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24 Apr 2008 : Column 2181W—continued
Treasury
Fuel Taxes
12. Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to reduce fuel taxes for those living in rural areas. [200871]
Jane Kennedy: In the Budget the Government deferred the increase in fuel duty for six months in order to help motorists.
Energy Prices
13. Julie Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects on the economy of the recent rises in energy prices. [200872]
Angela Eagle:
Increases in global energy prices, driven by developments in the oil and wholesale gas markets, inevitably continue to influence UK inflationary pressure. And our Budget economic forecasts fully reflected the impact of these developments on the UK economy. However, the UK is better placed to respond to these challenges than in the past, with employment at record
highs, inflation presently lower than in the euro area or the United States and the IMF expecting UK GDP growth to be the fastest in the G7 again this year.
Government Borrowing
15. Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of Government borrowing benchmarked against other major economies. [200875]
Angela Eagle: Over the economic cycle that began in 1997-98, UK public sector net borrowing averaged 1.0 per cent. of GDP, whereas for both the euro area and OECD as a whole, borrowing averaged 2 per cent. of GDP over the same period.
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of Government borrowing benchmarked against other major economies. [200874]
Angela Eagle: Over the economic cycle that began in 1997-98, UK public sector net borrowing averaged 1.0 per cent. of GDP, whereas for both the euro area and OECD as a whole, borrowing averaged 2 per cent. of GDP over the same period.
17. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer What assessment he has made of the level of Government borrowing benchmarked against other major economies. [200877]
Angela Eagle: Over the economic cycle that began in 1997-98, UK public sector net borrowing averaged 1.0 per cent. of GDP, whereas for both the euro area and OECD as a whole, borrowing averaged 2 per cent. of GDP over the same period.
18. Mr. Brazier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of Government borrowing benchmarked against other major economies. [200878]
Angela Eagle: Over the economic cycle that began in 1997-98, UK public sector net borrowing averaged 1.0 per cent. of GDP, whereas for both the euro area and OECD as a whole, borrowing averaged 2 per cent. of GDP over the same period.
Alcohol Duties
16. Mr. Illsley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the increases in alcohol duties announced in Budget 2008. [200876]
Angela Eagle: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Welfare Tax Credits
19. Mr. Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what inquiries are made into the immigration status and eligibility to receive public funds of a second-named person on a joint application for tax credits. [200879]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC takes fraud seriously and has a range of checks in place throughout the period of the claim. If fraud is suspected, payment is stopped. In the most serious cases, prosecution will be considered.
HMRC use a number of tools to help them detect wrong and fraudulent claims. Cases requiring compliance intervention are selected using a risk-based approach, which examines the overall features of a claim.
It would be inappropriate to disclose a complete list of verification checks as to do so may provide assistance to those attempting to defraud the system.
Banking Sector: Bad Debt
20. Mark Pritchard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the banking sector on its exposure to bad debt. [200880]
Jane Kennedy: The Chancellor meets regularly with representatives of the banking sector and discusses a range of issues.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Housing Minister hosted a meeting with the mortgage and lending industry at No. 11 Downing street on Tuesday 22 April to discuss what the industry can do to support borrowers in difficulty during the current period of turbulence in global financial markets.
Higher Education: Expenditure
21. Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the economy of expenditure on higher education. [200882]
Yvette Cooper: As Lord Leitch set out in his independent report on the UK's long-term skills needs, a highly skilled workforce drives innovation, leadership and management, enabling business to compete in the global economy.
He found that improving the skills profile of the UK workforce over time has contributed to economic growth.
By 2011, funding for higher education will have increased by over 30 per cent. in real terms since 1997. In addition, since 1997, funding for the ringfenced science budget has increased from £1.3 billion to £3.4 billion.
Average Earnings
22. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of (a) the rate of inflation and (b) the annual change in average earnings. [200883]
Angela Eagle: In March 2008, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI) was 2.5 per cent. The annual change in average earnings as measured by the annual earnings index (AEI) including bonuses was 3.7 per cent. in February 2008.
Air Passenger Duty
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations his Department has received from overseas Governments on the legality of the proposed aviation duty. [201161]
Angela Eagle: The aviation duty formal consultation period ends today. The Treasury is unable to make an assessment of representations received from foreign Governments during the consultation period until the consultation formally closes.
Capital Gains Tax
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the likely receipts to the Exchequer from setting capital gains tax rates at the taxpayer’s marginal rate of tax in 2008-09. [200972]
Jane Kennedy: A broad estimate of the eventual steady state impact, taking account of the likely taxpayer response to such a change, is additional receipts in the order of £2 billion a year by comparison with the current capital gains tax regime.
A reform of this kind would result in a large behavioural response and as such estimates are susceptible to a wide margin of error.
Excise Duties: Motor Vehicles
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the percentage change in vehicle excise duty for a Nissan Micra will be as a result of the changes to vehicle excise duty announced in Budget 2008. [200873]
Angela Eagle: Nissan produces, and has over the years produced, a number of different models of Micra. These have a range of carbon dioxide emissions outputs from 125g to 175g /km.
Using 2008-09 rates of VED and the current Micra as a baseline, the percentage change varies between -25 per cent. and +21 per cent. in 2009-10, and between -21 per cent. and +24 per cent. in 2010-11, reflecting the fact that there is a range of emissions choices with this model of car, as there are with many others.
If the current Micra model range remains unchanged, the percentage change for a newly licensed Micra under first year rates of VED in 2010-11 lies between -100 per cent. and +76 per cent. depending on the emissions choice.
Income Tax: Tax Allowances
Mr. Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) by how much the personal allowance would need to be increased in order to remove an additional (a) 500,000, (b) 1,000,000 and (c) 1,500,000 people from income tax liability; and what the cost would be; [201463]
(2) what increase in the personal allowance would be created by an increase in funding of £8 billion; and how many people would be removed from any income tax liability as a result of such an increase. [201464]
Jane Kennedy: Approximate estimates for 2008-09 can be found in the following table.
| Increase in personal allowance( 1) | Cost( 2) (£ billion) | Number taken out of tax (thousand) |
| (1) Personal allowance for individuals below the age of 65.The personal allowances for individuals aged 65 and over are assumed to stay the same. (2) Includes the accruals cost of both income tax and national insurance contributions | ||
The income tax information is based on the Survey of Personal Incomes 2005-06 projected in line with Budget 2008 assumptions. The national insurance contributions estimates are taken from the NICs forecasting model based on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2004-05 uprated in line with Budget 2008 assumptions. The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response.
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were paying income tax at the 10 pence rate on the entirety of their taxable income in (a) Thurrock, (b) Essex and (c) Scotland on the latest date for which figures are available. [201162]
Jane Kennedy: The estimated number of taxpayers in Scotland paying tax only at the starting rate of income tax for 2007-08 is shown in table 2.2 “Number of individual income taxpayers by country and region”, which is available from HM Revenue and Customs website.
Accurate information on the number of taxpayers who pay income tax at the 10p starting rate for geographic areas below country and region are not available but information on the total number of taxpayers in the county of Essex and Thurrock unitary authority are shown in table T3.14, and for the parliamentary constituency of Thurrock in table T3.15. These tables can be found at the HM Revenue and Customs website.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income distribution/menu.htm
These estimates are based on the latest available Survey of Personal Incomes (2005-06).
Personal Income: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals in Peterborough constituency classified as being without children for tax credits purposes who are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time earn between £5,000 and £18,000 per annum; and if he will make a statement. [201356]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
Further information on tax credits can be found at:
Public Expenditure
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional public spending under the Barnett formula is expected to be received by (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10, (iii) 2010-11 and (iv) 2011-12 as a result of public spending on the London 2012 Olympics. [200239]
Yvette Cooper: The 2012 Olympics is being held on behalf of the whole of the UK. It is therefore not devolved spending and there are no Barnett consequentials for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Wider spending on London does attract Barnett consequentials in the normal way.
Public Sector Debt
Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the accuracy of his Department's forecasts for public sector debt and public borrowing over the last five years. [200870]
Yvette Cooper: The end of year fiscal report (EYFR) published alongside the pre-Budget report provides a clear and transparent assessment of public sector debt and public borrowing forecasts.
Taxation
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Inland Revenue assessments were held in abeyance pending the outcome of Jones v. Garnett; what proportion of those assessments have been abandoned following the decision in that case; and if he will make a statement. [200881]
Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.
However, cases in abeyance pending the court judgment have been disposed of in three different ways. Cases with facts in line with the Jones case were closed down very quickly. Some others have been settled with tax being payable. And there are some cases where the arguments have not been affected by the terms of the court judgment, some of which are still being resolved.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Electronic Government
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether mechanisms are in place to monitor the extent to which his Department’s (a) internal and (b) external (i) correspondence and (ii) distribution of publications is carried out electronically. [199199]
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