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10 Mar 2004 : Column 1552W—continued

Public Sector Borrowing

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) public, (b) private and (c) total borrowing of (i) those higher education institutions in receipt of funding from the Higher Education Funding Councils, (ii) housing associations and (iii) Network Rail was in each year from 1997–98 to 2002–03; and what the latest available figures are for the (A) public, (B) private and (C) total debt of each. [156160]

Mr. Boateng: Details of the borrowing for academic years 1997–81 to 2002–03 by higher education institutions in receipt of funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England were published for each year by HEFCE in their "Outcomes of financial forecasts, annual monitoring statements and corporate planning statements", copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.

Details of the borrowing for financial years 1997–98 to 2002–03 by housing associations are available in the Housing Corporation's Annual Private Finance Monitoring Bulletins 1998 to 2003, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.

Network Rail has been responsible for operating, maintaining and renewing Britain's rail infrastructure only since October 2002. Consequently, 2002–03 is the only financial year for which published information on borrowing is available. This is in the company's annual report and accounts copies of which are available in the Library of the House. None of their borrowing at the end of the year was from the public sector. The position for the current year is not yet publicly available.

Redundancy Money

Vera Baird: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the threshold at which tax is paid on redundancy money. [159882]

Dawn Primarolo: As with all taxes the threshold at which tax is paid on redundancy money is a matter for the Chancellor to consider as part of the annual Budget process.

Scottish Football Industry

Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what responsibilities his Department has in relation to the Scottish football industry; and if he will make a statement. [156824]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 27 February 2004]: Sport is primarily a devolved matter in Scotland and so the responsibility of the Scottish Executive. In relation to non devolved fiscal aspects, the 2003 Pre-Budget Report announced that the Government is to consider

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how it can best help to support Football Supporters' Trusts, in particular by a review of how they are treated by the Inland Revenue.

Small Business Taxation

Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 3 March, Official Report, column 910W, on small business taxation, what plans he has to change the taxation of small businesses. [159644]

Dawn Primarolo: All taxes are reviewed as part of the annual Budget process.

Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what construction and refurbishment HM Treasury is undertaking; at what locations; and what measures are being implemented to ensure that all timber used (a) on the construction sites and (b) in the final project will come from legal and sustainable sources. [158105]

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury is not undertaking any construction and refurbishment projects. The Department moved into refurbished premises at 1 Horse Guards Road in the summer of 2002.

Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which companies have contracts for furniture provision for HM Treasury; and what measures have been implemented to ensure that when a product contains wood, it can be shown to come from legal and sustainable sources. [158107]

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury purchases its furniture though direct contracts and framework agreements let by OGC Buying Solutions or Inland Revenue. In all cases there are clauses in the contract that require any wood products to come from sustainable sources.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Housing Benefit

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason the Housing Benefit Regulations (a) require a Rent Officer to review the rent of a private landlord and (b) do not require a rent officer to review the rent of a registered social landlord. [158985]

Mr. Pond: Claims received from those in the private rented sector will generally be referred to the local Rent Officer for a rental valuation to determine the HB claim. The Rent Officer will look at the level of rents within the neighbourhood as well as in the wider locality. Any subsequent restriction in the rent used to calculate Housing Benefit will reflect a reasonable market rent for suitable accommodation of the appropriate size within the locality. This ensures that benefit paid to claimants is sufficient to pay for an appropriate dwelling whilst, at the same time, protecting the public purse.

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Generally, local authorities are not required to refer registered social landlord (RSL) tenancies to the rent officer for determination; the full contractual rent, less any ineligible charges, is used to calculate Housing Benefit. RSL rents are subject to Housing Corporation regulation and are generally set within prevailing market levels. However, where the local authority considers the rent to be excessive, or the accommodation overlarge for the tenant's needs, it is required to refer the tenancy to the Rent Officer. Where a tenancy is referred to a Rent Officer, Housing Benefit would be restricted to a maximum rent in the usual way.

