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6 May 2008 : Column 826W—continued
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what mechanisms he is considering for compensating people who are (a) carers and (b) retirees between the ages of 50 and 59 years who are paying more tax as a result of the abolition of the 10 per cent. starting rate. [202756]
Jane Kennedy: The Chancellor wrote to the Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Committee on 23 April to outline that the Government intends to do more to help low-income households.
The letter made clear that a report into the issue will be published in time for the pre-Budget report and that the Chancellor will report back to the House of Commons in the pre-Budget report.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what compensation is planned for retired people over the age of 65 years who are adversely affected by the abolition of the 10 pence income tax rate. [203394]
Jane Kennedy: Budget 2007 announced increases in age-related income tax allowances for those aged 65 or over by £1,180 above indexation in April 2008, removing around 600,000 pensioners from paying tax. As a result of personal tax and benefit measures announced in Budget 2007, by April 2008 pensioner households will be, on average, £80 per year better off.
The Government have made clear that it intends to do more to help low-income households affected by the removal of the 10p starting rate of income tax, including pensioners aged 60-64. The Chancellor’s letter to John McFall of the Treasury Select Committee made clear that a report into the issue will be published in the run-up to the pre-Budget report, and that the Chancellor will report back to the House in the pre-Budget report.
Insurance: VAT
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what value of VAT receipts have been received by his Department from insurance claims from the flooding in summer 2007. [202893]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.
The extent to which spending related to the floods and funded by insurance claims might impact on overall VAT receipts is unclear given the need to take into account a broad and complex range of reclaim, offsetting and displacement factors over a reasonable period of time. As such, no assessment has been made.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter dated 19 March 2008, regarding VAT paid by Mercia Inshore Search and Rescue on equipment and services (PO Ref: 1/55630/2008). [203395]
Jane Kennedy: I replied to the hon. Member on 30 April.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer the letter of 10 March 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton, with regard to Mrs. N. Hussain. [203887]
Jane Kennedy: I replied to the right hon. Member on 24 April.
Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been raised by the introduction of the premium rate 0845 telephone number at HM Revenue and Customs; and if he will make a statement. [203310]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs do not operate any premium rate telephone services and raise no revenue through the use of 0845 business rate lines.
Tax Yields: Sustainable Development
Alan Duncan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forecast he has made of the revenue which will accrue to his Department as a result of the (a) Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, (b) Renewables Obligation, (c) European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and (d) Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in 2008. [201490]
Angela Eagle:
No revenue is generated for the Treasury by the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). The purpose of CERT is to help electricity and gas consumers in the household sector to reduce the carbon impact (footprint) of their home by using energy more efficiently, reducing consumption and using energy from renewable sources. Specifically, CERT is an obligation on energy suppliers to achieve an overall target of 154
MtCO2 lifetime reduction in carbon emissions, equivalent to annual net savings of 4.2 MtCO2 by 2010, and will stimulate about £2.8 billion of investment by energy suppliers in promoting carbon reduction measures. Suppliers must direct at least 40 per cent. of carbon savings to a priority group of low-income and elderly consumers, contributing to the alleviation of fuel poverty. Overall around £1.5 billion is expected to be directed at the priority group.
There are no revenues generated from the Renewables Obligation (RO). The RO places an obligation on UK suppliers of electricity to source an increasing proportion of their electricity from renewable sources. Suppliers can comply with their obligation either by presenting ROCs or by paying a buyout amount. Any revenue generated by these buyouts is redistributed to suppliers depending on the number of ROCs they present against their obligation.
In Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which runs from 2008 to 2012, Government will auction 7 per cent. of allowances. This equates to approximately 85 million allowances, plus those allowances from installations that close during Phase II and any unused surplus from the New Entrant Reserve (NER). The total amount cannot exceed 10 per cent. of the number allocated during Phase II according to the terms of the EU ETS Directive 2003/87/EC. The amount of revenue will be influenced by the market price of carbon at the time of the auctions.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation does not generate revenue. It places a legal obligation on transport fuel suppliers to supply a specified proportion of their road fuel supplies to their customers in the UK from renewable energy sources. Suppliers demonstrate their compliance through a certification system using ‘Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates’ (RTFCs). Suppliers can choose to ‘buy out’ of their obligation, with moneys collected through this going into a ‘buy out fund’. The fund will be recycled among obligated companies in proportion to actual fulfilment of the Obligation through the redemption of certificates.
Taxation: Land
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent research his Department has conducted into land value taxation. [203049]
Jane Kennedy: The Treasury keeps a range of tax options under consideration in the course of its policy making process.
