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24 Feb 2005 : Column 759W—continued
Earnings (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for (a) male, (b) female and (c) all workers in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough the (A) weekly median earnings and (B) distribution of earnings for those earning (1) under the point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall and (2) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed. [217546]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Sarah Teather, dated 24 February 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to list for (a) males, (b) females and (c) all workers in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough the (A) weekly median earnings and (B) distribution of earnings for those earning (1) under the point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall and (2) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed. (217546).
Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and are provided for employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period, by their place of work. This is the standard definition used for
- Annual Survey of Hours and Earning tables. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
These data are available on the national statistics web site: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/ASHE 2004_inc/tab?_la.xls
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It has a one per cent. sample of all employees.
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings publication criteria ensures that all estimates are undisclosive. A number of estimates have been removed from the published tables for these reasons.
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Contact Committee on Certain Schemes for Collective Investment in Securities met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [217891]
Mr. Timms:
The Contact Committee on Certain Schemes for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities met in Brussels on 18 July 2003, 22 October
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2003, 19 December 2003 and 14 April 2004. Officials from HM Treasury and the Financial Services Authority attended the meetings.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the European Securities Committee met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [217892]
Mr. Timms: Information on the composition of this committee and a summary record of the meetings held is available from the European Union website at http://europa.eu.int/index_en.htm.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Insurance Committee met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if he will make a statement. [217908]
Mr. Timms: Information on the composition of this Committee and a record of the meetings held is available from the European Union website at http://europa. eu.int/index_en.htm.
Publications
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on the production of in-house magazines in the Department in each year since 1997. [213645]
Mr. Timms: The Treasury's estimated costs for the production of the in-house staff magazine, were as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 17,000 |
| 1997–98 | 20,000 |
| 1998–99 | 17,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 18,000 |
| 2000–01 | 16,000 |
| 2001–02 | 18,000 |
| 2002–03 | 21,000 |
| 2003–04 | 20,000 |
Departmental Policies
Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical information relating as closely as possible to Rochdale constituency, the effects of his actions and policies on the constituency since 1997. [217301]
Mr. Timms:
The Government have put in place a broad programme of both macroeconomic and microeconomic reform since our election in 1997 designed to better the economic performance of all parts of the UK. Since these policies were implemented, the economic performance of the Rochdale constituency
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has improved considerably. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by 38 per cent., while long-term unemployment and long-term youth unemployment have both fallen by 76 and 74 per cent. respectively.
The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at local area level, taken from the 2001 census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk./.
SR2004
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the Ministry of Defence's SR 2004 settlement letter. [217943]
Mr. Boateng: The Ministry of Defence's SR 2004 settlement is set out in Chapter 13 of the 2004 Spending Review document (Cm 6237).
Further detail on forward defence plans are set out in "Delivering Security in a Changing World—Future Capabilities" (Cm 6269).
Tax Credits
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed by his Department to investigate tax credit fraud (a) in total and (b) per 100,000 recipients of tax credits; and what his latest estimate is of the total level of tax credit fraud. [218002]
John Healey: The total number of staff employed by Inland Revenue to look at claimant error in tax credits is around 1,350. The number of families in receipt of tax credits in December 2004 was 5.04 million, which equates to approximately 27 members of staff per 100,000 families in receipt of tax credits.
Inland Revenue are currently reviewing a random sample of finalised 2003–04 awards to monitor the level of claimant error. However the Department will only be in a position to give an indication of the level of error later in 2005–06 once awards are finalised for the whole tax credit population and the exercise is completed.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many reports of computer failure the Inland Revenue has received since the introduction of new tax credits in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [216657]
There were some well-publicised problems in the early days when the system did not perform as expected. However, the system has worked throughout the entire period since tax credits were introduced and has been performing robustly for some considerable time now.
Windfall Receipts
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his definition of a windfall receipt is. [217942]
John Healey:
A windfall receipt is not a term used either in Budget documents or the National Accounts.
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TRANSPORT
Disabled Access (Chorley)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding has been made available to improve disabled access to transport services in the Chorley constituency. [217589]
Charlotte Atkins:
Regulations introduced under part 5 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) require that all new public service vehicles used on local and scheduled service with a carrying capacity of more than 22 passengers, and all new rail vehicles, have to be accessible to disabled people. In addition, duties under part 3 of the DDA require service providers to take reasonable steps to provide access to transport infrastructure such as bus station and railway stations.
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On funding the Government provide funding to improve access to public transport through the local transport plan (LTP) process. Local transport authorities in England outside London produce five-year LTPs, and report on progress against these plans in annual progress reports (APRs). The first five-year plans were submitted in 2000. The following table details the relevant funding categories allocated to the Lancashire local transport plan area, which includes Chorley.
Decisions on how to target funding towards specific projects and initiatives such as those to improve public transport accessibility are made at local level.
On access to the rail network, the SRA intend to consult on their disability strategy at the end of March. This will include priorities for improving accessibility at stations.
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