---

7 Mar 2006 : Column 1308W—continued

Taxation (Northern Ireland)

Mark Durkan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Northern Ireland residents work in the Republic of Ireland and are liable for double taxation by the Inland Revenue. [55869]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.

Mark Durkan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to put in place a scheme for residents of Northern Ireland equivalent to that which the Irish Government operates for special tax relief for Southern residents who work across the border in Northern Ireland. [55871]

Dawn Primarolo: There is a double taxation agreement between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom to resolve double taxation issues.

Valuation Office Agency

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 1035W, to the hon. Member for Meriden on the Valuation Office Agency, whether the Aspire/GapGemini contract with HM Revenue and Customs (a) allows and (b) includes provision for electronic image management and archiving. [54557]

 
7 Mar 2006 : Column 1309W
 

Dawn Primarolo: The Valuation Office Agency acquires its IT services from CapGemini through the HMRC Aspire contract. This contract enables provision of a wide range of IT services both existing at the date of contract (1 July 2004) and new services specified since. Electronic image management is provided through a bespoke application. There is no requirement for archiving of photographs.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 1035W to the hon. Member for Meriden, on the Valuation Office Agency, if he will place in the Library copies of the e-learning documents relating to council tax valuations on a DVD or equivalent electronic media. [54558]

Dawn Primarolo: The Valuation Office Agency's council tax manual, and instructions and advice documents to staff, on which the e-learning packages are based, are available on the Agency's website at:

www.voa.gov.uk.

VAT

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was foregone under the VAT zero-rate on the construction of new dwellings in the last year for which figures are available. [55772]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is given in table 6 of the Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs, which can be found at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk and is published annually alongside the pre-Budget report.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Airguns

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) charged with and (b) convicted of an offence involving misuse of an airgun against an animal in 2005, broken down by constituency. [55336]

Fiona Mactaggart: It is not possible, from the court proceedings data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, to identify offences involving the misuse of an airgun against an animal as there is no specific offence that covers this.

Charities Bill

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many charities he estimates will be excepted from a requirement to register with the Charity Commission under the proposals in the Charities Bill as introduced (a) in the House of Lords and (b) in this House. [54868]

Paul Goggins [Holding answer 1 March 2006]: Under the proposals in the Charities Bill there would be three types of charity that do not have to register with the Charity Commissions) exempt charities, b) excepted and formerly exempt charities with an income below £100,000, and c) small charities with an annual income below £5,000.
 
7 Mar 2006 : Column 1310W
 

We estimate that under the Bill at least 135,000 charities in England and Wales would not have to register with the Charity Commission. This estimate remains unchanged for the Bill as brought before this House from when it was introduced in the House of Lords last year.

Compensation Orders

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he is offering to those responsible for the administration of compensation orders on how to ensure greater enforcement. [55369]

Ms Harman: I have been asked to reply.

Current legislation dictates that compensation orders must be prioritised over other sums ordered to be paid on conviction by the courts. From 27 March, new enforcement sanctions will be available to all magistrates courts as part of the national rollout of the Courts Act 2003 fines collection scheme, which will greatly improve the collection and enforcement of all financial impositions, including compensation orders. The Green Paper Rebuilding Lives—supporting victims of crime" (December 2005) proposes extending the current Courts Act 2003 Deduction from Benefit Orders sanction to all cases involving compensation, regardless of default. In addition, HMCS is planning further enforcement blitz operations in areas with sizeable amounts of compensation payments outstanding to specifically target monies owed to the victims of crime.

Council Tax

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of (a) council tax fraud and (b) falsely making incorrect declarations to local authorities with regard to council tax liability there were in each year since 1997. [54548]

Paul Goggins: The information requested is not available from the recorded crime statistics.

Crime (Swindon)

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of recorded violent crime in Swindon was between 12 November and 24 December (a) 2004 and (b) 2005. [55276]

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not available to this level of detail.

Departmental Finance

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total administrative costs for his core Department are; and whether these are regarded as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses. [39835]

Mr. Charles Clarke: During 2004–05 the core Home Office (excluding its agencies and non-departmental public bodies) incurred administration costs of £526,279,000, of which: £148,566,000 is regarded as identifiable expenditure; and £377,713,000 is regarded as non-identifiable expenditure
 
7 Mar 2006 : Column 1311W
 

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the administrative costs were of each non-departmental public body for which he has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable. [40059]

Mr. Charles Clarke: In accordance with public expenditure classifications, expenditure incurred by Home Office non-departmental public bodies is classified as programme, as is the case for nearly all non-departmental public bodies. Annual reports for each of the bodies concerned are available from the House Library.

Departmental Staff

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any (a) employee of his Department, (b) person engaged by his Department as a consultant and (c) paid advisor to his Department is a member of the House of Lords; and if he will make a statement. [52900]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office does not maintain a central record that identifies readily staff who may be members of the House of Lords. The information required therefore could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Detainees (Religious Provision)

Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what special provision is made in North Wales police premises to accommodate the (a) religious and (b) dietary needs of (i) Christian, (ii) Muslim, (iii) Jewish and (iv) Hindu detainees. [52788]

Hazel Blears: The provisions in North Wales police is a matter for the chief officer and information is not held centrally on arrangements in place by individual police forces. The code of practice on detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers (Code C) issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act requires that any specific dietary or religious beliefs the person may have should be met as far as practicable.

The guidance Safer Detention and Handling of Persons in Police Custody" issued on 8 February 2006 jointly by Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers and the National Centre for Policing Excellence states that consideration should be given to providing a separate room which can be used as a prayer room; the supply of appropriate food and clothing; and suitable provision for prayer facilities, such as uncontaminated copies of religious books.

---