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Column 1
Written Answers toQuestions
Monday 1 July 1991
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Official Files
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Attorney-General what guidelines cover the circumstances in which official files held by Departments may be destroyed ; and what changes have taken place in these guidelines in the last 20 years.
The Attorney-General : The framework within which records of Government Departments are selected for permanent preservation is that recommended in the report of the Grigg committee in 1954 (Cmd. 9163) and accepted by the Government in 1955. The Public Record Office issues guidelines to Departments on the procedures to be followed and on the general criteria for selection. These guidelines are kept under review by the Public Record Office and were last updated in 1983.
Section 3(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 provides that records that have been rejected as not required for permanent preservation shall be destroyed unless the approval of the Lord Chancellor has been obtained for their disposal in some other way.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Local Government Finance
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total Government expenditure on funding under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 for 1990-91, itemised by borough and district and identifying for each borough and district the amount of education expenditure for that financial year.
Mrs. Rumbold : The following local authorities received grant, at the rate of 75 per cent. of salary costs, under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in the financial year 1990-91.
Precise figures for the amount of grant paid for education expenditure to each authority are not available. It is estimated, however, that education provision accounts for approximately 80 per cent. of total grant.
England
|£
--------------------------------------------------------------------
County Councils
Avon |899,403
Bedfordshire |2,462,492
Berkshire |1,648,953
Buckinghamshire |1,365,268
Cambridgeshire |1,161,520
Cheshire |23,539
Cleveland |643,796
Derbyshire |1,186,688
Devon |11,640
Essex |12,692
Gloucestershire |386,154
Hampshire |442,087
Hereford & Worcester |13,912
Hertfordshire |1,926,714
Humberside |208,176
Kent |298,059
Lancashire |5,476,253
Leicestershire |3,515,092
Northamptonshire |1,153,879
North Yorkshire |13,007
Nottinghamshire |1,989,788
Oxfordshire |904,018
Shropshire |73,303
Staffordshire |783,444
Suffolk |153,571
Surrey |96,172
Warwickshire |1,079,088
West Sussex |148,272
Wiltshire |212,224
West Midlands FCDA |73,486
West Yorkshire FCDA |111,294
Metropolitan Districts
Greater Manchester
Bolton |1,044,759
Bury metropolitan borough council |262,017
Manchester city council |2,341,572
Oldham metropolitan borough council |2,469,256
Rochdale metropolitan borough council |1,140,765
Stockport metropolitan borough council |29,037
Tameside metropolitan borough council |724,154
Trafford metropolitan borough council |298,489
Merseyside
Liverpool city council |188,171
South Yorkshire
Doncaster metropolitan borough council |17,856
Rotherham metropolitan borough council |291,825
Sheffield metropolitan district council |2,138,900
Tyne and Wear
Newcastle city council |448,275
North Tyneside metropolitan borough council |35,909
Sunderland borough council |49,508
West Midlands
Birmingham city council |5,546,014
Coventry city council |3,264,069
Dudley metropolitan borough council |1,027,900
Sandwell metropolitan borough council |1,795,748
Walsall metropolitan borough council |1,723,646
Wolverhampton metropolitan borough council |1,675,084
West Yorkshire
Bradford City metropolitan council |6,516,031
Calderdale metropolitan borough council |878,222
Kirklees metropolitan council |2,456,441
Leeds City council |1,992,965
Wakefield metropolitan district council |159,907
Non Metropolitan Districts
Blackburn |111,603
Bristol City council |52,787
Derby City council |43,301
Gloucester City council |10,798
Gravesham borough council |31,775
Hyndburn borough council |9,542
Ipswich borough council |7,545
Leicester City council |179,196
Luton borough council |42,744
Middlesbrough borough council |19,990
Milton Keynes borough council |14,514
Nottingham City council |144,387
Oxford City council |26,603
Pendle borough council |17,066
Peterborough City council |66,127
Preston borough council |4,456
Reading borough council |19,312
Redditch borough council |12,928
Slough Corporation |20,434
Scunthorpe county council |12,858
Southampton City council |65,434
St. Albans district council |18,744
