| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
13 Nov 2007 : Column 226W—continued
| Table 2: Unemployment by sex; Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly county ( 1) | ||||||
| Thousand | ||||||
| Men | Women | Total | ||||
| 12 months ending | Level | ( 2 ) Rate (%) | Level | ( 2 ) Rate (%) | Level | ( 2 ) Rate (%) |
| (1) The Isles of Scilly are not included in the Annual Population Survey. (2) Unemployed as a percentage of the economically active population. Note: Estimates are subject to sampling variability. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey. | ||||||
| Table 3: Jobseeker’s allowance claimants by sex; St. Ives parliamentary constituency | ||||||
| Men | Women | Total | ||||
| Year | Number | ( 1 ) Proportion (%) | Level | ( 1) Proportion (%) | Level | ( 1 ) Proportion (%) |
| (1) Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working-age population. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data | ||||||
| Table 4: Jobseeker’s allowance claimants by sex; Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly county | ||||||
| Men | Women | Total | ||||
| Year | Level | ( 1 ) Proportion (%) | Level | ( 1) Proportion (%) | Level | ( 1) Proportion (%) |
| (1) Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working-age population. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data | ||||||
Vulture funds
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to prevent vulture funds operating in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [162958]
Kitty Ussher: The Government are working to address the problem of so-called ‘vulture funds’ in two ways—by preventing debts being sold to vulture funds in the first place and by limiting the damage done by cases already under way. To reduce the risk of debts falling into the hands of vulture funds, we are working with the World Bank to help poor countries buy back their commercial debts at a deep discount at the earliest possible opportunity through its Debt Reduction Facility. We are also working with Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) to strengthen their debt management capacity and overall governance.
To address cases where poor countries’ debts are already in the hands of vulture funds, we are working
with the African Development Bank to develop proposals for a Legal Assistance Facility to help ensure that countries have access to legal advice to help them fight these cases.
The UK will also continue to raise this issue internationally. At the recent Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, G7 Finance Ministers agreed to examine whether additional steps can be taken to address this problem.
Welfare Tax Credits: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants there have been in West Chelmsford constituency since January 2007, broken down by those (a) underpaid, (b) overpaid, (c) paid the correct amount and (d) in dispute over their payments. [162132]
Jane Kennedy: Estimates of the numbers of families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments and underpayments by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes, for 2005-06, is available in the HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards 2005-06. Supplements on Payments in 2005-06. Geographical Analysis”. This is available on the HMRC website at:
Estimates for 2006-07 tax credit awards are due to be published in May 2008 when family circumstances and incomes have been finalised.
Information on the number of families who are in dispute over their tax credits payments is not available at constituency level.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |