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12 Dec 2005 : Column 1783W—continued
Child Trust Fund Accounts
Mr. Davey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many child trust fund accounts have been opened using initial vouchers worth (a) £250 and (b) £500. [36811]
Dawn Primarolo: All children eligible for the child trust fund receive a £250 voucher. Children from low income families receive an additional £250 paid directly into their child trust fund account when the family's child tax credit award has been finalised.
Information on the number of child trust fund vouchers issued and the number of accounts opened are published on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_trust_funds/child-trust-funds.htm. The latest set of figures was published on 30 November 2005.
Closed Religious Orders
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of the tax relief associated with the charitable status of closed religious orders in the last period for which figures are available. [36974]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs do not maintain figures on the cost of tax relief associated with closed religious orders.
Clubs
Jeff Ennis:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) working men's clubs and (b) other
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private members' clubs there were in (i) Barnsley, East and Mexborough and (ii) South Yorkshire in (A) 1997 and (b) 2004. [35622]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 12 December 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many (a) working men's clubs and (b) other private members' clubs there were in (i) Barnsley East and Mexborough and (ii) South Yorkshire in (A) 1997 and (B) 2004. (35622)
The number of working men's clubs and other private members' clubs recorded on the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) in the specified areas are detailed in the table below. The figures include only such clubs that are registered for VAT.
Working men's clubs are included within licensed clubs. Private members' clubs are included within activities of other membership organisations not elsewhere classified. The classification system does not identify working men's clubs and other private members' clubs separately.
These figures are based on the same criteria as used in NS publication UK Business: Activity. Size and Location" and are consistent with that publication and can be found at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ukbusiness
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for his Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B)region of the UK and (ii) London in 2004–05. [35875]
John Healey: Staff costs and administration costs for the Treasury in 2004–05 are shown in Schedule 2 on page 20 of the Department's resource accounts http://www.hm-treasurv.gov.uk/media/3A6/1E/resource_ accounts_2004–5.pdf.
The resource accounts consolidate the costs of thecore Treasury, the Debt Management Office and the Office of Government Commerce. All costs for the Treasury and the DMO arise in London. The staff costs of the OGC are analysed by country and region for the purposes of the annually published public expenditure statistical analysis, and the analysis for 2004–05 was as follows.
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| OGC | Core Treasury and DMO | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 407 | — | 407 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 1,150 | — | 1,150 |
| Eastern | 5,689 | — | 5,689 |
| London | 11,160 | 60,730 | 71,890 |
| Total | 18,406 | 60,730 | 79,136 |
As a small Department, the Treasury is not required to supply country and regional analyses of other administration costs. The accounting system is not designed to capture costs other than staff costs on a country and regional basis and therefore this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid by his Department in rates to each local authority in the UK in 2004–05; and how much was paid in (a) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (b) London. [35995]
John Healey: The Treasury paid £1,710,000 in rates in 2004–05, all to the City of Westminster.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed by non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which he has responsibility in 2004–05 in (a) total and (b) each (i) nation and (ii)region of the UK and (c) London. [35895]
John Healey: Details on individual Departments' non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are set out in the annual Cabinet Office publication, Public Bodies". Copies of the 2004–05 publication are available in the Library and can be accessed via:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/the_future_of_the_civil_ service/agencies_and_public_bodies/public_bodies_directory/index.asp
Information relating to staff employed in Departments and agencies, including by region, is set out in the annual Cabinet Office publication Civil Service Statistics", which is available in the Library of the House and can be accessed via:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/mangement_of_the_civil_ service/statistics/contents_for_civil_service_statistics_ 2004_report/list_of_tables_and_charts/index.asp
The latest figures are as at 1 April 2004. It is expected that the data as at 1 April 2005 will be published early in the new year.
England and Scotland Expenditure
Stewart Hosie:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the mechanism employed in public expenditure statistical analyses to differentiate between spending that can only be identified on a national basis between Scotland and England and expenditure that can also be identified on a regional basis within England; and how this mechanism affects the allocation of identifiable and non-identifiable expenditure between Scotland and England; [35856]
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(2) if he will list programmes in the public expenditure statistical analyses where it is possible to provide a spending comparison between Scotland and England but not between the English regions; how these are allocated in terms of identifiable and non-identifiable expenditure for Scotland and England; and if he will make a statement. [35857]
Mr. Des Browne: Public expenditure statistical analyses (PESA) shows figures for expenditure that can be identified as benefiting a particular statistical region of the UK. Statistical regions include Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the English regions.
PESA also shows expenditure that cannot be identified as benefiting a particular statistical region of the UK. This is generally expenditure that is deemed to be non-identifiable across the UK. But it also includes some spending in England or England and Wales, where the equivalent spending in Scotland is devolved, and is therefore classified as identifiable for the benefit of Scotland.
This mainly affects certain public order and safety expenditure. Other programmes of expenditure similarly affected but with small effects on the aggregates include elements of enterprise and economic development, environment protection, general public services, science and technology, and agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
The overall effect of treating these spending programmes as non-identifiable is not likely to be substantial when comparing spending per head in the countries and regions of the UK.
In July 2005 HM Treasury sought views from readers for the further development of PESA. The Treasury will be publishing a response to the consultation in the new year. The response will include options for further improvements in the country and regional analysis in PESA, such as whether to increase the extent to which expenditure is attributed to regions—together with a preliminary assessment of the effects of chances and the costs and difficulties of doing so.
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