Wycombe district council |38,956
London Boroughs
London Boroughs Grants Unit |7,022
Inner London
Camden |1,544,899
City of London |23,500
Greenwich |1,248,340
Hackney |4,299,227
Hammersmith |1,011,358
ILEA |19,308,052
Islington |1,727,799
Kensington and Chelsea |1,051,382
Lambeth |1,468,067
Lewisham |1,440,252
Southwark |2,302,159
Tower Hamlets |4,353,398
Wandsworth |2,117,834
Westminster |1,519,653
Outer London
Barking |245,849
Barnet |1,202,176
Bexley |15,523
Brent |2,614,389
Croydon |1,384,268
Ealing |5,579,558
Enfield |535,477
Haringey |2,871,610
Harrow |755,346
Havering |29,798
Hillingdon |448,158
Hounslow |1,620,992
Merton |588,786
Newham |2,580,767
Redbridge |880,844
Richmond |74,879
Sutton |15,696
Waltham Forest |1,627,145
Wales
South Glamorgan City Council |483,494
Cardiff City Council |22,692
Colleges and Polytechnics
London Institute |42,152
City of London Polytechnic |66,238
Huddersfield Polytechnic |18,027
Lancashire Polytechnic |117,345
Luton College of Further Education |70,708
Leeds Polytechnic |19,494
Teesside Polytechnic |92,119
Grant Maintained Schools |94,905
|-------
Total Expenditure |135,482,981
Note:
(i)
Some payments (eg ILEA) include late submitted claims and do not
therefore relate solely to a local authorities expenditure for the
single year in question.
(ii)
The table also shows the grant paid to 5 polytechnics, one College
for Further Education and 4 Grant Maintained Schools who, by virtue
of Section 211 of the Education Reform Act 1988, may claim section
11 grant direct.
Column 4
Civil Damages
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the total amount paid out by police authorities for civil damages since 1982.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Compensation paid out by police authorities for civil damages under section 48 (2) b of the Police Act 1964 is a matter for the police authority concerned and there is therefore no central record of the total amount paid out by police authorities.
Wrongful Imprisonment
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to improve the machinery that exists for paying compensation to people who have been wrongly imprisoned and are subsequently released ; and whether he has any plans to provide compensation to people whose close relatives are wrongly imprisoned.
Mr. John Patten : We have no plans at present to amend the existing arrangements under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, or under the ex-gratia scheme, for the payment of compensation to those who have been imprisoned as a result of a wrongful conviction.
Advertising Campaigns
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the topics of each television advertising campaign to be carried out by his Department and any other publicity campaign costing more than £100,000.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : By the end of the current financial year, my Department expects to have spent £1 million on television advertising for fire safety and £2.2 million on television advertising for crime prevention.
Non-television publicity campaigns costing more than £100,000 are :
|£
------------------------------------------------------------
Electoral Registration |520,000
Absent Voting |650,000
Civil Protection Magazine (Publication) |100,000
Police Recruitment: Graduate/Ethnic |338,000
Police: Special Constable Recruitment |1,488,000
Crime Prevention |3,900,000
Fire Prevention and Safety |2,064,000
Passports |132,000
Prison Service Recruitment |1,036,000
THE ARTS
Arts Funding (London)
33. Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he has made arrangements to meet representatives of the Association of London Authorities and London Boroughs Association to discuss arts funding in London.
Mr. Renton : I have made arrangements to meet the Association of London Authorities on 25 July. The London Boroughs Association has asked to explore the issues with my officials, and a meeting has been arranged for 8 July.
Column 5
Museums (Admission Charges)
34. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister for the Arts what is his most recent assessment of the effects of admission charges to museums introduced in the past four years.
Mr. Renton : Those museums where admission charges have been introduced have reported that, after dropping initially, attendances have generally picked up, and in many cases, have returned to previous levels. Figures recorded before the introduction of admission charges cannot however be regarded as wholly reliable.
Arts Provision (Wales)
35. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will meet local authority leaders to discuss arts provision in Wales.
