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30 Jan 2007 : Column 232W—continued
New Deal
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue has been forgone by way of concessions given to employers of New Deal participants in each year since 1998. [112341]
John Healey [holding answer 29 January 2007]: There is no evidence of any reduction in revenue resulting from support for employers of New Deal participants, such as wage subsidies. As with any other employee, the full wage is liable to income tax and national insurance contributions.
Official Visits
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) destination, (b) purpose and (c) cost was of each overseas visit made by members of the Performance and Efficiency Team in his Department in the last two months. [111884]
John Healey: This information is not held centrally.
Open Source Software
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of his Department's computer systems use open source software; what percentage of the systems planned to be installed use such software; and whether he plans to increase the use of open source software in his Department. [111156]
John Healey: Less than 1 per cent. of HM Treasury's desktop and laptop PCs use open source software. 6 per cent. of the Department's servers use open source software. The use of open source software is less than 1 per cent. in planned computer systems.
HM Treasury follows the Government's published policy, considering open source solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements, and awarding contracts on a value for money basis. The policy can be viewed at the UK Govtalk website.
Security Vetting
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) staff and (b) external consultants were security vetted to work in his Department in the last 12 months. [111883]
John Healey: The Treasury does not disclose detailed information on security vetting matters.
Special Advisers
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) paid and (b) unpaid special advisers he has appointed since the written ministerial statement made by the Prime Minister on 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 87WS, on special advisers. [111886]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 31 October 2006, Official Report, column 318W and 6 December 2006, Official Report, column 486W.
Statistics: Stroud
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what level of gross domestic product was recorded in the nomenclature of units for territorial statistics areas most closely corresponding to (a) Stroud district council and (b) Stroud constituency in each of the last five years. [111090]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 January 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on gross domestic product (GDP) for the nomenclature of units for territorial statistics (NUTS) area most closely corresponding to (a) Stroud District Council and (b) Stroud constituency in each of the last five years. (111090)
Stroud district council and Stroud constituency are in the NUTS level 3 region of Gloucestershire. Office for National Statistics (ONS) do not publish regional GDP but do publish estimates of regional gross value added (GVA)(l) for the NUTS3 areas, for the period 1995 to 2004. Estimates of NUTS3 GVA, including data for Gloucestershire, were published in December 2006. The GVA for Gloucestershire for the last five years are given in the following table:
(1) Gross Value Added (GVA) is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) less taxes (plus subsidies) on products.
| £ million | |
| Gross value added for Gloucestershire | |
Tax Credits
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to integrate the IT systems responsible for administering tax credit payments and for refunds of overpayments; and if he will make a statement. [110909]
Dawn Primarolo: There are no current plans to integrate the different IT systems which are involved in the administration of tax credits and the recovery of overpayments. The current systems are function-specific and information about tax credit payments and debt is exchanged between these systems as required.
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total level of overpayment of tax credits was in each of the last three years. [111081]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws), on 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1949W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the number of tax credit fraud cases in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [111312]
Dawn Primarolo: For 2003-04, I refer the hon. Member to ‘Child and Working Tax Credits, Error and Fraud Statistics 2003-04’ available at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk.
Estimates for future years will be published annually.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the online tax credit system to be restored. [110803]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Ruffley) on 31 January 2006, Official Report, column 441W.
Constitutional Affairs
Homicide
25. Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what support the Government provide to the spouses and partners of homicide victims. [112045]
Ms Harman: The Government fund a variety of initiatives and organisations which support the spouses and partners of homicide victims including Victim Support and Support After Murder and Manslaughter. The Victims' Advocate scheme currently being piloted in five courts are giving bereaved relatives the choice to speak in court after conviction and before sentence about the impact of the crime on their family.
Coroners Service
26. Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she is taking to reduce delays in the coroner service. [112046]
Ms Harman: I am working with coroners to reduce delays and I am drawing up a new Coroners Bill which will allow transfer of cases between areas and will provide for a chief coroner to oversee performance.
Legal Aid
27. Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the review of legal aid. [112047]
Vera Baird: The command paper ‘Legal Aid Reform: the Way Ahead’ was published on 28 November 2006. This sets out how the Government will reform the procurement of legal aid services by moving towards a market-based system. This publication follows the earlier consultation after the publication of Lord Carter's report and the DCA and LSC consultation paper on 13 July 2006.
The Legal Services Commission is now beginning to implement the reforms, having recently published various documents to take this forward. These include the new rates for magistrates court work in urban areas and the consultation on the new advocates fees for the Crown court. More will follow over the coming months.
Bailiffs
28. Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to prevent abuses of power by bailiffs. [112048]
Ms Harman: The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill, which is currently progressing through the other place, will consolidate and clarify existing enforcement legislation and common law, making it easier for enforcement agents and debtors alike to understand. Furthermore, the Bill will lead to a new fee structure that will assist in eliminating abuse and will introduce greater regulation of enforcement agents who are not Crown employees or police constables.
Prerogative Powers
29. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will consult on which prerogative powers could be put into statute. [112049]
Bridget Prentice: We acknowledge that it is possible and sometimes desirable for the prerogative to be replaced by either statute or parliamentary conventions on scrutiny, where circumstances make that appropriate. We have already moved significantly in this direction. We keep policy in this area under review, but we do not believe that there is a case for a wide-ranging consultation exercise.
Electoral Register
30. Mr. McGovern: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of eligible voters missing from the electoral register in Dundee, West. [112050]
Bridget Prentice: A comparison between the electoral register in Dundee and the local authority's mid-year population estimate for 2005 indicates approximately 7,637 adults who are resident but not on the electoral roll. However, not all of these residents will necessarily be eligible to vote as they may not meet the eligibility criteria. For instance they may not hold a qualifying nationality.
Electoral Administration
31. Mr. Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she plans to take to monitor the performance of electoral administrators under the Electoral Administration Act 2006. [112051]
Bridget Prentice: The power to establish and monitor performance standards for the provision of electoral services is given to the Electoral Commission under section 67 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006. We will clearly wish to see the results of the performance monitoring once the standards have been established and implemented.
34. Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress she has made in developing minimum standards in the practices of electoral registration officers. [112054]
Bridget Prentice: On 4 December, the Electoral Commission issued a consultation paper, “Developing Electoral Registration Performance Indicators”. This closed on 26 January. Following analysis of responses, I understand a pilot of the indicators will run from March to June 2007, and that rollout will be from 1 December 2007.
Supreme Court
32. Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects the new Supreme Court building to be completed. [112052]
Ms Harman: The Supreme Court Implementation Programme is on target to deliver the Supreme Court at the Middlesex Guildhall in October 2009. On 7 September 2006 Westminster city council (WCC) unanimously resolved to grant planning and listed building consent for Middlesex Guildhall and DCA are currently involved in commercial negotiations with the preferred bidder, Kier Group plc.
Magistrates
33. Stephen Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the funding of magistrates courts. [112053]
Ms Harman: The Department has received its settlement from the Treasury in December for Comprehensive Spending Review period (CSR07) covering financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11. The funding for the magistrates courts is currently being negotiated but this will be in context of the Department's commitment to ensuring an efficient modern service and protecting front-line operations. I will be able to inform the House more fully following the conclusion of these negotiations.
British Food
Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of food served in buildings occupied by her Department was of British origin in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [111121]
Ms Harman: My Department has contracted out catering services that are provided chiefly in court buildings. Based on information provided by the four suppliers involved, the proportion of food of British origin served in 2005 was 80 per cent. to 100 per cent. for eggs and milk products; 90 per cent. for cheeses; 78 per cent. to 100 per cent. for root vegetables; 20 per cent. to 69 per cent. for salad vegetables; 12.5 per cent. to 50 per cent. for fruit; 50 per cent. to 60 per cent. for fish; 77 per cent. to 100 per cent. for bakery products; 76 per cent. to 100 per cent. for chicken; 40 per cent. to 100 per cent. for beef; 52 per cent. to 100 per cent. for lamb; 20 per cent. to 100 per cent. for bacon and pork.
Information available shows that these figures remain unchanged in 2006.
Court Televisions
Philip Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 870W, on court televisions, how many television displays in court rooms were paid for by the police; and when she expects all magistrates courts to have television displays. [111533]
Ms Harman: The police are not responsible for the purchase of television displays in the courtrooms. The television displays in court have been purchased locally by the courts or through centrally funded Her Majesty’s Courts Service initiatives. By March 2007, 266 of the 344 magistrates courts will have television displays available in the courtroom. Further television displays will be purchased if needed by the business.
Electoral Commission
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans the Government have to implement the recommendations of the report on the review of the Electoral Commission by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. [112169]
Bridget Prentice: The Government are considering the Committee’s recommendations and will respond in due course.
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