§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue yield for the next five financial years of restricting the value for the purpose of income tax of(a) the personal allowance and (b) age related allowances to the value of the basic rate of income tax; and if he will make a statement. [132271]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe estimated revenue yield in a full year from restricting the personal allowance to the basic rate would be £2.7 billion in 2000–01. Because of the tapered withdrawal of the age-related personal allowances, there is no relief for them at the higher rate and there would be no Exchequer effect from restricting them.
This estimate is based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and consistent with the March 2000 Budget.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 26 July 2000:
I have been asked to reply to your recent question regarding the number of men and women who have benefited from the introduction of the National Minimum Wage (132107). I am replying in the absence of the National Statistician.Definitive estimates on the number of people that have been affected by the national minimum wage are not yet available. Currently available estimates for assessing the effect draw on data from both the New Earnings Survey and the Labour Force Survey, and recognise the particular value that each survey adds to the quality and analytical details that can be provided. However, the latest adjusted estimates are mainly based on data for the Spring (March - May) 1999 Labour Force Survey. The reference period spans the implementation date for the National Minimum Wage Act on 1 April 1999. This means adjusted estimates are unlikely accurately to measure the effect of this legislation since there are employees who could have been earning below the minimum wage rates in March 1999, before the law took effect.The currently available estimates for March - May 1999 were published in an Office for National Statistics (ONS) First Release on 14 October 1999 and show that the number of people earning below the minimum wage rates set in April 1999 had fallen significantly between 1998 and 1999. A copy of this first release is available in the House of Commons Library.