Mr. Renton : I have no plans to do so. However, I met the chairman and senior officers of the Welsh Arts Council in Cardiff recently, and they hold annual meetings with representatives of the local authorities in Wales.
Arts Spending (London)
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Minister for the Arts what is the average spending on the arts across London boroughs during the current year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Renton : Local authority arts funding is discretionary and there is no central reporting requirement. I am afraid that the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
CIVIL SERVICE
Civil Service Morale
41. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what steps he is proposing to take to improve morale in the civil service.
Mr. Renton : Our aim is to have an efficient, effective and well- motivated civil service.
Column 6
Community Institutions
Mr. Moate : To ask the Minister for the Civil Service what steps he is taking to increase the number of United Kingdom secondees to Community institutions.
Mr. Renton : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Fulham (Mr. Carrington).
PRIME MINISTER
Nuclear Test Veterans
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister if he will meet Mr. Kenneth McGinley, chairman of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : No. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Worthing (Mr. Higgins) on 18 April 1991 at column 568.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Taxpayers
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate for 1991-92 the number of basic rate and higher rate taxpayers with earned incomes above the national insurance contribution upper earnings limit, giving figures separately for (a) husbands, (b) wives, (c) single men and (d) single women and distinguishing between pensioners and non-pensioners.
Mr. Maude : The latest estimates in respect of 1991-92 are given in the table on two bases depending on the scope of earned income. The first basis compares the annual equivalent of the NIC upper earnings limit--UEL-- with the total of earnings from employment and self-employment for those subject to NIC. The second basis compares the UEL with total earned income, including pensions and taxable benefits in kind, for all individuals.
Column 5
Millions
Taxpaying individuals with earnings subject to NTaxpaying individuals with total earned income above the UEL
|Basic rate only|Higher rate |Total |Basic rate only|Higher rate |Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taxpayers aged under 65:
Husbands |1.4 |1.1 |2.5 |1.5 |1.1 |2.6
Wives |0.1 |0.1 |0.2 |0.1 |0.1 |0.2
Single men |0.3 |0.2 |0.5 |0.3 |0.2 |0.5
Single women |0.2 |0.0 |0.2 |0.2 |0.1 |0.3
Taxpayers aged 65 and over |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.1 |0.1
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |2.0 |1.4 |3.4 |2.1 |1.6 |3.7
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate for 1991-92 the number of top rate taxpayers with (a) gross and (b) taxable incomes within the following income ranges (i) £23,700 to £27,700, (ii) £27,000 to £30,000, (iii) £30,000 to £35,000, (iv) £35,000 to £40,000, (v) £40,000 to £45,000, (vi) £45,000 to £50,000, (vii) £50,000 to £55,000, (viii) £55,000 to £60,000 and (ix) over £60,000.
Column 6
Mr. Maude : Since mortgage interest is not to be deductible at the higher rate for 1991-92 it is appropriate to analyse higher rate taxpayers by range of income after deducting allowances and reliefs excluding mortgage interest.
The latest estimates are as follows :
Column 7
Total income |Number of
for income tax |higher rate
purposes |taxpayers
|in 1991-92
£ per year |Thousands
------------------------------------------------
23,700-27,700 |10
27,700-30,000 |110
30,000-35,000 |480
35,000-40,000 |320
40,000-45,000 |210
45,000-50,000 |130
50,000-55,000 |90
55,000-60,000 |60
Over 60,000 |290
|-------
Total |1,700
Total income |Number of
less allowances |higher rate
and reliefs<1> |taxpayers
|in 1991-92
£ per year |Thousands
23,700-27,700 |470
27,700-30,000 |190
30,000-35,000 |320
35,000-40,000 |190
40,000-45,000 |120
45,000-50,000 |80
50,000-55,000 |60
55,000-60,000 |50
Over 60,000 |220
|-------
Total |1,700
Total income less allowances and reliefs Number of higher rate taxpayers
in 1991-92
£ per year Thousands
23,700 27,700 470
27,700 30,000 190
30,000 35,000 320
35,000 40,000 190
40,000 45,000 120
45,000 50,000 80
50,000 55,000 60
55,000 60,000 50
Over 60,000 220
Total-- 1,700
Excluding mortgage interest.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of taxpayers in 1991-92 who have taxable incomes of less than £2,000, giving figures separately for single people, husbands and wives.