Age Discrimination

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Code of Practice on age discrimination in the workplace. [156084]

Malcolm Wicks: The Code of Practice was launched in 1999 and an initial evaluation of its impact was, undertaken in 2001. This showed that the number of companies using age in recruitment had fallen from 27 per cent. to 13 per cent., awareness of the Code had risen from 14 per cent. to 37 per cent. and the number of companies having a policy against employing older workers had dropped from 14 per cent. to 7 per cent. Since then we have continued to promote the business case for recruiting, training and retaining older workers through the Age Positive, campaign and website, www.agepositive.gov.uk. We are commissioning more research with employers this year to further assess the impact of the campaign.

In December 2002, we published an updated version of the Code of Practice 'Age Diversity at work: a practical guide for business' which sets out the standards for non-ageist approaches to recruitment, training, promotion, redundancy and retirement. The campaign, which since last year has included enhanced promotion in Wales and Scotland, has been attracting considerable media coverage. This has resulted in a considerable increase in employer interest across the whole of Great Britain, as well as much increased traffic to the website. A sample survey of employers undertaken by Cranfield School of Management in 2003 indicated that a third of employers believe they have non-ageist policies in place and a further third were planning to adopt non-ageist policies within the coming two years. Copies of the survey have been placed in the Library.

Benefit Payments

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) child benefit recipients, (b) pensioners and (c) other benefit recipients received payments (i) into bank accounts, (ii) into Post Office Card Accounts and (iii) through post offices using pension and benefit books in (A) Greater London and (B) each London borough at the most recent date for which figures are available. [158402]

Mr. Pond: The available information requested is shown by each London local authority as at 24 January 2004. Child benefit is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and War Pensions are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence.

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Recipients of benefits in London local authorities broken down by method of payment

	Total	Bank accounts	Percentage of recipients paid by bank account	Post Office card account	Percentage of recipients paid by Post Office card account	Order book	Percentage of recipients paid by Order book
Non pensioners
All London local authorities	828,255	417,105	46.66	22,625	2.53	388,525	43.46
Inner London-West	111,460	57,920	48.28	4,190	3.49	49,345	41.13
Camden	28,255	14,950	48.64	790	2.57	12,515	40.73
City of London	535	300	50.51	15	2.71	220	37.12
Hammersmith and Fulham	20,915	11,015	49.35	1,270	5.68	8,630	38.66
Kensington and Chelsea	14,435	8,010	52.17	735	4.77	5,690	37.07
Wandsworth	25,365	12,090	44.03	505	1.85	12,765	46.48
Westminster	21,960	11,555	49.14	875	3.72	9,525	40.51
Inner London—East	280,320	130,965	42.86	9,020	2.95	140,330	45.92
Hackney	36,715	17,565	44.16	1,645	4.13	17,505	44.01
Haringey	32,610	15,350	42.78	845	2.35	16,415	45.76
Islington	30,925	15,445	46.42	1,475	4.43	14,005	42.10
Lambeth	37,010	16,805	40.52	1,015	2.45	19,195	46.28
Lewisham	32,370	15,720	43.48	685	1.89	15,965	44.15
Newham	39,415	18,175	43.17	1,395	3.32	19,845	47.14
Southwark	37,510	17,510	42.87	1,095	2.68	18,905	46.28
Tower Hamlets	33,765	14,400	39.92	875	2.42	18,495	51.28
Outer London—East and North East	178,745	87,990	45.99	3,350	1.75	87,410	45.68
Barking and Dagenham	25,100	10,630	39.41	510	1.89	13,965	51.76
Bexley	18,845	10,490	52.77	425	2.14	7,930	39.88
Enfield	32,615	16,155	46.83	825	2.40	15,635	45.33
Greenwich	30,805	14,350	42.36	700	2.07	15,760	46.52
Havering	19,870	10,225	49.05	175	0.84	9,470	45.43
Redbridge	23,750	12,650	51.03	285	1.14	10,815	43.62
Waltham Forest	27,760	13,490	44.27	430	1.41	13,840	45.42
Outer London—South	92,090	49,665	49.84	1,600	1.61	40,820	40.96
Bromley	23,095	13,315	53.61	695	2.80	9,085	36.59
Croydon	32,835	16,805	46.97	495	1.38	15,540	43.44
Kingston upon Thames	8,775	4,875	51.31	50	0.54	3,850	40.55
Merton	13,785	7,390	49.11	160	1.07	6,235	41.46
Sutton	13,595	7,290	50.22	200	1.37	6,110	42.11
Outer London—West and North West	165,645	90,565	51.05	4,460	2.51	70,620	39.81
Barnet	27,900	15,590	52.06	690	2.30	11,620	38.80
Brent	32,805	17,980	50.71	1,220	3.44	13,605	38.37
Ealing	33,155	18,100	51.38	1,370	3.89	13,680	38.84
Harrow	17,120	9,665	52.83	130	0.71	7,320	40.02
Hillingdon	21,985	10,680	45.04	165	0.69	11,140	46.96
Hounslow	22,890	12,650	51.96	700	2.87	9,540	39.19
Richmond upon Thames	9,795	5,895	56.56	190	1.80	3,715	35.64
Pensioners
All London local authorities	1,193,680	683,865	56.94	6,540	0.54	503,275	41.91
Inner London—West	139,105	82,270	58.66	540	0.39	56,295	40.14
Camden	28,155	16,235	57.23	105	0.37	11,815	41.64
City of London	1,095	820	74.89	0	0.18	270	24.84
Hammersmith and Fulham	23,460	13,110	55.47	125	0.53	10,220	43.24
Kensington and Chelsea	22,040	15,210	68.11	70	0.32	6,755	30.26
Wandsworth	36,145	19,360	53.29	165	0.45	16,620	45.74
Westminster	28,215	17,535	61.55	70	0.25	10,610	37.25
Inner London—East	247,080	111,290	44.79	1,360	0.55	134,435	54.11
Hackney	26,940	10,535	38.88	140	0.52	16,260	60.00
Haringey	29,875	15,365	51.08	125	0.42	14,385	47.81
Islington	25,225	10,170	40.12	185	0.73	14,870	58.65
Lambeth	32,680	16,345	49.72	150	0.46	16,185	49.22
Lewisham	37,080	18,485	49.62	270	0.72	18,325	49.19
Newham	34,670	15,740	45.10	220	0.62	18,715	53.61
Southwark	33,235	15,465	46.31	165	0.50	17,600	52.70
Tower Hamlets	27,380	9,175	33.37	105	0.38	18,100	65.82
Outer London—East and North East	299,935	163,500	54.27	2,210	0.73	134,225	44.55
Barking and Dagenham	31,055	12,480	40.04	230	0.74	18,345	58.86
Bexley	46,295	27,615	59.45	465	1.00	18,220	39.22
Enfield	51,420	30,210	58.38	265	0.51	20,945	40.48
Greenwich	36,440	18,280	49.98	315	0.86	17,845	48.80
Havering	52,740	29,500	55.75	485	0.92	22,750	42.99
Redbridge	44,350	25,935	58.18	225	0.50	18,190	40.81
Waltham Forest	37,635	19,480	51.49	225	0.60	17,925	47.38
Outer London—South	212,300	136,705	64.00	1,285	0.60	74,310	34.79
Bromley	66,035	44,310	66.69	380	0.57	21,345	32.13
Croydon	57,090	36,205	63.07	380	0.66	20,500	35.71
Kingston upon Thames	25,015	16,610	66.00	135	0.54	8,270	32.85
Merton	29,870	17,990	59.80	165	0.55	11,715	38.94
Sutton	34,290	21,590	62.57	220	0.63	12,480	36.17
Outer London—West and North West	295,260	190,100	63.93	1,145	0.39	104,015	34.98
Barnet	56,620	37,880	66.27	175	0.30	18,565	32.48
Brent	39,965	23,465	58.34	185	0.46	16,315	40.57
Ealing	50,815	32,095	62.73	235	0.46	18,485	36.13
Harrow	39,440	27,220	68.50	115	0.29	12,105	30.47
Hillingdon	43,780	27,630	62.77	200	0.46	15,950	36.24
Hounslow	34,825	21,255	60.72	130	0.37	13,440	38.40
Richmond upon Thames	29,820	20,565	68.43	105	0.35	9,150	30.45

Notes:

1. Figures refer to a snapshot of live accounts in payment on 24 January 2004.

2. The figures relate to number of accounts not claimants, (a customer may be in receipt of more than one benefit)

3. Some bank/building society accounts can be used at a Post Office to access money.

4. For confidentiality reasons, all figures are rounded to the nearest

5. Figures may therefore not sum to the totals shown

Source:

IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. sample

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