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26 Apr 2007 : Column 1312W—continued
Treasury
Competition Law
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of debt outstanding on fines imposed by the European Commission for infringements of competition rules. [133539]
John Healey: Information concerning the amount of debt outstanding on fines imposed by the European Commission for infringements of competition rules is not held by HM Treasury.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what total sum of fines was imposed upon each EU member state in 2006 for infringements of competition rules; and how much has been written off. [133540]
John Healey: The infringements of competition rules that can result in fines pertain to companies and not member states.
Customs Officers: Manpower
Mark Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many customs officers are employed at UK ports; and how many are expected to be employed at UK ports in each of the next five years. [133391]
John Healey: Staff engaged on frontline operational activity at the frontier operate in a mobile, flexible and intelligence-led manner. They are not, in the main, allocated to particular ports and their duties may involve them working at ports, airports or inland locations.
Some 4500 staff from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ Detection directorate are employed on frontline operational duties at ports and airports. Other HMRC staff also attend ports and airports as part of their official duties.
HMRC plans to maintain the number of frontline staff employed at UK borders in 2007-08 but no firm figures are yet available for this year or beyond.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2007, Official Report, column 737W, on departmental staff, if he will redact the personal information and place redacted copies of the staff magazine in the Library. [123618]
John Healey: I have nothing further to add to my answer of 5 February 2007, Official Report, column 737W.
Departments: Art Works
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what pieces of artwork valued at over £1,000 have been (a) purchased and (b) transferred to his Department’s ownership since July 2006; and what the (i) name and (ii) value is of each. [133441]
John Healey: There have been no pieces of artwork purchased by, or transferred to, HM Treasury since July 2006.
Departments: Official Hospitality
Mr. Francois:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what official (a) lunches, (b) dinners and (c) receptions he hosted in each of the last six months;
and what the (i) location, (ii) total cost and (iii) purpose was of each event. [133325]
John Healey: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
EC Budget
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of pre-financing made, as project advances, under the latest European Union budget that is due for recovery; what the UK's share is of that funding; and what percentage was reclaimed on such funding from last year's budget. [133552]
Ed Balls: HM Treasury does not make estimates for pre-financing. The amounts of pre-financing are recorded in the annual accounts of the European Communities, which are then reported on by the European Court of Auditors.
The latest figures available for pre-financing and recovery orders are for the 2005 financial year and may be found in the 'Final Annual Accounts of the European Communities 2005' at
EC Budget: Rebate
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the agreed rebate to be returned to the EU has been paid; and what the time scale is for future payments. [133447]
Ed Balls: None. As agreed at the December 2005 European Council, expenditure on economic development in the new member states will gradually be disapplied from the United Kingdom abatement calculation, from 2009. The following formula will be used for this purpose:
| Percentage | |
| (1) Onwards. |
EC Grants and Loans: Taxation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether campaigning organisations and think tanks that receive EU funding pay tax on such funding. [133545]
John Healey: There are no special tax rules which apply to campaigning organisations and think tanks. Where a grant, including a grant from the EU, is given to a non-trading body, then generally no tax liability will arise.
Energy
Mr. Dai Davies:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what decisions on energy were made by the G7 Finance Ministers at their meeting in Washington DC on 13 April; and if he will (a) place in the Library
and (b) post on his Department’s website the final declaration of the G7 Ministers. [133384]
John Healey: The outcomes of the G7 discussions in Washington on energy and climate change matters are recorded in the official statement. The convention is for this to be published on the website of the finance ministry chairing the meeting, in this case the United States Treasury. This can be found at http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/hp350.htm. The full text of the statement is attached for information; energy is covered in the third to last paragraph:
“In order to ensure energy security and to address climate change, we consider energy efficiency and the promotion of energy diversification to be important issues for both developed and developing economies. Diversification can include advanced energy technologies such as renewable, nuclear, and clean coal. We agree that market based policy measures should be effectively designed to meet specific conditions in each country.”
Gift Aid
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was donated to British charities through Gift Aid between inception and 1999; how much of the Gift Aid Scheme has been donated (a) since 2000 and (b) since inception; and if he will make a statement. [134083]
Ed Balls: Information on donations using Gift Aid for each year from inception in 1990-91 up to 2005-06 is published on the HMRC website at
This table will be updated in June 2007.
