HC Deb 30 April 2002 vol 384 cc731-2W
Mr. Davidson

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the scale of income inequality in(a) Scotland and (b) the UK. [52231]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Ian Davidson, dated 30 April 2002: The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on income inequality. (52231) I am replying in his absence. I would like to refer you to the analysis "The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2000–01", published on the National Statistics (ONS) website at http://statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. A paper copy can be obtained from the House of Commons library. This includes measures of income inequality for the United Kingdom as a whole based on the Family Expenditure Survey. Estimates of the level of income inequality in Scotland were calculated for the first time this year. They are included in an article entitled "Income Inequality in Scotland" in the publication "Scottish Economic Statistics 2002" published by the Scottish Executive. It can be obtained from the House of Commons library or the web link is http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/sec/ses-00m.asp. The analysis covers the period up to 1999–2000 and is based on the Family Resources Survey which has a larger sample size for Scotland than the Family Expenditure Survey but covers Great Britain rather than the United Kingdom as a whole.