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13 Jun 2007 : Column 1116W—continued
Remploy: Closures
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account was taken of the (a) general condition and shape of, (b) level of worklessness in, (c) strength of manufacturing in and (d) development of the service sectors of a local economy when deciding to close a Remploy factory. [139198]
Mrs. McGuire: No decisions have been made to close any factories. The Remploy board are consulting on their proposals following which they will finalise their plan and submit it to the Government later in the year for consideration.
The Remploy board’s proposals signal the next phase in the development of a five-year modernisation plan—a formal consultation with their trade unions and employees and a disability impact assessment as part of Remploy’s Disability Equality Duty obligations.
In drawing up the closure proposals, Remploy took into account the market for the product made at their factories, their likely ability to achieve acceptable losses per disabled employee in the future, the percentage of its cost which is covered by income from its customers and the local employment market. The proximity to another factory which was not closing was also considered.
The Government encourage participation in the Remploy board’s consultation process by contacting
Bob Warner chief executive of Remploy on Tel: 02476 515810 or by writing to him at Remploy, Stonecourt, Siskin Drive, Coventry, CV3 4FJ.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were (a) charged with and (b) found guilty of benefit fraud in each of the last 10 years in (i) each police force area and (ii) North West Cambridgeshire; [142722]
(2) how much was lost through benefit fraud in each of the last five years in (a) each police force area and (b) North West Cambridgeshire; and how much of that money has subsequently been recovered. [142723]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available broken down by police force areas or constituencies.
State Retirement Pensions
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who will reach the age of 65 between 2024 and 2054 and die before becoming eligible to receive their state pension. [141549]
James Purnell: Although a small proportion of people who survive to 65 will die before reaching the new state pension age as proposed under the pension reforms, the proportion of those surviving to the new state pension age is still projected to be higher than the proportion who survive to state pension age now. Those retiring at current state pension age of 65 for men and 60 for women are estimated to constitute about 82 per cent. of their generation, but those retiring at 68 in 2055 are expected to be more than 88 per cent. of their generation.
Over the 30 year period between the financial years 2024-25 and 2054-55, a total of 24,463,000 people are projected to reach age 65 in the UK. Of these, about 1.6 per cent. of the total (about 238,000 males and 163,000 females) would subsequently die before reaching the new state pension age.
Written Questions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to answer questions (a) 111231, (b) 111229, (c) 111227, (d) 111293, (e) 111228, (f) 111232, (g) 111226 and (h) 111233, on funding for the new deal programmes, tabled by the hon. Member for Fareham on 22 January 2007. [126115]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The hon. Member’s questions have all been replied to.
Treasury
Departments: Libraries
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many items there are in HM Treasury's library; what the cost of purchasing stock for the library was in each year since 1997; and how many staff were employed to work in the library in each year. [141269]
John Healey: HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office and their departmental agencies have had a shared library service since 1946. There are 15,472 items catalogued, including books, pamphlets, specialist periodicals and reports. Expenditure on purchasing stock since 2003-04 is:
| £ | |
Due to changes to the Treasury's accounting system, costs prior to 2003-04 could be identified only at disproportionate cost. Eight staff were employed to work in the library in 2006-07. Figures for individual previous years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Public Expenditure
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Department of Health’s (a) expected and (b) actual non-cash spending was in 2005-06. [131950]
Mr. Timms: Provisional non-cash spending estimates are published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA). Updated non-cash outturn for 2005-06 was published in PESA 2007.
Equity
Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what regulatory assessment the Financial Services Authority has made of Home Reversion Plans; and if he will make a statement. [142336]
Ed Balls: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) published its assessment of the home reversion market in its consultation paper, “Regulation of Home Reversion and Home Purchase Plans” (April 2006), which is available at:
In October 2006, the FSA announced the results of its consultation in its Policy Statement, which is available at:
Financial Services
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress his Department has made in promoting wider access to financial advice in the workplace following the launch of its consultation Extending Employers' Freedoms in the 2006 Budget. [141367]
Ed Balls: Respondents to consultation on Extending Employers' Freedoms, suggested further changes to the financial promotion regime. We expect to consult on these proposals shortly. Following that we will make the necessary changes to the Financial Promotion Order.
