| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Oct 2007 : Column 579W—continued
Drug Seizures
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what account is taken of past quantities of heroin and cocaine seized by HM Revenue and Customs in setting targets for future seizures; for what reason equivalent seizure targets are not set for (a) ecstasy and (b) cannabis; and if he will make a statement [156607]
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what quantities of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy and (d) cannabis were seized as a result of HM Revenue and Customs operations in each of the last four years; [156024]
(2) what the seizure quantity targets were for (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy and (d) cannabis in each of the last four years. [156025]
Angela Eagle: Seizure quantity targets for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 for the Concerted Inter Agency Drugs Action group (CIDA) are as follows:
| Kilograms | ||
| Financial year | Heroin | Cocaine |
| (1) The targets set for each of the years 2005-06, 2004-05, 2003 -04 were joint targets for the agencies that formed the Concerted Inter-agency Drugs Action group (CIDA). The individual agencies that formed CIDA, including HMRC did not have their own specific targets. | ||
No seizure targets were set for ecstasy or cannabis.
HM Revenue & Customs was one of the contributing agencies to CIDA's overall seizure target quantities. HMRC seized the following quantities of drugs in each of the last four years.
| Kilograms | ||||
| Financial year | Heroin | Cocaine | Ecstasy | Cannabis |
| (1) When the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) became operational on 1 April 2006, primacy for, and the resources associated with the investigation of Class A drugs cases transferred to SOCA. (2) The large quantity of cocaine seized in this year is due to the culmination of several long running operations. | ||||
HMRC's seizure target for 2006-07 was 700kgs for heroin and 2,600kgs for cocaine. In setting the targets for 2007-08 for heroin and cocaine, HM Revenue & Customs used their 2005-06 results and stripped out those seizures that were generated by the area of the Department that transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).
Drug Seizures: South West Region
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what quantity of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) ecstasy, (d) cannabis and (e) firearms has been seized by Customs officers in (i) seaports and (ii) airfields in (A) Cornwall, (B) Devon, (C) Dorset, (D) Isle of Wight and (E) Hampshire in (1) 2001, (2) 2002 and (3) in the last year for which records are available; and if he will make a statement. [156693]
Angela Eagle: National information on seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs since 2003 is contained in their annual reports.
Information of seizures by location cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs’ controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.
Financial Services: Bermuda
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of whether the banking and financial sector of Bermuda is (a) sufficiently transparent and (b) regulated and subject to oversight that meets European and other international norms designed to combat financial and white collar crime; and if he will make a statement. [155823]
Kitty Ussher: In 1999 the United Kingdom and the Caribbean Overseas Territories and Bermuda jointly commissioned an in-depth independent review of financial regulation in those territories. This review, carried out by KPMG and published on 27 October 2000, assessed the extent to which these Overseas Territories comply with international standards and good practice in the way they regulate their financial services sectors.
Bermuda is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce and of the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors, which are both observers bodies to the Financial Action Taskforce. Bermuda is also a member of the Egmont Group, the organisation for sharing information between Financial Intelligence Units. The Bermuda Monetary Authority is a member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, which requires members to enter into a memorandum of understanding to mutually share information.
The International Monetary Fund conducted a review of Bermuda’s financial sector regulation and supervision in early 2003 which is publicly available at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2005/cr0598.pdf and www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2005/cr0599.pdf. This describes the financial, regulatory, and supervisory framework as well developed in banking, the key areas of securities regulation, and Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism. The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and the International Monetary Fund are currently undertaking a further assessment of regulation and supervision in Bermuda.
Financial Services: Pay
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of City bonuses on (a) London’s housing market and (b) increases in housing prices in London in the last five years. [155607]
Jane Kennedy: HM Treasury has made no explicit assessment of the impact of City bonuses on London’s housing market. Prospects for the housing market are examined as part of the usual Budget and pre-Budget report forecasting process.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake an evaluation of the adequacy of the tax rate on City bonuses. [155608]
Jane Kennedy: The Government keep all aspects of the tax system under review as part of the Budget cycle
HM Revenue and Customs: Correspondence
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Chairman of HM Customs and Revenue expects to reply to the letter of 19 July from the hon. Member for Aylesbury on the tax credit case of Mr. and Mrs. D. of Aylesbury (ref. JE875300A); and if he will make a statement. [156223]
Jane Kennedy: The Chairman of HM Revenue and Customs recently replied and apologises to the hon. Member for the delay in doing so.
