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25 Jun 2007 : Column 391Wcontinued
Table 2 : Number of adults (million) living in households below different thresholds of median income: In 2005-06: before housing costs: by age-band of household reference person | |||
Age-band of household reference person | Below 80 per cent. of median income | Below 60 per cent. of median income | Below 40 per cent. of median income |
Note: The information is based on OECD equivalisation factors and therefore it will not be the same as any figures previously published that were based on McClements equivalisation factors. Source: Family Resources Survey 2005-06 |
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average value of savings per person in each UK region in each of the last five years. [144581]
Ed Balls: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library copies of all extant public expenditure survey (PES) papers; and if he will make it his policy to make PES papers publicly available on his Departments website. [145202]
Mr. Timms: Most Public Expenditure System papers containing standing guidance have been incorporated into the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, available on Treasurys website. Remaining extant papers generally contain time-limited guidance and are withdrawn as they become out of date.
I have arranged for copies of extant PES papers to be published on Treasurys website as soon as practically possible, and all future PES papers will likewise be published.
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's unfunded public sector pension liabilities are if calculated using a discount rate based on index linked gilts; and what discount rate he uses for the calculation. [118104]
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the Government's total accrued liability in relation to public service pension schemes was as at March 2006; [127765]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the liabilities of public sector pension schemes for which he is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [140303]
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the total liabilities of unfunded public sector pension schemes as at 31 March 2006. [137977]
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the liabilities of public sector pension schemes for which he is responsible. [140307]
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when his Department plans to publish the latest estimates of public sector unfunded pension liabilities; and if he will make a statement; [141940]
(2) what the reasons are for the delay in the publication of the latest estimate of the cost of unfunded public sector pension liabilities; and if he will make a statement; [143622]
(3) what his estimate is of the total unfunded public sector pension liability as at 31 March 2006; and if he will make a statement; [144270]
(4) on what date his Department plans to release the (a) estimate and (b) analysis of the total liability of unfunded public service occupational schemes at (i) 31 March 2006 and (ii) 31 March 2007; and if he will make a statement; [144561]
(5) what discount rate the Government are using to calculate the net present value of public sector pension commitments; and if he will make a statement; [144575]
(6) what estimate he has made of the impact on the net present value of unfunded public sector pension schemes of changing the discount rate by 0.1 per cent.; and if he will make a statement; [144693]
(7) what change in the discount rate for public sector pension schemes was made on 31 March 2007; and if he will make a statement; [144895]
(8) what the Government's policy is on the choice of a discount rate for public sector pension scheme liabilities; and if he will make a statement. [144896]
Mr. Timms:
The unfunded public service pension liability as at 31 March 2005 was estimated to be £530 billion, and a technical paper explaining the
methodology underlying this estimate is in the House Library. A new estimate will be published in due course.
The total liability estimate covers all the pensions due to be paid to current and future pensioners in unfunded pension schemes, which will be paid at different times over the next eight decades, and which have been earned by around 10 million current and former public servants and their dependants over the last eight decades.
The cash payments needed to service these payments remain stable and fully affordable. In 2004-05, around £18 billion was spent on paying unfunded, public service occupational pensions. This compares with around £17 billion in 2003-04. Both of these figures are in cash terms.
And as the latest Long Term Public Finance Report demonstrates, these annual cash payments are projected to remain completely affordable in the long-term, rising gradually to only 2 per cent. of GDP in 50 years time, contributing to the strong position the UK economy is in to meet the fiscal challenges of the future.
Andrew Rosindell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the
Confederation of British Industry on the position of small businesses. [145543]
John Healey: The Chancellor is in frequent dialogue with the Confederation of British Industry as well as other representative bodies, discussing a number of issues including the position of small businesses.
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many stillbirths there were in each English region in each year since 1997. [144286]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 25 June 2007:
As the National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question about how many stillbirths there were in each region of England in each year since 1997. (144286)
The latest year for which stillbirth figures are available is 2005. The accompanying table shows numbers of stillbirths in England by Government Office Region for the years 1997 to 2005.
Stillbirths by Government Office Region( 1) in England 1997 to 2005 | |||||||||
Government office region | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
(1) Stillbirths are assigned to Government Office Region according to the usual residence of the mother at the date of the birth, as stated at registration. The table excludes a small number of stillbirths occurring in England each year to mothers whose usual residence was outside England and Wales. Source: Office for National Statistics |
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what tax relief schemes are in place for members of the military serving overseas. [145547]
Dawn Primarolo: Members of the military serving overseas are entitled to the tax relief available to taxpayers generally, provided they satisfy any qualifying conditions. The Government have also introduced a specific tax exemption in Finance Bill 2007 for members of the armed forces who are paid the newly introduced operational allowance. There is also a tax exemption under section 299 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 that covers any foreign service allowance paid to members of the armed forces to cover the extra cost of having to live outside the United Kingdom when serving overseas.
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