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14 Jun 2007 : Column 1283W—continued
Government Shareholding
David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which companies the Government holds special shares; and which departments are responsible for them. [142284]
John Healey: The Government holds the following special shares:
Responsible Department: Ministry of Defence
Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd
Rosyth Royal Dockyard Ltd
AWE plc
AWE Pension Trustees Ltd
QinetiQ Group plc
QinetiQ Holdings Ltd
QinetiQ Ltd
BAE Systems Marine (Holdings) Ltd
Responsible Department: Department of Trade and Industry
Royal Mail Group plc
British Aerospace plc
British Energy Group plc
British Energy Holdings
British Energy Generation
British Energy Ltd
Nuclear Liabilities Fund Ltd
Rolls Royce plc
Responsible D epartment: Department for Transport
NATS Holdings Ltd,
Eurostar (UK) Ltd.
London and Continental Railways Ltd.
Union Railways (North) Ltd
Inter-Capital and Regional Rail Ltd
Responsible Department: Treasury
Partnerships UK Ltd
Responsible Department: Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development
Belfast International Airport Ltd
Informers
Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances an uplift beyond the basic 5 per cent. reward is paid to an informer providing information which leads to recovery of money for the Crown. [142118]
John Healey: Each reward payment made by HMRC is calculated on the circumstances relevant to that case.
It would not be in the public interest to divulge the exact factors taken into account when calculating such payments, however all Law Enforcement agencies, in accordance with the relevant ACPO guidelines, apply similar considerations when determining levels of rewards payments
National Insurance Contributions
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the appropriateness of the age thresholds of national insurance contributions; and if he will make a statement. [142572]
John Healey: There are no plans to review the age thresholds of national insurance contributions.
Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the estimated (a) gross and (b) net increase in business rate revenues in cash terms arising from the Government’s proposals to reduce business rate relief for empty properties is in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10; [142368]
(2) whether a regulatory impact assessment has been produced on the Budget 2007 proposals to reduce business rate relief for empty properties; and whether this move was planned to be revenue-neutral; [142369]
(3) whether the Government undertook consultation on their plans to reduce empty property business rate relief. [142371]
John Healey: The Government estimate that the impact on tax revenue of reforms to empty property relief will be £950 million in 2008-09, and £900 million in subsequent years. This estimate was published in the Red Book alongside the Budget Report 2007.
A regulatory impact assessment for this measure has been produced and is published on the Communities and Local Government website:
As part of the Lyons Inquiry into Local Government, Sir Michael Lyons consulted extensively on Kate Barker’s recommendation that empty property relief be reformed. As announced in the Budget, we are taking forward legislation to reform the relief from April 2008.
The Government intend to publish a consultation document next month which will seek views on proposals for detailed reforms to secondary legislation, including the existing exemptions from empty property rates.
Pensions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact on income tax revenue of pension income received through an alternatively secured pension rather than a payment from an annuity; and if he will make a statement. [142751]
Ed Balls: The impact on tax revenues of changes to the rules governing alternatively secured pensions, announced in the 2007 Budget, were set out in the regulatory impact assessment of tax relief for pensions, published on the Treasury website, available at:
PFI
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of private finance initiative contracts were sold on by the original signatories to the contract in each year since 1997; and what assessment he has made of the profit made in each sale and the return to the taxpayer on each. [142373]
John Healey:
The Treasury does not hold this information. Equity sales are private transactions between two private institutions; therefore the Treasury
does not collate information on them. The Treasury does, however, and will continue more broadly to examine developments in the secondary equity market both through its relations with other Departments and key participants in the PFI market.
Suicide: Young People
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of victims of suicide under the age of 18 years in each year since 1997 lived (a) with a parent who had sole custody, (b) with parents who had joint custody and (c) with parents who were married. [142648]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 14 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many and what percentage of victims of suicide under the age of 18 years in each year since 1997 lived (a) with a parent who had sole custody, (b) with parents who had joint custody and (c) with parents who were married. I am replying in her absence. (142648)
Information on the marital status of parents of deceased children or their custodial circumstances are not collected at death registration and are therefore not available to tabulate. The table below therefore only contains numbers of suicides for those aged under 18 in England and Wales from 1997 to 2005, the latest available year.
It is assumed that most deaths from injury/poisoning of undetermined intent at ages 15 and over are cases where the harm was self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to kill themselves. This cannot be assumed in deaths at ages under 15 and therefore deaths from injury/poisoning of undetermined intent are not included when examining suicide (intentional self-harm) in children. As there were no deaths in children aged under 13 with a suicide verdict for the period requested, the table shows the number of suicides in children aged 13 to 14, and the number of suicide or injury/poisoning of undetermined intent deaths in those aged 15 to 17.
| Number of deaths among people aged 13 to 17 years from suicide and injury/poisoning of undetermined intent, England and Wales, 1997 to 2005( 1) | ||
| Aged 13-14 | Aged 15-17 | |
| Suicide( 2) | Suicide and injury/poisoning of undetermined intent( 3) | |
| (1 )Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year. (2 )The cause of death for suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the years 2001 to 2005, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84. (3) The cause of death for injury/poisoning of undetermined intent was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the years 2001 to 2005, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner’s verdict was pending. | ||
Teenage Pregnancy
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of mothers under the age of 16 lived (a) with a parent who had sole custody, (b) with parents who had joint custody and (c) with parents who were married in each year since 1997. [142657]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 14 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your request for how many and what percentage of mothers under the age of 16 lived (a) with a parent who had sole custody, (b) with parents who had joint custody and (c) with parents who were married in each year since 1997.1 am replying in her absence. (142657)
Only a small proportion of births are to mothers aged under 16 and, of these, most are at age 15 (see table below). For this reason the only reliable source for the figures requested is the 2001 Census as there are relatively few mothers aged under 16 at any one time. There were 1,040 mothers aged under 16 recorded by the 2001 Census. The figures requested by you are being extracted and will be placed in the Library of the House at a later date.
| Number of maternities( 1) England and Wales | ||||
| Age | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2005 |
| (1) A maternity is a confinement resulting in the birth of one or more live-born or stillborn children. There are only a small number of stillbirths to females under 16. In 2001 there were nine. Source: Birth statistics Series FM1 nos. 28, 29, 30 and 34 | ||||
Valuation Office Agency
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency spent on speakers' fees for its North West Excellence Awards. [142375]
Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency has paid no speaker's fees for its North West Excellence Award in 2004.
Valuation Office Agency: Secondment
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff from overseas have been (a) seconded and (b) attached to the Valuation Office Agency in each of the last five years, broken down by country and agency of origin. [142357]
Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency has taken a total of three staff from overseas on secondment during 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 as follows:
7 November 2005 to 4 May 2006: One secondee from Australia, Australian Valuation Office;
3 July 2006 to 31 December 2006: One secondee from Hong Kong, Hong Kong Valuation Office;
10 April 2007 to 9 October 2007: One secondee from Hong Kong, Hong Kong Valuation Office.
The Valuation Office Agency is unable to provide any further information about any such secondments for earlier financial years without incurring disproportionate costs.
No overseas staff have been attached to the Valuation Office Agency in the last five years.
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