HM Revenue and Customs: Travel
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the travelling and subsistence costs for mobile detection teams within the detection directorate of HM Revenue and Customs were in each of the last four years. [156026]
Angela Eagle: All frontline detection staff are deployed on flexible, mobile basis. Total travel and subsistence expenditure for the detection directorate is shown in the following table.
| £ | |
Inheritance Tax
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many estates in 2006-07 were not liable to inheritance tax as a consequence of the exemption available for (a) spouses and (b) civil partners. [155724]
Jane Kennedy: No such estimates are available for 2006-07, because the supporting information is not complete.
Insolvency: Football
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which professional football clubs have gone into administration leaving an unpaid debt to HM Revenue and Customs since 2000. [155598]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs are not in a position to provide such information about individual businesses, to do so would breach taxpayer confidentiality.
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) tax and (b) national insurance revenue has been (i) lost and (ii) written off in relation to each professional football club which has entered into administration since 2000. [155599]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs are not in a position to provide information about individual businesses, as to do so would breach taxpayer confidentiality.
International Monetary Fund: Public Appointments
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment his Department has made of the suitability of (a) European and (b) non-European candidates for the post of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; and if he will make a statement; [155773]
(2) what discussions his Department has held on nominating a non-European candidate for the post of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; and if he will make a statement; [155774]
(3) what criteria his Department uses to assess candidates for nomination for the post of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; and if he will make a statement. [156317]
Kitty Ussher: The UK supports an open, transparent and meritocratic process for the selection of the Managing Director of the IMF, with the best candidate for the job selected regardless of nationality. The Chancellor has made this clear to other Finance Ministers both publicly and privately, including at the 9 July meeting of ECOFIN.
In selecting the successor to Rodrigo de Rato, the IMF’s Executive Board put in place for the first time a selection process designed to deliver the UK’s preferred objectives. This included a clear job description, a public timetable, a month-long nominations period, an interview stage—and an invitation for applications from all member countries. All of these steps were followed and by the close of nominations on 31 August two highly credible candidates had been put forward: Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France and Josef Tosovsky of the Czech Republic.
Before determining which of the two candidates to support, the UK compared their qualifications and experience to the job description set out by the Executive Board, available on the IMF website at www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2007/pr07159.htm and concluded that Dominique Strauss-Kahn would be best able to succeed in pushing forward significant reform at the Fund. For this reason, the UK Executive Director supported his candidacy and the UK welcomed Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s appointment on 28 September.
The UK will in future continue to support a similarly open and transparent process for all senior appointments at both the IMF and the World Bank.
Landfill Tax
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much landfill tax was paid by (a) waste disposal authorities and (b) other local authorities in each of the last 10 years. [156502]
Angela Eagle:
It is not possible using landfill tax receipts data to determine how much revenue is received from local authorities. This is because registered landfill site operators pay the tax to HM
Revenue and Customs and pass on the cost to their customers through the disposal charges they set. The origin of the landfilled waste is not recorded on the tax return.
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much landfill tax was hypothecated to local authorities via the Revenue Support Grant Settlements in each of the last four financial years. [156503]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 2 July 2007, Official Report, column 936W.
National Income: Cornwall
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross value added was for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in each year since 2004. [156667]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 9 October 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning Gross Value Added (GVA) for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in each year since 2004. I am replying in her absence. (156667)
Regional Gross Value Added (GVA) data are produced using the official statistical geographies known as NUTS (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics). GVA data exist for the NUTS2 region of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for the time period 1995-2004. These data were provided in the PQ response Official Report of 16 July 2007, Volume 463, Col 62, which requested Gross Value Added in Cornwall in each year since 1979.
ONS plan to publish regional GVA data up to and including 2006 for NUTS1 regions and 2005 for NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions in December 2007.
National Insurance Contributions
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what percentage of people in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) the United Kingdom who have been informed that their National Insurance contributions do not meet the required level to qualify for the basic state pension in each of the last 10 tax years have made voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions up to the level required to qualify for the basic state pension; [156499]
(2) what percentage of people in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) the United Kingdom who hold National Insurance numbers have made National Insurance contributions during each of the last 10 tax years. [156501]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 8 October 2007]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) maintains National Insurance records but does not hold the precise data requested by the hon. Member. In particular data are not held by county of residence.
Each year HMRC tells certain customers where their annual National Insurance contributions do not meet the qualifying level for basic state pension purposes for
a tax year and how to pay the amount of voluntary contributions needed to make good the shortfall.
The following table gives detail for each year on a national basis.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |