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16 Apr 2007 : Column 413W—continued
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to improve the provision of services and information by HM Revenue and Customs in Huddersfield. [131597]
Dawn Primarolo: In the last 18 months HMRC have made changes to the way their inquiry centres operate to improve the face to face service offered and its efficiency.
HMRC have an effective quality assurance system. Regular assurance checks are carried out by higher grade officers, checking that the processes and approach to customers are nationally consistent. In addition, managers discuss work issues with their staff on a weekly basis and carry out quarterly quality checks on the work of each member of their staff.
Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the average duration of a telephone call by a member of the public to the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs was in the last period for which figures are available; [130820]
(2) what the average waiting time was before a telephone call by a member of the public to the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs was answered by a member of staff in the last period for which figures are available; [130822]
(3) what targets have been set for the management of HM Revenue and Customs for the improved handling of telephone calls to the national helpline by members of the public; and if he will make a statement; [130823]
(4) how many telephone calls to the national helpline for HM Revenue and Customs were answered in 2005-06; and how many have been answered in 2006-07; [130824]
(5) how many full-time equivalent staff are employed to deal directly with telephone calls to HM Revenue and Customs' national helpline; [130825]
(6) how many customers are held in a telephone queue for the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs before further calls are automatically terminated; [130826]
(7) how many telephone calls to the national helpline of HM Revenue and Customs were automatically terminated during 2005-06; how many have been so terminated in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [130827]
Dawn Primarolo: The data is not available in the format requested.
Road Transport
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give consideration to extending the review of road transport fuels which he has asked Professor Julia King and Sir Nicholas Stern to conduct to include an evaluation of alternatives to kerosene air transport fuel. [130004]
John Healey: The review will focus on road transport fuels and technologies. The Government’s objective is to ensure that aviation is included within the EU emissions trading scheme as soon as possible, but in addition the Government will continue to explore areas where support may be appropriate in the development of alternative aviation fuels.
Sick Leave
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people of working age were off work for a period exceeding six months through sickness or disability in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006. [130848]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 16 April 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people of working age who were off work for more than six months through sickness or disability in 1997 and 2006. I am replying in her absence. (130848)
Historically, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) collects information about people who were absent from work because of sickness or injury in the week before their interview. The answers to this question give no indication of the overall length of their sickness absence.
More recently, the LFS has been extended to ask whether respondents had been off work for illnesses caused or aggravated by work. This data however excludes non- work related sicknesses or disabilities that did not originate from the workplace. It also excludes those off work for over a year.
As a result, the information necessary to answer the question is not available from the LFS.
Sir Ronald Cohen
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many official functions held at No. 11 Downing Street in the last 12 months have been attended by Sir Ronald Cohen. [128366]
John Healey: No. 11 Downing Street is used as a venue for government meetings, official meetings, meetings with external stakeholders and events by charities. As was the case with the previous administration, it is not the Government's practice to disclose lists of individuals.
Small Businesses: Grants
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made towards the establishment of a small business development bank. [126579]
Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
The Government are not progressing any proposal for the establishment of a small business development bank.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Dr. Cable: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the reduction in the yield of stamp duty land tax as a result of the sale of commercial and residential property into offshore companies; and if he will make a statement. [131617]
Ed Balls: The purchase of UK commercial property by offshore companies attracts stamp duty land tax. No estimate is available of the subsequent reduction in yield from transactions of shares in those companies instead of the underlying property.
Taxation: Companies
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on UK investment of the Paymaster General’s announcement on 2 March limiting sideways loss relief. [131358]
Dawn Primarolo: The changes announced on 2 March 2007 target the continued use of sideways loss relief for tax avoidance and should have no significant effect on genuine investment.
Taxation: Self-assessment
Mr. Malins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers who submitted self-assessment tax returns were charged a penalty of £100 for late submission in each of the last three years; how many appealed against the penalty in each year; how many appeals were allowed in each year; what percentage of penalty charges were collected in each year; and how many were not collected due to death or tax due being under £100 in each year. [131420]
Dawn Primarolo: The total number of £100 late filing penalties issued, cancelled and appeals received against throughout the last three years are as detailed in the following table. HMRC does not have information on how many appeals were allowed, the percentage of these penalties collected or how many were not collected due to death or tax being under £100.
| Penalties issued | Penalties cancelled | Penalty appeals received | |
Unemployment
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children in (a) Hartlepool constituency, (b) the Tees Valley sub-regions, (c) the North East region and (d) the UK live in a family in which neither parent works. [130909]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 April 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking how many children in (a) Hartlepool constituency, (b) the Tees Valley sub-regions, (c) the North East region and (d) the UK live in a family in which neither parent works. (130909)
The attached table gives the number of children in families where no parent is working. The numbers in the table include children of lone parents who are not in employment as well as children of couples in which neither partner is in employment.
Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
| Number of children( 1) in a family where no parent is working( 2) ; October to December 2006 | |
| Thousand | |
| (1) Children refers to children under 16. (2) Estimates exclude families with unknown economic activity status. Source: Labour Force Survey | |
Unemployment: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many economically inactive people of working age there were in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in age groups (i) 18 to 24, (ii) 25 to 50 and (iii) over 50 years old in each year since 1997. [130963]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 April 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about how many economically inactive people of working age there were in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex in age groups (i) 18 to 24, (ii) 25 to 50 and (iii) 50 years old or more in each year since 19911 (130963)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of inactivity 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 economically inactive persons, aged 16 to 24, 25 to 49, 50 to retirement age and for all persons of working age, resident in the Eastbourne constituency, from the annual local area LFS for the 12-month periods ending in February from 1997 to 2004 and from the APS for the 12-month periods ending in March from 2005 to 2006. These numbers are also expressed as a percentage of the relevant population. Table 2 shows similar information for East Sussex.
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.
All estimates refer to the current administrative East Sussex area.
| Table 1: Economic inactivity by age group for the Eastbourne parliamentary constituency | ||||||||
| Thousand | ||||||||
| 16 to 24 | 25 to 49 | 50 to retirement age( 1) | All persons of working age( 2) | |||||
| 12 months ending | Level | Rate (%) | Level | Rate (%) | Level | Rate (%) | Level | Rate (%) |
| (1) Males aged 50 to 64 and females aged 50 to 59. (2) Males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59. (3) Sample size too small to provide estimates. Notes: 1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey. | ||||||||
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