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11 Dec 2007 : Column 370W—continued
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: Israel
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make it his policy to support the application of Israel to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); what discussions he has had with the OECD on the issue; and if he will make a statement; [172470]
(2) what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers and officials from his Department have had since July with the government of Israel on its application to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and if he will make a statement; [172471]
(3) what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers and officials from his Department have had since July with the US Administration on the application of Israel to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and if he will make a statement. [172472]
Kitty Ussher: The OECD member states decided by consensus that they should start accession negotiations with Israel, Chile, Estonia, Russia and Slovenia. The UK supported this decision. Roadmaps for the accession process were prepared by the Secretary-General and approved by the OECD Council of member states. These set out the conditions each individual candidate country is expected to meet before they are invited to become members of the OECD. The FCO leads on the OECD for Her Majesty’s Government.
Treasury Ministers and officials discuss a wide range of issues with their counterparts in the OECD and accession countries on an ongoing basis.
Private Equity
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the transparency of private equity finance; if he will bring forward proposals to increase such transparency; and what research he has commissioned or supported to this end. [172637]
Kitty Ussher: The Government’s objectives in the field of private equity are the same as their objectives in relation to other forms of ownership: to promote an environment of long-term, sustainable business success, underpinned by a strong culture of clear disclosure to, and engagement with, underlying investors and stakeholders. The Government’s assessment also suggests that it is in the interests of the private equity industry to provide information which will improve public understanding of the industry by demonstrating the extent of its contribution to the UK economy and employment.
The Government also welcomed the announcement earlier this year by leading private equity houses and the British Venture Capital Association that it would undertake a review to draw up a comply-or-explain code to improve levels of disclosure. Sir David Walker’s code is an important step forward in improving the transparency of the industry. He has set a challenge for the private equity industry and the Government will watch with interest to see how the industry responds to this.
Revenue and Customs: Data Protection
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of purchasing software that would enable all HM Revenue and Customs data to be encrypted. [171798]
Jane Kennedy:
On 20 November, the Chancellor announced an independent review of HMRC’s data handling procedures to be conducted by Kieran
Poynter, the chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers. This will consider all aspects of data security. His interim report is expected to be received shortly.
Self-employed: Herefordshire
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average income was of a person in Herefordshire who was self-employed in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [170960]
Angela Eagle: The average income of self-employed taxpayers in Herefordshire can be found in table 3.14 “Income and tax by borough and district or unitary authority” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at
These tables are only available for 2003-04 and 2004-05 and are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes.
Self-employed: Income
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the national average income was of a self-employed person in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [170961]
Angela Eagle: The mean total income of people with self-employment sources of income is shown in 3.10 “Income of individuals with self employment sources, by range of self employment income and source” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at
The tables are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and are available for 1999-2000 to 2004-05. Information for earlier years can be found in the annual Inland Revenue Statistics publications available in the Library.
Self-employed: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of people in Suffolk were self-employed in each year since 1997. [173453]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 11 December 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what percentage of people in Suffolk were self-employed in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (173453)
The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
The table attached shows numbers of self-employed people, and these numbers as the percentage of all employed persons, in Suffolk, for the 12 month periods ending in February from 1998 to 2004 from the annual local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March from 2005 to 2007 from the APS.
Estimates for a subset of the population in a small geographical area are based on very small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. Changes over time should be treated with particular caution.
| Self-employed people resident in Suffolk | ||
| 12 months ending | Self-employed (Thousand) | Self-employed as a percentage of all employed (percentage) |
| Notes: 1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with caution. Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population survey. | ||
Self-employed: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of people in Tamworth were self-employed in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [173441]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 11 December 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what percentage of people in Tamworth were self-employed in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (173441)
The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
The table attached shows numbers of self-employed people, and these numbers as the percentage of all employed persons, in the Tamworth constituency, for the 12 month periods ending in February from 1998 to 2004 from the annual local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March from 2005 to 2007 from the APS.
Estimates for a subset of the population in a small geographical area are based on very small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. Changes over time should be treated with particular caution.
Stamp Duties
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) mean and (b) median values of stamp duty paid in (i) England, (ii) South East England and (iii) London by (A) first time buyers, (B) all other house purchasers and (C) all house purchasers were in the last 12 months. [171800]
Kitty Ussher: No estimate has been made of the stamp duty land tax paid by first time buyers. For all house purchasers, the estimated mean and median amount of stamp duty land tax paid in 2006-07 is as follows:
| £ | ||
| Mean | Median | |
Strokes: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have died from stroke related illnesses in Suffolk in each of the last five years. [173455]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated December 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people have died from stroke related illnesses in Suffolk in each of the last five years. I am replying in her absence. (173455)
The table below provides the number of deaths where stroke was the underlying cause of death in Suffolk county, for 2002 to 2006 (the latest year available).
| Table 1: Number of deaths where stroke was the underlying cause of death,( 1) Suffolk county,( 2) 2002 to 2006( 3) | |
| Suffolk county (persons) | |
| (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), codes I60-I69. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2007. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. | |
VAT: Fraud
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK economy of VAT fraud in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [171860]
Jane Kennedy: No estimate has been produced for the cost to the UK economy of VAT fraud. HMRC published annual estimates of VAT losses, and the level of MTIC fraud alongside PBR 2007 in “Measuring Indirect Tax Losses—2007”, which is available from the House of Commons Library or from the HMRC website:
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