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7 Mar 2006 : Column 1299W—continued
Local Authority Car Parks
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to appeal the tribunal decision that four local authorities were not liable for VAT on car parking revenues. [54570]
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the VAT status of local authority car parks following recent tribunal rulings. [54559]
Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs are currently considering the implications of the decision of the VAT and Duties Tribunal in the case of Isle of Wight council.
Ms Susan Johnston
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter to him dated 16 January 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms Susan Johnston. [55762]
Dawn Primarolo:
I have replied to the right hon. Member.
7 Mar 2006 : Column 1300W
National Asset Register
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish the next version of the National Asset Register. [55771]
Mr. Des Browne: The Government are planning to publish the next version of the National Asset Register in time to inform the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
NHS Trusts (Arrears)
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an estimate of aggregate arrears of pay as you earn and national insurance payments due from NHS trusts to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs as at (a) 20 October 2005 and (b) 20 October 2004. [28619]
Dawn Primarolo: Employers are monitored when they fall into arrears. However, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs monitors employer's payment performance by value of amount due, rather than by category of business. Information on the arrears of PAYE and National Insurance Contributions for a particular category of employer is not held at national level and in view of this it is not possible to make an estimate.
PAYE
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice his Department issues to PAYE defaulters who have failed to make payments due to technical faults with computer systems on the action necessary to rectify the faults. [55273]
Dawn Primarolo: The advice given will depend on the nature of the technical fault. In general terms Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) communicates with employers through a wide variety of media including publications issued by HMRC and publications issued by external organisations to which HMRC is invited to contribute. In addition, extensive guidance and educational material is available through the HMRC internet site. HMRC gives advice through forums such as Working Together" and the Employer Umbrella Group".
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which countries the Inland Revenue has advised on setting up and running a computer system similar to the one used for PAYE contributions. [55277]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC has not advised any countries on setting up and running computer systems similar to those that support PAYE.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many legal actions were taken by the Inland Revenue due to PAYE infringement in each year from 2000–01 to 2003–04. [55278]
Dawn Primarolo:
Information on how many legal actions were taken by the Inland Revenue due to PAYE infringement is not available. The Department records the number of legal actions taken but this is not broken down into the different tax regimes.
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Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total amount of PAYE which was due but was not collected in each year from 2000–01 to 2003–04. [55279]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available for 2000–01 and 2001–02. The Inland Revenue accounting year ran to the end of October each year and the figures available for uncollected tax represented net tax charged but not paid as a snapshot view at the accounting date. This did not include PAYE as the liability is only finally established after the end of the financial year. The figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04 as follows are a snapshot at 31 March each year, and include estimates of monthly PAYE arrears.
| 2002–03 | 4.9 |
| 2003–04 | 5.2 |
The vast majority of this is paid within a few days of becoming due.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many major computer upgrades have been carried out on the PAYE computer system in the last five years; and what the cost was in each year. [55283]
Dawn Primarolo: PAYE has developed over the years and does not have one computer system, but rather a number of systems that process, hold and support PAYE data. Enhancements have been made to these systems over the last five years, and there is currently one ongoing major upgrade to the PAYE computer support for electronic filing of employer end of year returns. This is the modernising PAYE processes for customers (MPPC) programme. In 2003–04 and 2004–05 approximately £27.5 million and £38 million was spent by the project.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were liable for PAYE payments in the UK in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [55320]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of taxpayers with employment income in 2003–04 is estimated at around 22 million. The total number of people with tax deducted under PAYE will be higher than this as some people may have worked for only part of the year and been entitled to a repayment of tax as their incomes for the year as a whole were below the tax threshold. This figure excludes people with personal and occupational pensions from which income tax is also deducted under PAYE.
This estimate is based on the latest available year of the Survey of Personal incomes.
Post Office Card Account
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people use the Post Office Card Account for the payment of tax credits or other payments administered by his Department, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [54508]
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Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 1 March 2006]: In February there were around 141,000 tax credits claims where payments were made via a Post Office Card Account. Information is not available by parliamentary constituency.
For total numbers of child benefit recipients, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 24 January 2006, Official Report, column 2047W. I am arranging for a break down by parliamentary constituency to be placed in the House of Commons Library.
Social Exclusion
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funding streams his Department plans to finance directly in 2006–07 to tackle social exclusion. [56214]
John Healey: Social exclusion is a problem with many dimensions, which is recognised and prioritised in the Treasury's objectives and closely linked to other aspects of the department's work. Treasury objective 2 is to increase the productivity of the economy and expand economic and employment opportunities for all; Treasury objective 4 is to promote a fair, efficient and integrated tax and benefit system with incentives to work, save and invest. The work of many of the Treasury's teams contributes towards these objectives, working with other Departments where appropriate. For example, the Treasury established the Financial Inclusion Taskforce to increase access to banking, affordable credit and face-to-face money advice. The Treasury's 2006–07 budget includes £1 million to fund the work of the taskforce and the Treasury team supporting it.
Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting the Civil Service workforce reductions targets for his Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review; and whether these savings count towards the agreed efficiency target for his Department set out in the Review. [52805]
Mr. Des Browne: The information requested is as follows.
