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13 Oct 2008 : Column 991W—continued
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the former Financial Secretary (Jane Kennedy) gave the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 25 March 2008, Official Report, column 51W.
Child Trust Fund
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much and with which institutions he has invested child trust fund contributions that have been unclaimed by families. [224644]
Ian Pearson: Eligibility to the child trust fund is not subject to a claim. Where parents do not use the Government voucher to open an account themselves HMRC opens an account for the child instead. Up to 30 June 2007 the total number of child trust fund accounts opened by HM Revenue and Customs under these default arrangements was 858,000. These accounts are allocated on a strictly rotational basis to those 16 providers who have volunteered to take these accounts. A current list of these providers is obtainable at the following address:
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families with low incomes have not claimed the child trust fund payment since 2005. [224648]
Ian Pearson: No families have failed to claim the child trust fund payment since 2005 as no claim is necessary. All UK resident children in a child benefit award, who are born on or after 1 September 2002 and who are not subject to immigration control, will have a child trust fund account.
Council Tax: Valuation
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many dwellings in Wales have had their council tax banding amended upwards since the initial 2005 council tax revaluation process, according to records held by the Valuation Office Agency, expressed in terms of the (a) original and (b) revised banding. [225445]
Mr. Timms: Statistics, showing all cases where the listing officer has made a change since 1 April 2005 as a result of an inquiry or an appeal, can be found on the Valuation Office Agency website at
Departmental Domestic Visits
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which parliamentary constituencies his predecessor visited between 6 May 2005 and 6 May 2006; on what dates each such visit took place; and what the purpose of each such visit was. [225403]
Angela Eagle: Treasury Ministers regularly visit all parts of the country on Government business.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which parliamentary constituencies his predecessor visited between 6 May 2006 and 27 June 2007; on what dates each such visit was made; and what the purpose of each such visit was. [225410]
Angela Eagle: Treasury Ministers regularly visit all parts of the country on Government business.
Departmental Official Visits
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many times his predecessor visited (a) Cardiff, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Swansea, (d) Glasgow, (e) Aberdeen and (f) Dundee between 2 May 1997 and 8 June 1999; on what dates he made such visits; and what the purpose was of each visit; [224942]
(2) how many times his predecessor visited (a) Cardiff, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Swansea, (d) Glasgow, (e) Aberdeen and (f) Dundee between 8 June 1998 and 8 June 1999; on what dates he made such visits; and what the purpose was of each visit. [224943]
Angela Eagle: Treasury Ministers regularly visit all parts of the country on Government business.
Economic Situation: Bank Services
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the international banking turbulence on (a) public sector pay policy, (b) fuel prices, (c) utility bills and (d) food prices in the UK. [224736]
Ian Pearson: The Government will provide an updated assessment of developments and prospects for the UK and world economy, including prices, in the pre-Budget report, based on all relevant factors, as normal. The objectives of the Government’s pay policy remain: to recruit and retain high quality work forces; affordability and value for money for the tax payer; and consistency with achievement of the inflation target.
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Government have made of the number of UK employees who may be made redundant due to the recent uncertainty in the international banking sector, broken down by region. [224738]
Ian Pearson: Consistent with the practices of previous Governments, the Treasury does not publish labour market forecasts.
Economic Situation: Economic Growth
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect which would result from 1 per cent. lower growth in the economy in a year on the published annual deficit. [224941]
Angela Eagle: The latest public finance projections were published in Budget 2008. A full assessment of the impact of changes in the economic outlook on the public finances will be provided in the normal way in the forthcoming 2008 pre-Budget report.
Equitable Life: Compensation
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to provide a compensation package for Equitable Life investors. [225099]
Mr. Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many Equitable Life policyholders are estimated to be affected by the regulatory failure set out in the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report Equitable Life: A Decade of Regulatory Failure; [225814]
(2) what progress has been made towards the implementation of a compensation scheme for those Equitable Life policyholders who the Parliamentary Ombudsman identified as having undergone a loss as a consequence of regulatory failure; [225815]
(3) what estimate has been made of the cost to the Government of compensating former Equitable Life policyholders under the recommendations set out by the Parliamentary Ombudsman in her report Equitable Life: A Decade of Regulatory Failure. [225816]
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take following publication of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report on the regulatory supervision of Equitable Life; and if he will make a statement. [226578]
Ian Pearson: As my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, told this House on 8 October 2008, Official Report, column 287, the Government will report on Equitable Life shortly.
