Annual Report For 2004

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215022806
Total Pages : 112 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (228 download)

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Book Synopsis Annual Report For 2004 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Liaison Committee

Download or read book Annual Report For 2004 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Liaison Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annual report For 2004 : First report of session 2004-05, report, together with appendices and formal Minutes

The 2007 pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215513915
Total Pages : 48 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (139 download)

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Book Synopsis The 2007 pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book The 2007 pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008-03-05 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental taxes as a proportion of all taxation peaked at 9.7 per cent in 1999 and have declined ever since, falling to 7.3 per cent in 2006. This report sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations covering different areas of environmental policy. (1) Aviation: the reform of Air Passenger Duty into a levy per flight rather than per passenger is welcome, but tax on aviation must be significantly increased so as to stabilise demand and resulting emissions. (2) Motoring: road transport emissions in England increased by 12 per cent between 1997 and 2006, and are forecast to increase, so it is important for the Budget to put in place rises in fuel duty. (3) Carbon capture and storage: the Treasury must provide more assistance for the development of this technology in the UK. (4) Shadow price of carbon: this should be increased to discourage the approval of carbon-intensive policies and projects, and so improve the prospects of achieving the reduction in global emission targets. (5) Environmental transformation fund: the Pre-Budget report (Cm. 7227, ISBN 9780101722728) announced funding for such a fund, with £370 million to be spent over three years, but only £170 million was new money. (6) Emissions trading: it must be clear when reported emissions figures incorporate the purchase of carbon credits, otherwise they will give a false picture of the decarbonisation progress within the UK. (7) Public service agreements: the new PSA is too diffuse, with no clear departmental targets for reducing emissions; the Government should consider setting emissions reduction targets for specific sectors of the economy. The Treasury has not responded on the scale or with the urgency recommended by the Stern Review (ISBN 9780102944204) and the 2008 Pre-Budget report needs to establish a coherent set of measures to help deliver the UK's 2020 domestic and EU targets on emissions and renewable energy.

The 2005 Pre-budget Report

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0215027078
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis The 2005 Pre-budget Report by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee

Download or read book The 2005 Pre-budget Report written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-01-25 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee's report examines the Government's Pre-Budget Report 2005 (Cm. 6701, ISBN 0101670125) published in December 2005. Issues discussed include: the state of the economy (including the UK Presidency of the G8, UK economic growth estimates for 2006 and beyond, and consumer spending) and public finance matters; as well as issues relating to taxation and pensions. Recommendations made include that the Treasury should give at least four weeks notice of the date of the Pre-Budget Report in order to enable sufficient parliamentary scrutiny, and if this target is not met, the Treasury should give an account of the reasons why.

The 2006 pre-budget report

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0215032128
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis The 2006 pre-budget report by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee

Download or read book The 2006 pre-budget report written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-01-25 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report from the Treasury Committee examines the recent economic analysis and assessment of the UK economy as outlined in the 2006 pre-budget report, and sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations, including: the Committee welcomes the recent rise in the growth rate of business investment, but with the caveat that the downside risk as highlighted in a previous weakness for business investment, remains unexplained; that several risks exist around the consumption growth forecast, including the potential of house prices to fall, and the increase of personal insolvency; the employment rate rise is commended, but a lack of migration statistics in relation to the labour market, means an overall assessment is not possible; although an improved forecast for economic growth in 2006, the Treasury has not forecast an improvement in the fiscal position; the Government appears to be on track to meet the golden rule in the current economic cycle, but will start the next economic cycle with its current budget in deficit; the Committee recommends also that the Treasury, in future Budgets and Pre-Budget reports provide a fuller explanation of its current forecast of the start and end dates of the current economic cycle; also, future Budget and Pre-Budget reports should provide a breakdown of reported efficiency gains by department, and further to enhance transparency and enable effective scrutiny, the Treasury should require departments in their departmental annual reports and Autumn Performance reports in 2007 and in later years to provide consistent and comprehensive information on progress against efficiency targets; the Committee expressed dissatisfaction at the lateness and vagueness of information in relation to expenditure on education, but approved the early announcement of capital spending plans for education up to 2010-11; the Committee though does welcome the Government's decision to commission and publish a range of reviews informing future economic policy, including tax policy; the Pre-Budget report is seen as an effective instrument of fiscal consultation, but this could be enhanced if Parliament and the public were given greater notice of the date of the report, perhaps 4 weeks before the statement is due to be made; where tax changes carry significant risk of forestalling activity or distorting market behaviour, such as the unusual timing and implementation of the increases in Air Passenger Duty, the Committee feels, as a general rule, that those increases should not come into force until the House of Commons has had an opportunity to come to a formal decision on such an increase.

