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27 Nov 2007 : Column 396W—continued
Register of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2007, Official Report, column 709W, on register of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships, what the underlying assumptions were for the original business plan which proved to be incorrect; who was responsible for drawing them up; who is responsible for drawing up the revised assumptions; and if he will make a statement. [168389]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 27 November 2007:
The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking what the underlying assumptions were for the original business plan which proved to be incorrect; who was responsible for drawing them up; who is responsible for drawing up the revised assumptions. I am replying in her absence. (168389)
The assumptions in the business case were the responsibility of the officials who prepared the case, as they will be for the revised case. Those found to be incorrect related to costs and timescales for implementation, as is not unusual when discussions are undertaken with prospective suppliers after business case approval has been obtained.
Revenue and Customs: Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what bonuses were paid to staff working on tax credits in each (a) month, (b) quarter and (c) year between April 2003 to September 2007; [167659]
(2) what the 10 largest bonus payments made to staff working on tax credits were in the last 12 months. [167660]
Jane Kennedy: The information is not available for all staff working on tax credits. For information up to May 2007 I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 395W. As he explained, staff in various parts of HM Revenue and Customs, not only the Tax Credit Office, may be deployed to tax credits work or deal with tax credits in addition to other work. It is not possible to isolate those in receipt of bonus payments.
For the number and value of bonus payments made to Tax Credit Office staff since new tax credits were introduced in 2003, I refer the hon. Member to the answers my right hon. Friend gave the hon. Member for Yeovil on 23 October 2006, Official Report, column 1646W, 25 July 2006, Official Report, column 1393W, 29 June 2006, Official Report, column 587W, and 12 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1792-93W.
The Director of the Tax Credit Office continues to recognise exceptional performance—including examples of excellent customer service—through a recognition bonus scheme. The number and value of bonus payments made to Tax Credits Office staff from June 2007 to September 2007 inclusive are shown as follows:
| 2007 | Total number of staff awarded a bonus payment | Total value paid( 1) (£) |
| (1) Per calendar month. | ||
The 10 largest recognition bonus scheme payments made to TCO staff in the last 12 months were:
| 2007 | Amount paid (£) |
Tax Yields
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total tax revenue was raised by (a) income tax, (b) national insurance, (c) VAT and (d) council tax in each year since 1997. [166347]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 27 November 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of total tax revenue was raised by (a) income tax, (b) national insurance, (c) VAT and (d) council tax in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (166347)
Detailed statistics about types of tax payable by UK residents to general government and the European Union for calendar years are published on a regular basis in table 11.1 of the annual ONS publication “United Kingdom National Accounts (The Blue Book)”. The Blue Book was last published in June. However, the table was updated in the monthly “Public Sector Finances First Release”, on both calendar year and financial year bases, published on 20 July. Differences between the figures in the Blue Book and Public Sector Finances are a result of differing revisions policies for the National Accounts and the Public Sector Finances; the latter are the more up to date. The table is not a regular feature of the First Release, although most of the figures themselves are updated every month. The data in the table below are consistent with the dataset for the “Public Sector Finances” published on 20 November 2007.
In answering this question total tax revenue has been defined consistently with the Total taxes and social contributions series in table 11.1. Value Added Tax includes receivables for central government and the European Union. The financial year has been used because the UK adopts this as its fiscal base.
Taxation: Rugby
Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used to determine whether proceeds from rugby league testimonial events are regarded as taxable income; and how many people have been contacted about their potential tax liability arising from such events. [167919]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 26 November 2007]: The tax treatment of testimonial payments depends upon the facts of each individual case. Under established case law, a testimonial payment will be fully taxable as earnings from employment where it is a contractual right or is customary at the player’s club.
Confidentiality rules mean that I cannot comment on the number of players that have been contacted about the taxability payments received.
Unemployment: Young People
Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of 18 to 24 year olds are unemployed in West Chelmsford constituency; and what the equivalent figures were on 27 November in each of the last five years. [167892]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 27 November 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what percentage of 18 to 24 year olds are unemployed in West Chelmsford constituency; and what the equivalent figures were on 27th November in each of the last five years. I am replying in her absence. (167892)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for parliamentary constituencies from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. These are annual surveys and the estimates derived from them cover twelve month periods, rather than a particular day.
However, from the annual LFS and the APS, there is only one period in the last 5 years where the sample size is sufficient to provide an estimate of the number of unemployed 18 to 24 year olds in West Chelmsford. For April 2004 to March 2005, there were 1000 unemployed persons aged 18 to 24 resident in West Chelmsford. This was 7 per cent of all 18 to 24 year olds in West Chelmsford. This percentage is not the same as the
unemployment rate, which is defined as the number unemployed as the percentage of the number of economically active persons in the age group of interest. The unemployment rate for 18 to 24 year olds in West Chelmsford in this period was 10 per cent.
As these estimates are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area, they are based on very small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.
ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). The table, attached, shows the number of JSA claimants aged 18 to 24, resident in West Chelmsford, claiming in November for 2002 to 2006 (data for November 2007 are not yet available).
These numbers are not the numbers of claimants on the 27th of each November; the JSA claimant count date is the second Thursday of each month. These numbers cannot be shown as the percentage of all persons aged 18 to 24, as the working age population estimates for parliamentary constituencies cannot be broken down into different age groups.
| Number of claimants of jobseeker's allowance aged 18 to 24 resident in the West Chelmsford parliamentary constituency in November of each year from 2002 to 2006 | |
| November | Number |
| Notes: 1. Claimant count data by age includes computerised claims only. 2. Dataset rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data. | |
Welfare Tax Credits
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of children living in households entitled to but not claiming (a) child tax credit, (b) working tax credit and (c) child benefit in the most recent period for which figures are available; [167523]
(2) what the take-up rates for (a) child tax credit, (b) working tax credit and (c) child benefit were in 2006-07. [167524]
Jane Kennedy: Child and working tax credits were introduced in April 2003.
Estimates of take-up rates for child and working tax credit in 2005-06 and 2006-07 are not available. Estimates for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are produced in the HMRC publications “Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. Take-up Rates” for each relevant year. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
Table 7 of these publications also detail the estimated number of in-work entitled non-recipients, by family size.
A precise take-up rate for child benefit is not available, but it is estimated that approximately 2 per cent. of families, although entitled, do not claim child benefit. The number of children living in households eligible for but not claiming child benefit is not available.
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