| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4 Jun 2008 : Column 928W—continued
Pornography: Children
Mrs. James: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much child pornography was seized under section 139(1) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [208567]
Jane Kennedy: Information on the number of items of child pornographic material seized by HM Revenue and Customs in the financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07 appears at page 73 and page 78 of their respective annual reports.
VAT: Housing
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a reduced rate of VAT applies to the installation of external cladding on houses; and if he will make a statement. [207400]
Jane Kennedy:
VAT is not chargeable on work carried out in the course of the construction of new housing. A reduced rate of VAT of 5 per cent. is
available for the installation of external cladding on existing houses if the primary purpose of the work is to insulate the walls. The standard rate of VAT of 17.5 per cent. generally applies to all other installations of external cladding.
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he plans to apply a reduced rate of VAT for the installation of (a) double or triple glazing and (b) energy efficient boilers; and if he will make a statement; [207401]
(2) whether he plans to apply a reduced rate of VAT on retail sales of (a) energy efficient lightbulbs, (b) insulation and (c) other energy saving products for self installation; and if he will make a statement. [207402]
Jane Kennedy: The availability of VAT reduced rates is governed by the European VAT agreements, signed by successive governments. The Government is making the case at EU level for more widespread application of reduced VAT rates to energy-saving and energy efficient products.
Where reduced rates are available under European VAT rules, these have been applied where they provide the most cost-effective and well-targeted support for the Government’s environmental objectives. For example, a 5 per cent. reduced rate applies to the installation of boilers that are designed to be fuelled solely by wood, straw and other vegetal matter; and to certain grant-funded installations of other boilers and heating appliances.
Vulture Funds: Taxation
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax revenue collected from vulture funds registered in the UK in each of the last six years; and if he will make a statement. [208490]Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available.
Welfare Tax Credits
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement on the interaction of refunded work expenses and the assessment of a person’s eligibility for working tax credits; [207385]
(2) whether expenses incurred and refunded as part of a job are counted as income when assessing yearly earnings in order to award tax credits; [207386]
(3) what procedures are in place to assist people who wish to claim tax credits based on their yearly earnings but also have refunded expenses detailed on their P60s which may be misinterpreted as income. [207387]
Jane Kennedy: When claiming the child and working tax credits, individuals generally have to report all income of a tax year which is taken into account for income tax purposes, including earnings and taxable expenses from employment. However, individuals are entitled to deduct from their employment income for tax credit purposes the amount of those expenses that are allowable for tax purposes.
Transport
Apprentices
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) apprenticeships and (b) advanced apprenticeships there were in (i) her Department and (ii) the agencies for which she is responsible in the most recent year for which figures are available. [206792]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The central Department and its agencies had fewer than five apprenticeship schemes (a) during 2007. In line with our policy, the Department cannot provide the actual figure as we would like to protect the identities of the individual(s) concerned.
The central Department and its agencies had no advanced apprenticeship scheme (b) participants during the same period.
Aviation: Chilterns
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many additional households in and around the Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be overflown by flights at 3,000 feet as a result of the Luton Airport flight path changes proposed by National Air Traffic Services; [203294]
(2) what estimate her Department has made of the number of people living in the Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty who will be affected adversely by the proposed National Air Traffic Services’ changes to Luton Airport flight paths; and if she will make a statement; [203295]
(3) what assessment her Department has made of the objections by the Chilterns Conservation Board to the proposed changes to Luton Airport flight paths; and if she will make a statement; [203328]
(4) what environmental guidance her Department has provided to the National Air Traffic Services and the Civil Aviation Authority on the protection of the tranquillity of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty during the current consultation on the Luton, Heathrow and Stansted airport flight paths. [203329]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It would be premature for the Department to offer comment on any airspace change proposal while it is subject to consultation under the independent Airspace Change Process.
Airspace planning and regulation is the responsibility of the independent. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The process for making changes to airspace is governed by the CAA’s Airspace Change Process. Under this process it is for airspace change sponsors to develop and consult upon proposals. Detailed guidance is given on what impacts are to be taken into account, how they should be measured and who should be consulted.
Informed by the consultation, the airspace change sponsor will submit the proposal to the CAA’s Directorate of Airspace Policy for assessment against regulatory requirements. In determining whether to accept or reject a proposal, the CAA’s process reflects
the Secretary of State’s Directions and Guidance to the CAA on the exercise of its statutory duties and environmental objectives.
Aviation: Exhaust Emissions
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what the specifications are of the National Air Traffic Services model for estimating aircraft emissions; [206743]
(2) what percentage of Terminal Control North movements originated or terminated at UK airports or airfields in the latest period for which figures are available; [206744]
(3) what forecast her Department has made of (a) average daily and (b) the total number of air traffic movements in Terminal Control North airspace in 2014; [206745]
(4) what the (a) average daily and (b) total number of air traffic movements in Terminal Control North airspace was in the latest year for which figures are available; [206746]
(5) what her Department's assessment is of the merits of streaming aircraft arriving into Terminal Control North to obviate holds; [206777]
(6) if her Department will publish the details of the model agreed with National Air Traffic Services for estimating aircraft emissions in respect of the Terminal Control North proposed changes to airspace; [206778]
(7) how population counts under the proposed Terminal Control North aircraft holds have been calculated. [206779]
Jim Fitzpatrick: These are operational matters for NATS, the air navigation service provider, in connection with their ongoing Terminal Control North airspace change consultation under the terms of the independent Civil Aviation Authority's Airspace Change Process. I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his questions today (UIN 205327). I have re-directed other appropriate matters to the chief executive of NATS.
