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Inland Revenue (Child Care)
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the definition of workplace provision of childcare used by the Inland Revenue in determining whether contributions to childcare qualify as benefits in kind. [39149]
Dawn Primarolo: The tax treatment of child care benefits is explained in the Inland Revenue leaflet IR115 "Tax and Childcare". An article in issue 34 of the Inland Revenue's Tax Bulletin magazine, published on 20 April sets out the Inland Revenue's view on what is required to satisfy the conditions of the workplace nursery exemption (Section 155A ICTA 1988) where an employer gets together with others to provide child care.
Oxford Economic Forecasts
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the key assumptions used in the model of Oxford Economic Forecasts. [38888]
Mrs. Liddell: The Treasury monitors over 40 independent forecasts of the UK economy and periodically reviews aspects of the models used by the major forecasting institutions, including Oxford Economic Forecasting.
Nuclear Materials
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the planned expenditure on anti-smuggling, set out at table 3, page 19 of HM Customs and Excise Departmental report, 1998, (Cm 3918) is allocated to combat nuclear materials smuggling. [38730]
Dawn Primarolo: Planned expenditure on combating the smuggling of nuclear materials is included in the figures for Protection of Society in table 4 of page 28 of the Report (table 3 deals with UK revenue). This expenditure relates to the integral control of a wide range of prohibited and restricted items. I regret that it is not possible to disaggregate a figure for specific goods.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many instances of the smuggling into the United Kingdom of illicit nuclear materials have been detected since 1990. [38726]
Dawn Primarolo:
Customs have detected no instances of the smuggling into the United Kingdom of illicit nuclear materials during the period since 1990.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the herbal stimulants that are (a) regarded as food products and are zero rated for VAT and (b) regarded as stimulants and are subject to the standard rate of VAT; [38622]
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Dawn Primarolo:
A list of herbal stimulants is not held centrally, but the general rule for VAT purposes is that herbs supplied for culinary use are zero-rated. Decisions on the liability of herbal stimulants and remedies are taken case by case if they fall outside the guidance given in Customs and Excise VAT Notice 701/38, which sets out the liability of seeds and plants. The test is whether or not they are "food of a kind use for human consumption" within the normal meaning of those words.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 2 April 1998, Official Report, column 622, what plans he has to improve the methods used for the environmental assessment of budget measures for future budgets. [38823]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 20 April 1998]: The Government will review the environmental assessment of Budget measures in time to inform future Budgets.
Mr. Rendel:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans his Department has to tackle tax evasion in the London Borough of Hackney. [38646]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 20 April 1998]: The tax Departments have continuing programmes of counter-evasion work which cover all parts of the United Kingdom. Resources are deployed to detect evasion across the tax system with an emphasis on areas of high tax risk.
Mr. Opik:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people aged (a) 21 years and under and (b) 25 years and under who earn less than (i) £3.50 per hour and (ii) £4 per hour; what percentage of the working population this represents; and if he will make a statement. [38966]
Mrs. Liddell
[holding answer 20 April 1998]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Lembit Opik, dated 22 April 1998:
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 625
(2) what criteria are used to determine which herbal products are classed as food products and which as stimulants. [38623]
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on hourly earnings.
This information is shown in the attached table using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Work is being undertaken to assess the quality of earnings data from the LFS and the New Earnings Survey (NES). Current indications are that the LFS provides the more reliable estimates of workers on low pay, but nevertheless tends to overestimate the proportion of low paid workers. The figures in the table should therefore be taken as upper estimates of the proportions. Details of this assessment of the quality of earnings data are expected to be published in the May issue of Labour Market Trends, copies of which will be available from the House of Commons Library.
| Aged 16-21 | Aged 16-25 | |
|---|---|---|
| Earning under £3.50 per hour | ||
| Total (thousands) | 994 | 1,278 |
| As % of all employees in age group | 47.3 | 30.5 |
| As % of all working age(4) employees | 4.5 | 5.8 |
| Earnings under £4.00 per hour | ||
| Total (thousands) | 1,314 | 1,793 |
| As % of all employees in age group | 62.5 | 42.8 |
| As % of all working age(4) employees | 5.9 | 8.1 |
(4) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
Labour Statistics
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the average weekly hours worked by (a) male and (b) female part-time workers, giving figures separately for married and unmarried workers. [38858]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 22 April 1998:
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 626
(5) Includes paid and unpaid overtime. Excludes meal breaks.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what are the average weekly hours of work for (a) male, (b) female, (c) full-time and (d) part-time workers, and their average hours of overtime work, giving figures separately for workers (i) with dependent children aged over five years, (ii) with dependent children aged under five years and (iii) with no dependent children; [38851]
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking for the average hours worked by part-time employees broken down by sex and marital status.
This information is shown in the table below using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS):
All persons Married/ cohabiting Others
All persons 18.6 19.6 16.3
Males 17.5 20.0 16.1
Females 18.8 19.6 16.4
- (2) what percentages of (a) men and (b) women with (i) dependent children over age five, (ii) dependent children under age five and (iii) no children, work (1) full-time and (2) part-time; and what are their average weekly hours of work. [38856]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 22 April 1998:
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 625
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary questions (38851 and 38856) asking about the overtime and total hours worked by employees broken down by sex and age of youngest child.