Mr. Maude : The latest estimates of taxpayers with taxable incomes in 1991-92 of less than £2,000 are as follows :
|Million
------------------------------
Single people |1.9
Husbands |1.2
Wives |1.6
|-------
Total |4.7
Taxable income is income subject to tax from all sources after deducting allowances and reliefs.
Tax Allowances
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith), of 2 May, Official Report, column 301, if he will publish the figures on the same basis showing separately average allowances and reliefs claimed against tax due under (a) schedule E and (b) schedule D.
Mr. Maude : Taxpayers can be analysed according to whether they have a main source of income taxed under schedule E. Latest estimates for 1990- 91 are as follows :
Column 8
Taxpayers with a main source of income from employment or from
an occupational pension
Gross income |Amount of tax re-
|liefs and allowances
|set against income
£ per year |£
---------------------------------------------------------------
0 to 5,000 |3,200
5,000 to 10,000 |4,200
10,000 to 15,000 |5,300
15,000 to 20,000 |6,300
20,000 to 25,000 |7,100
25,000 to 30,000 |7,500
30,000 to 40,000 |7,700
40,000 to 50,000 |8,500
over 50,000 |10,300
Average |5,200
Gross income |Amount of tax re-
|liefs and allowances
|set against income
£ per year |£
0 to 5,000 |3,200
5,000 to 10,000 |4,500
10,000 to 15,000 |5,500
15,000 to 20,000 |6,100
20,000 to 25,000 |6,600
25,000 to 30,000 |6,600
30,000 to 40,000 |7,100
40,000 to 50,000 |8,300
over 50,000 |12,100
Average |5,300
Other taxpayers
Gross income Amount of tax reliefs and allowances set against income
£ per year £
0 to 5,000 3,200
5,000 to 10,000 4,500
10,000 to 15,000 5,500
15,000 to 20,000 6,100
20,000 to 25,000 6,600
25,000 to 30,000 6,600
30,000 to 40,000 7,100
40,000 to 50,000 8,300
over 50,000 12,100
Average 5,300
Income Tax
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the same basis as his answer of 3 May, Official Report, column 354, concerning the effect of an upper limit on all income tax allowances and reliefs, if he will estimate the net effect of these options, assuming that all reliefs and allowances are limited to the basic rate of income tax.
Mr. Maude : It is estimated that, at 1991-92 levels of income, restricting all allowances and reliefs to the basic rate of income tax would yield about £2.2 billion. The additional yield from introducing upper limits of £10,000, £15,000 and £20,000 would be about £450 million, £150 million and £100 million, respectively, in a full year. The estimates do not take account of any behavioural effects which might result from the changes.
Lost Revenue
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated lost revenue to the Exchequer from employers not paying tax and national insurance contributions for (a) 1988, (b) 1989 and (c) 1990.
Mr. Maude : The amounts of PAYE tax and class 1 national insurance contributions remitted or written off as irrecoverable in the accounts years to the end of October were as follows --
Column 9
|PAYE |NIC Class 1
|(£ million)|(£ million)
------------------------------------------------
1988 |130.7 |15.9
1989 |122.9 |15.1
1990<1> |107.1 |17.3
<1> Provisional.
Public Information
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications the Public Records Office has received in each year since 1977 for the file T160/763/F14755 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Public Records Office does not hold records of aplications for files which are not in its keeping.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 20 June, Official Report, column 313 , what information he has on the means by which file T160/763/F14755 was destroyed.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Treasury records show only that the file was reviewed in 1977 and destroyed.
National Insurance
Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) employees and (b) self-employed people have earned income above the upper earnings limit for national insurance contributions, distinguishing between basic rate and higher rate taxpayers.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 27 June 1991] : Latest estimates for 1991-92 are as follows :