Aviation: Noise
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment her Department has made of the relative perception of aircraft noise in (a) rural areas and (b) urban areas; [205327]
(2) what assessment her Department has made of the viability of routing aircraft bound for Stansted over trunk roads such as the A14 to minimise noise nuisance; [205328]
(3) what assessment her Department has made of the viability of alternating the location of aircraft stacks for Stansted in order to achieve a more equitable distribution of related noise disturbance; [205329]
(4) what assessment her Department has made of the viability of stacking aircraft bound for Stansted over the sea to minimise noise nuisance. [205330]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It would be premature for this Department to offer comment on any airspace change proposal while it is subject to consultation under the independent Airspace Change Process.
Airspace planning and regulation is the responsibility of the independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The process for making changes to airspace is governed by the CAA’s Airspace Change Process. Under this process it is for airspace change sponsors, for example NATS, to develop and consult upon proposals. Detailed CAA guidance (CAP 725) is given on what impacts are to be taken into account, advice on methods to assess the relative impact of changes and who should be consulted. This guidance is available on the CAA’s website.
Informed by the consultation, the airspace change sponsor will submit the proposal to the CAA’s Directorate of Airspace Policy for assessment against regulatory requirements. In determining whether to accept or reject a proposal, the CAA’s process reflects the Secretary of State’s Directions and Guidance to the CAA on the exercise of its statutory duties and environmental objectives. This includes guidance on taking into account the impacts of routes both over heavily populated areas and over rural areas.
Bus Services: Concessions
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will review the funding arrangements of the national bus concessionary fares scheme to ensure that local authorities are not required to meet any local shortfall; and what methodology was used to calculate the grant to travel concession authorities in 2008-09 for the scheme. [207510]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We have no immediate plans to review the current funding arrangements for concessionary travel and remain confident that there is sufficient funding in aggregate to meet the costs of the statutory minimum concession. We will of course be monitoring the impact of the new concession closely.
From 2008-09 the Government are providing additional funding for the new England-wide statutory concession of £212 million, £217 million and £223 million through a special grant. The Department consulted local authorities and others on funding in autumn 2007. Over 200 responses were received. The special grant distribution option chosen was the most popular. The Government are confident that the extra funding is sufficient to meet the total cost to local authorities, as it is based on generous assumptions around fares, pass take-up, extra journeys and additional costs.
The methodology to calculate the special grant was set out in special grant report no. 129, discussed in Parliament on 25 March, and available from the House of Commons Library.
Departmental Data Protection
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any officials in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies were disciplined or dismissed for (i) breaches of data protection requirements and (ii) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [205899]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Central Department (a) recorded a nil response in relation to the above, however our agencies (b) responded as follows:
| (b) Agencies 2005-07 | |
| Number | |
| (1) The Department is unable to provide figures in these instances as fewer than five instances were recorded. In these circumstances, information is withheld in the interests of protection of individuals’ identities. Note: For the same reason, rather than report on 2005, 2006 and 2007 individually, the data has been suppressed into a single period, "2005-07". | |
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Correspondence
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2008, Official Report, columns 1840-41W, on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: correspondence, how many complaints her Department has received about items going missing in the post. [207839]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DVLA records show that the number of complaints received by persons who claim that they have not received an item of post dispatched to them by DVLA is:
| Number | |
| (1) The 2008 figure is for January to March. | |
Driving Offences: Insurance
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what the average fine imposed for the offence of driving without insurance was in the latest period for which figures are available; [207418]
(2) how many people aged (a) under 20, (b) 21 to 30, (c) 31 to 40, (d) 41 to 50 (e) 51 to 60, (f) 61 to 70, (g) 71 to 80 and (h) over 80 years were convicted for driving without insurance in the last three years for which figures are available. [207420]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice relates to the offence of 'use of a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks'. In 2006 (latest available) the average fine imposed for the offence was £185.
The following table provides data on total findings of guilt for the offence by age group of offender from 2004 to 2006 (latest available).
| Findings of guilt at all courts for offences of using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks( 1) , by age group of offender, England and Wales, 2004-06 | |||||||||
| Number of offences | |||||||||
| Age groups | |||||||||
| All ages | 10 to 20 | 21 to 30( 2) | 31 to 40 | 41- to 50 | 51 to 60 | 61 to 70 | 71- to 0 | 81 and over | |
| (1) Offence under section 143(2) Road Traffic Act 1988. (2) Default age of 25 recorded when age not known. Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when these data are used. | |||||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |