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1 Nov 2005 : Column 977W—continued
Social Care Services
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to expand the role of the independent and voluntary sectors in providing social care services. [20873]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 21 October 2005]: A task force, co-chaired by Jo Williams (chief executive of Mencap) and myself has been set up to strengthen the commercial relationship between the voluntary and community sector and the national health service and social care services. The task force will identify how to break down the barriers that prevent third sector organisations including the voluntary sector and not for profit social businesses having a much greater involvement in delivering person centred health and social care services. The task force will report on their interim conclusions by the end of November 2005.
Specialist Nurses
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received in the past 12 months about the number of specialist epilepsy nurses employed by the NHS. [17723]
Mr. Byrne: The Department have received a small number of inquiries about specialist epilepsy nurses employed in the national health service.
TREASURY
Business Meetings
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of external business meetings of staff in his Department have been carried out (a) face-to-face, (b) via video conferencing and (c) over the telephone in each of the last five years for which records are available. [23649]
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John Healey: Since January 2005, HM Treasury has had in place a formal system for recording numbers of external meetings across the Department. No central records are held prior to that date.
For the period 1 January to 1 October 2005 a total of 2,733 meetings were recorded, of which 99 per cent. were face-to-face meetings and 1 per cent. were carried out by telephone. HM Treasury holds no central records for the number of meetings which made use of video conferencing.
Capital Gains Tax
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to prevent avoidance of capital gains tax; and if he will make a statement. [22771]
Dawn Primarolo: This Government are committed to countering tax avoidance (including the avoidance of capital gains tax) and keeps all aspects of the tax legislation under review acting where we find significant abuse of the rules.
Carbon Management Programme
Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department will sign up to the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management programme. [23721]
John Healey: The Treasury entered into a framework agreement for partnership arrangements with the Carbon Trust in May 2004. A report was produced following an investigation of the Department's carbon management approach. That investigation followed the Carbon Trust's five step management programme.
Child Benefit (Hemel Hempstead)
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the constituency of Hemel Hempstead have received child benefit in each year since 1997. [24022]
John Healey: Figures below the geographical level of Great Britain are not available for periods prior to August 1999.
Figures for August 1999 to August 2004 are available on the Office for National Statistics Neighbourhood Statistics website: http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemina tion/datasetList.do?JSAIIowed=&Function=&%24ph= 60&CurrentPageld=60&step=1&CurrentTreeIndex=-1&searchString=&datasetFamilyld=215&Next.x=4&Ne xt.y=13
Civil Service Jobs
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of movement of civil service jobs to Norwich; and what criteria will be used to make decisions about relocation. [22092]
Mr. Des Browne:
The Government are committed to relocating 20,000 civil servants out of London and the south east by 2010. Budget 2005 reported that over 4,300 posts have already been moved out of London and the
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south east. 11 Office of Government Commerce and HM Treasury posts and 12 HMSO posts are currently known to be relocating to Norwich. Individual Departments are responsible for deciding on sites for relocation, but they must do so taking into account both their business needs and local economic factors, as set out in central guidance, Choosing Locations for Government Business".
As part of this policy the Government have set a presumption against relocating public sector activities to the east of England Government office region. Moves to the east of England that had not been planned before the introduction of this policy in December 2004 require HM Treasury approval.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which Government Departments the reductions of 12,500 civil servant posts announced in the 2005 Budget will take place. [22383]
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2005, Official Report, column 932W, on civil service personnel, if he will break down the figure of 12,500 reduced civil service posts by Department. [23159]
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the progress of Government Departments towards achieving the target reduction in posts set in the 2004 Budget and spending review. [24049]
Mr. Des Browne: In Budget 2005 the Chancellor announced that Departments have delivered the first 12,500 reduction in civil service posts, towards the Government's planned gross reduction of 84,000 civil service posts by 2008. This includes:
Departments will report on further progress in their autumn performance reports.
Climate Change Levy
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Climate Change Levy (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 on the revenue raised by the Climate Change Levy. [22986]
John Healey:
The Climate Change Levy (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2005, came into force on the 22 July 2005 and do not affect the total amount of revenue raised by the levy. They are primarily concerned with the simplification of correcting under or
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over-claimed relief by energy users, and to further support the Government's commitment to combined heat and power generation.
Company Tax Credits
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to public funds of each company tax credit in each year from 2004–05 to 2009–10; and if he will make a statement. [22704]
John Healey: The estimated cost of research and development tax credits, vaccines research relief and the remediation of contaminated land are given in the table.
| Research and development tax credits | Vaccines research relief | Remediation of contaminated land | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 680 | 20 | 20 |
| 2005–06 | 710 | 20 | 20 |
| 2006–07 | 770 | 20 | 20 |
| 2007–08 | 800 | 20 | 30 |
| 2008–09 | 850 | 20 | 30 |
| 2009–10 | 900 | 20 | 30 |
Note:
Figures are on a receipts basis and rounded to the nearest 10 million.
Contaminated Land Tax Credit
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies (a) are under investigation and (b) have been investigated for mis-claiming contaminated land tax credit in each year since its introduction; and if he will make a statement. [22698]
John Healey: The information requested is not available.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the administration costs of contaminated land tax credit in each year since their introduction; and if he will make a statement. [22699]
John Healey: The information requested is not available.
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