Valuation Office
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2008, Official Report, column 898W, on the Valuation Office, on what date the automated valuation model was last calibrated. [203120]
Jane Kennedy: Automated valuation model technology used by the Valuation Office Agency has allowed calibration to be undertaken at many and different times throughout the country with several models having been adopted. Accordingly, there is no single date that can be given.
Valuation Office: ICT
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Valuation Office Agency's Valuebill interface applies to (a) England or (b) England and Wales. [203114]
Jane Kennedy: It applies to England and Wales.
Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings representatives of the Valuation Office Agency have had with Northern Ireland Land and Property Services in the last 12 months. [203118]
Jane Kennedy: Representatives of the Valuation Office Agency have met with representatives of the Northern Ireland Land and Property Services on 8 occasions in the last 12 months. The meetings were to discuss valuation issues and practices common to the public sector.
Valuation Office: Procurement
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Valuation Office Agency’s purchase orders are recorded in an electronic database. [203132]
Valuation Office: Standards
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the Valuation Office Agency’s customer services manual. [203129]
Jane Kennedy: The agency's customer service manual is currently being comprehensively rewritten, and this rewrite is expected to be complete next month, whereupon the updated version will be published on the VOA website.
VAT: Home Information Packs
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has accrued to the Exchequer from value added tax receipts on (a) home information packs and (b) energy performance certificates to date. [203126]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.
VAT: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue to the Exchequer from value added tax charged on repairs to flood-damaged property in 2007. [203117]
Jane Kennedy: No estimate has been made.
Welfare Tax Credits: Finance
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the prepared total managed expenditure 2006 to 2011 as included in Budget 2008 Table C9, for tax credits, by funding allocated for (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit, excluding the allocation for child allowances in income support and jobseeker's allowance. [202702]
Jane Kennedy: The figures in Table C9 are of net payments on a cash basis. The detailed information needed to break these down between child tax credit and working tax credit is not available.
However, Table 3.1 at Note 3 to the HMRC Trust Statement for 2006-07 shows the full breakdown for HMRC expenditure in that year on an accruals basis. Note that these figures exclude the payments of child allowances in income support and jobseeker’s allowance, which are included in the tax credits figure shown in table C9, as explained in footnote 1 to that table.
Welfare Tax Credits: Telephone Services
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1691W, on welfare tax credits: telephone services, whether the staffing cost for 2006-07 is for both the claimants and the hon. Members’ tax credit helpline. [202878]
Jane Kennedy: The staffing costs in my previous answer related only to the claimants tax credit helpline.
The other data are not available in the format requested as the information cannot be disaggregated from other costs. The number of staff on the tax credit office MP hotline fluctuates according to demand and advisers are assigned other tasks during less busy periods.
Working Tax Credit
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many and what proportion of people claimed working tax credit in (a) Basingstoke constituency, (b) Hampshire and (c) England in each year for which records are available; [203101]
(2) how many and what proportion of people claimed working tax credit in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford and (b) the London Borough of Bexley in each year for which records are available. [203382]
Jane Kennedy: Tax Credit take-up rate estimates are not available at constituency or local authority level.
Estimates of Child and Working Tax Credit take-up rates for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06, by country and region, are produced in table 9 of the HMRC publications "Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. Take-up Statistics", which are published on the HMRC website at:
Estimates of the number of families with tax credit awards, by constituency, local authority and country, based on final family circumstances and incomes, are available in the HMRC publications "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards. Geographical Analysis" for the years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06. These publications and provisional estimates for the number of families, by constituency, with tax credit awards as at selected dates up to April 2008 are available on the HMRC website at:
Working Tax Credit: Enfield
Joan Ryan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Enfield North constituency receive working tax credit. [202859]
Jane Kennedy: In 2005-06, the average number of families receiving working tax credits in the Enfield North constituency was 2,500.
This information is from the HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards 2005-06. Geographical Analysis”, which is available on the HMRC website at:
The same information for 2006-07 is due to be published on 20 May 2008.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which items are prohibited from being (a) posted, (b) shipped in military transport and (c) individually carried from (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan by (A) members of the armed forces and (B) departmental civilians. [203212]
Des Browne: All armed forces personnel and MOD staff are subject to stringent internationally recognised civilian standards with regards to posting, shipping in military transport and individually carrying items from any theatre of operations. The criteria are defined in the appropriate dangerous goods regulations. The nature of military operations necessitate for national security and operational reasons, some key exemptions such as movement of munitions by air, which are defined in Joint Service Publication 367 for postal and Joint Service Publication 800 for movements and transport.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of airbridge flights for personnel serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan have been delayed, broken down by number of hours delayed. [203219]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Punctuality data for airbridge flights to and from Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 12 months are set out in the following table:
| Op Telic (Iraq) | Op Herrick (Afghanistan) | |
| Percentage | ||
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