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13 Oct 2008 : Column 997W—continued
Landfill Tax
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely financial effects of changes in the landfill tax escalator on local authorities over the next two years. [225580]
Angela Eagle: The costs of landfill tax, including the increase in the landfill tax escalator, were taken into account when agreeing the local government settlement.
Local Income Tax: Scotland
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the implementation of the powers of the Scottish Parliament to alter existing arrangements for local taxes; and if he will make a statement. [225496]
Yvette Cooper: Treasury Ministers discuss a range of issues from time to time with the Scottish Executive.
Marginal Tax Rates
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people with marginal tax deduction rates of (a) between 50 to 60 per cent., (b) between 60 to 70 per cent., (c) between 70 to 80 per cent., (d) between 80 to 90 per cent. and (e) between 90 to 100 per cent. and (f) over 100 per cent. in each year since 1997 for which information is available. [226206]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the number of families with marginal deduction rates above 60 per cent. have been published in Budget reports since 1999 (table 4.2 in Budget 2008 shows the latest estimates). Comparable estimates over time for those with marginal deduction rates below 60 per cent. are not available.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the chief executive of HM Revenue and Customs received the letter dated 24 September 2008 from the right hon. Member for Birkenhead on his constituent, reference chm/08593/2008; and when he expects the matter to be resolved. [226106]
Mr. Timms: The acting Chief Executive Officer of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received a letter dated 16 September 2008 from the right hon. Gentleman on 22 September 2008. He will be writing to him this week to explain the circumstances surrounding his constituent's tax credits claim. HMRC will also be sending his constituent the tax credits payments that are due.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer the letter dated 26th August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mr Raja Afzal, transferred to his Department from the Department of Work and Pensions. [226546]
Mr. Timms: I have replied to the right hon. Member.
Members: Meetings
Mr. Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will meet the hon. Member for Nottingham North to discuss early intervention. [225190]
Angela Eagle: Ministers are always happy to meet to discuss issues, when this is appropriate.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2008, Official Report, column 880W, on departmental NDPBs, how many times his Department has been asked to approve (a) capital projects of £6 million and above, (b) gifts and non-statutory contingent liabilities of £100,000 and above, (c) spending which exceeded limits set out in the relevant financial memoranda and (d) spending which could have set a potentially expensive precedent, caused repercussions for others or which was novel or contentious by bodies which the Department for Culture, Media and Sport sponsors in each of the last five years. [218762]
Yvette Cooper: The Treasury keeps proposals for spending above delegated limits, and spending which would be novel and contentious, under review as part of an on-going discussion among officials. Detail of all discussions is not held centrally and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Non-domestic Rates: Empty Property
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of his predecessor’s response to the letter of 4 May 2007 from John Nichols on behalf of the Urban Redevelopment Chief Executives’ Group regarding the impact of the proposed abolition of the empty property relief on business rates; and if he will make a statement. [225302]
Angela Eagle: I have placed a copy of the contents of my official’s reply to John Nichols’ letter of 4 May 2007 in the Library.
Non-Domestic Rates: Small Businesses
Mr. Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to review recent changes to (a) business rates and (b) empty properties relief in view of the current economic situation and its effect on small businesses. [226179]
Angela Eagle: The reforms to empty property relief only come into effect in April 2008. The Government keep all taxes and reliefs under review.
Non-Domestic Rates: Tax Yields
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of likely changes to levels of revenues to be received from property business rates over the next three years; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for such changes. [225544]
Mr. Timms: Estimated and projected revenues for business rates for Great Britain, for 2007-08 and 2008-09, are published in table C6 of the Budget 2008 report. Receipts for 2007-08, estimates for 2008-09 and projections for 2009-10 will be published in the 2008 pre-Budget report.
Northern Rock
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the forecast is of total (a) losses and (b) cash requirements of Northern Rock for (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [224938]
Ian Pearson: Northern Rock published a summary of the business plan on 31 March 2008. As stated on 5 August 2008 Northern Rock intends to revise this business plan.
During this period of temporary public ownership, Northern Rock is managed by its board at arm's length from the Government on commercial principles. It is a matter for the company's management to release specific business information and updates or provide any required disclosures in their audited annual report and accounts.
Oil: Northern Ireland
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many litres of oil were recovered from sites producing illegal fuel oils in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [226242]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available. Figures for all Northern Ireland fuel seizures are published in HMRC Autumn Performance Reports, available on the HMRC website at
Pensions
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unfunded pension liabilities in the public sector is. [224940]
Yvette Cooper: The information is available on page 38 of the Long Term Public Finance Report published on 12 March 2008.