The Barnett formula

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780108444654
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (446 download)

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Book Synopsis The Barnett formula by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Select Committee on the Barnett Formula

Download or read book The Barnett formula written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Select Committee on the Barnett Formula and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009-07-17 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Barnett Formula is the mechanism used by the United Kingdom Government to allocate more than half of total public expenditure in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Formula has been used for the last thirty years to determine the annual increase in allocation (the increment). Each year these increments are added on to the previous year's allocation (the baseline) to create what is now a significant block grant of funds. The Formula accounted for almost £49 billion of public spending in 2007-08. Despite the political changes within the United Kingdom the Formula has continued to be used and has never been reviewed or revised. The Formula was only intended to be a short term measure and should no longer be. A UK Funding Commission should be established to assess relative need in the UK's regions and advise on a new method of distributing funding to reflect those needs. The baseline has never been reviewed to take account of changing population patterns; this means that the grant provides funds without reference to the needs of each of the countries and regions of the UK. There should be a link between the grant of funds made to each of the administrations and their actual per capita funding needs. The Committee's research suggests that England and Scotland have markedly lower overall needs per head of population than Wales and Northern Ireland. The Committee suggest that the UK Funding Commission undertake an assessment of relative need now and in the future and that they undertake periodic reviews as well as publish annual data about the allocation of funding between the devolved administrations.

Trade, Development and Environment

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0215030540
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Trade, Development and Environment by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book Trade, Development and Environment written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-08-16 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report finds that Department for International Development (DFID) has the potential to take the lead internationally on integrating the environment into development: the structures and links exist but there is still an under-appreciation of the role of the environment in sustainable development. The report sets out the background, covering what poor people want, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and Millennium Development Goals. It then considers development aid and how it is changing. Then the DFID's performance in integrating environment into development is critically examined. Subjects covered include DFID policy, water, climate and energy, agriculture, growth, environmental capacity, environmental screening, and the environment strategy. The Committee notes the failure of the Department to develop a coherent approach on the ground, as a damning review of country programmes has shown. It also highlights many areas where policy is poorly drafted and implemented, and where the Department's environmental expertise has been allowed to wither. The recent White Paper, 'Eliminating world poverty' (2006, Cm. 6876, ISBN 0101687621) is seen as a missed opportunity to make the environment as central to its work as the Department itself has made clear it should be.

The Sustainable Development Strategy: Written and oral evidence

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215020185
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (21 download)

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Book Synopsis The Sustainable Development Strategy: Written and oral evidence by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book The Sustainable Development Strategy: Written and oral evidence written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2004 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: sustainable development Strategy : Illusion or reality?, thirteenth report of session 2003-04, Vol. 2: Written and oral Evidence

Emissions trading

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036681
Total Pages : 68 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (366 download)

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Book Synopsis Emissions trading by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book Emissions trading written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-22 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government has highlighted the importance of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in providing the cornerstone of its policy framework to tackle climate change. The Committee published its report on the Scheme (HCP 70, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780215032720) in March 2007, in which it made an assessment of the likely impact of the ETS to 2012 and its implication for the UK Climate Change programme. This report contains the Government's reply to the Committee's report, together with the Committee's thoughts on that reply. Amongst its findings, the Committee concludes that emissions trading can be very valuable, enabling emissions cuts to be made in the most economically efficient manner irrespective of location. However, their report raises ongoing concerns about i) the transparency of the reporting process on emissions trading and the risk that the complexities of such transactions might obscure whether they are reducing the full amount of emissions they ostensibly represent. It is especially important to get the transparency of reporting right at this stage, given the Government's plans under the forthcoming Climate Change Bill, to make use of international emissions trading within a national carbon budgeting system; and ii) the Government's presentation in some publications of the purchase of carbon credits by the UK as being, in practice, synonymous with reducing emissions within the UK, since buying emissions credits from other countries does not necessarily translate into cutting emissions, at home or abroad.

The structure of government and the challenge of climate change

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215036896
Total Pages : 146 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (368 download)

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Book Synopsis The structure of government and the challenge of climate change by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book The structure of government and the challenge of climate change written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-29 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee's report finds that, over the past decade, the Government has failed to rise fully to the domestic challenge of climate change, and its likely failure to reach its domestic target on reducing carbon dioxide emissions will have a damaging impact on the UK's international leadership role in reaching a post-Kyoto agreement. Although the Government has introduced some new arrangements for co-ordinating climate change policy more effectively across Whitehall, the scale of the challenge and the complexity involved in radically restructuring the economy to bring about the needed emission reduction targets requires further changes. There is a need for a strategic review of Government action to ensure that the leadership and responsibility for the development and delivery of climate change mitigation and adaptation policies is clear, as well as a new long-term policy framework to ensure that policies introduced today do not undermine our ability to reduce emissions in the future. The Committee also recommends that a new and authoritative body be established within the Cabinet Office to drive forward policy and to diminish the potential for a conflict of objectives between departments.

OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom 2004

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Publisher : OECD Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9264020241
Total Pages : 222 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (64 download)

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Book Synopsis OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom 2004 by : OECD

Download or read book OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom 2004 written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2004-01-19 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: OECD’s 2004 review of the UK economy finds that performance has been impressive in recent years. This edition also looks at product market competition and sustainable development in the UK.

Pre-budget 2005

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 0215028031
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis Pre-budget 2005 by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book Pre-budget 2005 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee reports on the progress made by the Treasury in placing environmental objectives at the heart of its fiscal policies. This year's pre-Budget report (Cm. 6701, December 2005, ISBN 0101670125) is found to be inadequate, especially in the context of UK CO2 emissions actually increasing once more. No significant new measures were announced, and the Committee sees a continued slowing down of the Treasury's momentum in turning rhetoric into action. It believes the Treasury should redefine Air Passenger Duty (APD) as an environmental tax and that APD rates should more accurately reflect the carbon emissions of the flights to which they apply. Charging APD on flights rather than passengers could also act as an incentive to more efficient use of aviation fuel. The Committee also recommends action on aviation fuel duty, biofuels, car energy efficiency, steps to wean the economy off over-reliance on oil, stamp duty and council tax reductions for homes built or refurbished to high environmental standards. Each pre-Budget report should include figures on total revenue from the climate change levy, aggregates levy, and landfill tax. Although the Treasury accepts the principle of increasing taxes on "bads" rather than "goods" its reluctance for bold reform of the tax system mystifies the Committee. A Green tax Commission should be reconsidered, to develop a proper communications strategy to sell the environmental programme to the public. The Committee exhorts the Government to make moves on the climate change problem, as waiting for universal agreement is a recipe for stasis. Finally, the Committee regrets the Treasury's decision to abolish the Operating and Financial Review required from large companies, in that it appears to view sustainable reporting as an optional extra. It hopes that the proposed new business reviews will continue to require some form of social and environmental disclosure from companies.

Sessional Returns

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215025227
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (252 download)

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Book Synopsis Sessional Returns by : Great Britain: House of Commons

Download or read book Sessional Returns written by Great Britain: House of Commons and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-06-23 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With corrigendum slip dated June 2005 (1 sheet).

Pre-budget Report 2008

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780101748421
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (484 download)

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Book Synopsis Pre-budget Report 2008 by : Great Britain. Treasury

Download or read book Pre-budget Report 2008 written by Great Britain. Treasury and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2008 Pre-Budget Report presents updated assessments and forecasts of the economy and public finances, and reports on how in the face of major global economic shocks the Government intends to support the economy, businesses and households through these uncertain times while delivering its long-term goals. Measures announced include: temporarily reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to 15 per cent from1 December 2008 to 31 December 2009; bringing forward £3 billion of capital spending from 2010-11 including introducing a green stimulus supporting low carbon growth and jobs; introducing a new additional higher rate of income tax of 45 per cent for those with incomes above £150,000 from April 2011; increasing national insurance contributions by 0.5 per cent from April 2011; increasing alcohol and tobacco duties; a two pence per litre increase in fuel duty from 1 December). Immediate action to help those individuals and businesses most affected by the economic downturn include: increases in the income tax personal allowance; bringing forward the increase in Child Benefit; increases of the Child Tax Credit and a payment of £60 to all pensioners; help through mortgage rescue and Support for Mortgage Interest schemes for eligible homeowners in difficulty and a commitment from major mortgage lenders not to initiate repossession action within at least three months of an owner-occupier going into arrears; an additional £1.3 billion to support for the unemployed to find a new job; measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises facing credit constraints; a new HMRC Business Payment Support Service to allow businesses in temporary financial difficulty to pay their HMRC tax bills on a timetable they can afford; and more generous tax relief for businesses now making losses and the modification of a number of planned tax reforms, including vehicle excise duty, air passenger duty, and the deferral of the increase in the small companies' rate of corporation tax.

