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Departments: ICT

Jenny Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) laptops, (b) mobile telephones and (c) personal digital assistant devices bought for the use of departmental Ministers have been returned to the Department following each Cabinet reshuffle since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [156730]

Angela Eagle: In the last Parliament, all laptops, mobile telephones and personal digital assistant devices bought for the use of departmental Ministers that are no longer in use by them, have been returned to or purchased from the Department. Information prior to this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

HM Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the target time is for responses to be made to correspondence sent to HM Revenue and Customs. [156821]

Jane Kennedy: HMRC aims to deal with 80 per cent. of general correspondence within 15 working days of receipt and 95 per cent. within 40 working days.

Inheritance Tax: East Midlands

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of estates that would pay inheritance tax at a
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threshold of £1 million in (a) the East Midlands, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) each parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire; [157738]

(2) how many and what proportion of estates paid inheritance tax in (a) the East Midlands, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) each parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire in the last year for which figures are available. [157739]

Jane Kennedy: Figures for estates paying inheritance tax and amounts of tax paid are not available at local levels.

Inheritance Tax: High Peak

Tom Levitt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in High Peak paid inheritance tax in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [157610]

Jane Kennedy: Figures for estates paying inheritance tax and amounts of tax paid are not available at local levels.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will require the Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise to reply to the letter to him of 29 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Ms K. Cassidy. [156909]

Jane Kennedy: The chairman of HMRC replied to the right hon. Member on 5 October 2007.

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the letter of 12 July (PO Ref: 1/50946/2007) from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire. [157430]

Jane Kennedy: I replied to the hon. Member on 10 October 2007.

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Economic Secretary will respond to the letter of 8 August from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (PO REF: 5/02368/2007). [157951]

Jane Kennedy: I have done so.

Office of Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research: Finance

Mr. Willis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the combined budget allocation is for the Office of Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research for each financial year from 2008-09 to 2010-11. [157945]

Andy Burnham: The combined budget allocation for the Office of Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR) will be £1,465.8 million in 2008-09, £1,567.9 million in 2009-10 and £1,674 million in 2010-11.


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Public Expenditure

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much public expenditure there is per capita in 2007-08 for residents of (a) Scotland and (b) England; and what estimate he has made of what the equivalent figures will be once the Comprehensive Spending Review decisions take effect. [157428]

Andy Burnham: The latest available figures for total identifiable public spending per head are published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. In 2006-07 spending per head was £7,121 in England and £8,623 in Scotland. Later figures will be published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses next spring.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letters to HM Revenue and Customs (Tax Credits) from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 12 June, 9 July, 13 August and 4 September on behalf of Mr R. White (Ref: 2007/0600 2871) of Writtle, Chelmsford. [157065]

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made to Parliament on 25 July 2007 about the administrative issue which affects some older tax credits awards. HM Revenue and Customs wrote to inform all affected customers about this issue, including the hon. Member's constituent, around the end of August 2007.

Revenue and Customs: Darlington

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when HM Revenue and Customs expects to vacate its tax office premises at Regent House, Darlington. [157441]

Jane Kennedy: Decisions on the future of HMRC offices in the Middlesborough/Stockton urban centre, which includes Regent House in Darlington, are expected to be announced this week. Once an announcement is made HMRC will work with its strategic property partner to agree plans for vacation and release of any offices that will close.

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) Mapeley have had made available to them a lease break in respect of Regent House, Darlington. [157581]

Jane Kennedy: The current lease for Regent house, Darlington expires in 2012. However, as part of a wider town centre redevelopment, planning permission for alternative use has been granted. Mapeley are consequently in discussions with the landlord regarding lease surrender terms. Any proposed vacation of the building will be dependent on the successful outcome of negotiations and subject to decisions regarding HMRC’s restructured needs.


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Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when HM Revenue and Customs plans to announce decisions about the future of Darlington tax office. [157615]

Jane Kennedy: Decisions on the future of HMRC offices in the Middlesbrough/Stockton urban centre, which includes Regent House in Darlington, are expected to be announced this week.

Stamp Duties

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of stamp duty on (a) the London Stock Exchange's competitiveness and (b) the value of equities; and if he will make a statement. [154282]

Kitty Ussher: The Government keep all taxes and their effects on markets under constant review. However, it is difficult to accurately isolate the effects of stamp duty on either the London Stock Exchange or equity values given the number of other factors influencing it.

