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22 Feb 2007 : Column 826W—continued
| Table 3: Local authority wards with the highest and lowest period life expectancy at birth( 1, 2) all persons, England and Wales, 1999-2003( 3) | ||||||
| Years of life | ||||||
| Rank order | Local authority | 2001 Census standard table ward | Life expectancy | 95 per cent. confidence interval( 4) | Communal establishment indicator( 5) | |
| (1) Period life expectancy at birth is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the area’s age-specific mortality rates for that time period throughout his or her life. The figure reflects mortality among those living in the area in each time period, rather than mortality among those born in each area. It is not therefore the number of years a baby born in the area in each time period could actually expect to live, both because the death rates of the area are likely to change in the future and because many of those born in the area will live elsewhere for at least some part of their lives. (2) Using boundaries as of 2005. (3) Five year averages, based on deaths registered in each year, and experimental ward population estimates based on the 2001 Census. (4) Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. Calculations based on small numbers of events are often subject to random fluctuations. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. (5) The presence of medical and care communal establishments, such as nursing homes and hospices, can artificially depress the average life expectancy of the ward in which they are located. To aid interpretation of the figures, this indicator shows the proportion of the population of each ward, aged 65 and over, who were resident in such establishments in 2001. For this purpose, all wards in England and Wales (not only the wards in these Boroughs) were divided into six groups which are numbered from 0 to 5: ‘0’ means that none of the over-65 population lived in medical and care communal establishments; ‘1’ means that the proportion of the over-65 population in such establishments was in the lowest fifth of all wards; ‘5’ means that the proportion of the over-65 population in such establishments was in the highest fifth of all wards. | ||||||
Official Visits: Kuwait
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of the visit by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to Kuwait in February 2007. [123023]
Ed Balls: I made no such visit.
Overseas Aid
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total amount paid in remittances from the UK to developing countries in each of the last five years, broken down by recipient state. [122563]
Ed Balls: The UK authorities do not produce official statistics of workers’ remittances disaggregated on the basis of destination country. The breakdown of the size of immigrant communities in the UK provides one indicator on the destination of the bulk of remittance flows out of the UK. Estimates of the size of UK remittance market, can be found in the report of the UK Remittances Working Group(1), established in 2004 by the Department for International Development (DFID). This shows that DFID believes the most reliable estimate for total remittances from the UK to developing countries to be £2.3 billion in 2005 and that—based on the size of diaspora communities—the primary developing country recipients of UK remittances are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, Kenya, Nigeria and China.
(1) Available at www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/uk-remittances-report.pdf
Public Expenditure: Pendle
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what expenditure is planned to be carried out in Pendle by his Department in the years up to 2010; and if he will make a statement. [120605]
John Healey: Expenditure incurred by HM Treasury benefits the whole of the United Kingdom, including the hon. Gentlemen's constituency.
Revenue and Customs: Accrington
Mr. Pope:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that no staff at Accrington
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office are moved to any other HMRC office prior to the completion of the review of the office scheduled to take place in the summer. [120527]
Dawn Primarolo: I can assure my hon. Friend that no staff in the Accrington HMRC office will be required to move before the review of the Preston/Blackpool urban centre, which includes Accrington, is completed. There may of course be circumstances where staff will themselves choose to move for personal or career reasons.
Revenue and Customs: Manpower
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the projections for staff numbers in each HM Revenue and Customs office up until 2010; and if he will make a statement. [120966]
Dawn Primarolo: In November 2006, HMRC announced a series of regional consultations of its accommodation. For consultation purposes offices within each region have been classified into three categories: urban centres, clusters of offices and individual locations. All the buildings within an urban centre, cluster or individual location will be looked at as a whole. Staffing projections for the outcome for individual offices will depend on the outcome of the consultations. Initial staffing projections to 2008 and 2010 by location were published in November on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/local/transforming-hmrc.htm
These projections are subject to change following further refinement of business planning and the outcomes of the consultation with internal and external stakeholders that has been built into the review process.
Revenue and Customs: Religion
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) Protestant, (b) Roman Catholic and (c) non-determined appointees there were to HM Revenue and Customs in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years. [122360]
Dawn Primarolo: The numbers of appointees to HM Revenue and Customs(1) in the last three years, broken down by Protestant, Roman Catholic and non-determined is set out in the following table:
| Year | Protestant | Roman Catholic | Non- determined |
(1) HM Revenue and Customs was formed in 18 April 05 by the coming together of the Inland Revenue (IR) and HM Customs and Excise (HMCE). The statistics quoted have been obtained by merging the appointees' figures from IR and HMCE for the relevant years.
Secondments
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) paid and (b) unpaid persons who have been seconded to HM Treasury from outside the Civil Service in the last 12 months; from which organisation each was seconded; what position each occupied in his Department; and whether each was paid from the public purse. [115385]
John Healey: The information requested can be found at
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/about_ secondee.cfm
Shari’a Finance
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with financial institutions on the provision of Shari'a bank accounts, savings accounts and mortgages. [111084]
Ed Balls: The Government have taken a range of steps to modernise the taxation and regulatory framework for Shari'a-compliant financial products.
This includes changes to ensure the consistent taxation treatment of Shari'a-compliant home financing arrangements in 2003, retail finance in 2006 and business finance in 2007.
In addition, the Regulation of Financial Services (Land Transactions) Act 2005 brings Ijara home financing arrangements within the scope of Financial Services authority regulation, ensuring a level playing regulatory field within the Shari'a-compliant home financing market. The changes will take effect from 6 April 2007.
HM Treasury Ministers and officials meet and receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals 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 and representations.
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