§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the proportion of expenditure on the set-up costs of the tax varying powers of the Scottish Parliament which will have been incurred before the end of the 1999–2000 fiscal year for the(a) Inland Revenue and (b) Department of Social Security; and if he will make a statement. [79551]
§ Mr. DewarWork is currently in progress to ensure that all the necessary arrangements are in place to allow the tax varying powers to be used with effect from 6 April 2000 if the incoming Scottish Executive wishes to do so. If that work continues, therefore, all of the set-up costs for Inland Revenue and the Department of Social Security will have been incurred by then. It will, however, be a matter for the incoming Scottish Executive to decide whether or not this preparatory work should continue.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 16 February 1999,Official Report, columns 644–45, on the Scottish Parliament's tax-varying powers, if he will update his answer to reflect the changes to income tax bands and rates announced in the Budget statement. [78523]
§ Mr. Dewar[holding answer 25 March 1999]: Following the measures announced in Budget 99 it is currently estimated for 2000–01 that the yield from a decision to increase the basic rate of income tax by one penny for Scottish taxpayers would be as follows:
£million Gross 230 Net1 225 1 Net of Working Families Tax Credit and income related benefits: Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit