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1 May 2007 : Column 1625W—continued
National Income: Darlington
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross domestic product was per head of the resident population in Darlington in each year since 1992. [135015]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 1 May 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita for the resident population of Darlington in each year since 1992. I am replying in her absence. (135015)
The Office for National Statistics publishes regional Gross Value Added (GVA) rather than regional GDP. GVA is the same as GDP except for excluding taxes and subsidies on products. Estimates of GVA for Darlington on a consistent basis are only available for the period 1995 to 2004. These data are shown in table 1.
Prior to 1995 regional estimates of GDP were produced on a different accounting basis using different methodology and cannot be used to produce a consistent time series with the later data. GDP on this basis only exists for Darlington for the years 1993 and 1994 and these data are shown in table 2.
Both data-sets are at current prices, therefore the effects of inflation are not taken into account.
| Table 1: GVA per head for Darlington 1995-2004 | |
| GVA per head | |
| Table 2: GDP per head for Darlington 1993-94 | |
| GDP per head | |
Pension Credit: Finance
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the proposed increase in the pension credit guarantee to £130 by 2010 will be financed. [134566]
Ed Balls: The figure of £130 is an estimate of the rate of the pension credit guarantee informed by the Treasury’s latest projections for average earnings growth, which are consistent with the assumptions for trend output growth published in chapter B of the 2007 FSBR. The precise rate will be set in the usual way in due course by the annual uprating order, which is subject to affirmative resolution with debates in both Houses. The White Paper, “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system” (May 2006) set out the Government’s intention to uprate the pension credit guarantee in line with earnings over the long-term and factored this in to the overall projected costs of state pension reform. The Government’s spending commitments will be financed in line with the fiscal rules.
Pension Funds
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the total assets of UK pension funds were in each of the last 30 years in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms at today’s prices; [134081]
(2) what the annual income of pension funds was in each of the last 30 years; and if he will make a statement. [134082]
Ed Balls: The Office for National Statistics’ survey of self-administered pension funds collects information on incomes, investment flows by and holdings of self-administered pension funds. The data are published by the ONS in its “Investment by insurance companies, pension funds and trusts (MQ5)”, available at:
Pensions: Compensation
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the percentage of mis-sold pensions which have been the subject of completed compensatory procedures over the last 20 years; and if he will make a statement. [134080]
Ed Balls:
This information is not held centrally. The Financial Ombudsman Service publishes figures on the number of cases it deals with each year. In addition,
figures issued by the Financial Services Authority show that 1.7 million people have had their cases reviewed in a programme of reviews by authorised firms of personal pensions sold between April 1988 and June 1994.
Pensions: Gurkhas
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect of proposals in the 2007 Budget on the pensions of (a) serving and (b) retired Gurkhas; and if he will make a statement. [134490]
Ed Balls: Budget 2007 announced a rebalancing of taxation on to polluting activities, and tackling avoidance. This has allowed the Government to simplify the tax system for all and to offer more support for work, families and pensioners.
The overall effect on Gurkhas resident in the UK will be dependant on the interactions between the different elements of all the reforms contained in the Budget, and the household circumstances of each individual.
Personal Savings
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) the north east and (b) Middlesbrough south and east Cleveland have individual savings accounts. [134868]
Ed Balls: Latest estimates of the number of people in the north-east holding an ISA are provided in Table 9.12 (Market value of ISA funds: By country and region) on Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs website at:
Estimates are not available below Government Office Region level.
Population
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people came to live in the UK in the last 10 years; and how many people have emigrated in that period. [133221]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 1 May 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question concerning how many people have come to live in the UK in the last decade; and how many people have emigrated in that period. I am replying in her absence. (133221)
The Office for National Statistics uses the UN definition of an international migrant as someone who changes their country of usual residence for at least a year so that the country of destination effectively becomes the country of usual residence.
Total International Migration (TIM) estimates show that for the most recent 10 year period for which data are available (1996-2005), a total of 4,624,000 people migrated to the UK for a year or more and a total of 3,174,000 people emigrated.