This information is shown in the attached table using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Please note that the overtime figures are averaged over all employees, not just those who work overtime.
| No dependent children | Youngest child aged 0-4 | Youngest child aged 5+ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employees with: | Full time | Part time | Full time | Part time | Full time | Part time |
| Male: | ||||||
| Percentage working full/part-time | 90.7 | 9.3 | 96.9 | 3.1 | 97.4 | 2.6 |
| Average total usual hours(6) worked | 45.2 | 17.0 | 46.8 | 19.6 | 47.0 | 20.9 |
| Average basic usual hours worked | 40.7 | 15.8 | 41.3 | 18.4 | 41.6 | 19.9 |
| Average total usual overtime(7) | 4.6 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 1.0 |
| Female: | ||||||
| Percentage working full/part-time | 68.8 | 31.2 | 36.0 | 63.9 | 41.4 | 58.6 |
| Average total usual hours worked(6) | 41.2 | 18.5 | 39.9 | 18.2 | 40.4 | 19.4 |
| Average basic usual hours worked | 38.0 | 17.3 | 37.2 | 17.1 | 36.8 | 17.9 |
| Average total usual overtime(7) | 3.1 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 1.5 |
(6) Includes paid and unpaid overtime, excludes meal breaks
(7) Paid and unpaid overtime derived by subtracting basic hours from total hours
Source:
Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics
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Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the numbers and percentages of (a) male and (b) female employees who are classed as homeworkers; and what is the breakdown by (i) industry and (ii) occupation. [38852]
Mrs. Liddell:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 628
Letter from Mr. Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 22 April 1998:
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 627
(8) Numerator less than 10,000: figure too small for reliable estimate
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 627
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking about employee homeworkers.
This information is shown in the table below using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Homeworkers are defined as those who work mainly in their own home.
All persons Males Females
All employee homeworkers (thousands) 194 47 147
Percentage of all employees 0.9 0.4 1.4
Employee homeworkers by industry (per cent)
Agriculture, fishing, energy & water supply, manufacturing 20.9 23.7 20.0
Construction 9.5 (8)-- 12.3
All service industries 69.6 75.4 67.8
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Employee homeworkers by occupation (per cent)
Managers and administrators 22.5 43.1 15.9
Professional, associate professional and technical occupations 12.5 28.1 7.4
Clerical, secretarial occupations 38.2 (8)-- 48.3
Personal, protective occupations 12.0 (8)-- 13.8
All other occupations 14.9 (8)-- 14.6
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women are employed under a flexi-time contract, giving figures separately for workers (i) with dependent children aged over five years, (ii) with dependent children aged under five years and (iii) with no dependent children. [38848]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
| All persons | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All employees | 2,321 | 1,057 | 1,263 |
| With dependent children aged: | |||
| 5 and over | 525 | 222 | 303 |
| Under 5 | 367 | 171 | 195 |
| With no dependent children | 1,430 | 664 | 764 |
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 628
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women work only during school terms, giving figures separately for (i) those directly employed in education and (ii) other workers. [38849]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
| Employed in education | Other employees | |
|---|---|---|
| All persons | 774 | 177 |
| Males | 139 | 16 |
| Females | 634 | 159 |
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 629
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the number and percentage of jobs which are done on a job-share basis; and what percentage of job-shares are done by (a) men and (b) women. [38853]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
| All persons | Males | Females | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employees in job shares: | |||
| thousands | 177 | 18 | 158 |
| per cent. | 100 | 10 | 89 |
| Employees in job shares as a percentage of all employees | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of (a) male and (b) female employees worked part-time in (i) 1970, (ii) 1980, (iii) 1990 and (iv) the most recent available date; and what were their average hours of work. [38859]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 22 April 1998:
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 630
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking about part-time employees in various years.
This information is shown in the table below using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) which are only available on a consistent basis from 1984 onwards.
| 1984 | 1990 | 1997 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Males | |||
| P/t male employees as a percentage of all male employees | 2.6 | 3.8 | 7.5 |
| Average usual weekly hours of work(9) | 16.5 | 15.4 | 16.7 |
| Females | |||
| P/t female employees as a percentage of all female employees | 42.3 | 41.1 | 42.9 |
| Average usual weekly hours of work(9) | 18.3 | 18.0 | 18.4 |
(9) Includes paid and unpaid overtime, excludes meal breaks.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS.
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update the information in table 5 of Labour Market Trends, January 1997, volume 105, no. 1, p.LFS5. [38857]
Mrs. Liddell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 22 April 1998:
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the breakdown of the numbers of (a) male and (b) female employees working part-time by (i) marital status and (ii) industry. [38860]
Mrs. Liddell:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 22 April 1998:
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 629
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking for an update of table 5 of Labour Market Trends, January 1997.
An update of this table was published in Labour Market Trends, April 1998, volume 106, no. 4, p.LFS20, a copy of which is enclosed. Copies of Labour Market Trends are available in the House of Commons Library.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question asking for a breakdown of employees working part-time by sex, marital status and industry.
This information is shown in the table, using estimates available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
| Male | Female | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Married/ cohabiting | Other | Married/ cohabiting | Other | |
| All industries(10) | 297 | 545 | 3,337 | 1,187 |
| Agriculture and fishing | (11)-- | (11)-- | 18 | (11)-- |
| Energy and water | (11)-- | (11)-- | 10 | (11)-- |
| Manufacturing | 32 | 32 | 215 | 44 |
| Construction | 10 | (11)-- | 48 | (11)-- |
| Distribution, hotels and restaurants | 60 | 333 | 885 | 615 |
| Transport and communication | 34 | 23 | 93 | 24 |
| Banking, finance and insurance etc. | 35 | 35 | 386 | 79 |
| Public administration, education and health | 92 | 59 | 1,492 | 309 |
| Other services | 31 | 51 | 187 | 100 |
(10) Includes those who did not specify their industry and those whose workplace is outside the UK.
(11) Sample size too small to provide a reliable estimate.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS
22 Apr 1998 : Column: 631
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