PFI: Contracts
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the annual costs of PFI/PPP contracts across the public sector were in the latest period for which figures are available. [224937]
Yvette Cooper: The full list of all signed PFI projects can be found on HM Treasury's website at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_ private_partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats.cfm
For each PFI project, this list details the project name, the capital value, the annual cost, the constituency and the procuring authority.
Revenue and Customs
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was to HM Revenue and Customs of compliance and enforcement in each year since 2003-04. [224946]
Mr. Timms: There was a major restructuring of directorates following the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise on 18 April 2005. Cost figures for the directorates involved in enforcement and compliance activities in the new structure are available from 2006-07.
For 2006-07 the total pay bill costs for the main directorates involved in enforcement and compliance activity was £835 million.
For 2007-08, the total pay bill costs for the main directorates involved in enforcement and compliance activity was £833 million.
Revenue and Customs: Complaints
Mr. Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what timetable has been set for the Adjudicator's Office by his Department for the completion of investigations into complaints about HM Revenue and Customs. [224898]
Mr. Timms: There is no set timescale for the completion of investigations by the Adjudicator's Office into complaints about HM Revenue and Customs.
Revenue and Customs: Legal Costs
Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the costs to date arising from the actions pursued by HM Revenue and Customs against Mr. Philip J. Wright of Rowhedge Road, Colchester, in respect of Regulation 49 of the Income Tax (Employee) Regulations 1993 and section 8 of the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions etc) Act 1999 for tax relating to the years ending 1999-2000 to 2003-04; and what estimate he has made of the number of staff hours spent on this case. [225661]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs has a statutory duty of taxpayer confidentiality. This precludes the disclosure of information about a taxpayer’s affairs publicly or to third parties.
Revenue and Customs: Personal Records
Mark Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many instances of the loss of personal documents were recorded by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years. [225093]
Mr. Timms: Information on the loss of personal documents was not recorded centrally by HMRC and its predecessor Departments throughout this period. Improved central recording of data security incidents, consistent with the recommendations of the Poynter Review, has more recently been put in place.
A summary of the incidents formally reported to the Information Commissioner’s office in 2007-08 can be found in HMRC’s 2007-08 Accounts at:
Revenue and Customs: Redundancy
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what redundancy costs have (a) already been incurred and (b) are budgeted for by HM Revenue and Customs in each year from 2002-03 to 2010-11. [224945]
Mr. Timms: HMRC have incurred no redundancy costs to date for staff in the grades below the senior civil service. Post savings in excess of 18,000 have been achieved since 2004 without redundancies.
No specific funding has currently been allocated in the 2008-09, 2009-10 or 2010-11 budgets for redundancy costs, although the possibility of redundancies in this period cannot be ruled out.
Save as You Earn
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to raise the limit for the maximum monthly investment into a Save as You Earn Sharesave plan to £400 to take account of inflation since 1991. [224703]
Ian Pearson: The Government keep all savings incentives under review. The average monthly amount saved by employees under SAYE is considerably less than the current £250 limit.
Tax Rates and Bands
Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many UK taxpayers would pay tax at 50 per cent. if a 50 per cent. rate were introduced for taxpayers with annual pay of (a) £100,000, (b) £150,000 and (c) £200,000. [224540]
Mr. Timms: The estimated numbers of UK taxpayers in 2008-09 with incomes in excess of the thresholds requested are in the table.
| Threshold | Number of taxpayers with income above the threshold |
Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional revenue would be raised if a 50 per cent. tax rate were introduced for UK taxpayers receiving annual pay of (a) £100,000, (b) £150,000 and (c) £200,000. [224716]
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimated additional revenue would be raised in 2009-10 by increasing the higher rate tax band to 50 per cent. for those with incomes in excess of £100,000 per annum from April 2009. [226211]
Mr. Timms: Table 2a of the Generic Tax Tables 2008-09: “Additional full-year yield from the introduction of additional higher rates of tax on GROSS incomes (Earnings and Savings) over a specific amount” contains comprehensive information on income tax and is available in the Library of the House. The table excludes any estimates of behavioural response which could be significant and might eliminate a large proportion of the yield from any new higher rate band.
Taxation: Aviation
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what account he has taken of varying regional impacts of the proposed aviation duty in the formulation of the policy; and if he will publish his Department’s modelling of the likely effects of the duty on each region before a decision on implementation is taken. [224994]
Mr. Henderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what account he has taken of the potential impact of the proposed aviation duty in each region; [225477]
(2) what modelling has taken place of the impact of the proposed aviation duty in each region; and if he will make a statement. [225478]
Angela Eagle: A formal consultation on the proposed aviation duty was published on 31 January and closed on 24 April 2008.
The details of the tax have not yet been set. The Chancellor of the Exchequer plans to make an announcement in the autumn.
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