Expenditure: Asylum
Mr. Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of expenditure from the public purse on asylum seekers in each of the last 11 years (a) in cash terms and (b) adjusted for inflation. [224559]
Angela Eagle: An estimate of total public expenditure on asylum seekers can be produced only at a disproportionate cost.
Expenditure: Sport
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the progress achieved by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in achieving the target set by his Department to raise £20 million per year in private sector support for elite sport; what plans he has to guarantee the funding; and if he will make a statement. [224761]
Yvette Cooper: DCMS continue to make progress towards raising private sector support for elite sport. Fast Track Sales were appointed as the Department's official adviser in July this year. Fast Track are working with DCMS and UK Sport on the detail of the ‘Medal Hopes’ funding scheme which it is hoped will attract sponsorship from national, regional and local businesses to help realise the potential of those athletes on UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme.
Finance: Department for Culture Media and Sport
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets for asset sales have been set for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in each of the next three years. [224865]
Yvette Cooper: The 2007 comprehensive spending review required all Departments to publish an asset management strategy. DCMS' asset management strategy will set out an asset disposal plan and indicate expected asset disposals over the CSR.
Finance: Devolution
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish his Department's factual paper on the operation of the Barnett formula. [225021]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price) on 21 July, Official Report, column 729W.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will consider the report, Unequal Shares: The Definitive Guide to the Barnett Formula, published by the Taxpayers' Alliance. [225022]
Yvette Cooper: The devolved funding arrangements were updated in the Statement of Funding Policy published by the Treasury in October 2007.
Financial Services Authority
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the operational independence of the Financial Services Authority. [224683]
Ian Pearson: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is an independent non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. This statutory independence means that the Government do not have any control over the day-to-day running of the organisation. However, the FSA is still accountable to Parliament, Government, the public and industry in a number of ways including the requirement for the FSA to publish an annual report on the discharge of its functions and the extent to which its regulatory objectives have been met.
Fireworks: Imports
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date a prosecution was last made against an importing company for giving false information to HM Revenue and Customs in relation to the licensed destination site for imported fireworks. [226687]
Mr. Timms:
HM Revenue and Customs prosecutions are undertaken by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). RCPO has advised that it has no record of any prosecution made under section 11 of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 against an importing company for
giving false information to HM Revenue and Customs in relation to the licensed destination site for imported fireworks.
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals pay more income tax following the abolition of the 10 pence band as modified by the changes announced on 13 May; and if he will break down the data according to those earning (a) under £10,000, (b) between £10,000 and £15,000, (c) between £15,000 and £20,000 and (d) above £20,000 a year. [225223]
Mr. Timms: The Government’s memorandum to the Treasury Committee inquiry “Budget Measures and Low-Income Households” explained that information relating to the Budget 2007 reforms can be provided only on a household basis.
A breakdown of the remaining households that are still paying more net tax than they were prior to the Budget 2007 reforms, following the changes announced on 13 May, can be found in the answer to Q15 of Annex A of the Government memorandum.
Income Tax: Tax Yields
Mr. Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the income received from income tax revenues came from (a) the top 1 per cent. of earners, (b) the top 5 per cent. of earners, (c) the top 10 per cent. of earners, (d) the top 25 per cent. of earners, (e) the lowest 50 per cent. of earners, (f) the lowest 25 per cent. of earners and (g) the lowest 10 per cent. of earners in (i) 1975, (ii) 1980, (iii) 1985, (iv) 1990, (v) 1997, (vi) 2000 and (vii) each year since 2000. [225568]
Mr. Timms: Information on the shares of income tax paid by different percentiles of taxpayers for the period 1999-2000 to 2008-09 is set out in Table 2.4 "Shares of total income (before and after tax) and income tax for percentile groups" on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
The share of income tax for percentile groups of taxpayers, premised on total income before tax, for tax years 1990-91 and 1997-98, is set out in the following table. The data are based on the “Survey of Personal Incomes”.
| Percentage | ||
| 1990-91 | 1997-98 | |
The information covering parts (i) to (iii) of the right hon. Member's question is not available.
Insurance: Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for insurance companies of the cost of repairs to houses affected by the recent floods. [225402]
Ian Pearson: Her Majesty’s Treasury maintains a close dialogue with the insurance industry that includes the implications to the industry of the costs of flooding.
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