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7 May 2008 : Column 912W—continued
Excise Duties: Fuels
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of duty paid by consumers on vehicle fuel sold in the UK in each of the last five years. [203815]
Angela Eagle: The total excise duty raised on the quantities of vehicle fuel released for consumption is published in table 3 of the Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin. This can be found at:
Housing: Valuation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 8 October 2007, Official Report, column 227W, on housing: valuation, what technical name or definition was given to the localities referred to for the purposes of the automated valuation model; what co-efficient value was given to each locality for regression analysis; and what unique reference number or other identifier was given to each locality. [203029]
Jane Kennedy: There is no other technical name for localities as used by the Valuation Office Agency in the context of its automated valuation models. The Agency has defined a locality as being an area that is subject to the same, or similar, market forces. In the multiple regression analysis, coefficients generated for localities differ from locality to locality. The coefficient generated for each of approximately 10,000 localities in England could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Every ‘live’ locality within a Billing Authority area is allocated a unique number.
Income Tax
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount of income tax which would otherwise have accrued to the Exchequer from those who have (a) taken early retirement and (b) moved from full-time to part-time work at each year from age 55 up to the state retirement age in each of the last three years. [203481]
Jane Kennedy: The information is not available.
Taxation: Fuels
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much VAT revenue was raised from the sale of road fuel in each of the last 60 months for which figures are available; [203945]
(2) if he will estimate the average percentage of average household disposable income accounted for by (a) the purchase of road fuel and (b) the duty and VAT payable on road fuel in each of the last (i) five years and (ii) 12 months; [203946]
(3) what projections his Department has made of the amounts of revenue that would be raised annually from
(a) road fuel duty and (b) VAT on road fuel if the price of oil was (i) 120, (ii) 130, (iii) 140 and (iv) 150 US dollars per barrel; [203947]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.
Annual estimates of the percentage of disposable household income accounted for by road fuels and duty and VAT payable on road fuels can be calculated from data held in the House of Commons Library. Data on average household income and expenditure are available from the Expenditure and Food Survey, published by the Office for National Statistics. Data on average road fuel prices per litre and average duty rates are contained in the “Tax Benefit Reference Manual”. Data are not available on a monthly basis.
No projections of revenues at hypothetical levels of oil price have been made.
Valuation Office: Databases
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what use the Valuation Office Agency’s District Valuer Services makes of dwelling house coding for domestic properties. [203130]
Jane Kennedy: District Valuer Services makes use of dwelling house codes to assist in the valuation of domestic property, and analysis of transaction information.
Valuation Office: ICT
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Valuation Office Agency is the custodian of Valuebill. [203115]
Valuation Office: Rightmove
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contracts have been awarded to Rightmove.co.uk plc by (a) the Valuation Office Agency and (b) HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor on behalf of the Valuation Office Agency since 2001; at what cost; and for what purpose. [203125]
Jane Kennedy: One such contract has been awarded, a copy of which has been placed in the Library following a request from the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), answered on 10 September 2007, Official Report, column 1969W.
Valuation: ICT
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2008, Official Report, column 508W, on valuation: ICT, how many localities are allocated to each billing authority area. [203028]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Working Tax Credit
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of those claiming the child care element of working tax credit have been reported as not using formal child care in each year for which figures are available. [202834]
Jane Kennedy: This information is not held in the format requested. However, I refer the hon. Member to the Child and Working Tax Credit Error and Fraud Statistics available on HMRC’s website at:
Defence
Air Force: Labour Turnover
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have (a) joined and (b) left the Royal Air Force since 2005. [203772]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is reported in TSP1—Strength, Intake and Outflow of UK Regular Forces, and TSP4—Quarterly Manning Report, which provide a full and detailed breakdown of the figures requested. Copies of these are available in the Library of the House. These publications are also available on the Defence Analytical Services and Advice website at:
Air Force: Training
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of training a new Royal Air Force recruit to the level of a fully operational fighter pilot. [203674]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Royal Air Force pilots continue to train throughout their careers and are considered to be combat ready after they have completed Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) training and a period of post OCU training on an allocated squadron. Costs of this training are shown in the following table by fast jet type.
