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Red Diesel
Lord Donoughue asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 26 November about the categories of off-road vehicles which qualify for the privileged use of red diesel (WA 6):
(a) why there is no requirement for the user to provide proof of qualification for this privilege;
(b) why no record is taken of the categories of users as defined under the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979; and
(c) during the past five years, how many users were (i) detected and (ii) prosecuted for abuse of this privilege, being not members of the categories defined in the 1979 Act.[HL1849]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: In the past the misuse of rebated fuels (red diesel and marked kerosene for heating) was not considered to be a significant threat to the revenue. Historically, the duty differential between rebated fuels and unrebated fuels was not as large as it is today. As a consequence, it was considered unnecessary to require distributors of rebated fuels to ask for and keep proof that these fuels were to be put to a legitimate use or to make returns to us. Such requirements would have put an undue burden on legitimate traders as well as requiring significant Customs resourcing to process and analyse this information for little gain.
However, Customs has become concerned over the increasing misuse of these fuels as road fuels and is now proposing to introduce a scheme requiring distributors to be approved by Customs and to exercise a duty of care by asking certain questions to satisfy themselves that end-users are putting the fuel to a legitimate use and keeping a record of this information. In addition, they will be required to submit regular returns to Customs. This additional information will give us a better picture of the problem and allow us to better target our controls.
This new scheme forms part of the Tackling Indirect Tax Fraud strategy paper, published at PBR, 27 November. The information Customs requires on returns will be of direct interest in assessing risks and targeting controls and must not place a disproportionate burden on legitimate trade. We do not anticipate requiring a breakdown of quantities of rebated fuel bought according to schedule 1 category
We will shortly be consulting with the trade on these proposals.
An alternative scheme requiring all end users to register with us and submit returns detailing the quantities used per category is not feasible. Given the large numbers of end users it would mean a huge investment of Customs resource and a significant burden on users, so would be unwieldly and disproportionate.
Customs records of the number of vehicles detected do not disaggregate between the nature of the offences involved in each case. We regret, therefore, that this information is not available.
Lord Quirk asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated December 2001.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question on figures for children growing up in single-parent families in this country and in other European Union countries. (HL1927)
The only available comparable figures for European Union countries give the number of one-parent households; that is, households containing a lone parent with dependent children. The information has been supplied by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. The figures for this country relate to the United Kingdom; figures for Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Ireland are not available.
No household data available for Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Ireland.
(7) available EU countries.
The Viscount of Oxfuird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated December 2001.
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the contribution made by various sectors to the Gross Domestic Product of the economy in the year 2000.[HL1969]
The most appropriate statistic for measuring the contribution made to the economy of individual industries is to use Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices, which is similar in concept to Gross Domestic Product. The table below shows data for 1999, using approximate definitions of the requested categories. A full industrial analysis of GVA for 2000 is not yet available.
Source: Office for National Statistics.
(8) Defined as agriculture, forestry, mining and quarrying.
Recreational, cultural and sporting activities
Agriculture, hunting and related service activities
*Forestry, logging and related service activities
Mining of coal and lignite; extraction of peat
Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas; service activities incidental to oil and gas extraction
Electronic valves and tubes and other electronic components
Television and radio transmitters and line for telephony and line telegraphy
Television and radio receivers, sound or video recording or reproducing apparatus and associated goods
Apparel, footwear and textiles
Preparation and spinning of textile fibres
Made-up textile articles, except apparel
Knitted and crocheted fabrics and articles
Wearing apparel; dressing and dying of fur
Tanning and dressing of leather
Industrial gases, dyes and pigments
Other inorganic basic chemicals
Fertilisers and nitrogen compounds
Plastics and synthetic rubber in primary forms
Pesticides and other agro-chemical products
Paints, varnishes and similar coatings, printing ink and mastics
Pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals and botanical products
Soap and detergents, cleaning and polishing preparations etc.
Sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles, and motor cycles; retail sale of automotive fuel
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motor cycles; repair of personal and household goods
How the figures for children growing up in single-parent families in England and Wales compare with those in other European Union countries.[HL1927]
United Kingdom Belgium France Luxembourg Austria Germany Portugal Netherlands Italy Spain Greece European Union(7)
Numbers (thousands)
one parent households 1,714 208 1,078 6 116 1,301 105 184 446 228 63 5,449
all households 25,597 4,314 24,411 164 3,264 37,478 3,389 6,822 21,659 12,982 3,886 143,964
One parent households as a percentage of all households 6.7% 4.8% 4.4% 3.7% 3.6% 3.5% 3.1% 2.7% 2.1% 1.8% 1.6% 3.8%
What contribution each of the following sectors made to the gross domestic product of the economy in the year 2000: sport and recreation; land-based industries; audio visual industries; apparel, footwear and textiles; petrochemicals; and retailing.[HL1969]
Category % of total gross value added in the UK, 1999
Sport and recreation 2.7
Land-based industries(8) 3.3
Audio visual industries 0.6
Apparel, footwear and textiles 1.3
Petrochemicals 1.9
Retailing 7.5
When referring to the measurement of activity for the whole economy, we use the Gross Domestic Product concept. When estimating the contribution of particular industries and sectors to the economy, we refer to the total Gross Value Added concept.
The latest available data are derived from input output supply and use tables for the United Kingdom for the year 1999.
The categories used in the table above have been linked to the Input-Output Industry headings— based on the Standard Industrial Classification (1992) using the best match to the sectors requested.
Definitions used (approximations using UK Input-Output industry groups)
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