomy for the regions, and the recently-passed National Land law. The one-day strikes called in the eastern regions were a part of that dispute.
We are concerned about the possible implications of the dispute on human rights and regional stability within Bolivia. Together with our EU partners, we are
encouraging all parties to work together to resolve the disputes in a peaceful manner.
Burma
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is her Department’s policy to support discussion on the use of forced labour in Burma at the United Nations Security Council. [105072]
Mr. Hoon: It is our policy to support discussion of the situation in Burma, including the use of forced labour in Burma at the UN Security Council. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been working to eradicate forced labour in Burma for a number of years. At the UN Security Council discussion on 27 November, our Permanent Representative to the United Nations reiterated the UK’s support for this work and called for the Burmese Government to co-operate with the ILO on forced labour.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the International Labour Organisation on forced labour in Burma. [105337]
Mr. Hoon: Our ambassadors in Geneva and Rangoon are in regular contact with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on forced labour in Burma. Through them and UK representation on the ILO Governing Body, we support ILO actions aimed at ensuring that Burma complies with its international obligations on forced labour.
Chad
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the political situation in Chad. [105618]
Mr. McCartney: The political situation in Chad continues to be unstable. There have been reports of rebel attacks on Chadian government forces and of spill-over violence from Darfur into Eastern Chad.
We are urging both the Chadian and Sudanese governments to implement and abide by the terms of the Tripoli Agreement and respect each other’s borders. We continue to raise our concerns over the situation in Chad through the EU and the UN.
UK officials also continue in their contacts with the Chadian government to make the case for engagement with the opposition.
Chinese Executions
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the government of China on the abolition of the death penalty. [105047]
Mr. Hoon:
We continue to lobby the Chinese government to limit, and ultimately abolish, its use of the death penalty. My noble and Learned Friend the Lord Chancellor most recently raised the death penalty
with the Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on 24 October. We also raised this issue at the most recent round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in July, and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade voiced his own concerns about the use of the death penalty in China during his visit in July.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of people executed in China in each of the last 10 years. [105048]
Mr. Hoon: Statistics on actual use of the death penalty in China remain a state secret, but non-governmental organisations have suggested that figures could currently be as high as 8,000 executions per year. We continue to press the Chinese government to limit, and ultimately abolish, its use of the death penalty, and improve transparency with regard to the number of people executed in China. My noble and Learned Friend the Lord Chancellor raised the death penalty with the Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on 24 October. We also raised death penalty reform at the last round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in July, and my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade, voiced his own concerns about the use of the death penalty in China during his visit in July.
Colombia
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Colombian urban crime initiatives in the last decade. [105054]
Mr. Hoon: Tackling violent crime, much of it linked to drugs, is one of the biggest challenges facing governments in the Latin American region, including Colombia. According to official statistics, overall crime rates have reduced considerably in many urban areas in Colombia over the last decade, and particularly under the Uribe government which has been in power since 2002. Murder rates in major cities like Bogota and Medellin have fallen significantly as a result of innovative crime reduction strategies, public education programmes, community policing and active citizen participation. Recent further increases in the size of the Colombian police force are evidence of the Colombian government’s determination to tackle urban crime, working with local authorities.
The abundance of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) is a key factor in urban crime in Colombia. Our Embassy in Bogota has ongoing discussions with the Colombian government on SALW and crime-related issues, and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, discussed the issue with them during his visit to Colombia in September 2006. The UK is currently supporting a regional project in Latin America, specifically Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, on strengthening community policing programmes, through the British Council.
Conflict Diamonds
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has received on the UN review of the Kimberly Process for the reduction in circulation of conflict diamonds. [105335]
Mr. Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has received no representations from participants, observers or interested parties on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) three-year review.
The European Commission (EC) co-ordinated an EC-wide response to the questions from the ad-hoc working group compiling the review. For the UK, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Government Diamond Office completed a questionnaire with contributions from other Government Departments. Business and non-governmental organisation observers responded separately.
The ad-hoc working group presented the final draft of the three-year review to the KPCS plenary in Gaborone in November 2006. The plenary accepted 46 recommendations contained in the final draft. Of the 10 issues on which no consensus was reached, some were incorporated by plenary into full recommendations, and the remainder were adopted as priorities for the KPCS to address in the coming year.
The UK welcomed these conclusions. They were endorsed at the AU Peace and Security Council meeting on 30 November, which also extended the mandate of the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) for six months from 1 January 2007.
The UK supports the need for troops to be maintained in Darfur in 2007. We are in regular contact with the AU through our post in Addis Ababa on this subject, and we are a leading financial supporter of AMIS, contributing £20 million of assistance this financial year.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effect on regional stability of the emigration of people from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda; what assessment she has made of the likely impact on the United Nations peacekeeping mission of the conflict between the Congolese army and forces loyal to General Nkunda; and what representations she plans to make to the UN on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [108056]
Mr. McCartney: According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Uganda, on 5 December, 12,000 Congolese came across the border into Uganda to escape fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). By 7 December 6,000 of them had already returned. As for previous, similar, incidents, we expect further returns to DRC as soon as the situation stabilises. UNHCR has sent teams to the area to monitor the situation. We will remain in close contact with them.
UN peacekeeping troops (MONUC) have taken robust action against those forces loyal to General Nkunda who have been launching attacks in eastern DRC. Last week MONUC re-took the town of Sake after it was briefly overrun by Nkunda’s troops. Our embassy in Kinshasa is in regular contact with MONUC. Officials in the UK’s Mission to the United Nations in New York have regular discussions with the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations and within the UN Security Council itself on all aspects of the peacekeeping operation in the DRC.
Departmental Computer Data
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many attempts to gain unauthorised access to her Department's computer systems have (a) been detected and (b) been successful in each of the last five years. [108322]
Mr. Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has robust and sophisticated protection against attempts at unauthorised access. We do not record the numerous attempted and thwarted attacks against our network. However, the information in respect of successful attacks is as follows:
| Number | |
In 2005 the attack on the FCO website resulted in pages being defaced. Since then the security counter-measures have been improved in an attempt to prevent similar attacks in the future.
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any of her Department's (a) computer data and (b) computer backup data is stored with online data storage providers. [108338]
Mr. Hoon: No. All data created by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are held either on Government systems or, in the case of backup data, in premises under FCO control.
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any of her Department's (a) computer data and (b) computer back-up data is stored outside the United Kingdom. [108391]
Mr. Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) operates computer systems in posts overseas where the UK is represented (a full list of posts is available on the FCO website at www.fco.gov.uk). All data, including back-up data, are stored within, and under the control of, our overseas posts.
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