| £ million | |||
| Aircraft | Cost of training a pilot up to Operational Conversion Unit | Cost of training a pilot in OCU and post OCU to combat ready status | Total |
Armed Forces: Cadets
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cadet forces were disbanded in each year since 1997. [199490]
Derek Twigg: The MOD sponsors four cadet forces: the Combined Cadet Force; the Sea Cadet Corps; the Army Cadet Force and the Air Training Corps. All four cadet forces have a long history and none have been disbanded.
Individual contingents/units/detachments/squadrons within each cadet force are formed and disbanded as the particular demands and aspirations of the communities they serve fluctuate. Information has not previously been held centrally. However, since 2007 the net change in cadet units is:
Combined Cadet Force—net gain 18 contingents.
Sea Cadet Corps—net loss nine units.
Army Cadet Force—net gain 22 detachments.
Air Training Corps—net gain two squadrons.
Armed Forces: Drugs
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service personnel were dishonourably discharged for drug abuse in each of the last five years. [203676]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following number of British servicemen have been discharged ‘Services No Longer Required’, which is a dishonourable discharge, in each of the last five years for failing compulsory drug testing.
| Number | |
Armed Forces: Insurance
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1645W, on armed forces: insurance, for what reasons Territorial Army personnel are treated differently from the Regular Army for insurance cover while on deployment; and for what reasons the company Abacus refuses Territorial Army personnel cover during deployments. [202971]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As I explained in my answer of 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1645W, MOD facilitates the PAX, RPAX and Service Life insurance (SLI) schemes by means of contracts with the commercial providers. The cover for SLI is the same for TA as for regulars and that for RPAX will replicate the PAX cover in the near future. I understand that my hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State will be writing soon, in response to an issue you raised during the recent debate on the commemorations of the 100(th) anniversary of the Territorial Army, to explain that the premiums for SLI are the same for the TA as for regulars and that RPAX will remain cheaper than PAX even when the premium increase has been applied.
PAX and RPAX have different insurers but the same brokers. They are intended to run in parallel with the same cover, but with RPAX premiums slightly cheaper.
It was decided to implement the PAX changes first because PAX is the larger scheme.
In addition to PAX RPAX and SLI there are a number of private insurance schemes available to Service personnel which MOD does not facilitate; the scheme provided by Abacus is one of these. We do not have contracts with the providers of these schemes and are unable to comment on the cover which they provide.
Armed Forces: Pay
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) value of (i) under-payments and (ii) over-payments to service personnel in each month between January and November 2007; and if he will make a statement. [203501]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support to the noble Lord, Lord Selkirk of Douglas, in another place, Official Report, columns WA2-4.
Armed Forces: Pensions
Mr. Mates: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many forces widows were in receipt of a pension from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme at the latest date for which figures are available. [202150]
Derek Twigg: The number of widows, widowers and surviving partners in receipt of a pension from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme as at 1 January 2008 is 63,496.
Armed Forces: Personnel Management
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many hours of Joint Personnel Administration training are required before personnel become qualified; [202354]
(2) how many people in his Department were trained in Joint Personnel Administration in each year since 2005; [202356]
(3) how much his Department spent on Joint Personnel Administration training in each year since 2005. [202358]
Derek Twigg: The amount of training required varies according to the individual or their role. All self-service users complete a mandatory three hour e-learning Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) training package, whereas a Human Resources (HR) administrator will receive at least 80 hours of training, with additional training given as they progress through the ranks or are assigned to different roles. Other administrators complete training of a type and length appropriate to their role.
To date, some 201,300 self-service users have undertaken the e-learning JPA training package. The number of HR administrators who have completed training in each financial year since 2005 are as follows:
The cost of JPA training in each year since 2005 is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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