National Insurance Contributions
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what percentage employers' national insurance contributions form of the UK labour cost. [133588]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 26 April 21007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking the percentage that employers' national insurance contributions form of the UK labour cost. (133588)
Estimates of the various components of labour costs are provided by the ONS in its labour costs survey (LCS). LCS estimates are compiled every four years based on information from the annual survey of hours and earnings, labour force survey, annual business inquiry and other data sources. The most recent results were compiled for 2004 and cover sectors C-O of the UK standard industrial classification of economic activities 2003 and businesses with 10 or more employees. The 2004 LCS shows that the proportion of UK labour costs attributable to employers' national insurance contributions is 6.2 per cent.
Oral Questions
Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many questions tabled by right hon. and hon. Members to his Department for oral answer have been transferred to other Departments since May 2005. [133795]
John Healey: Treasury Ministers answer all questions concerning matters for which we are responsible. Only questions which it would be more appropriate for other Ministers to answer are transferred to other Departments.
Since May 2005, six of the 400 questions tabled to the Treasury for oral answer have been transferred to other Departments.
Planning Gain Supplement
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the contracts which have been awarded for the provision of information technology in preparation for the introduction of the Planning Gain Supplement. [133744]
John Healey: No contracts have been awarded for the provision of information technology in preparation for the introduction of the Planning Gain Supplement.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on preparations for the introduction of the Planning Gain Supplement. [133745]
John Healey: The Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Department for Communities and Local Government have undertaken preliminary work to develop and explore the feasibility of a Planning Gain Supplement since 2004. This has included the publication of one consultation document alongside the 2005 pre-Budget report and three consultation documents alongside the 2006 pre-Budget report. The costs incurred have been borne by the respective Departments as part of the normal policy development process.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what commission and consultancy fees have been paid to private finance initiative advisers since 1997. [133557]
John Healey: The Treasury does not collate this information centrally.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals enabling the National Audit Office to examine the books of private finance initiative providers. [133587]
John Healey: In 2006 the Government introduced provisions giving the National Audit Office the right to examine all such documentation as it may reasonably require from the companies involved in PFI contracts as set out in paragraphs 26.7.1 and 26.9.3 of the Standardisation of PFI Contacts (Version 4).
Public Sector: Land
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to whether social and community benefits should carry equal weight in the sale of public sector land as achieving the best price. [133690]
John Healey: In general, the Government are always interested in securing the greatest value for money for the taxpayer. Government Accounting’s General Principles (24.2.1) exhorts:
“Once surplus assets have been identified, they should be disposed of as quickly as possible subject to value for money considerations.”
Value for money bears on nearly all aspects of deployment of public resources: procurement, asset management, disposals, administrative systems and financing arrangements such as leases and PFI transactions. It means finding solutions which achieve the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay.
However, all aspects of a transaction or proposed transaction, financial or otherwise, should be first taken fully into account, comprising any potential auxiliary or tangential benefit, including possible social and community benefits that may be attendant upon the issue, before the terms of a disposal, or other physical conveyance, are concluded.
The Surplus Public Sector Land Taskforce was set up as part of the Government’s response to the Barker Review of Housing Supply to examine cost-effective options for accelerating the release of public sector land in order to increase housing supply.
Specifically with regard to local authority disposals, the Government’s policy is that local authorities and other public bodies should dispose of surplus land wherever possible. Generally it is expected that land should be sold for the best consideration reasonably obtainable. But it is recognised that there are circumstances in which a local authority may consider it appropriate to dispose of land at an undervalue.
The General Disposal Consent issued in August 2003 in ODPM Circular 06/2003 enables local authorities to make land disposals which will contribute to the promotion or improvement of the economic, social or environmental well-being of an area at less than best consideration.
Revenue and Customs: Correspondence
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets are in place to ensure that members of the public receive a timely response to correspondence to Inland Revenue offices. [133601]
John Healey: HMRC aims to deal with 80 per cent. of general correspondence within 15 working days of receipt and 95 per cent. within 40 working days.
Revenue and Customs: Glasgow
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement on the backlog at the Inland Revenue office in Glasgow; [133599]
(2) whether people applying to the Inland Revenue office in Glasgow to reclaim a tax overpayment are compensated for lost interest due to the backlog; and if he will make a statement. [133600]
John Healey: Centre 1, HMRC’s main processing office in the Glasgow area, receives large volumes of customer correspondence so there is inevitably work in progress at any time. There are no significant backlogs of work at Centre 1.
There are statutory provisions for making a repayment “supplement” in addition to a tax repayment in certain circumstances. HMRC’s approach to compensation and redress is set out in its Code of Practice COP1 “Putting Things Right”.
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