| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
19 Feb 2007 : Column 472W—continued
Prisoners
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forecasts of the expected rise in the prison population his Department relied on in discussions with the Home Office on prison funding prior to 22 March 2006. [121020]
Mr. Timms: The Home Office produces regular projections of the prison population which are published as National Statistics. Past prison population projections are available on the Home Office website at:
homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/nomsproj.html
Public Sector: Consultants
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate (a) his Department and (b) the Office of Government Commerce has made of the annual cost of external consultants in the public sector. [119483]
John Healey: Neither the OGC nor the Treasury holds central information on public sector consultancy spend. The recent NAO report central Government’s use of consultants has estimated that total public sector spend on consultancy is around £2.8 billion.
Revenue and Customs: Manpower
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs officers are deployed at entry points to the UK. [120409]
Dawn Primarolo: As at 1 January 2007, HMRC deployed approximately 4,500 frontline operational staff at entry points to the UK.
Smuggling: Fuels
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were prosecuted in relation to activities associated with the operation of illegal fuel laundering plants in Northern Ireland during 2006; and how many were convicted. [120286]
John Healey: Four people were convicted in relation to hydrocarbon fuels fraud in Northern Ireland during 2005-06. The figure is for all hydrocarbon oils fraud, including activities relating to laundering plants. The 2006-07 figures will be published in the HMRC Annual Report later this year.
Social Security Benefits: Overseas Residence
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid in (a) child benefit, (b) child tax credit and (c) guardian’s allowance to parents in respect of children living in (i) Poland, (ii) the Czech Republic, (iii) Estonia, (iv) Hungary, (v) Latvia, (vi) Lithuania, (vii) Slovakia and (viii) Slovenia in the last year for which figures are available. [120304]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested on payments could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Staff Magazine
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library copies of the last 12 editions of his Department’s staff magazine. [110078]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 5 February 2007, Official Report, column 737W.
Stamp Duty
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2007, Official Report, column 1856W, what the evidential basis was for his estimate that over half of all first time home buyers are exempt from stamp duty. [120258]
Ed Balls: Based on HMRC administrative data from 2005-06, very slightly under half (around 48 per cent.) of all residential transactions do not bear stamp duty as a consequence of falling under the lowest stamp duty land tax price threshold or of benefiting from disadvantaged area relief.
Due to the significantly lower price profile of properties bought by first time buyers, compared to all residential transactions, it is therefore estimated that the percentage of residential transactions involving first time buyers in 2005-06 which are not liable to stamp duty land tax is higher than 50 per cent.
Taxation
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were working in the indirect taxes team in each of the last six months. [120374]
John Healey: HM Treasury does not have an indirect taxes team.
Taxation: Gaming Clubs
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of future tax revenues from the gaming industry for the next five years. [120686]
John Healey: Revenue forecasts were set out in the Financial Statement and Budget Report and updated in the pre-Budget report.
Taxation: National Lottery
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent estimates his Department has made of the effect on (a) prize levels, (b) good causes revenue and (c) taxation revenues of a change to the taxation regime for the National Lottery from Lottery Duty to Gross Profits Taxation; [121125]
(2) how much revenue was raised from Lottery Duty in each year since the creation of the National Lottery in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms; and if he will make a statement. [121126]
John Healey: Revenues from gambling taxes are published in the HM Revenue and Customs Betting, Gaming and Lottery Duties Bulletin, available at:
http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=bullbett
PBR 2005 announced the conclusion to the review of gambling taxation, which began in 2004. We concluded that the current taxation regimes are generally working well and that maintaining stability in the overall structure of taxation is desirable in a period of transition. In these circumstances the Government decided to maintain the current system of duty on the National Lottery.
Taxation: Pensions
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the HM Revenue and Customs announcement of 24 January Employers: The Tax and National Insurance Treatment of Employer Cash Inducement Payments to Pension Scheme Members, how many employers have been advised by HM Revenue and Customs, based in past interpretation of the law, that inducement payments would not be subject to tax and national insurance; and if he will estimate how much extra tax and national insurance would have been due on such payments in each of the last two financial years if the interpretation of the law set out in that announcement had been applied. [120454]
Ed Balls: Under HMRC's past interpretation, the position in a particular case would depend entirely on the particular facts and circumstances of the case. HMRC do not hold a central record of all the cases in which advice has been given. On current information HMRC estimates that in a small number of cases it gave advice, based on its past interpretation of the law, that payments were not taxable.
Information is not held centrally on which an estimate of the tax and national insurance that would have been due had HMRC applied its view of the law as announced on 24 January 2006.
Taxpayers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many adults in the UK paid (a) income tax and (b) national insurance contributions in the most recent year for which figures are available; [119479]
(2) how many adults in the UK paid national insurance contributions and not income tax in 2005-06. [119520]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of UK taxpayers are published in table 3.3 ‘Distribution of total income before and after tax by gender’ on HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm#31.
Estimates of the number of people who paid national insurance contributions during the tax year can be found in table CQY 1.0 ‘Number of people who paid National Insurance Contributions during the tax year by type of contribution’ on the Department for Work and Pensions website at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/dsu/contsandqualify/Conts_and_Qual_Years_tables05.xls.
It is not possible to provide an estimate of the number of people in the UK who paid national insurance contributions but not income tax except at a disproportionate cost.
Trade Unions
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department or its agencies have provided funding to individual trade unions in the last three years. [119484]
John Healey: In common with other departments, the Chancellor’s departments provide facilities time to elected departmental trade union officials to work on union business while being paid by the department. Office space and equipment is also provided. No grant funding has been provided to individual trade unions in the last three years.
Unemployment: Leeds
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of working age people in Leeds East constituency were unemployed on 1 May in each year since 1997. [120723]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 19 February 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what percentage of working age people in Leeds East constituency were unemployed on 1st May in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (120723).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
Table 1, attached, shows the number of unemployed of working age, and as a proportion of the resident population of working age, resident in the Leeds East constituency for the 12 months ending in February from 1997 to 2004 from the annual local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March 2005 and 2006 from the APS.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area, they are based on very small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case, the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.
ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Table 2, attached, shows the number of people resident in the Leeds East constituency claiming JSA in May from 1997 to 2006. The table also includes these figures expressed as a proportion of the resident working-age population.
| Table 1: Working-age( 1) unemployment in the Leeds East parliamentary constituency | ||
| 12 months ending | Level (Thousand) | Percentage( 2) |
| (1) Working age is defined as males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59. (2) The number of unemployed of working age expressed as a percentage of the resident population of working age. Note: 1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey. | ||
| Table 2: Claimants of jobseeker's allowance in the Leeds East parliamentary constituency | ||
| May | Level | Proportion( 1) (Percentage) |
| (1) Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working age population based on 2001 Census data adjusted to be consistent with 2001 mid-year population estimates for local authorities. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data | ||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |