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Home Working
Mr. Leech: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's policy is on encouraging working from home through tax incentives to employers and employees to reduce carbon dioxide emissions associated with journeys to and from work. [90650]
Ed Balls: The Government believe that flexible working is good for both business and families. Business may draw on a wider pool of skills and talents, improve recruitment and retention rates and increase staff morale and productivity. Employees may find working hours to match their family caring responsibilities and spend more time with their children.
The Government introduced a new right to request flexible working for parents of children under six and disabled children in 2003 and will extend this to carers of adults from next April. There is no tax charge where an employee works regularly at home under agreed flexible working arrangements and his or her employer reimburses their additional costs of working at home.
Immigrant Workers
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the estimate is of the number of immigrant workers from Eastern European accession countries who are claiming tax credit in the UK; what the cost of such payments to public funds was in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [90547]
(2) how many people claimed tax credits for their children living outside the United Kingdom in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06; and what the cost was to the Exchequer in each year. [90763]
Dawn
Primarolo: A quarterly report, last
produced on 22 August 2006 by the Home Office, Department for Work and
Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and Department for Communities and
Local Government
is published on the Home Office immigration and nationality
directorate's website, http://www.ind. home
office.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_ report, and
provides detailed information including the number of workers from the
new member states of the EU who are claiming tax credits.
The other information is not available.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania will be eligible for tax credits if they were permitted to enter the UK to work after those countries joined the EU; and if he will make a statement. [90548]
Dawn Primarolo: No date has been set for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria. Once that decision is made, member states will decide on what access to labour markets they will give to Romania and Bulgaria.
Income Inequality
Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what levels of income inequality were in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006; and if he will make a statement. [91100]
John Healey: There is no single measure or source of data on household income inequality.
However, I refer the hon. Member to the DWP publication “Households Below Average Income” and the ONS publication “The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income, 2004-05”.
International Finance
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether countries other than the UK and France have committed themselves to the IFF, as distinct from the IFFIm; what commitment to date extends only to a working group charged with considering feasibility; and on what dates that working group has met. [90907]
Ed Balls: France and the UK agreed at the Paris conference on innovative financing in March to jointly establish a working group to consider the implementation of an IFF going to health and education and funded by an air ticket levy as well as by other revenues from the Landau report. Discussions with the French and other countries have continued including on broader innovative financing mechanisms and on initiatives such as UNITAID and AMCs.
Kettering Borough Council
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what conclusions were drawn by Treasury officials from their recent visit to Kettering borough council about the local implementation of the sustainable communities programme. [90615]
Ed
Balls: As part of its evidence gathering and
analysis phase, officials from the Supporting Housing Growth Review
team, along with officials from DCLG and other key infrastructure
departments, have conducted a series of case study workshops with
officials from local authorities across the country. The visit to North
Northamptonshire was one of these visits. The review will report to
Treasury Ministers as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending
Review.
Land Use Planning
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which representatives of (a) business, (b) community groups and (c) non-government organisations the Barker Review Team (i) met and (ii) received representations from during the compilation of its interim report on land use planning. [90773]
Ed Balls: The full list of representatives can be found on page 181 in annex A of the Barker Review of Land Use Planning interim report. This can be found on the Treasury website at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent reviews/barker_review_land_use_planning/barkerreview_land_use_planning_index.cfm
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements he has made for consultation on the interim Barker Report on land use planning; and whether Cabinet Office guidance on consultation will apply to these arrangements. [90774]
Ed Balls: Her Majesty's Treasury have not arranged any consultation on Ms Barker's interim report on land use planning. A formal consultation was carried out as part of Kate Barker's independent Review of Land Use Planning during January-March 2006. The interim report published on 4 July sets out Ms Barker's analysis to date and is not a consultation document. However, it is understood that Ms Barker is still welcoming views and has proposed a deadline for those views of 19 September 2006.
North Sea Revenues
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest forecasts are for North sea revenue for each year to 2010-11 (a) as a percentage of gross domestic product, (b) in cash terms and (c) in real terms on 2006 prices; and if he will make a statement. [90564]
Ed Balls: Projections for North sea revenues can be found in Tables C8 and C9 of Budget 2006.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead regarding the tax credits of his constituent Mr. Delaney. [90644]
Dawn Primarolo: The hon. Gentleman wrote to me on 22 June 2005 and HM Revenue and Customs responded on my behalf on 18 August 2005.
There has been no further correspondence between myself and the hon. Gentleman regarding his constituent.
Public Sector Pensions
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to paragraph 36 of the Note by the Government Actuary’s Department and HM Treasury, Unfunded Public Service Pension Schemes: 2005 Cash Flow Projections Assumptions and Data, June 2006, what estimate he has made of the cash inflows that will arise from member contributions, expressed as a percentage of GDP. [90913]
John Healey: Full estimates of the size of cash inflows that will arise from member contributions are in the process of being developed, and are not yet available.
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the deficit in public sector pension funds; what the estimate was 12 months before; and which five funds have the largest estimated deficits. [90967]
John Healey: The latest available estimate of the total liabilities of unfunded public service occupational pension schemes was set out in the note from HM Treasury, “Total liability of unfunded public service occupational pension schemes as at March 2005”, a copy of which was placed in the House of Commons Library on 2 March 2006.
Public Service Agreements
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how many spending review (SR) 2002 public service agreement (PSA) targets his Department received summary assessments in the latest autumn performance reports, expressed as a proportion of the total number of SR 2002 PSA targets. [90906]
Ed Balls: Due to data lags and the fact that some targets have an end date in the future, a full tally is not yet possible.
