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14 Jan 2008 : Column 889W—continued
RM Condor
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many bed-spaces his Department has of each classification for fitness for habitation for personnel based at RM Condor in Arbroath. [178128]
Derek Twigg: As at 31 December 2007, the number of single living accommodation bed-spaces at RM Condor in Arbroath, at each condition grade (Grade 1 being the highest and Grade 4 the lowest), is shown in the following table.
| Grade | Number of bed-spaces |
Special Boat Squadron: Pay
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when he expects the Special Boat Service personnel serving in Afghanistan to receive their full pay; [169202]
(2) when the Specialist Pay Team last paid the salaries of the Special Boat Service in Afghanistan; [169203]
(3) what steps he has taken with the Specialist Pay Team to ensure the payment of the full salaries of the Special Boat Service in Afghanistan. [169204]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 29 November 2007]: Problems have been identified with the specialist pay components of total salary for a small number of members of the Special Boat Service. This is very much regretted. I have asked for the issues to be investigated and I will write to the hon. Member when the investigation is complete.
Substantive answer from Derek Twigg to Derek Wyatt:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Questions of 3 December 2007, (Official Report, column 844W), about the problems identified with the specialist pay components of the total salary received by a small number of the Special Boat Service personnel serving in Afghanistan. Clearly, any inconvenience caused to our personnel is very much regretted.
Staff within the Royal Navy and the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) have completed their investigations and these have revealed that a small number of personnel did not have their employment category, grade scale and payroll type changed successfully on the JPA system on joining the SBS. The principle cause of these omissions has been identified as unfamiliarity with the new JPA processes. I can confirm that the issue was not caused by any problem with the JPA Information Technology system.
In consultation with the SPVA, the Royal Navy Human Resource staff have made the necessary changes to the affected individuals’ records. The JPA system has automatically recalculated and paid the relevant personnel their full entitlements in the December pay run, and I can confirm that the correct monies have now been credited to the individuals’ bank accounts.
The Royal Navy Human Resource staff have informed the affected personnel that the problem has been identified and remedial action taken. In addition, the Human Resource staff have received additional instructions and guidance to ensure that the error does not reoccur.
In cases where Service personnel experience pay problems arrangements are in place for emergency payments to be made. Individuals have access to duty personnel at their parent units who are able to make arrangements for emergency issues of cash if required or arrange support by other units if, for example, an individual is on leave in the UK when normally based in Germany.
Where problems do arise with the pay of personnel deployed on operations there is a fast track process, that can be instigated by either the individual Service person, or their spouse/partner in the UK, that allows the unit Human Resource staff direct access to the SPVA Customer Complaints Team.
I hope this is helpful.
Vetting
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost was to vet a UK citizen to the level of (a) developed vetting, (b) security check, (c) counter terrorism check and (d) baseline personal security standard in the latest period for which figures are available. [177548]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Defence Vetting Agency (DVA) is responsible for vetting applicants for security clearance (who need not necessarily be UK citizens) for members of the armed forces, civilians in the Ministry of Defence and Defence Industry and a number of other Government Departments (OGDs) on a repayment basis. The DVA does not undertake work for all OGDs, however, and the costs shown may not apply to clearances undertaken by OGDs on their own behalf.
The Baseline Personnel Security Standard is a pre-employment check, not part of national security vetting, and as such is not carried out by the DVA.
Individual vetting costs incurred by the DVA are as follows:
| £ | |
Developed vetting: £794.30-£928.25 for initial cases and from £611.00-£707.35 for review cases, depending on the depth of the inquiries undertaken.
These costs apply only to the work carried out by the DVA: additional costs are incurred before the application is received in the DVA and post DVA activity. In addition, work undertaken by another agency carrying out checks on the DVA’s behalf is not included in the quoted prices, It is not possible to quantify these associated costs.
Warships: Security
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what security measures are taken to ensure the security of Royal Navy ships when in port in the United Kingdom. [177522]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In UK naval ports all Royal Navy ships are protected by the ports’ own security arrangements including perimeter walls or fencing, access control, CCTV and armed foot and boat patrols. Each ship also has its own protection teams including armed sentries and an armed response force at short notice. For some vessels further fencing with access control to the jetty/berth, and a water-borne boom to enhance seaward security, is provided.
In commercial UK ports, in addition to the ship’s protection teams, bespoke advice is provided as to the security measures that are required. This is dependent on threat analysis and existing security measures in place within the port. It may include water-borne patrols, booms and jetty access control.
