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23 Oct 2008 : Column 546W—continued
Leader of the House
Parliamentary Session
Mr. Baron: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1377-78W, on the parliamentary session, for how many hours the House (a) sat, (b) considered primary legislation and (c) considered delegated legislation in each (i) calendar year and (ii) session between 1984 and 1990. [229339]
Chris Bryant: The information requested is as follows. The figures refer to time spent on the Floor of the House. Information about time spent in Committee could be provided only at disproportionate cost:
| Number of hours the House sat | Number of hours considering primary legislation on the Floor of the House | Number of hours considering delegated legislation on the Floor of the House | ||||
| Session | Hours | Minutes | Hours | Minutes | Hours | Minutes |
| Number of hours the House sat | Number of hours considering primary legislation on the Floor of the House | Number of hours considering delegated legislation on the Floor of the House | ||||
| Hours | Minutes | Hours | Minutes | Hours | Minutes | |
Treasury
Building Societies: Finance
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what support the Government has provided to building societies during the recent economic difficulties. [228596]
Ian Pearson: The recapitalisation scheme announced on 8 October provides three measures aimed to help not just UK banks (including foreign subsidiaries) but also UK building societies. The extension of the Special Liquidity Scheme will provide short-term liquidity. The recapitalisation through shares (both ordinary and preference) as well as Permanent Interest Bearing Shares (PIBS), will strengthen institutions’ resources, allowing them to restructure their finances while maintaining their support for the real economy. The credit guarantee scheme will ensure that the banking system has the necessary funds in the medium term. This scheme, which is now being replicated worldwide, is available for all UK building societies.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged over (a) 55 and (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits. [228742]
Angela Eagle: Nine new recruits were aged over 55 of which four were aged over 60. This accounts for 2.4 per cent. and 1.0 per cent. of new recruits respectively.
Excise Duties: Fuels
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely effect of any decision to lower fuel duties in Northern Ireland on tax revenues. [229472]
Angela Eagle: Fuel duty is a national tax, whose aim is to fund public services across the United Kingdom while supporting the Government’s UK-wide environmental policies. A single fuel duty rate therefore applies for the entire United Kingdom.
Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands
Mr. Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual revenue which would be forgone by raising the higher rate of income tax threshold to (a) £45,000 and (b) £50,000. [229739]
Mr. Timms: The threshold above which the higher rate of income tax applies depends on the level of the personal allowance and the basic rate limit, either of which could be varied to give the thresholds requested for a taxpayer aged under 65.
Table 1 of the Generic Tax Tables 2008-09: “Additional full-year yield/cost from increasing the Basic Rate Limit (BRL) and higher rates of tax in 2008-09” provides information on the cost of a range of increases to the BRL, and is available in the Library of the House. The table excludes any estimates of behavioural response.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were paying the higher rate of income tax in (a) 1997 and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [229763]
Mr. Timms: Information on the number of higher rate taxpayers for the period 1990-91 to 2008-09 can be found in Table 2.1 “Number of individual income taxpayers” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
Interest Rates
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking in partnership with the Bank of England to reduce the spread between official interest rates and the three-month London inter-bank offered rate; and if he will make a statement. [228789]
Ian Pearson: The Chancellor announced on 8 October a comprehensive package to address sector wide concerns regarding liquidity and solvency and to restore confidence.
Mortgages
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the ratio is between the cost of premises mortgaged by Northern Rock and the average earnings of their mortgagees (a) nationally, (b) in the North East and (c) in each county in the North East. [228678]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price) on 21 July 2008, Official Report, column 728W.
Taxation: Shipping
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reasons were for the decision by HM Revenue and Customs to review the guidance on vessels that do not qualify under the seafarers’ earnings deduction income tax rules. [226230]
Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent representations he has received on seafarers’ earnings deduction; and if he will make a statement; [226147]
(2) whether he plans to meet the Secretary of State for Transport to discuss the effects of the reclassification of seafarers’ earnings deduction on the recruitment and retention of British seafarers. [226148]
Mr. Timms: The background to the decision by HM Revenue and Customs to revise its guidance on seafarer’s earnings deduction (SED) is a decision by the Special Commissioners, an independent appellate body, in the case of Torr and Others v. CIR (SpC679). The great majority of seafarers who claim SED will not be affected by this decision.
I am aware of the concerns raised by the Special Commissioners’ decision in this case, which centred on whether the vessel on which the appellants performed their duties was a ship or an ‘offshore installation’ within the meaning of the legislation. The Special Commissioners decided it had been operating as an offshore installation, and refused the appellants’ claims to SED.
Broadly speaking, an offshore installation is a vessel that is engaged in exploiting mineral resources and is not mobile while doing so. HMRC has written to tax practitioners about this decision and will discuss the implementation with interested stakeholders before the revised guidance is issued.
Treasury Ministers regularly receive representation on tax issues from a variety of sources and hold discussions and meetings with ministerial colleagues on a wide range of issues.
Welfare Tax Credits: Correspondence
John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Parliamentary Business Unit of the Tax Credit Office plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West’s letter of 14 July 2008 on his constituents Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. [228689]
Mr. Timms: The Tax Credit Office sent a reply to the hon. Member about his constituents on 10 September 2008 and are sending the hon. Member a copy of their letter.
John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Parliamentary Business Unit of the Tax Credit Office plans to respond to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West’s correspondence of 5 August 2008 on his constituent Susan Marshall. [228827]
Mr. Timms: The Tax Credit Office replied to the hon. Member about his constituent on 10 October 2008 and apologises for the delay in doing so.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Arts: Training
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether his Department has commissioned research on the extent to which further education institutions are equipping students with the skills needed to help them make a contribution to the creative economy. [227187]
Mr. Simon: The Department has not itself commissioned any research into this issue. In November 2006 DCMS published on their website the findings of an Education and Skills Working Group review of the contribution education and skills make to the creative economy agenda. This was part of their wider creative economy programme, and included the mapping of existing provision.
In addition, a key part of the work of the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) is to set out the current and future skill needs of employers in their sectors. Sector skills agreements identify the skills priorities and actions that need to be taken by stakeholders across the education and skills system. Government have provided support for the SSCs in carrying out this work. In relation to the creative economy, there are three lead SSCs that have each published sector agreements. These are Creative and Cultural Skills (advertising, crafts, music, performing, heritage, design and arts sectors), Skillset (broadcasting, photo imaging, audio visual and publishing sectors) and Skillfast (fashion and textiles).
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