Earlier this year the Government published their long-term approach to financial capability. Our long-term aspiration is to ensure that all adults can have access to high-quality generic financial advice to help them to engage with their financial affairs. The study will report to HMT ministers at the end of this year.
Leasehold
Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans there are to bring lifetime leases under the regulation of the Financial Services Authority; and if he will make a statement. [142175]
Ed Balls: There are no plans to bring lifetime leases within the scope of FSA regulation.
The regulatory treatment of lifetime leases was addressed in the Government’s response to the March 2006 consultation document, “Secondary legislation for the regulation of home reversion and home purchase plans”. The Government response to that consultation is available at:
National Insurance Contributions: Landlords
Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of what the likely level of revenue would be if all non-corporate landlords were liable for class 4 national insurance contributions. [141944]
Ed Balls [holding answer 12 June 2007]: Introducing a class 4 charge on rental income of non-corporate landlords would result in an estimated yield of around £175 million for 2007-08 in class 4 national insurance contributions. This figure is based on projections of the Survey of Personal Incomes for 2004-05 and excludes rents received under the rent-a-room scheme. The estimate does not allow for any behavioural effects.
Population: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the mid-year estimates of population were for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in each of the last five years; what the projection is for each of the next three years; and what estimate he has made of the impact of international migration on population change in the city. [141739]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 13 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question concerning the population of the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in each of the last five years, what the projection is for each of the next three years and the impact of international migration in the population change in the city. I am replying in her absence. (141739)
The mid-2001 to mid-2005 population estimates are shown in Table 1 with the Total International Migration component for the corresponding years, Estimates for mid-2006 will be published on 22 August 2007. The Total International Migration figures shown are produced for the express purpose of calculating the mid-year estimates.
Table 2 shows the projected population from 2006 to 2010 for Newcastle-upon-Tyne with the Total International Migration assumption for each year. These figures are taken from the 2004-based subnational population projections published by ONS in October 2006 and are the most recent projections available. Please note that they are not therefore directly comparable with the 2005 mid year estimate in Table 1.
ONS is making improvements this year to the methods used for distributing international migrants to local areas as part of its “Improving Migration and Population Statistics” work programme. Thus the figures quoted, both estimates and projections, will be subject to change in August and September 2007 respectively.
| Table 1: Mid-2001 to mid-2005 population estimates and components of change for Newcastle-upon-Tyne | |||||
| Mid-year to mid-year | Population at start of period | Total annual change | Total net international migration component of population change | Other changes | Population at end of period |
| Note: Data are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and thus may not add due to rounding. Source: Office for National Statistics | |||||
| Table 2: Mid-2006 to mid-2010 subnational population projections for Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2004 based) | |||||
| Mid-year to mid-year | Projected population at start of period | Total annual change | Total net international migration assumption | Other changes | Projected population at end of period |
| Note: Data are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and thus may not add due to rounding. Source: Office for National Statistics | |||||
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the decision-making process is for the allocation of private finance initiative credits to each department. [141368]
John Healey: HM Treasury allocates PFI credits as part of the comprehensive spending review (CSR). An envelope for the overall level of PFI credits in the CSR period was set at a fiscally affordable level in Budget 2007 at £3.63 billion for each of the three years. PFI credits are allocated between Departments based on HM Treasury's assessment of:
the bids submitted by Departments in the CSR;
the value for money that PFI will provide in each sector—assessed using HM Treasury's value for money assessment framework; and
the relative level of priority the investment programmes represent.
The level of DfES credits have already been agreed and the remaining departmental allocations will be announced by the autumn.
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