Budget 2005

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780102932485
Total Pages : 346 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (324 download)

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Book Synopsis Budget 2005 by : Great Britain. Treasury

Download or read book Budget 2005 written by Great Britain. Treasury and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Budget presents an updated assessment of the economy and public finances and reports on Government policies. It: shows that the economy is growing strongly and the Government is meeting its fiscal rules; announces a long-term investment programme for schools and sets out further measures to help young people develop skills; sets out reform to reduce the regulatory burden on business; announces free local travel for people over 60 and provide £200 towards the council tax bill for those over 65; makes a commitment to increase Child Tax Credit in line with earnings; doubles the threshold for stamp duty; increases the special reserve for military operations; announces a better targeted Local Enterprise Growth Initiative; introduces measures to modernise the tax system; defers any increase in fuel duty until September 2005.

Knowledge, Policy, and Expertise

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0198294654
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (982 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowledge, Policy, and Expertise by : Susan E. Owens

Download or read book Knowledge, Policy, and Expertise written by Susan E. Owens and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a fascinating analysis of expertise and policy formation, based on an in-depth study of the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. The Commission provided expert advice to governments from 1970 to 2011. Often portrayed as a 'scientific body', it was in fact an interesting hybrid, which embodied wide-ranging expertise. It delivered thirty-three reports, leaving a significant mark on British environmental policy, and having influence within Europe and beyond. Drawing upon an extensive literature and a wide range of sources, Knowledge, Policy, and Expertise provides the only full account of this important advisory body, covering a period in which the policy landscape was profoundly transformed. It offers a rich and detailed analysis of authority, autonomy, and trust; of the diverse roles that advisors can play and the networks within which they operate; and of the 'circumstances of influence' in which expert advice comes to be accepted gratefully, used strategically, absorbed in diffuse ways, or ignored. Above all, this book demonstrates the complexity and contingency of knowledge-policy relations, contributing substantially to a theory of expertise, and drawing out important implications for the future of 'good advice'.

Pre-budget Report 2008

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Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215529145
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (291 download)

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Book Synopsis Pre-budget Report 2008 by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee

Download or read book Pre-budget Report 2008 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines, firstly, the Treasury's response to recession. The fiscal stimulus measures intended to pull the economy out of recession represent an invaluable opportunity to transform the UK into a low carbon economy. But meeting climate change and renewable energy targets will require a step-change in environmental investment. This year's Pre-Budget Report announced a £535m package of green fiscal stimulus measures designed to tackle economic and environmental problems simultaneously. This investment is welcome, but the scale too small- most of this funding was already committed, and will be offset by reduced spending in 2010-11. Extra funding announced for the Warm Front programme will not deliver the scale and speed of change that is needed. Programmes aimed at improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings should be the number one priority for green fiscal stimulus. It is disappointing that the wider fiscal stimulus package contains hundreds of millions of pounds for road building and widening. The Treasury should publish an assessment of the net impacts of its fiscal stimulus package on the environment. The second part of the report looks at green taxation. In real terms, revenue from green taxes has gone down slightly since 1998, while revenue from all taxation has increased by around 30 per cent. On aviation taxes, the Committee criticise the Treasury's backtracking on replacing Air Passenger Duty with a 'per plane' charge, and exhorts the Government to seek reform of the Chicago Convention so as to allow taxation of international aviation fuel. On motoring taxes, it calls for re-examination of the merits and practicalities of a 'car scrappage' scheme to pay people to trade in their existing, older cars, for newer, more efficient models.

The 2007 pre-budget report

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Author :
Publisher : The Stationery Office
ISBN 13 : 9780215037497
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (374 download)

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Book Synopsis The 2007 pre-budget report by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee

Download or read book The 2007 pre-budget report written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-26 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report, from the Treasury Committee, considers the state of the United Kingdom economy, the public finances and individual tax measures in the 2007 Pre-Budget Report (Cm. 7227, ISBN 0101722729). The Committee examines the Pre-Budget Report under the following areas: the real economy; the public finances; taxation issues and the role of the Pre-budget report. The Committee has set out 21 conclusions and recommendations, including: that the risk remains that the credit crunch will have greater macroeconomic effect than expected; that the Treasury needs to recast the way in which it presents the risks to the economic forecasts in both Pre-budget and Budget reports; the Committee reiterates an earlier recommendation, that the Government review the golden rule such that it becomes more forward-looking and less dependent upon the dating of the economic cycle; the Committee expressed concern about the reform of the capital gains tax regime and the possible detrimental effects that the withdrawal of taper relief could have on small businesses, employee shareholders and longer-term investment; that it is important that the Pre-Budget retains a focus on consultation on fiscal measures that may be included in the forthcoming budget.