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30 Jun 2008 : Column 702W—continued
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a list of the benefits and payments made available by his Department and the conditions required to claim each of those benefits and payments. [211775]
Mr. Plaskitt: To place the comprehensive and detailed information requested in the Library would incur disproportionate cost.
However, information about all the Department's services, including the qualifying conditions for benefits and payments and the level of entitlements, is made generally available in a wide range of formats. For instance Directgov (www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm) provides a ‘beginner’s guide to benefits’, including guides to enable customers to work out if they are able to get any state benefit assistance particularly if they are sick, have a low income or dependent children; an overview of the benefits system, including how payments are made and how to make a claim; and changes that affect benefits.
Comprehensive and detailed information concerning the legal requirements for entitlement to benefits and payments is set out in the law relating to social security which is available in the Library and online at:
State Retirement Pensions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basic state pension was as a percentage of average earnings in each year since 1978. [207203]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 22 May 2008]: The information requested is already published in the “Annual Abstract of Statistics”, in Table 5.1 at the link:
Student: Sight Impaired
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people affected by changes in the rules governing the funding of the VIEW national diploma for piano tuners; [211949]
(2) how many blind applicants to courses leading to the VIEW national diploma for piano tuners there were in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008; what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to funding arrangements on take-up of diploma courses; and if he will make a statement. [211953]
Mrs. McGuire: We do not believe that anyone has been adversely affected by the changes. Information about the number of applicants to courses leading to the VIEW national diploma for piano tuners is not available as figures are not available broken down by course.
Information about the number of customers starting the VIEW national diploma for piano tuners is in the table.
| Number of customers starting the VIEW national diploma for piano tuners | |
| April to March each year | Number of starts on the programme |
Residential training, as with other specialist disability employment programmes, is kept under regular review through the contract management process. We work closely with all colleges to carefully assess the overall impact of recent contractual changes and agree suitable ways forward.
Taylor Nelson Sofres
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value of contracts awarded to Taylor Nelson Sofres by his Department was in each year since 1997. [201662]
Mrs. McGuire: Information from 1997 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
However, since 2003 my Department has awarded the following contracts to Taylor Nelson Sofres.
Treasury
Block Grant: Northern Ireland
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list any proposed changes to the block grant arrangements for Northern Ireland following recent discussions between the Government, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin. [213119]
Yvette Cooper: There are no proposed changes to the block grant arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Child Tax Credit
Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on child poverty of extending the current baby addition element to children (a) under two years and (b) under five years. [211252]
Jane Kennedy: Extending the baby addition element of the child tax credit to families with one or more children under two, would lift around 50,000 out of poverty, at a cost of around £300 million a year.
Extending the baby addition element of the child tax credit to families with one or more children under five, would lift around 100,000 children out of poverty, at a cost of around £1 billion a year.
Child Tax Credit Helpline
Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints the Child Tax Credits Helpline received in each quarter in each of the last five years; and what the ratio of complaints to new cases was in each such period. [206919]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 21 May 2008]: HMRC operates the tax credits helpline. This covers both child tax credit and working tax credit. I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 4 September 2006, Official Report, column 2004W, which detailed the number of complaints received about the tax credits helpline in each quarter to 31 March 2006. The following table provides the figures for the year to 31 March 2007.
| Quarter | 2006-07 |
For the year ended 31 March 2008 figures are available only at disproportionate cost.
The figure for the number of new tax credits claims received that have gone on to successful awards in each quarter is:
| Quarter | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Figures for the year 2003-04 are not available.
Crime: Computers
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of electronic crime to the UK economy in the last 12 months. [212699]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
While there are data on aspects of the problem, there is no central estimate of the cost of cybercrime to the economy in 2007-08.
APACS, the UK’s financial association have made estimates on the cost of fraud committed online born by the financial institutions. The most recently published APACS figures (March 2008) for card not present fraud (CNP) show that in 2007 £223.8 million of CNP losses took place over the internet. This accounts for 77 per cent. of total CNP losses and is an increase of 45 per cent. from 2006. APACS figures also show that in 2007 total losses for online banking fraud were £22.6 million, a decrease of 33 per cent. from the previous year.
Departmental Buildings
Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on which buildings occupied by his Department’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies the lease will be due for renewal in the next four years. [214708]
Angela Eagle: Leases on areas occupied by Treasury agencies and non-departmental public bodies in the following buildings will expire during the next four years:
Rosebery Court, Norwich
Royal Liver Building, Liverpool
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs his Department expects to relocate under the policy of civil service job dispersal. [213411]
Angela Eagle: Following the Lyons Review in 2004, the Treasury Group committed to relocate 26.5 posts by 2007-08. This target was achieved by March 2007. Since then a further 11.5 posts have been relocated.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2008, Official Report, column 38W, on departmental pay, what the minimum and maximum of each pay range listed are. [214746]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the information published on 27 February 2008, Official Report, columns 1635-38W.
The revised information for the senior civil service with effect from 1 April 2008 is as follows:
| Pay range (£) at 1 April 2008 | ||
| Pay band | Minimum | Recruitments performance ceiling |
| Pay range (£) at 1 April 2008 | ||
| Minimum | Maximum | |
In addition the Treasury pays a London allowance of £2,000 to those in pay band 1.
Departmental Retirement
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the standard retirement age in his Department is; and how many people worked beyond the standard retirement age in each of the last five years. [214123]
Angela Eagle: The mandatory retirement age in the Treasury is 65. Before the change in legislation in October 2006 the mandatory retirement age was 60. We have received no applications to work beyond the mandatory retirement age in each of the last five years.
Departmental Secondment
Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what procedures his Department uses to ensure equal opportunities in relation to staff secondments to the Department. [214709]
Angela Eagle: The Treasury’s commitment to equal opportunities applies equally to staff seconded into the organisation as to permanent staff. All secondees are required to complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form, specific details from which feed into the HR management information which is used to monitor trends and for reporting purposes.
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees of (a) his Department and (b)
its agencies in (i) the Senior Civil Service and (ii) other Civil Service grades are (A) located in and (B) seconded to the Department for Children, Schools and Families. [214748]
Angela Eagle: The number of employees currently (A) located in and (B) seconded to the Department for Children, Schools and Families can be found in the following table:
| Senior civil service | Other civil service grades | |
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