Premium Bonds
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value is of premium bond prize money awarded following the death of the holder held by HM Treasury in non-interest bearing accounts. [134246]
Ed Balls: NS&I only become aware of the death of a customer if they are notified of it as part of the settlement of the estate of the deceased. Where this happens, the normal practice is for the value of the bonds and any unpaid prizes to be repaid as part of the settlement process. For the remaining unpaid prizes, NS&I are unable to distinguish between money which is unclaimed due to a death of which they have not been notified, and that which is unclaimed for other reasons.
In general terms, however, any premium bond prizes which are unclaimed following three months of the draw are classified as “unpaid” and are held by NS&I for a further 21 months (making a total of two years) on a non-interest bearing basis. NS and I currently hold £5,954,984 on this basis, if the prize is still unclaimed two years after the draw it is transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt (CRND).
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value was of premium bond prizes won following the death of the holder (a) in each of the last three years for which figures are available and (b) in total over the last 30 years. [134247]
Ed Balls: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value of premium bond prizes is that were awarded following the death of the bond holder and which were transferred to the National Loans Office in circumstances in which he was authorised to make use of the funds in the last (a) five years, (b) 10 years and (c) 30 years. [134248]
Ed Balls: NS&I only become aware of the death of a customer if they are notified of it as part of the settlement of the estate of the deceased. Where this happens, the normal practice is for the value of the bonds and any unpaid prizes to be repaid as part of the settlement process. For the remaining unpaid prizes, NS&I are unable to distinguish between money that is unclaimed due to a death of which they have not been notified, and that which is unclaimed for other reasons. It is therefore impossible to give an accurate answer to this question.
In general terms, however, any premium bond prizes which are unclaimed following three months of the draw are classified as "unpaid" and are held by NS&I for a further 21 months (making a total of two years) on a non-interest bearing basis. If the prize is still unclaimed two years after the draw it is transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt (CRND—formerly part of the National Investment and Loans Office).
The values for the five, 10 and 30 years periods requested are:
| £ | |
Private Finance Initiative: Tax Avoidance
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will bring forward proposals for legislation under which companies bidding for private finance initiative contracts would be required to state publicly that they are not using tax havens to avoid UK taxes; [133554]
(2) if he will bring forward proposals for legislation under which companies avoiding UK taxes would not be eligible for private finance initiative contracts. [133555]
John Healey: The Government have no plans to change current procurement procedures. In developing PFI contracts, Departments are required to apply Treasury guidance set out in the letter of 22 May 2003 to Departments (DAO/Gen 03), which is on the Treasury website at:
Public Expenditure
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportions of transfer payments which were payments from the lifetime rich to the lifetime poor in (a) 1992, (b) 1997, (c) 2001 and (d) 2006. [134131]
Mr. Timms: No such estimate has been made.
Social Security Benefits: Children
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax has been collected under Chapter 8 of Part 2 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 since the introduction of the legislation; and how many taxpayers have been liable for tax as a result of being in deemed employment within the meaning of that chapter. [134808]
Ed Balls: Those covered by the Intermediaries legislation are required to register with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as employers and to operate PAYE/NIC on actual and deemed payments of employment income to workers. HMRC does not routinely collect data in respect of specific types of employer from PAYE/NIC returns. As such it is not possible to isolate data relating solely to this legislation.
Tax Credits: Overpayments
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many personal visits were made by officials to tax credit claimants prior to court summons being issued for the recovery of overpayments in each (a) year, (b) quarter and (c) month since April 2003. [133996]
John Healey: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but HMRC’s policy is to attempt to make personal contact in all cases before legal proceedings are considered including at least one visit to the last known address of the claimant.
Taxation
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax repayment claim forms were sent (a) automatically and (b) after case review by officials to regular claimants in each year since 1997. [134635]
John Healey: The total number of tax repayment claim forms issued automatically by HM Revenue and Customs, to customers who have claimed repayment in the previous year, since 2000-01 (the data are not held for earlier years) is as follows.
| Number | |
The reduction in the numbers of claim forms issued reflects an increase in the number of eligible people who have completed an R85 form to receive their bank and building society interest without any tax deductions.
In addition, HM Revenue and Customs also issue tax repayment claim forms on request (no data are held on the number issued each year).
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