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26 Mar 2008 : Column 173W—continued
Railways: Consultants
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on consultants for work on high speed rail links from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland in each of the last five years. [195182]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 19 March 2008]: In developing the July 2007 Rail White Paper, the Department for transport commissioned work on various inter-urban capacity options.
In the year preceding the July 2007 Rail White Paper, work on the potential for new lines amounted to around £250,000. No substantial sums were spent by the Department in previous years.
Railways: Standards
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many delay minutes there were on the railway network in each year since 1993 for which (a) Railtrack and Network Rail and (b) a train operating company was responsible; and what the equivalent figures were for the most recent month for which data are available. [195976]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 20 March 2008]: The Department for Transport holds the data requested only from 2005-06 when it took over responsibility for rail passenger franchises. These figures relate to delays caused to franchised passenger services, and are:
| mins | ||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
The most recently available equivalent data (for the year ending 2 February 2008) is given in the following table.
| (mins) | |
To seek historic data prior to 2005-06, the hon. Member is advised to contact Network Rail at the following address.
Chief Executive
Network Rail
40 Melton Street
London
NW1 2EE
Roads: Tolls
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the amendments to the Road User Charging (Charges and Penalty) (London) Regulations due for completion by the end of 2007 have not yet been made. [196346]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department for Transport (DfT) expects to have the necessary resources available to complete consultation on the amendments to the road user charging regulations ready for implementation in 2009.
Treasury
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions officials of (a) his Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs were (i) disciplined and (ii) dismissed for (A) alleged breaches of data protection requirements and (B) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data, broken down by (1) grade, (2) sex and (3) age in each of the last five years for which information is available. [169431]
Jane Kennedy: The requested information is not available.
Devolution: Finance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) amount and (b) purpose of payments made to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland outside (i) block grants calculated under the Barnett formula and (ii) main departmental programmes in annually managed expenditure was in each year since 1997. [195803]
Yvette Cooper: Figures for departmental expenditure limits and departmental annually managed expenditure for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. Changes in DEL are determined as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. Forecasts of annually managed spending are updated in the Budget and pre-Budget report in the normal way. Details of specific settlements for the devolved Administrations are set out in the relevant spending review White Paper. The devolved Administrations’ spending plans are set out in their own budget publications.
Income: Equality
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2008, Official Report, column 112W, on income: equality, what assessment he has made of trends in (a) national prosperity and (b) household income inequality in (i) England, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [195564]
Jane Kennedy: The ONS publishes measures of regional gross value added (GVA) per head in current prices in the regional accounts publication. The lowest regional level available is the NUTS3 level (unitary authorities or districts). The published data show a significant increase in GVA per head in England, North East and Tees Valley since 1997. There are no published data for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland as they are below the NUTS3 level.
Currently there are no available statistics of household income inequality at regional level. Data at UK level are published by the DWP in “Households Below Average Income” and by the ONS in “The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income”. Available statistics show that the inequality at UK level has been stable since 1997.
Public Expenditure
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of Government spending per capita was in each of the last 10 years. [196461]
Yvette Cooper: Total managed expenditure per head (total UK population) from 1997-98 to 2006-07 is provided in the following table:
| Financial year | Total managed expenditure divided by UK population (£) |
Restricted Share Awards
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the payment of bonuses through restricted share awards. [196286]
Jane Kennedy: It is for employers to decide how and how much their employees are paid in the light of what is necessary to recruit, retain and motivate labour in the market conditions in which they operate. Government policy is to ensure that all employers and employees pay the proper amount of tax and national insurance contributions on these rewards of employment, however these rewards are delivered.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reconsider again at whether Stamp Duty/Land Tax (SDLT) should be charged on shared equity properties for first time buyers when they reach the thresholds for SDLT because of changes to house prices especially, in southern England. [196295]
Angela Eagle: Stamp duty rates and thresholds, like all other taxes, are kept under review as part of the Budget process.
Taxation: Social Security Benefits
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's policy on the taxation of social security benefits is. [196873]
Angela Eagle: Social security benefits are taxable when they are paid as a substitute for earned income. Income related social security benefits, child allowances and disability allowances are generally not taxable.
VAT: Repayments
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average time taken by HM Revenue and Customs to process a value added tax refund was in each of the last five years. [196265]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is committed to paying correct repayment claims without undue delay. It does not keep figures on average processing times, but operates to a published target to authorise at least 90 per cent. of correct repayment returns within 10 working days of their receipt. At the same time, HMRC makes clear to businesses that it will carry out checks and apply safeguards to ensure that claims are legitimate and accurate. In each of the past five years the target has been met.
Young People
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women in the age groups (i) 15 to 19 years and (ii) 20 to 24 years there were in the UK in each year since 1991. [196824]
Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 26 March 2006:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question on how many (a) men and (b) women in the age groups (i) 15 to 19 years and (ii) 20 to 24 years there were in the UK in each year since 1991. (196824)
The latest available population estimates are for mid-2006. The attached table shows the figures requested:
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