HC Deb 15 March 2004 vol 419 cc96-8W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Buckingham have received Child Tax Credit. [161318]

Dawn Primarolo

I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on 25 February 2004,Official Report, column 407W.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in Buckingham qualified for the 10 pence rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [161324]

Dawn Primarolo

All income taxpayers benefit from the 10 pence staring rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about 6,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the Buckingham constituency in 2000–01. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the(a) change and (b) percentage change in full-time permanent jobs in Buckingham was from 1 May 1997 to 31 December 2003; [161325]

(2) how many new jobs have been created in Buckingham since 1997. [161326]

Ruth Kelly

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

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 15 March 2004: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about full time jobs, and jobs created in Buckingham. (161325, 161326) The attached table shows the information requested for 1997 and 2002, which is the latest year available. No information is available about numbers of new jobs created during this period.

Number of full-time and part-time employees1 in Buckingham Parliamentary Constituency:1997 and 2002
Full-time Part-time Total
Number of Employees
1997 15,600 7,600 23,200
2002 16,000 7,700 23,800
Change from 1997 to 2002
Absolute 400 100 600
Percentage 2.8 2.3 2.6
1Employee jobs only, not self-employed jobs.

Source: 1997; Annual Employment Survery, rescaled 2002; Annual Business Inquiry (ABI).

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unemployment was in Buckingham in each year since 1997. [161327]

Ruth Kelly

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

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 15 March 2004: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about unemployment in Buckingham. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Buckingham Parliamentary Constituency. ONS does also compile statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies. The table below gives the annual average number of ISA claimants for the Buckingham Parliamentary Constituency for each year since 1997.

Average annual number of JSA claimants in the Buckingham Parliamentary Constituency
Average number of claimants
1997 677
1998 508
1999 473
2000 382
2001 377
2002 416
2003 429

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Buckingham have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment. [161328]

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in(a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Chorley have benefited from the 100 per cent. tax exemption for the purchase of computer and internet equipment. [161446]

Dawn Primarolo

We regret that the information is not available to estimate the number of businesses in the areas mentioned which have benefited from the 100 per cent. first year capital allowances for the purchase of information and communication equipment.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in(a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley qualified for the 10 per cent. rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [161448]

Dawn Primarolo

All income taxpayers benefit from the 10 pence starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about(a) 90,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in Lancashire and (b) 8,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the Chorley constituency in 2000–01. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.

Mrs. Dean

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many families in Burton constituency are in receipt of child tax credit; [161835]

(2) how many households in Burton constituency are receiving (a) working tax credit and (b) the child care element of the working tax credit. [161836]

Dawn Primarolo

Estimates of the number of in-work families receiving the child tax credit, and of the number receiving child or working tax credit, in each constituency appear in "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Geographical analyses. January 2004." This can be found on the Inland Revenue website at www. in landrevenue.gov. uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/ menu.htm. The estimates are based on a sample of cases, and are subject to sampling uncertainty. No reliable estimates are available of the number receiving the childcare element of working tax credit due to the small number of sample cases.

Mrs. Dean

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many senior citizens in(a) Burton constituency and (b) Staffordshire qualified for the 10 per cent. rate of income tax in each year since its introduction. [161838]

Dawn Primarolo

All income tax payers benefit from the 10 pence starting rate. The Survey of Personal Incomes estimates there are about(a) 9,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in the Burton constituency and (b) 70,000 state retirement pension age taxpayers in Staffordshire in 2000–01. Figures for 1999–2000 are currently not available.