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13 Dec 2004 : Column 865W—continued
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many single (a) women and (b) men in 2004 will reach the age of 60 years after the qualifying week for winter fuel payment eligibility but before 25 December. [204052]
Malcolm Wicks: It is estimated that around 25,000 single women and 19,000 single men in Great Britain will reach the age of 60 after the qualifying week but before 25 December.
1. Numbers have been calculated using the latest available 2003 Government Actuary Department Population Projections and Office for National Statistics data from the Mid-2003 Marital Status Estimates and the FM1 historical series of Live Births: Month of Occurrence for 1944–45. 2. People recorded in the Marital Status Estimates as being widowed or divorced have been included as being single. 3. People co-habiting are recorded as being single.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people disqualified from receiving a 2004–05 winter fuel payment on the grounds that during the qualifying week they were in hospital receiving free in-patient treatment and had been receiving such treatment for more than 52 weeks; and how many of those disqualified on those grounds have been discharged from hospital since the qualifying week. [204053]
Malcolm Wicks:
The information requested is not available.
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Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people eligible for a 2004–05 winter fuel payment who needed to make a claim; and how many of that number have so far claimed. [204055]
Malcolm Wicks: We estimate that approximately 700,000 individuals in Great Britain reached age 60 in the qualifying period for the 2004–05 winter fuel payment. About half of these have been paid automatically but others, who are not in receipt of certain benefits, will need to make a claim.
On 3 of December, 318,215 claim forms had been received.
TREASURY
Breast Cancer
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of female breast cancer there have been in each of the last 10 years. [204400]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Charles Hendry, dated 13 December 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many cases of female breast cancer there have been in each of the last 10 years. [204400].
The latest year for which figures on newly diagnosed cases of cancer are available is 2001. The number of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in females registered in England, for the 10 years 1992–2001 are given in the table below.
(18) Newly diagnosed cases between 1995 and 2001, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50; newly diagnosed cases between 1992 and 1994, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 174.
Source:
Office for National Statistics
Census
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase penalties for failing to complete a census form. [204035]
Mr. Timms:
There are currently no plans to increase penalties for failing to complete a census form.
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The penalty for failing to complete a census form is prescribed by Section 8(1) of the Census Act 1920 which states that on summary conviction a person shall be liable for a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
The maximum fine of level 3 on the standard scale under the Criminal Justice Act 1982 was £1,000 at the time of the 2001 Census.
Departmental Events
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) press conferences which have been sponsored by his Department and which took place on non-departmental premises in each of the last two years, giving the (i) title, (ii) purpose, (iii) date and (iv) cost of each. [202504]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) new builds, (b) demolition rebuilds and (c) private finance initiative projects in his Department in each of the past two years. [202488]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is as follows:
HMT have not commissioned any new builds, demolition and rebuilds or any such works as part of PFI projects for the last two years. Work on the offices occupied by the Treasury was completed in July 2002.
Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and Valuation Office Agency
IR, HM C&E and VOA have not commissioned any new builds, demolition and rebuilds directly. The departments have eight estates PFIs—an extension to the Newcastle Estate Development PFI, four new buildings, a restaurant and car park were all commissioned in October 2002. The Inland Revenue will occupy two and half of these buildings. The total cost of this work was £45 million, the Department's share being approximately £28 million. This will be paid over 25 years through a contract facility price.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost of building refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the past two years. [202492]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is as follows:
HMT have not carried out any building refurbishments in the past two years. Work on the offices occupied by the Treasury was completed July 2004.
Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and Valuation Office Agency
In April 2001 the majority of buildings owned or occupied by IR, HM Customs and Excise and VOA were sold and transferred to Mapeley as part of the STEPS PFI Contract. Refurbishment work is carried out as part of this contract, some included within
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lifecycle works which are the responsibility of Mapeley and not relevant to this question, and the rest as work commissioned over and above lifecycle by the departments. The departments do not at this time have the data required to answer this question and could do so only at disproportionate cost. Outside of the STEPS Contract the departments have seven other PFIs. The refurbishment for Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise's move to Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS) has a total capital cost of £182 million including construction, and Exchequer Partnership funding and project costs. The cost to the departments is £17.1 million per annum at March 2002 prices over 33 years.
Mr. Maude: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to introduce an automatic e-mail notification facility for all announcements and publications issued by his Department and those public bodies reporting to him. [203681]
Mr. Timms: The Government Actuary's Department and HM Treasury offer website users the opportunity to subscribe to mailing lists giving notification of news releases about those announcements and publications thought to be of particular interest. National Savings and Investments and the Office for National Statistics intend to introduce e-mail notification next year.
HM Customs and Excise offers website users customised e-mail alerts and a document tracking tool that allows users to receive alerts when specific content changes. Media contacts can subscribe to an email list of news releases issued on behalf of Government Departments on the Government News Network website, the system used by Inland Revenue to send email newswire alerts.
The Valuation Office Agency, the Royal Mint and the Office of Government Commerce do not currently use automatic e-mail notification, but continue to keep their means of communication with the public under review.
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