HC Deb 10 May 1977 vol 931 cc454-5W
Mr. Jim Marshall

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has been asked by PROP to provide any facilities for its public meetings about the disturbance at Hull Prison in 1976; and, if so, what his response has been.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

As the House knows, I have appointed the Chief Inspector of the Prison Service to inquire into the cause and circumstances of the disturbance at Hull Prison. In reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Ormskirk (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 2nd May I made it clear that the Chief Inspector's report will be published in full as soon as possible.

The chairman of the body set up by PROP to hold public meetings on the Hull disturbance has asked the Home Office to provide various forms of assistance for these meetings. These requests included the provision of officers of the Home Office to act as witnesses, and facilities for a session of the PROP meetings to be held in Hull Prison itself. I have every confidence in the thoroughness of the official inquiry that I have commissioned, and consequently these requests have been refused.

Percentages
Groups of income recipients
Year Top 1 per cent. Top 10 per cent. Top 40 per cent. Bottom 30 per cent. Bottom 10 per cent.
1971–72 … … 16 41 77 4 0
1972–73 … … 17 43 79 3 0
1973–74 … … 16 40 76 5 *
1974–75 … … 15 35 75 5 *
1975–76 … … 13 36 75 5 *
1976–77 … … 13 36 74 5 *
* Less than 0.5 per cent.

The figures up to and including 1974–75 are derived from the Inland Revenue Survey of Personal Incomes. Those for 1975–76 and 1976–77 are provisional estimates based upon projections of the 1974–75 survey. The surveys cover most but not all income recipients, and the proportion covered may vary from time to time with changes in the tax system. In general, most of those with incomes below the threshold for weekly PAYE deductions are excluded, and the percentages given relate only to those in the surveys. In calculating the numbers in each group, husband and wife are counted as one and income is taken to be the total net income as defined in Inland Revenue Statistics 1976 page 35. The percentages relate to tax payable by persons for the years shown, not to tax paid in those years.

Dr. McDonald

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers were paying tax at the higher rates in 1976–77; and how many taxpayers will be paying tax at the higher rate during