| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Jun 2010 : Column 458W—continued
Public Sector: Hastings
Amber Rudd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the level of public sector employment in the borough of Hastings; and if he will include that borough in the districts which are to be part of the three-year scheme to exempt businesses from up to £5,000 of class-one employer national insurance contributions. [4262]
Mr Gauke: Information on public-sector employment using national accounts definitions is not available at borough level.
The regional employer national insurance holiday for new businesses is targeted at those regional labour markets most reliant on public sector employment. Labour markets generally extend much more widely than borough boundaries. For this reason, and for reasons of administrative practicality, eligibility for the holiday will be defined by region.
However, all businesses will benefit from increased NICs threshold and cut in corporation tax.
Public Sector: Pensions
Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate (a) the savings in each year of the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts arising from the adoption of the consumer price index as the basis for indexation of public sector pensions and (b) such savings in each successive five-year period to 2050. [4503]
Justine Greening: The estimated savings in annually managed expenditure for benefits, tax credits and public sector pensions each year of the forecast period from switching to the consumer price index were published in line 22 of Table 2.1 in Budget 2010.
The Government do not currently hold information on savings beyond the forecast period, which could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Taxation: Bingo
Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to reduce the level of gross profit tax levied on bingo club operators. [3979]
Justine Greening: The Government keep all taxes under review and tax policy is made at the Budget.
Taxation: Gambling
Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rate of gross profit tax is paid by (a) bingo clubs, (b) high street bookmakers and (c) online bingo websites. [4025]
Justine Greening: Bingo clubs pay a bingo duty of 20% on bingo promotion profits. High street bookmakers pay a general betting duty of 15% on over-the-counter bets. Online bingo websites which are licensed in the UK pay a remote gaming duty of 15% on gross profits.
VAT: Sunscreen
Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of exempting sun screen products from value added tax. [4420]
Mr Gauke: EU agreements do not allow the UK to introduce new zero rates. The Government could not apply a zero rate to retail sales of sun protection products. As part of the review of reduced rates in 2004, HMRC estimated the cost of applying a reduced rate of 5% to sun protection products at around £20 million a year.
Welfare Tax Credits
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to lines 37 to 45 of table 2.1 of Budget 2010, HC 61, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) families and (b) children who will be less affluent as a result of his proposals to change tax credits in each year to 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the average reduction in tax credits in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each such year. [4647]
Justine Greening: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost.
This Government are committed to transparency and for the first time has published estimates of the distributional impact of announced tax and benefit measures which can be found at:
Welfare Tax Credits: Midlothian
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in Midlothian constituency affected by the changes to (a) working tax credits and (b) child tax credits announced in the Budget statement on 22 June 2010. [4322]
Mr Gauke: To ensure support is better targeted at low-income families with children, the Government will freeze child benefit for three years and recycle the savings into significant increases to the child tax credit. The child element of the child tax credit will be increased by £150 above indexation in 2011-12 and £60 above indexation in 2012-13. As a result of this, the Budget will have no measurable negative impact on child poverty over the next two years.
All individuals in the Midlothian constituency currently entitled to tax credits will be affected by the changes to both working and child tax credits, specifically the switch to up-rating by the consumer price index rather than the retail price index.
The latest information on the number of households benefiting from tax credits, by each parliamentary constituency, is available in the HMRC snapshot publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical Analyses", available at:
HMRC do not produce these statistics separately for child tax credit and working tax credit.
| Index | Home Page |