World War II: Medals
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Veteran Badges have been issued to residents of Hendon. [177505]
Derek Twigg: Since 18 April 2005 a total of 80 veterans' lapel badges have been issued to residents with a Hendon area postcode.
World War Two: Anniversaries
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding is available under the Heroes Return Scheme to (a) veterans and (b) war widows to visit war graves in 2007-08; and how many (i) veterans and (ii) war widows from (A) Hendon and (B) the UK have received funding since the scheme’s inception. [177504]
Derek Twigg: The Heroes Return Scheme, funded by ‘the Big Lottery’, ran during the years 2004-05. During that period, 18,222 veterans and 1,553 widow(er)s in the UK, together with their carers, were assisted to travel to theatres where they or their spouses had previously served, to visit war graves, and to attend commemorative events surrounding the 60th anniversary of the end of the second world war. This included 31 veterans but no war widow(er)s resident in Hendon.
The Government operate the War Widow(er)s Pilgrimage Scheme to enable war widow(er)s whose service husband or wife died as a result of military service overseas between 1914 and 1967 to make one visit to the grave/memorial, provided they have not done so before at public expense. Since 1967, the next-of-kin of personnel who died during service overseas have been given the option of having the body repatriated or for the burial to take place overseas and relatives to attend the funeral service.
Treasury
Capital Gains Tax
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 9 November 2007 from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire on capital gains tax and the loss of indexation allowance. [175489]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 18 December 2007]: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Child Benefit: Personal Records
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to whom letters of apology have been sent following the recent loss of data by HM Revenue and Customs; how many letters he expects to be sent; and what the cost is expected to be of sending those letters. [169467]
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent by HM Revenue and Customs in sending out letters of apology for the loss of the child benefit discs containing confidential personal data. [173821]
Jane Kennedy: For the year April 2006 to March 2007 HMRC handled approximately 300 million pieces of outgoing post at a cost of around £79 million.
The cost of sending letters to the families affected by the recent loss of data by HMRC is estimated at £2.25 million including postage costs.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to how many people HM Revenue and Customs has written to advise them that their personal data were included on the two lost discs; how many families this accounted for; and what the total cost of this correspondence was. [170664]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 6 December 2007]: For the year April 2006 to March 2007 HMRC handled approximately 300 million pieces of outgoing post at a cost of around £79 million.
The cost of sending letters to the families affected by the recent loss of data by HMRC is estimated at £2.25 million including postage costs.
Child Tax Credit
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what grounds HM Revenue and Customs suspended the provision of information in relation to the chosen frequency of payment of child tax credit in December 2007. [177091]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC regularly review the data used for tax credit publications and it was decided that the information for table 7.1 could more efficiently be extracted from a different data source. Unfortunately this process was not completed in time for the pre-announced December 2007 publication date. The table will be reinstated in the April 2008 publication. The December 2007 publication will be updated at the same time.
Childbirth
Anne Milton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) live births and (b) stillbirths there were in each region of England in 2006. [177976]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 January 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your request for information on how many live births and stillbirths there were in each region of England in 2006. (177976)
The table below shows the number of live births and stillbirths in England by Government Office Region for 2006.
| Live births and stillbirths by Government o ffice r egion in England, 2006 | ||
| Government office region of usual residence | Live births | Stillbirths |
Conditional Cautions
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of conditional cautions in bringing about the payment of compensation by offenders to victims. [178325]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The conditional cautioning scheme is still in the process of being rolled out across England and Wales, with full coverage due by March 2008. While central collection of data began in 2005, concerns over quality, which we are currently addressing, mean that figures have yet to be published. However, information from the Crown Prosecution Service, made available to practitioners, shows that between 1 April 2005 and 30 November 2007, almost 5,000 conditional cautions were issued. Approximately 63 per cent. of these involved the payment of compensation. Data for the same period show a non-compliance rate for all conditional cautions of just under 6 per cent.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many police forces have exercised their powers to issue conditional cautions since the Criminal Justice Act 2003 came into force; and if he will make a statement. [178440]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
Following piloting of the conditional cautioning scheme in 2005, national roll-out commenced in July 2006, and is due to be completed by March 2008. All 43 police forces in England and Wales are now operating a conditional cautioning scheme in at least one of their Basic Command Units and all areas have issued conditional cautions.
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