The required information is contained within the relevant Efficiency Technical Notes available on http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, http://www.statistics.gov.uk, and search for 'Efficiency Technical Note').
GAD was not set workforce reduction targets.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the agreed efficiency target for his Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review is to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent. [52821]
Mr. Des Browne: The information is as follows:
The Treasury has committed to achieving efficiencies of £11.9 million per annum by 2007–08. All planned savings are cashable and recycled to new policy priorities.
7 Mar 2006 : Column 1303W
The DMO has committed to achieving efficiencies of £1.0 million per annum by 2007–08. Of this total, cashable savings represent £0.7 million. The savings will be spent over a variety of budget headings focused mainly on maintaining and, where appropriate, enhancing the DMO's operational capability and risk management processes.
OGC is committed to achieving annual efficiency savings of 4 million by 2007–08. Of these savings at least 60 per cent. will be cashable. OGC buying solutions has committed to achieving efficiencies of £1.8 million by 2007–08, of which cashable savings represents £0.9 million. The savings will be invested in increasing front line procurement delivery to support the commodity procurement work stream.
Please see our Efficiency Technical Notes (available on http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, http://www.statistics.gov.uk, and search for 'Efficiency Technical Note' and on http://www.gad.gov.uk/Publications/Departmental%20Reports.htm).
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the target level of employment expressed as full-time equivalents is in his Department by April 2008, in order to meet his Department's civil service work force reductions target set out in the 2004 Spending Review. [52840]
Mr. Des Browne: The information is as follows:
The 1 April 2004 baseline for core Treasury full-time equivalent staff is 1,243. This includes 150 full time equivalent posts transferred from HM Revenue and Customs as a result of the O'Donnell Review and 39 full time equivalents on paid secondments, maternity leave, training and long term sickness.
With a target reduction of 150 full time equivalent staff over the 2004 Spending Review period, this gives a target level of employment in April 2008 of 1,093 full-time equivalents for core Treasury. The work force reductions target for the Treasury Group will be met by core Treasury.
Please see our Efficiency Technical Notes (available on http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, http://www.statistics.gov.uk, and search for 'Efficiency Technical Note').
GAD was not set work force reduction targets.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what total efficiency savings were achieved by his Department in 2004–05; and whether these count towards the agreed efficiency target for his Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review. [52869]
John Healey: Information for the Treasury Group is reported in the 2005 Departmental Report (available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk).
Efficiency targets for HMRC, ONS and GAD are planned over three years from 2005–06 to 2007–08, details of which are set out in their departmental reports and efficiency technical notes (available on http://
7 Mar 2006 : Column 1304W
www.hmrc.gov.uk; http://www.statistics.gov.uk; and on http://www.gad.gov.uk/Publications/Departmental%20Reports.htm).
The first year in which efficiencies are expected to be achieved under their efficiency programmes is therefore 2005–06.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to (a) develop electronic channels, (b) rationalise back office functions, (c) improve procurement and (d) exploit the opportunities to achieve efficiencies generated by the creation of HM Revenue and Customs; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets. [52931]
Mr. Des Browne: Relevant information can be found in HM Treasury's Efficiency Technical Note (available on http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk, and search for 'Efficiency Technical Note') and our 2005 Autumn Performance Report (search for 'Autumn Performance Report'). Treasury does not break down its efficiency programme in exactly this way.
Please see our Efficiency Technical Note (available on http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, and search for 'Efficiency Technical Note') and our 2005 Departmental Report (search for 'Departmental Report').
ONS's efficiency target of £25 million is against a 2004–05 baseline of £177 million.
rationalisation of back office functions, contributing some 20 per cent. of the total savings (£5 million); estimated efficiencies to date amount to £2 million;
procurement efficiencies, including the use of cross-government IT services, contributing some 10 per cent. of the total savings (£2.5 million); estimated efficiencies to date amount to £2 million.
GAD were set a baseline target of £125,000 for Efficiency Gains over 2005–08. These are broken down as follows:
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what interim targets he has set for achieving (a) the agreed efficiency target for his Department and (b) the civil service work force reductions targets for (i) gross reductions in posts, (ii) net reductions in posts and (iii) relocations for his Department, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review; what the baseline figures are against which these interim targets are assessed; on what dates they will take effect; and by what dates these interim targets are intended to be met. [52940]
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Mr. Des Browne: The information requested is as follows:
The 2004 Spending Review efficiency targets are to be achieved by 31 March 2008 (and relocations by 2010) and there are no interim targets for the programme as a whole. Treasury Group (core Treasury, the Office for Government Commerce and the Debt Management Office) monitors progress trajectories against its targets and reports on progress in the Departmental and Autumn Performance Reports, but has no formal interim targets.
Please see our Efficiency Technical Note (available on http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, and search for 'Efficiency Technical Note')
No interim targets were set for ONS. The Department has, however, identified key milestones against which progress against targets can be monitored.
GAD has achieved the Efficiency Gains required for 2005–06 and has exceeded them.
GAD has not been set any headcount reduction or relocation targets.
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