| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Dec 2007 : Column 1038W—continued
Revenue and Customs: Personal Records
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which organisations and agencies have access to personal tax or benefit data held by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC); and which organisations and agencies were provided with such information by HMRC in each of the last five years. [167624]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC may only disclose information which it holds in accordance with the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. Most transfers of data take place under statutory gateways which specify circumstances in which HMRC may disclose such information. All disclosures must be compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998.
On 20 November the Chancellor announced a review of HMRC's data handling procedures to be conducted by Kieran Poynter, the chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Service Industries: Greater London
Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of people in each London borough are employed in (a) service industries and (b) manufacturing industries. [169242]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 3 December 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question
asking what percentage of people in each London borough are employed in (a) service industries and (b) manufacturing industries. (169242).
The estimated percentages of employee jobs in service industries and manufacturing industries for each London borough in 2005 are shown in the following table. These estimates are from the annual business inquiry (ABI). They do not include self-employment jobs. As with any sample survey, estimates from the ABI are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Alternative estimates are available in terms of employed residents, from the annual population survey, a survey of households. However the breakdown by industry suffers from reporting error caused by individuals giving inaccurate information about the organisations for which they work.
| Percentage of employee jobs in service and manufacturing industries in London boroughs, 2005 | ||
| Services | Manufacturing | |
| Source: Annual Business Inquiry | ||
Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the health in pregnancy grant will be payable in respect of A8 nationals living outside the UK. [169507]
Jane Kennedy: The Government are introducing from April 2009 a one-off payment to expectant mothers, known as the Health in Pregnancy Grant, to help them during the important last weeks of pregnancy. Only women ordinarily resident in the UK will be able to claim the payment.
State Retirement Pensions
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government plan to ring-fence the additional revenue his Department will receive as a consequence of bringing forward the introduction of an Upper Accruals Point for the State Second Pension for future pensions spending; and if he will make a statement. [169499]
Kitty Ussher: The announcement made in the 2007 pre-Budget report to bring forward the introduction of Upper Accruals Point for the State Second Pension (S2P) will lead to a reduction in the rebates paid in respect of employees earning above the 2007-08 value of the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) who are contracted out of S2P. Those employees would have otherwise seen anomalous gains in their contracted out rebates and S2P benefits following the announcement at Budget 2007 to align the UEL for national insurance contributions with the higher rate threshold for income tax from 2009-10.
The reductions in the rebates result in an increase in national insurance contributions paid into the National Insurance Fund. The National Insurance Fund (NIF) is maintained under the control and management of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. It is run on a “pay-as-you-go” basis; current income, mainly from national insurance contributions, pays for current expenditure mostly on contributory benefits. The uses to which the NIF can be put are clearly specified in legislation, with the majority spent on state pensions.
Taxation: Domicil
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many British citizens with the right of abode in the UK but domiciled overseas moved their tax affairs on shore and became UK residents for tax purposes in each year since 2000. [168615]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
Unclaimed Savings and Insurance Policies
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to require insurance companies and banks to establish effective arrangements for the tracing of unclaimed savings and insurance policies. [170217]
Kitty Ussher:
The Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 7 November. As part of these proposals, the Government are clear that account holders retain the ongoing right to claim their money. Additionally, the Government believe that effective reuniting efforts should precede the introduction of any scheme. As
such, the Government welcome the joint co-operation of the British Bankers' Association, Building Societies Association and National Savings and Investments in developing a one-stop shop for customers seeking to trace lost accounts across all three sectors. The BBA announcement of 8 November set out the details of these initiatives, including the launch of the new facility in January 2008. The Government also welcome the commitment of individual banks and building societies to undertake proactive search activity throughout 2008.
In terms of insurance policies, insurers attempt to locate policyholders individually. Missing individuals’ identities are also posted on the Unclaimed Assets Register so that they can be traced. Where it has not been possible to trace the holder, a policy remains live for an individual's expected lifetime.
Video Games: Research
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 926W, on video games: research, which companies received funding through research and development units allocated by HM Revenue and Customs; and how much each company received. [168986]
Angela Eagle: The names of companies making research and development tax relief claims and the amount of relief they receive are confidential. There is a well established principle that such information may not be disclosed and I am therefore unable to provide the information requested.
Welfare Tax Credits: EC Nationals
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many EU A8 nationals registered on the worker registration scheme and in receipt of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit (i) gave notice of a change of circumstances and (ii) gave notice of their departure from the UK within one year of being granted these credits in each year since the inception of the worker registration scheme; [169302]
(2) how many EU A8 nationals have received (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in each year since the inception of the worker registration scheme; and what (i) the total expenditure on these credits for EU A8 nationals and (ii) the average amount of each credit received by successful EU A8 applicants was; [169304]
(3) how many EU A8 nationals registered on the worker registration scheme who have been granted (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit did not renew their application for these credits at the end of their first year of receipt of them in each year since the inception of the worker registration scheme. [169305]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 29 November 2007]: The information requested is not available.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Politics and Government
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes the UK has proposed to international support for political reform in Afghanistan, as referred to in the Prime Minister’s Mansion House speech of 12 November. [166131]
David Miliband: Our embassy in Kabul will be building on its work to support Afghan central Government institutions by helping to develop local government administration. The newly-established Independent Directorate of Local Governance in the Office of the President has an ambitious agenda to rationalise structures and authorities of local governance and to support the roll-out of key reforms at the sub-national level.
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK is proposing changes to the mandate of the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan. [166133]
David Miliband: The contract of the current Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Tom Koenigs, runs until February 2008. He has announced his intention to step down. Any change to the mandate of his successor is a decision for the UN Secretary-General. We and other partners are regularly in discussion with the UN about the role played in Afghanistan by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative.
Bosnia: Nuclear Medicine Department Storage
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the theft of radiation generators from a nuclear medicine department storage in Banja Luka in the Entity of Republica Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina. [168446]
David Miliband: The police in the Republika Srpska have made it clear that there has been no theft of radiation generators in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Instead there has been a theft of 60 lead containers from the Banja Luka Institute for Nuclear Medicine. The police in the Republika Srpska have stated that this theft poses no danger to the public. The police believe that the lead was stolen for resale. The police in BiH, and Interpol, are investigating the theft.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |