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30 Jan 2007 : Column 226W—continued
Child Benefit
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 16 January 2007, Official Report, column 1009W, on child benefit, whether the estimated cost of the extension of child benefit was published in documents relating to the 2006 pre-Budget report. [111286]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 25 January 2007]: The estimated cost of the extension of child benefit was not published in documents relating to the pre-Budget report 2006. I refer the hon. Member to paragraph B.33 in the pre-Budget report 2006.
Conferences
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which conferences with fewer than 100 attendees were funded in whole or part by his Department in November 2006. [111213]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer to him of 18 December 2006, Official Report, column 1544W.
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letter of 29 November 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Debbie Levy. [117330]
Dawn Primarolo: I have written to my right hon. Friend about the issues raised by Ms Levy.
Department for Education and Skills
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether his Department has agreed that the £250 million increase in the Department for Education and Skills' capital budget in 2008-09 that he announced in his 2006 pre-Budget report be earmarked for primary schools (£150 million) and further education (£100 million); [111216]
(2) whether his Department has agreed that the £750 million increase in the Department for Education and Skills' capital budget in 2009-10 that he announced in his 2006 pre-Budget report be earmarked for primary schools (£500 million) and further education (£250 million). [111217]
Mr. Timms: The 2006 pre-Budget report announced that capital investment in education will rise by an additional £250 million, £750 million and £1,850 million over the years 2008-09 to 2010-11. Of the additional £250 million in 2008-09, £150 million will be for investment in primary schools and £100 million for investment in further education, and of the additional £750 million in 2009-10, £500 million will be for investment in primary schools and £250 million for investment in further education.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) press officers and (b) other staff were recruited by his Department in the last 12 months; and which of the posts to which recruits were appointed were newly created. [110782]
John Healey: The latest figures showing number of staff recruited to the Department can be found on the Treasury website at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/about_recruitment.cfm.
In the last 12 months, two press officers have been recruited to the Department to fill vacancies.
The Department does not centrally record the number of newly-created posts. This information could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Electoral Statistics
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) total number of electors and (b) registration rates were for each constituency in the UK in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06, broken down by region and ranked in descending order according to the difference between registration rates in each year. [112118]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what the (a) total number of electors and (b) registration rates were for each constituency in the UK in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2005-06, broken down by region and ranked in descending order according to the difference between registration rates in each year. (112118)
The Office for National Statistics does not currently produce population estimates by parliamentary constituencies, so we are unable to calculate rates for these years. For registration rates based on the 2001 Census, I refer you to the Official Record 12 December 2005 column 1718W.
The attached table, which I am placing in the House of Commons Library, shows electors and attainers by parliamentary constituency alphabetically by UK Country, and Government Office Region in England, for 1 December 2004 and 1 December 2005, the latest data available. These statistics can be downloaded from:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=319
Data for 1 December 2006 will be published here on 22 February 2007.
EMI Group
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions he has met representatives from EMI Group in the last 12 months; which representatives he met on each occasion; and what the purpose was of each meeting. [111235]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions in the last 12 months officials from his Department have met representatives from EMI Group; and what the purpose was of each meeting. [111236]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2007, Official Report, column 1340W, on Freedom of Information requests, what role special advisers have in determining which Freedom of Information Act requests are selected for publication on his Department’s website. [111913]
Inflation Figures
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest annual rate of inflation is in (a) the UK, (b) the USA, (c) the Eurozone and (d) Japan. [112086]
Ed Balls: The data are publicly available from the respective official statistical offices.
(a) UK: www.statistics.gov.uk
(b) USA: www.bls.gov
(c) Euro area: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
(d) Japan: www.stat.go.jp/english/data/cpi/index.htm
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when (a) he and (b) his officials were first informed of the Consumer Price Index inflation figures to be published on 16 January; [116630]
(2) if he will make a statement on the availability to the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England of inflation data produced by the Office of National Statistics prior to the public release of such data. [116634]
John Healey [holding answers 18 January 2007]: As with other market sensitive statistics the National Statistics Code of Practice sets out pre-release access to the Consumer Price Indices for the Treasury and the Bank of England.
