§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number and percentage of higher rate taxpayers in(a) each county in England and (b) each local authority area in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales and (iii) Northern Ireland. [106745]
§ Dawn PrimaroloI regret that reliable estimates for the number of higher rate taxpayers are not available for each county in England, but they are available at Government Office Region level which are shown in the table:
Taxpayer numbers by region—1999–2000 Thousand Number of higher rate income taxpayers Total number of income taxpayers North East 60 1,000 North West and Merseyside 200 2,900 Yorkshire and the Humber 140 2,200 East Midlands 140 1,900 West Midlands 145 2,200 East of England 300 2,600 London 420 3,100 South East 515 3,900 South West 175 2,300 Wales 65 1,200 Scotland 170 2,400 Northern Ireland 35 600 Address abroad 15 100 All 2,400 26,600 These estimates are based on the 1997–98 Survey of Personal incomes and consistent with the November 1999 pre-Budget Report forecast.