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11 Mar 2008 : Column 368W—continued
Inflation
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the rate of inflation. [192371]
Angela Eagle: 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 recent Parliamentary Question asking what is the most recent estimate of the rate of inflation. (192371).
There are two main measures of consumer inflation published by the Office for National Statistics, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) which forms the basis for the Government’s inflation target and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) which has many uses including the indexation of state benefits and pensions. The latest data for these can be found on the National Statistics website at:
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2321W, on Members: correspondence, how many replies were sent to hon. Members from the Preston tax credit office in the last 12 months; and by what procedures the Director of the office is shown some of the correspondence. [192859]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 10 March 2008]: Between 1 March 2007 and 29 February 2008, managers at the Tax Credit office replied to around 8,000 inquiries which they had received direct from hon. Members.
I have asked the TCO director to write to my hon. Friend on his second point.
Northern Rock: Nationalisation
Mr. Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what strategic business objectives he has set for Northern Rock. [192149]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Chancellor gave on 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 1893.
Prostate Cancer: Lancashire
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many diagnoses of prostate cancer there were in Lancashire in each of the last five years. [193338]
Angela Eagle: 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 recent Parliamentary Question asking how many diagnoses of prostate cancer there were in Lancashire in each of the last five years. [193338]
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases (incidence) of malignant neoplasm of prostate are for the year 2005. Figures for 2001-2005 for males in the county of Lancashire are in the table below.
| Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer( 1) , males, county of Lancashire, 2001-05 | |
| Number | |
| (1) Prostate cancer is coded to C61 in the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Source: Office for National Statistics. | |
Retail Prices Index
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a specific retail price index measure for pensioners to take account of differential spending patterns compared to the general population. [192494]
Angela Eagle: 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 recent Parliamentary Question asking the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a specific retail price index measure for pensioners to take account of differential spending patterns compared to the general population. (192494)
The retail prices index (RPI) is an average measure of change in the prices of goods and services bought for the purpose of consumption by the vast majority of households in the UK. There are no plans to introduce an index to represent the specific spending patterns of pensioners. It is recognized that very few individuals will conform to an average profile, as used in the RPI and it is for this reason that ONS has produced a personal inflation calculator, based on the RPI. It allows individuals to input their own spending on the main categories of good and
services, and then it reassembles the RPI price indices using these expenditure patterns. This gives an indication of an individual's personal inflation rate.
Tax Avoidance
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will initiate a study of the use of Liechtenstein financial entities for the purposes of UK tax avoidance. [192012]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC constantly reviews financial entities which are used for tax avoidance.
Tax Yields: Bingo
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average annual employment-related revenue for the Exchequer from (a) PAYE and (b) national insurance contributions from a bingo club. [192933]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
Taxation: Self-Assessment
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) for what reasons tax returns are transferred between HM Revenue and Customs offices; [193330]
(2) how many tax returns were lost in transfer between HM Revenue and Customs offices in each of the last five years; [193331]
(3) what procedures are in place to record the transfer of tax returns between HM Revenue and Customs offices. [193332]
Jane Kennedy: Under the terms of the Taxes Management Act 1970 (1970 c 9) taxpayers may deliver their self assessment tax return to any HMRC office. Where paper tax returns are received in offices which are not the processing office HMRC transfer them to the appropriate office. Returns may also be moved between offices to make the most efficient use of processing resources and staff skills.
HMRC transfer tax returns between their offices using their internal ‘Taxpost’ systems. Thousands of items are moved through this system every day and individual items are generally not recorded.
Information on the number of lost tax returns is not recorded centrally.
VAT: Business
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of HM Revenue and Customs performance in repaying VAT owed to UK businesses. [193353]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is committed to paying correct repayment claims without undue delay. It operates to a published target to authorise at least 90 per cent. of correct repayment returns within 10 working days of their receipt. At the same time, HMRC makes clear to businesses that it will carry out checks and apply safeguards to ensure that claims are legitimate and accurate. In both 2005-06 and 2006-07 the target was met.
VAT: Leisure
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give private companies running public leisure facilities the same VAT arrangements as leisure trusts running similar facilities. [193216]
Jane Kennedy: VAT exemption applies to the supply of sporting services by non-profit making bodies. Our European VAT agreements do not allow us to extend exemption to similar supplies made by commercial organisations.
VAT: Uniforms
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of reducing to 5 per cent. the rate of VAT on upper body, badged items of school uniform for all school children under 18 years old. [193340]
Jane Kennedy: No estimate has been made. Our European VAT agreements, signed by successive governments, do not allow us to introduce a reduced VAT rate for those badged items of school uniform that are not already VAT zero-rated.
Welfare Tax Credits: Appeals
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals there have been in relation to decisions on tax credits since 2003. [190017]
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many appeals against tax credit awards were made by households with (a) one individual, (b) a lone parent with dependent children, (c) a couple with no children and (d) a couple with children in each financial year since their inception; [192138]
(2) how many appeals against tax credit awards were made for (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in each financial year since their inception. [192139]
Jane Kennedy: Customers can contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to appeal if they think their tax credits award is wrong. The Department will seek to agree the amount of the award with the customer and make the correct payment.
Information concerning appeals can be found in the HMRC leaflet WTC/AP “How to appeal against a tax credits decision or award” which is available on the internet at:
The level of detail requested by the hon. Members is not available but the numbers of households that have appealed against a tax credits decision in each year from April 2003 to February 2008 inclusive are provided in the following table:
| April to March | Number of appeals received (rounded to the nearest 5) |
Welfare Tax Credits: Foreigners
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid in tax credits to (a) overseas nationals, (b) non-British nationals of EU countries and (c) nationals of EU8 countries in each of the last five years. [193418]
Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 June 2007, Official Report, column 1890W, to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws).
Welfare Tax Credits: Fraud
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information is (a) collected and (b) has been held for the last five years on (i) residency and (ii) nationality related tax credit fraud by overseas nationals; and if he will make a statement. [193419]
Jane Kennedy: This requested information is not available.
Justice
Magistrates
12. Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to encourage more people from disadvantaged communities to become magistrates. [192765]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are committed to a magistracy reflective of our diverse communities. My Department has taken forward a number of initiatives to support greater diversity, including working with employers to encourage them to release employees to serve as magistrates, more informative advertising and application materials to raise the profile of recruitment, a dedicated magistrates website and support for awareness raising schemes such as the magistrates shadowing scheme. In addition, local advisory committees, who recruit and select magistrates, are required to target recruitment towards any groups under-represented in their respective areas.
House of Lords Reform
13. Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in his consideration of House of Lords reform, what assessment he has made of the experience of other countries which have religious leaders in their parliaments. [192766]
Mr. Wills: The UK is unique in Europe in having reserved places in Parliament for religious leaders.
21. Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress has been made by the cross-party working group on House of Lords reform; and if he will make a statement. [192774]
Mr. Straw: The cross-party group on House of Lords reform has met four times since the beginning of the year. It has made progress on many major questions on reforming the other place. Its work will be reflected in the White Paper on Lords reform due to be published before the summer recess.
Sentencing Guidelines
14. Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the likely impact on the number of people sent to prison of the new guidance on sentences for offences of assault. [192767]
Maria Eagle: The Sentencing Guidelines Council published guidelines on assault against the person last month. These largely reflect existing Court of Appeal guidelines and current sentencing practice and trends. The Government do not therefore expect significant change in the number of people sent to prison for these offences.
Bilingual Juries: Wales
15. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on provision for bilingual juries in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [192768]
Maria Eagle: We are considering the provision of bilingual juries in Wales and intend to make a statement in due course.
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