Previous Section Index Home Page

4 Feb 2008 : Column 830W—continued


4 Feb 2008 : Column 831W

4 Feb 2008 : Column 832W

Table 3: Annual average number of claimants of jobseeker’s allowance and proportions of working age population for residents of the city of York parliamentary constituency, city of York unitary authority, Yorkshire and the Humber and the United Kingdom
City of York constituency City of York unitary authority Yorkshire and the Humber Great Britain
Number of claimants Proportion( 1) (Percentage) Number of claimants Proportion( 1) (Percentage) Number of claimants Proportion( 1) (Percentage) Number of claimants Proportion( 1) (Percentage)

1996

4,053

6.1

5,182

4.8

191,830

6.4

2,122,245

6.0

1997

3,002

4.5

3,786

3.5

151,995

5.1

1,602,442

4.5

1998

2,425

3.7

3,042

2.8

134,892

4.5

1,362,340

3.8

1999

2,190

3.3

2,762

2.5

124,675

4.1

1,263,001

3.5

2000

1,895

2.9

2,367

2.1

108,459

3.6

1,102,257

3.0

2001

1,676

2.5

2,120

1.9

97,453

3.2

982,998

2.7

2002

1,480

2.2

1,838

1.6

90,091

2.9

958,759

2.6

2003

1,437

2.2

1,808

1.6

84,995

2.8

945,894

2.6

2004

1,342

2.0

1,706

1.4

74,512

2.4

866,144

2.3

2005

1,331

2.0

1,689

1.4

77,306

2.5

874,417

2.3

2006

1,654

2.5

2,107

1.8

88,667

2.8

956,732

2.6

2007

1,455

2.2

1,857

1.5

82,049

2.6

872,959

2.3

(1) Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working age population.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus administrative data.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are applied by HM Revenue and Customs in assessing the composition of biogas fuel for the purposes of applying duty; and if he will make a statement. [183751]

Angela Eagle: Biogas, or methane reclaimed from landfill and other organic matter, meets the definition of “natural road fuel gas” in section 8(3)(a) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979, and is liable to duty at the rate of 13.70 pence per kilogram.

Under the Fuel-testing Pilot Projects (Biogas Project) Regulations 2006, biogas produced from landfill matter under a specific pilot project is exempt from duty for an experimental period.

Group Corporate Services: Manpower

Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) part-time and (b) full-time equivalent permanent staff headcount was for Group Corporate Services in each year since 1998; what the (i) contractor and (ii) temporary staff headcount was over the same period; how much was spent on (A) agency staff and (B) consultants by Group Corporate Services in each such year; and if he will make a statement. [170349]

Angela Eagle: The present Group Corporate Services (Group Shared Services) was formed on 1 April 2007 and include shared corporate services for HM Treasury and Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

The figures for the previous years represent the headcount and cost of the HR, IS, Estates, Internal Audit and Finance functions of core HM Treasury only.

Headcount and cost figures are available for year 2003 onwards as before this date they are not kept centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The same applies about agency staff and contractor headcount details.

Headcount (in FTE) Spend on agency staff and consultants
Full-time Part-time

2006-07

112.0

5.4

2,225,729

2005-06

116.0

5.5

2,550,064

2004-05

125.0

8.6

1,707,567

2003-04

133.0

7.0

1,745,410


The increase of headcount in year 2007-08 is due to the merging of OGC's and HMT's corporate services to create a group shared service. As part of this around 70 staff from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) transferred to the HM Treasury.

The spend on agency/contractors in the current financial year (up to October 2007) is no higher than previous years and it is anticipated that it will be below the total spend of the previous year.

Human Papilloma Virus: Finance

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Barnett consequentials for the rollout of human papilloma vaccines for women in Wales in 2008. [183825]

Yvette Cooper: Funding for the Welsh Assembly Government in 2007-08 was announced as part of the 2004 spending review and in 2008-09 as part of the 2007 comprehensive spending review. The Welsh Assembly Government received Barnett consequentials on the increases in spending for the Department of Health but the Welsh funding is on a block basis rather than disaggregated by specific spending streams such as funding for the rollout of accessing human papilloma vaccines for women.

Individual Savings Accounts

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many maxi ISAs were taken out by individual taxpayers in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available. [184141]


4 Feb 2008 : Column 833W

Angela Eagle: This information can be found in HMRC’s published table 9.4 which provides details of subscriptions to ISAs by subscription type. A link can be found as follows.

Leaseback Arrangements: Housing

Peter Viggers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce legislation to require the Financial Services Authority to regulate sale-and-leaseback schemes on residential property. [181931]

Angela Eagle: Sale and rent back arrangements are property transactions that do not involve the provision of credit, and so fall outside the scope of the Financial Services Authority’s mortgage regime.

The Government are reviewing the evidence and will consider options to address any problems where appropriate.

Local Government: Pay

Mr. Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of (a) all employees, (b) full-time employees and (c) part-time employees in (i) Scotland and (ii) each unitary local authority area in Scotland and the UK earned hourly rates (gross, excluding overtime) below (A) £8.05, (B) £6.05 and (C) £5.35 in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by gender. [183317]

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. The relevant table has been placed in the Library.

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 4 February 2008:

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of (a) all employees, (b) full-time employees and (c) part-time employees in (i) Scotland, (ii) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (iii) the United Kingdom had weekly earnings (gross, including overtime) below (A) £301.95, (B) £226.69 and (C) £200.63, broken down by sex. [183938]


4 Feb 2008 : Column 834W

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

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 4 February 2008:

Migrant Workers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 19 October 2007, Official Report, column 1353W, on migrant workers, in what economic sectors the 1.4 million additional foreign born workers of working age between 1997 and 2007 are working; and how many UK born individuals have gained a level 2 qualification in these sectors since 1997. [175385]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 18 December 2008]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell dated 4 February 2008:


Next Section Index Home Page