Red Diesel
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress is being made in the negotiations to extend the derogation from the EU for the use of red diesel for marine uses. [91003]
John Healey: In line with the timetable set out by the European Commission, the UK will be submitting in October a formal application for renewal of the derogation enabling pleasure boats to use red diesel. This application will be informed by the case that the Government set out in the partial RIA published at the Budget and is continuing to build with the cooperation of the boating industry.
Standard Life
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) his Department and (b) the Financial Services Authority undertook monitoring of the recent demutualisation ballot conducted by Standard Life. [91004]
Ed Balls: The process of demutualisation in any organisation will be based on their specific rules, articles of memorandum as well as the legislative framework under which they operate.
These requirements will be binding on all members who will normally have the opportunity to vote on the proposals.
The Standard Life demutualisation ballot was conducted in accordance with their existing regulations and guidance on voting was given in the Proposal for members and policyholders.
The Treasury is not responsible for or involved in the conduct of such votes however the FSA in its role as regulator reviewed the Proposal for regulatory compliance. The fairness of the Proposal was checked by an independent expert appointed to report to the court.
Tax Credits
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the decision was taken to allow migrant workers coming to the UK to claim tax credits for family members living abroad; what criteria govern such payments; and if he will make a statement. [90764]
Dawn Primarolo: Benefits including the child tax credit for workers' families is governed by European Community (EC) law, which have been in place since the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total amount of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit erroneously paid to prisoners due to (i) fraud, (ii) customer error and (iii) official error in each year where figures are available. [91062]
John Healey: The information requested is not available.
Tax Relief
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief was claimed by employers who have seconded employees to schools in each year since 1997. [90797]
Ed Balls: There is no centrally available information on which to base an estimate of the total value of this relief.
Treasury Spending Teams
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to paragraph 5.6 of the Departmental Report, what the Treasury spending teams are; and how many people were employed in each of them at the end of (a) the 2004-05 and (b) the 2005-06 financial years. [90892]
John Healey: The Treasury Spending Teams monitor departmental spending along with service delivery and provide advice to Treasury Ministers on any matters arising. The number of people employed in spending teams in 2004-05 was 143 and in 2005-06 148.
Further details on Treasury Spending Teams can be found on its organisational chart, which can be accessed online at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk .
Defence
Afghanistan
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken to ensure that UK troops in Helmand Province are fully equipped for operating effectively in the winter. [90581]
Des Browne [holding answer 11 September 2006]: As I announced to the House on 10 July 2006, Official Report, column 1133WS, three Commando Brigade Royal Marines will replace 16 Air Assault Brigade as the Helmand taskforce this winter. The Brigade is the UK's only specialist mountain and cold weather brigade. It is fully trained and equipped for this role and has considerable personal and collective experience of winter and mountain operations.
In addition to the normal temperate and desert issue equipment, brigade personnel have been issued with a winter supplement, based on those specialist items that would normally be used during winter training in Norway. The key items are cold weather boots and socks, inner and outer winter gloves and a winter sleeping bag. Should the nature of the operations require additional specialist winter equipment in order to support particular operational requirements, these can be drawn on by the in-theatre HQ.
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the loss of the RAF Nimrod in Afghanistan. [90827]
Des Browne [holding answer 11 September 2006]: The loss of an RAF Nimrod MR2 in Afghanistan on2 September, and the tragic loss of life of the 14 military personnel on board, is currently being investigated. The factors leading to the loss of the aircraft cannot be confirmed until the investigation is concluded, but all the indications are that it was not the result of hostile action. The incident serves to remind us of the risks that our military personnel are facing on behalf of us all, and the debt that we owe them.
Correspondence
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed’s letters of 1 December 2005 and 28 February 2006 concerning replacement documents for a constituent’s late husband’s war service (MoD Ref: 05651/2005). [90668]
Des Browne [holding answer 11 September 2006]: My hon. Friend, the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson), wrote to the right hon. Member on 24 August. This regrettable delay was because it took much longer than expected to trace the necessary documents.
Departmental Expenditure
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the annual expenditure on vehicles for (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005-06. [39970]
Derek Twigg: Expenditure on the purchase or hire of vehicles for the movement of personnel and freight for administrative purposes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has been as follows:
| £ million | |||
| England, Scotland and Wales | Northern Ireland | Total | |
These
figures reflect activity by the Defence Logistics Organisation, who
account for the majority of MOD vehicle expenditure, and Headquarters
Northern Ireland- Some other expenditure is incurred locally, but
could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Most vehicles are
operated under lease or short-term hire arrangements.
For details of expenditure on ministerial vehicles provided to the MOD by the Government Car and Despatch Agency, I refer the hon. Member to the letter of 20 December 2005 from the chief executive of the Government Car and Despatch Agency to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker). Copies of the letter are available in the Library.
Data for 2002-03 and a further breakdown by agency or public body and region is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Emergency Fire Cover
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many fire appliances the armed forces own, broken down by age; and how many could be used to provide emergency fire cover for the general population in the event of a strike by firefighters. [88723]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence owns a total number of 216 fire appliances. Of these 79 are Major Foam Airfield Crash Vehicles (MFV) and 82 are Rapid Intervention Airfield Crash Vehicles (RTV). There are also 55 Domestic Vehicles which are used to tackle fires in buildings and other parts of the Defence Estate and are similar to those operated by local authority fire and rescue services.
The ages of the vehicles are as follows:
| Age by years | |||||||||||||||
| Vehicle type | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 22 | Total |
All fire appliances owned by the Ministry of Defence are there to support armed forces operational activity and could not be assigned to provide emergency cover in the event of a strike by firefighters whether on a national or local basis.
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