The information on the availability to the Monetary Policy Committee of inflation data produced by the Office for National Statistics falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked her to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the availability to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England of inflation data produced by the Office of National Statistics, prior to its public release. (116634)
Consistent with the National Statistics Code of Practice Protocol on Release Practices (Paragraph 4(f)) an estimate of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) is given every month to a restricted list of named ministers and officials and the Governor of the Bank of England 40.5 hours before publication. The names of the people receiving privileged early access are published on the National Statistics website.
In addition in months when the MPC meets in the week immediately preceding publication of the CPI the ONS provides the Governor with an advance estimate of the CPI on the Wednesday afternoon prior to publication. Paragraphs 4(f)ii and 5.2 of the Release Practices Protocol provides for extensions to the usual privileged early access arrangements. Under the terms of this extension the Governor is free to share the advance estimate with the MPC and officials present at the Thursday morning meeting of the MPC. In the months when this extension applies a note is included in the ONS First Release.
Consistent with this extension an advance estimate of the CPI for December was sent to the Governor on the afternoon of 10 January. This was recorded in paragraph 19 of the Background Notes to the First Release published on 16 January. The published estimate was sent to the Governor at 5 p.m. on 12 January in line with the usual privileged early access arrangements.
Interest Rates
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average interest rate set by (a) the Bank of England, (b) the Federal Reserve Board in the US, (c) the European Central Bank and (d) the Japanese Central Bank has been since the introduction of the euro. [112085]
Ed Balls: The data are publicly available from the respective central banks.
(a) Bank of England: www.bankofengland.co.uk
(b) Federal Reserve Board in the US: www.federalreserve.gov
(c) European Central Bank: www.ecb.int
(d) Japanese Central Bank: www.boj.or.jp/en/
Irish People
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) male and (b) female Irish people aged (i) 65 to 69, (ii) 70 to 74, (iii) 75 to 79 and (iv) 80 to 85 and (v) over 85 years are living in each local authority area. [111801]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) male and (b) female Irish people aged (i) 65 to 69, (ii) 70 to 74, (iii) 75 to 79 and (iv) 80 to 85 and (v) over 85 years are living in each local authority area. (111801)
The number of people who described their ethnicity to be Irish in each local authority is available in table S101 on the CD supplement to the 2001 Census National Report for England and Wales, which is available in the House of Commons Library.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were claiming jobseeker's allowance in Wellingborough on 31 December in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006. [111266]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 30 January 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in the Wellingborough constituency. I am replying in her absence. (111266).
The ONS compiles statistics of people claiming JSA and publishes them as the claimant count. Figures for parliamentary constituencies are published on a monthly basis in the regional Labour Market Statistics First Releases which are available through the House of Commons Library. The number of residents claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the Wellingborough constituency in December 1997 was 1,494 and the number claiming in December 2006 was 1,536.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) date, (b) purpose and (c) cost was of each helicopter flight he has taken in the last 12 months. [111214]
John Healey: In respect of overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. Where non-scheduled aircraft are used this is shown in the list. Information for 2005-06 was published on 24 July 2006. Copies of the lists are available in the Library. Equivalent detail about domestic travel could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All travel by Treasury Ministers and officials is undertaken in accordance with the “Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers” and the Civil Service Management Code, as appropriate.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department charged media organisations to accompany him on his trip to India in January 2007. [111215]
John Healey: The Department did not charge media organisations.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value of mileage allowances for travel on official business claimed by Ministers in his Department was in each of the last two years. [111885]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers do not normally use their private cars for travel on official business. I am not aware of any claims by Ministers.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has visited Exeter on official business since 1997. [111352]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers’ official duties entail visits throughout the United Kingdom.
Mortality Statistics
Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died as a result of a stroke in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006. [111832]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people died as a result of strokes in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006.(111832)
The most recent year for which figures are available is 2005. The table below shows the number of deaths from strokes in England and Wales for the years 2003 to 2005.
| Number of deaths from strokes( 1) England and Wales, 2003 to 2005( 2) | |
| Number of deaths | |
| (1) Selected using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-IO) codes 160-169. (2) Figures are for occurrences of death in each calendar year. | |
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