To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much the Exchequer received in alcohol duties in each year since 1997, expressed in (a) cash terms and (b) 2008-09 prices; (240647)

The UK Trade Information website contains information on the amount of alcohol duty revenue received by HM Revenue and Customs in cash terms. Deflating by RPI, revenue in 2008-09 prices, to the nearest £10 million, has been estimated as:

Website address:

http://www.uktradeinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?task=factalcohol

Alcohol duty revenue as a percentage of total HMRC revenue is summarised as follows:

Forecast alcohol duty revenue as a percentage of forecast total revenue is estimated to be 1.9 per cent. in 2008-09, 2.1 per cent. in 2009-10 and 2.0 per cent. in 2010-11.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Treasury of extending the reduced rate of duty on beer for beer from singleton breweries that produce (a) 50,000 hectolitres, (b) 100,000 hectolitres, (c) 150,000 hectolitres and (d) 200,000 hectolitres per year. (240869)

No estimate of the cost of extending the reduced rate of duty on beer from singleton breweries has been made.

The changes that have been made to alcohol duties in each year since 1997 are available from the UK Trade Information website. See table 3 from the respective bulletins. Website address:

http://www.uktradeinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?task=bulletins

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what timetable he has set for reducing levels of duty on alcohol introduced to offset the temporary reduction in VAT levels. (243487)

The position is set out in Chapters 2 and 5 of the pre-Budget report.