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21 Jun 2007 : Column 2136W—continued

Valuation Office Agency

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many laser pens and laser measuring devices the Valuation Office Agency has purchased in the last 36 months; and what the cost has been. [143644]

Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has laser measuring devices, but not laser pens. These are available to staff carrying out property inspections as part of the work of the VOA. The company that provides the laser measuring devices also supplies other items and services to the VOA, which are invoiced together. Therefore, a breakdown of the cost of laser measuring devices could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what payments (a) his Department and (b) the Valuation Office Agency made to Hometrack in each of the last three years. [143646]

Mr. Timms: No payments have been made to Hometrack by either (a) his Department or (b) the Valuation Office Agency.

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the property attributes and data that the HM Revenue and Customs stamp taxes provides to the Valuation Office Agency in relation to domestic dwellings to assist with council tax valuations and revaluations. [143647]

Ed Balls: The data which Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs stamp taxes supplies to the Valuation Office Agency is the information included in the land transaction return, which is prescribed by the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Administration) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2837).

Michael Gove: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many photographic identity cards have been issued to staff of the Valuation Office Agency to assist in carrying out valuations of property. [143746]


21 Jun 2007 : Column 2137W

Mr. Timms: The responsibility for issuing photographic identity cards lies with local offices across the Valuation Office Agency. The data on numbers issued are not held centrally and cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departments: Home Working

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in his Department have been allowed to work from home for part of the week in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement on his Department’s policy on home working. [143875]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 8 May 2006, Official Report, column 84W.

Departments: Manpower

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people granted (a) temporary part-time, (b) temporary full-time, (c) permanent part-time and (d) permanent full-time contracts of employment in his Department in each of the last three years were (i) male, (ii) female, (iii) registered disabled and (iv) aged 55 years or over. [143890]

John Healey: The information requested is as follows:

Male Female Disabled Over 55

2004

Temporary part-time

1

5

0

0

Temporary full-time

49

48

2

0

Permanent part-time

0

3

0

0

Permanent full-time

33

37

3

1

2005

Temporary part-time

1

4

0

0

Temporary full-time

41

33

1

1

Permanent part-time

0

3

0

0

Permanent full-time

45

34

1

6

2006

Temporary part-time

2

3

0

0

Temporary full-time

36

41

1

0

Permanent part-time

1

9

0

0

Permanent full-time

29

29

3

3


Departments: Projects

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department uses the categorisation
21 Jun 2007 : Column 2138W
‘mission critical’ in relation to departmental projects; and if he will make a statement. [143506]

John Healey: The categorisation “mission critical” is used by Government in relation to departmental projects. The definition of mission critical programmes or projects is published in the NAO report ‘Delivering Successful IT enabled Business Change’ (November 2006) and is used to define those that are (A) essential to the successful delivery of a major legislative requirement, a PSA target, or a major policy initiative announced and owned by the Prime Minister or a Cabinet Minister; or (B) if the programme or project is not successful there are catastrophic implications for the delivery of a key public service, national security or the internal operation of a public sector operation.

Departments: Redundancy

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many redundancies there were from his Department in (a) 2002-03 and (b) 2006-07; and what the total amount was of compensation payments made in each year. [137188]

John Healey: There were no redundancies in the Treasury in 2002-03. The data for 2006-07 are as follows. The costs of compulsory early severance or early retirement are determined according to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

2006-07
£
Number of redundancies Cost

3

462,439


Disabled Children

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with representative groups about the transition support programme announced in Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families. [143559]

Ed Balls: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide range of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings.

The disabled children review consulted on a wide range of policy options, including support at transition to adulthood, with voluntary sector representatives, providers, professionals, local government, disabled children and young people and their parents, MPs, and academics, through:


21 Jun 2007 : Column 2139W

Employment: West Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged 24 years of age or under were considered to be economically inactive in West Lancashire in each of the last 10 years. [144967]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 21 June 2007:

Table 1: Economic inactivity in 16 to 24 year olds in West Lancashire parliamentary constituency
Economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds
12 months ending Level (thousand) Rate (percentage)

February 1997

3

30

February 1998

4

37

February 1999

2

24

February 2000

3

23

February 2001

4

45

February 2002

3

33

February 2003

4

42

February 2004

2

22

March 2005

3

34

March 2006

3

29

Notes:
1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability,
2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with caution,
Source:
Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.

Families

Mr. Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) internal evaluations and (b) external research the Treasury has (i) undertaken and (ii) commissioned on the effects of investment in early intervention with families as opposed to public spending on the consequences of not providing such early intervention; and if he will make a statement. [139015]

Ed Balls: The Treasury undertakes and commissions a wide range of evaluations. Most recently, the Children and Young People’s Review conducted an extensive examination of the existing literature on spending on early intervention activity and preventative support, consulting practitioners, academics and commissioners of services. The review’s
21 Jun 2007 : Column 2140W
public Call for Evidence attracted more than a 100 responses, details can be found at:

The conclusions of this evidence and analysis were set out in “Aiming High for Children: Supporting Families” and “Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families”.

“Aiming High for Children: Supporting Families” highlights evidence from the United States that prevention and early intervention can represent a cost-effective response by public services. The conclusions of the review place a new emphasis on building children’s resilience through improving attainment in education, good social and emotional skills and positive parenting. This analysis will be supported by significant investment over the next spending period in universal services, such as schools, health services and Sure Start children’s centres. These all have a crucial role to play in focusing support on prevention and early intervention. New investment includes:


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