The continued long-term growth in both the number of trades completed on the London Stock Exchange and the number of new companies listed highlights that the City of London continues to be a leading global centre for financial services.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of stamp duty on the housing market; and if he will make a statement. [154283]

Kitty Ussher: The Government keep all taxes and their effects on markets under constant review. However, it is difficult to accurately isolate the effects of stamp duty land tax on the housing market given the number of other factors influencing it.

Since 1997 the stability and prosperity of the UK economy has allowed nearly two million more people to become homeowners. Last year in England, 185,000 net additional homes were added to the housing stock, the highest level since 1990.

Surveys: Costs

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the marginal cost of (a) asking one additional question to all responders and (b) computerising the additional data for (i) the British Household Panel Survey, (ii) the Expenditure and Food Survey and (iii) the Labour Force Survey. [156903]

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 15 October 2007:


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Tax Credit Office: Correspondence

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Tax Credit Office will respond to the letters of 26 March and 28 June 2007 from the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire to the Director. [156820]

Jane Kennedy: HMRC have written to the hon. Member on 12 October and very much regret the delay in doing so.

Welfare Tax Credits: Armed Forces

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many members of the armed services are in receipt of tax credits. [157443]

Jane Kennedy: Information on the number of tax credit claimants broken down by occupation is not available.

Welfare Tax Credits: Foreigners

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many children of foreign nationals who are living outside the UK are in receipt of tax credits; and how many received tax credits in each of the last five years, broken down by country; [157541]

(2) how many children of foreign nationals who are living outside the UK are in receipt of child benefit; and how many were in each of the last five years, broken down by country. [157542]

Jane Kennedy: This information is not available. For child benefit, the information could be collated only at disproportionate cost.

Welfare Tax Credits: Northern Ireland

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases in Northern Ireland are affected by administrative error in HM Revenue and Customs' Tax Credit Office; and if he will make a statement. [156846]

Jane Kennedy: Following my written ministerial statement of 25 July 07, on tax credits administration, HMRC will be reviewing approximately 8,400 awards for claimants in Northern Ireland.


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Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many awards of tax credits were adjusted in-year due to excess payments in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07; whether excess payments are included in the annual supplement on payments figures; what the average value was of the excess payment; what the total amount recovered in-year was; and how many and what proportion of these cases were disputed. [155939]

Jane Kennedy: The aggregate value of overpayments, the number and the distribution of overpaid awards are published annually in ‘Supplement on Payments’ publications. Figures for 2003-04 to 2005-06, which can be used for calculating the average value of an overpayment in each year, are published on the HMRC website at:

Information on the level of overpaid tax credit awards in 2006-07 will not be available until May 2008.

For information on the number of overpaid awards that have been disputed I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 25 June 2007, Official Report, columns 415-16W, and on 7 February 2007, Official Report, columns 1036-37W.

Information relating to the recovery of overpayments of 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 awards is contained in section 2, table 4, of the Comptroller and Auditor Generals Standard Report in the HM Revenue and Customs 2006-07 accounts, which is available on the HMRC website at:

Information on recovery of overpaid tax credits in 2006-07 will be published in the HM Revenue and Customs 2007-08 accounts, which is due to be released in the summer of 2008.

Innovation, Universities and Skills

Young people: Unemployment

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of (a) 16, (b) 17, (c) 18, (d) 16 to 18 and (e) 19 to 24 year olds of each social class were not in education, employment or training in each (i) local education authority area, (ii) region, (iii) borough and (iv) parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years. [155624]

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.

The Department’s estimates of the number and proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) cannot be disaggregated by region or local authority level. However, we can give an indication of the number and proportion of 16, 17 and 18-year-olds NEET in 2005 and 2006 at local authority level using data provided by Connexions services, and this is in the tables attached. Information cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency, nor is it available at local
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authority level before 2005. Equivalent information is not collected for 19 to 24-year-olds.

Data provided by Connexions services are used to monitor NEET in each local authority area. However, it should be noted that figures are calculated on a different basis from that used in the Department’s estimates, and therefore do not give the same totals.

The Youth Cohort Study can provide an estimate the proportion of young people who are NEET according to their parents’ occupation. The following table shows the findings of the 2005 survey of 17-year-olds, and relates to young people in England and Wales:

Parental occupation Percentage of 17-year-olds NEET

Higher professional

3

Lower professional

5

Intermediate

7

Lower supervisory

9

Routine

12

Other/unclassified

14

Overall

8


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