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11 Mar 2008 : Column 361W—continued

Debts

Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) average amount of personal debt per person and (b) total amount of personal debt was in (i) the UK, (ii) England and (iii) Dacorum in the last five years for which figures are available. [193420]

Jane Kennedy: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 11 March 2008:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question on what the (a) average amount of personal debt per person and (b) total amount of personal debt was in (i) the UK, (ii) England and (iii) Dacorum in the last five years for which figures are available.

In National Accounts terminology the personal sector is referred to as the household sector. Following international practice, the household sector is combined with the non-profit institutions serving households sector (NPISH), and it is not possible to separate the two. Examples of institutions included within the NPISH sector are: charities; trade unions; universities; churches and political parties.

Data on total financial liabilities of the household and NPISH sector are only available at a UK level; therefore it is not possible to answer parts (ii) and (iii) of your question.

11 Mar 2008 : Column 362W

	UK population (thousand)	UK total household and NPISH sector financial liabilities (£ million)	Average financial liabilities per person in the UK (£000)
2002	59,323	923,144	16
2003	59,557	1,046,913	18
2004	59,846	1,172,032	20
2005	60,238	1,249,393	21
2006	60,587	1,405,756	23
Sources: UK population—Mid Year Estimates of resident population, Table 2.1 Monthly Digest of Statistics http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=611&;Pos=&ColRank=l&Rank=272 UK Total household and NPISH sector financial liabilities—Financial balance sheet: households and non profit institutions serving households, Table A64 United Kingdom Economic Accounts http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=1904

Departmental Complaints

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the timescale is for dealing with complaints to his Department; and what percentage of complaints were processed within this timescale in the latest period for which figures are available. [193070]

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 3 December 2007, Official Report, column 1021W, to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban). The Treasury aims to respond to all correspondence within 15 working days.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made in its zero-based budget review under the Comprehensive Spending Review. [191478]

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the Annex in “Meeting the aspirations of the British People: the 2007 pre-Budget report and Comprehensive Spending Review” (CM 7227) and the Treasury’s “Value for Money Delivery Agreement and Asset Management Strategy” published on 17 December 2007.

Departmental Manpower

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2311W, on departmental manpower, what the baseline figure of employment was on 1 April 2004 in each region and country in total; if he will break down those figures by department or agency; and what the equivalent figures were on 1 April 2007. [192845]

Angela Eagle: The following tables show the staff in post breakdown for the Chancellor’s Department at 1 April 2004, as published in the civil service staffing statistics.

Civil service statistics at 1 April 2004
Full-time equivalent
	EM	East	London	NE	NW	NI	Scotland
HM Treasury	0	0	1,060	0	0	0	0
Debt Management Office	0	0	80	0	0	0	0
Office of Government Commerce	0	230	220	0	160	0	10
Government Actuary’s Department	0	0	110	0	0	0	0
HM Revenue and Customs (IR plus C and E)	5,020	6,780	12,300	13,120	14,850	2,500	9,990
Valuation Office Agency	320	360	850	210	580	0	80
National Savings and Investments	0	0	110	0	0	0	0
Office for National Statistics	0	0	870	0	820	0	0
Royal Mint	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	5,340	7,370	15,600	13,330	16,410	2,500	10,080

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11 Mar 2008 : Column 364W

Full-time equivalent
	SE	SW	Wales	WM	Y and H	Unknown and elsewhere	All regions
HM Treasury	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,060
Debt Management Office	0	0	0	0	0	0	80
Office of Government Commerce	0	0	0	0	20	20	660
Government Actuary’s Department	0	0	0	0	0	0	110
HM Revenue and Customs (IR plus C and E)	10,610	4,670	4,720	5,870	6,690	70	97,190
Valuation Office Agency	730	490	310	460	540	0	4,930
National Savings and Investments	0	0	0	0	0	0	110
Office for National Statistics	760	0	1,260	0	0	0	3,710
Royal Mint	0	0	730	0	0	0	730
Total	12,100	5,160	7,020	6,330	7,250	90	108,580

The following tables show the staff in post breakdown for the Chancellor’s Departments at 1 April 2007, as supplied by the Departments and agencies.

Departmental records at 1 April 2007
Full-time equivalent
	EM	East	London	NE	NW	NI	Scotland
HM Treasury	0	68	1,139	0	0	0	0
Debt Management Office	0	0	75	0	0	0	0
Office of Government Commerce and HMT	0	190	195	13	167	0	6
Government Actuary’s Department	0	0	100	0	0	0	0
HM Revenue and Customs	4,469	5,874	10,248	12,461	14,408	2,326	10,520
Valuation Office Agency	280	357	749	169	492	0	68
National Savings and Investment	0	0	121	4	2	0	3
Office for National Statistics	0	0	551	0	814	0	0
Royal Mint	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	4,749	6,489	13,178	12,647	15,883	2,326	10,597

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