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17 Jan 2007 : Column 1134W—continued

Departmental Projects

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which (a) individuals and (b) companies have (i) donated money to and (ii) sponsored projects run by his Department where the sum provided was more than £100,000 in each year since 1997; and which projects were supported in each case. [115207]

John Healey: There have been no donations or bequests over £100,000 specifically as a contribution to the running costs of the Treasury since 1997. Donations and bequests are periodically received by the Treasury as a contribution to the public finances, and some have exceeded £100,000. Those donations are surrendered to the consolidated fund.

There have been no sponsorships received by the Treasury with a value greater than £100,000 since the formal introduction of resource accounting in 2001-02. I am not aware of any sponsorships over £100,000 between 1997 and 2001-02, although sponsorship arrangements would not have been recorded under the appropriation accounting system.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost was of employing staff in his Department in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2005-06. [115206]

John Healey: Information on staff costs can be found in HM Treasury’s 2005-06 resource account—HC 1344 and 1996-97 departmental report Cm 3617.


17 Jan 2007 : Column 1135W

Financial Inclusion Taskforce

Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the chair is of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce; what his or her remuneration is; and how much they have claimed in expenses since appointment. [115392]

Ed Balls: The Chair of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce is Brian Pomeroy, CBE. All members of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce, including the Chair, are unremunerated for the considerable time and effort they spend on Taskforce matters. The Taskforce budget includes a provision for reasonable travel and subsistence expenses incurred by members on Taskforce business. Expenses claimed by members since the inception of the Taskforce in February 2005 have been minimal.

Financial Services

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1735W, on financial services, what estimates he made of the potential change in tax revenue prior to the change in the law on 3 December 2004 refusing the right of claimants from outside the European Union in the financial services and insurance sectors engaged in the supply of services to non-EU customers to recover VAT incurred on goods and services from UK suppliers. [115990]

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1735W. It was estimated in 2004 that this change would have a negligible effect.

Golden Rule

Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2007, Official Report, column 595W, when he will be in a position to confirm whether the last year of the current economic cycle will be included in the next economic cycle for the purposes of calculating compliance with the Golden Rule. [115939]

Mr. Timms: The Government will continue to publish its assessment of progress against the Golden Rule in each Budget and PBR.

Income Statistics

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) average investment income and (b) average earned income was of (i) the top (A) 0.1 per cent., (B) one per cent., (C) five per cent., (D) 10 per cent., (E) 20 per cent. and (F) 25 per cent. and (ii) bottom (1) 70 per cent. and (2) 50 per cent. of all taxpayers in the latest year for which data is available. [114897]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 15 January 2007]: The information for 2004-05 is provided in the following table.


17 Jan 2007 : Column 1136W
Taxpayers ranged on total tax paid ( 1) (per cent.)( 2) Mean total investment income( 3) Mean total earned income

Top 0.1

146,000

754,000

Top 1

35,200

220,000

Top 5

12,400

95,900

Top 10

7,890

68,500

Top 20

4,750

50,100

Top 25

4,090

45,300

Bottom 70

1,010

12,200

Bottom 50

827

9,740

(1 )Estimates obtained from the Survey of Personal Incomes, 2004-05.
(2) Investment income defined as the sum of rents from UK property, interest from banks, building societies and other deposit takers, dividends from shares in UK companies and unit trusts and other income taxable at 20 per cent.
(3) Earned income includes pay, pensions, self-employment income and miscellaneous other earnings.
(4) Estimates are rounded to 3 significant figures.

Inheritance Tax

Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of inheritance tax payments made by each income decile group in each year since 1997-98. [115528]

Dawn Primarolo: We have no estimate of the income distribution of those whose estates incur an inheritance tax charge. However all are in the top decile of the wealth distribution.

Low Calorie Foods: VAT Rules

Damian Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the proposed changes to VAT rules affecting very low calorie foods. [113377]

Dawn Primarolo: Most food is VAT zero-rated. The VAT liability of low calorie foods generally follows the VAT liability of their mainstream food equivalents, and they may be zero or standard-rated depending on the nature of the product and the way that it is supplied. This has been the case since VAT was introduced in 1973 and there are no proposals to change this.

Non-domiciliary Taxation

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2006, Official Report, column 692W, on non-domiciliary taxation, on what date the review was announced; and when he expects to conclude the review. [114876]

Dawn Primarolo: The Review of Residence and Domicile rules as they affect the taxation of individuals was announced at Budget 2002. The review is ongoing.

Olympics

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which is the lead team in his Department for monitoring the cost of the 2012 Olympics. [115214]


17 Jan 2007 : Column 1137W

John Healey: A number of Treasury teams contribute to monitoring the cost of the 2012 Olympics. The Devolved Countries and Regions team has the overall lead on the Olympics.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any member of staff in his Department spends more than 70 per cent. of his or her time on issues relating to the 2012 Olympics. [115215]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 13 December, Official Report, column 1198W.

Personal Debt

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the amount of unsecured personal debt has changed in the last 20 years as a percentage of (a) average (median) income and (b) GDP. [114971]


17 Jan 2007 : Column 1138W

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

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 17 January 2007:

Unsecured personal debt as a percentage of average income and GDP, 1987-2005
Unsecured Personal debt( 1) (end-year) (£) Gross Disposable Income( 2) (£) GDP (£ million) Unsecured debt as a % of average income(end-year) Unsecured debt as a % of GDP (end-year)

1987

47,088

262,603

420,211

17.9

11.2

1988

57,606

290,907

469,035

19.8

12.3

1989

68,854

323,573

514,921

21.3

13.4

1990

74,779

359,898

558,160

20.8

13.4

1991

75,439

395,925

587,080

19.1

12.8

1992

72,081

426,780

611,974

16.9

11.8

1993

68,623

452,965

642,656

15.1

10.7

1994

72,031

469,387

680,978

15.3

10.6

1995

77,474

497,593

719,747

15.6

10.8

1996

80,084

526,366

765,152

15.2

10.5

1997

88,412

559,941

811,194

15.8

10.9

1998

97,404

582,790

860,796

16.7

11.3

1999

109,208

608,988

906,567

17.9

12.0

2000

124,323

643,415

953,227

19.3

13.0

2001

140,891

686,312

996,987

20.5

14.1

2002

157,748

709,048

1,048,767

22.2

15.0

2003

163,506

740,389

1,110,296

22.1

14.7

2004

183,390

765,683

1,176,527

24.0

15.6

2005

194,003

804,756

1,225,339

24.1

15.8

(1) Unsecured personal debt is the sum of short term loans issued by Monetary Financial Institutions in the United Kingdom and abroad. We have assumed average income as being gross disposable income. The data were published in the United Kingdom Economic Accounts table 64 published on 21 December 2006 available at the following address.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1904&Pos=&ColRank=l&Rank=422
(2 )For the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sectors, consistent estimates of average income are not available. The figures are given as a proportion of total gross disposable income.

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