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24 Jun 2010 : Column 321W—continued
Tax Allowances: Married People
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of whether implementation of the Government's proposals to introduce transferable tax allowances for married couples will take place at a net cost to the Exchequer. [3214]
Mr Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) on 9 June 2010, Official Report, column 189W.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward plans for a comprehensive anti-tax avoidance and evasion strategy as a part of his Department's fiscal policy. [3053]
Mr Gauke: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him on 14 June 2010, Official Report, column 275W.
Tax Evasion: Publicity
Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs has spent on advertising for the purposes of preventing tax evasion in each of the last three years. [3776]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs spent £633,284 (excluding VAT) on advertising for the purposes of preventing tax evasion last year. There was no expenditure in the previous two years.
Unpaid Taxes
Dr Pugh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase the rate of recovery of tax debt. [3813]
Mr Gauke: The Chancellor announced in the Budget that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will contract debt collection agencies to recover additional monies from existing tax debts. HMRC estimate that this will lead to an additional £140 million revenue accruing to the Exchequer.
HMRC's 2010-11 Business Plan provides further information on the Department's plans to improve its tax debt recovery operations:
VAT
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate how many (a) individuals, (b) retired pensioners and (c) people over the age of 16 in full-time further and higher education who did not pay national insurance contributions in 2009-10 paid value added tax on household purchases. [3287]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 21 June 2010]: The precise information requested is not available.
The Office for National Statistics 2007 mid-year population estimate for the UK indicates there were 38 million individuals aged 16 or over and below state pension age and so liable for national insurance contributions (NICs) if they have earnings or profits from self-employment above the relevant thresholds.
Individuals overstate pension age, of which there were nearly 12 million in 2007, are not liable to pay NICs.
An estimated 29 million individuals paid NICs in 2007-08, the latest year for which information is available. Further details can be found using the Department for Work and Pension's tabulation tool based on a 1% sample of national insurance records:
Estimates for those aged 16 and over in full-time further or higher education paying and not paying NICs are not available.
All individuals pay VAT on any purchases of goods and services that are subject to VAT.
Welfare Tax Credits: Standards
Mark Lancaster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken to (a) process an application for and (b) make an award of tax credits. [3775]
Mr Gauke: In 2009-10, HM Revenue and Customs aimed to pay 60% of tax credits new claims in 15 days. The provisional outturn for 2009-10 is 58%. The disaggregated information requested is not available.
Leader of the House
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr Watson: To ask the Leader of the House which Ministers in his Office have been issued with (a) a BlackBerry, (b) an iPhone, (c) another make of mobile telephone and (d) a personal digital assistant supplied by the Cabinet Office. [4113]
Sir George Young: One Minister in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons has been issued with a BlackBerry which was previously used by Cabinet Office staff.
Cabinet Office
Breast Cancer
Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many women in (a) the Metropolitan borough of Wigan, (b) the North West and (c) England (i) were diagnosed with and (ii) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years. [3139]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many women in (a) the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, (b) the North West and (c) England (i) were diagnosed with and (ii) died from breast cancer in each of the last five years. [3139]
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer (incidence) are for the year 2007, while the latest provisional figures for deaths are for the year 2009. Please note that the number of breast cancer cases may not be the same as the number of people diagnosed with cancer, because one person may be diagnosed with more than one cancer.
Table 1 provides the number of (i) newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in women from 2003 to 2007 and Table 2 provides the number of (ii) deaths from breast cancer in women from 2005 to 2009, for (a) Wigan metropolitan district, (b) North West government office region and (c) England.
| Table 1: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer( 1) , females( 2) , Wigan metropolitan district, North West Government office region and England( 3) , 2003 to 2007( 4) | |||||
| Area | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| (1) Breast cancer is coded as C50 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). (2) Around 99% of breast cancer cases are in women. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2010. (4) Newly diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year. | |||||
| Table 2: Number of deaths where breast cancer was the underlying cause of death( 1) , females, Wigan metropolitan district, North West government office region, and England( 2, 3) , 2005 to 2009( 4, 5) | |||||
| Area | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| (1 )Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50. (2) Based on boundaries as of 2010. (3) Figures do not include deaths of non-residents. (4) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (5) Figures for deaths registered in 2009 are provisional. | |||||
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the (a) Minister without Portfolio, the right hon. Baroness Warsi and (b) the Leader of the House of Lords, the right hon. Lord Strathclyde have been issued with (i) a BlackBerry, (ii) an iPhone, (iii) another make of mobile telephone and (iv) a personal digital assistant supplied by a Government Department. [4112]
Mr Maude: No BlackBerrys, iPhones, other mobile phones or personal digital assistants have been issued to the Minister without Portfolio, the right hon. Baroness Warsi and the Leader of the House of Lords, the right hon. Lord Strathclyde in the Cabinet Office.
Mr Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which Government (a) Whips and (b) Assistant Whips in both Houses have been issued with (i) a BlackBerry, (ii) an iPhone, (iii) another make of mobile telephone and (iv) a personal digital assistant. [4183]
Mr Maude: No BlackBerrys, iPhones, other mobile phones or personal digital assistants have been issued to any Government Whips or Assistant Whips in the Cabinet Office.
Electoral Register
Dr Whitehead: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his most recent estimate is of (a) the number of people registered to vote and (b) the number of people aged 18 years and over resident in each constituency in England and Wales. [3148]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the most recent estimate is of (a) the number of people registered to vote and (b) the number of people aged 18 years and over resident in each constituency in England and Wales (3148).
Table 1 shows the number of people registered to vote in parliamentary elections for each parliamentary constituency in England and Wales, as at 1st December 2009. Table 2 shows the mid-year estimate of the population aged 18 and over by parliamentary constituency, in England and Wales for 2007. A copy of the tables has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
These are the latest figures that are available. There have been a number of boundary changes to parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales between 2007 and 2009.
Dr Whitehead: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his most recent estimate is of the number of people aged 18 years and over resident in each constituency in England and Wales who are registered to vote. [3149]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the most recent estimate is of the number of people aged 18 years and over resident in each constituency in England and Wales who are registered to vote (3149).
The table shows the number of people registered to vote aged 18 and over in each parliamentary constituency in England and Wales as at l December 2009. Figures provided exclude people who are registered as overseas electors and who are not resident in England and Wales. A Copy of the table has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
These estimates are the best approximation to the figures you request however, the registered electorate may include some voters who are not currently resident. This is because people who have more than one address may register in more than one place (e.g. students may register at parental and term-time addresses) and electoral registration officers vary in how quickly they remove people from the registers after they have moved away from an area or died. This can affect the comparability of figures across parliamentary constituencies.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which non-departmental public bodies his Department is assessing on their suitability of purpose and cost-effectiveness. [3435]
Health
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East of 14 June 2010, Official Report, column 262W, on departmental mobile telephones, what the (a) purchase cost of the handset, (b) network provider, (c) type of tariff and (d) name of the supplier was in respect of the BlackBerry devices issued to each Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. [4062]
Anne Milton: Each Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has been issued with a BlackBerry device at an individual cost of £196.50 plus VAT, on the Vodafone "Teamwork+BlackBerry" tariff, supplied by the Department's Information Services Division.
Dietary Supplements: EU Law
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) who has attended each meeting at EU level to discuss European legislation on food supplements in the last 24 months; what reports he has received on each such meeting; what decisions he has taken as a result of those reports; and if he will make a statement; [3702]
(2) what criteria he used in deciding which officials in his Department would undertake negotiations in the EU on maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements; what technical expertise is available to those officials; and if he will make a statement; [3703]
(3) what information he has on the likely timetable for the publication by the European Commission of proposals for maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; and what assessment he has made of the likely economic effects of implementation of those levels on businesses in (a) Harlow, (b) Essex and (c) the UK. [3704]
Anne Milton: Food Standards Agency (FSA) officials have attended each meeting at the EU level to discuss European legislation on food supplements in the last 24 months. There have been no European Union level meetings on this subject since this Government was formed and therefore no reports have been received.
A team of FSA officials are responsible for this issue. While officials at grade 7 and above in seniority will normally represent the United Kingdom in EU level discussions, the FSA deploys staff resources flexibly, using to the best effect the available skills and expertise, to ensure that the UK is best able to deliver its objectives. The FSA team includes officials with relevant scientific qualifications and expertise. Additional technical expertise is available from independent scientific experts and food supplement industry experts as necessary.
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