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30 Jun 2008 : Column 707W—continued
EU: Finance
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the end location of money underspent within the EU budget since 1997; what the sum was in each year; and whether any overspend was returned to the Exchequer. [214163]
Kitty Ussher: Any budget surplus from one year’s EC Budget is entered as revenue in the following year’s Budget by means of an amending Budget for that year. Since 1997 the surpluses which have been returned in the following year have been as follows:
| € billion | |
The return of these surpluses in the following year serve to reduce member states contributions in that year by a reduction in their respective GNI-based contributions. The UK would therefore have seen a reduction in its contribution in line with its GNI share in each instance.
Financial Services
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when he plans to publish the Financial Capability Action Plan; [213957]
(2) when he plans to publish details of the Thoresen Review Pathfinder. [213956]
Kitty Ussher: The Government will publish the Financial Capability Action Plan, jointly with the Financial Services Authority, in July. The Action Plan will include further detail on the Money Guidance Pathfinder.
London and Continental Railways: Finance
Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse has been of support to London and Continental Railways by means of (a) public expenditure and (b) the granting of Government guarantees. [186904]
Yvette Cooper: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced in February 2006 that London and Continental Railways (LCR) would be classified as a public sector corporation. This was backdated to 1999. As such LCR’s net financial position is treated as public expenditure, and scores against the Department for Transport’s departmental expenditure limit. To date, expenditure by the company has scored as £5,828 million within capital budgets and £2,022 million within current budgets. The departmental expenditure limit has not been increased to accommodate LCR costs.
Much of the cash flow for LCR’s expenditure is funded through external borrowing, of which some has been backed by government guarantees. These guarantees have been reported to Parliament as contingent liabilities and recorded in the Resource Accounts of the Department for Transport on the same basis as UKGAAP.
Contingent liabilities are defined as being contingent on an event, or a set of events, whose likelihood of occurring has been accepted by independent auditors as being remote.
Minimum Wage
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green of 20 June 2008, Official Report, column 1202W, on the minimum wage, how many people were found to be paid below the minimum wage in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority. [214593]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC do not hold national minimum wage statistical data by reference to local authority.
Office of Government Commerce: Contracts
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what circumstances potential bidders for Office of Government Commerce contracts are required to pre-qualify for the award of any such contracts. [214763]
Angela Eagle: The Public Contracts Regulations regulates the procurement procedures to be followed by the Office of Government Commerce and OGCbuying.Solutions where the value of the requirement exceeds certain thresholds, starting at £90,319. These regulations include a selection stage that sets out certain pre-qualification information which purchasing authorities may seek from prospective tenderers, such as the candidate company’s legal status, their financial standing and technical capacity and capability to undertake the contract.
Most public procurements will follow a two-stage process whereby purchasers will assess the pre-qualification information provided by companies in order to determine those suitable to proceed to the tender stage of the procurement.
Poynter Review
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish the final report of the Poynter Review of data security. [214760]
Jane Kennedy: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer did so on 25 June. A copy is available in the Library of the House.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to publish the factual paper on the Barnett formula. [214759]
Yvette Cooper: No decision has been made yet on the date of publication.
Revenue and Customs: Chorley
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct HM Revenue and Customs to postpone the closure of Chorley HM Revenue and Customs to allow for the formulation of a business case for remaining open. [212284]
Jane Kennedy: My answer to my hon. Friend of 13 June 2008, Official Report, column 615W, explained that the decision to close the Chorley office was taken, following an eight week consultation exercise which allowed staff, unions and key external stakeholders ample opportunity to comment on the proposals. HMRC do not have a business reason to retain the office and therefore have no plans to postpone the closure. The inquiry centre will be maintained either in the current building or nearby.
Revenue and Customs: Closures
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much it is expected will be saved by closing Truro tax office. [213623]
Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have too much office space and are engaged in a review programme to decide which offices should be retained as best suiting its future business needs. The two HMRC offices in Truro have been grouped in a cluster for review purposes with those in Falmouth, Redruth and St. Austell, and proposals were published on 11 June 2008. Both Truro offices have been proposed for vacation, but final decisions are not expected until later this year. Detailed feasibility work on how much HMRC might expect to save by the proposals is still at an early stage, but potential estate cost savings alone are estimated to be in the region of £180,000 per year.
Revenue and Customs: Data Protection
David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will establish a page on his Department's website to chart HM Revenue and Customs' progress in implementing the recommendations of the Poynter Review of information security. [215282]
Jane Kennedy: HMRC's current progress with implementing the Poynter Report recommendations is detailed at Section XV of the report, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Subsequent progress on data security will be reported in HMRC's Departmental Report and Accounts, in this, and future years with copies posted on the HMRC website.
Revenue and Customs: Operating Costs
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the operating costs of each tax office in Cornwall were in 2007-08. [212598]
Jane Kennedy: The accommodation running costs for HMRC’s estate in Cornwall as a whole were £1,612,601 in 2007-08. This is comprised of building rent, business rates, service and utility costs for its seven properties in the county, namely, Penhaligon House, St. Austell, Piran House, Redruth, Penlowarth, Penzance, Lysnoweth and Pydar House, Truro, Madford House, Launceston and Custom House, Falmouth.
A specific breakdown for each office cannot be supplied for reasons of commercial sensitivity relating to the accommodation and facility contract between HMRC and its estate partner, Mapeley.
Revenue and Customs: Scotland
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor organisations spent on their buildings in Scotland in each year since 1997. [213087]
Jane Kennedy: Expenditure details prior to April 2005 and the creation of HM Revenue and Customs are not available other than at disproportionate cost. HM Revenue and Customs' fixed accommodation cash running costs on its office buildings in Scotland for the last three years was:
| Cash cost (net of VAT) (£) | |
These costs are made up of the PFI unitary charge for the provision of the serviced accommodation in PFI properties, rent and landlord service charge for non-PFI properties, facilities management costs (the provision of soft services, e.g. security and cleaning), business rates and utilities. These figures are gross of the cost of other Government Departments' minor occupation of HMRC's office buildings in Scotland.
Television
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on (a) commissioning and (b) funding the production of television programmes (i) in each of the last three years and (ii) in 2008-09 to date; what programmes these were; and which companies made them. [213552]
Angela Eagle: The Treasury has not commissioned or funded the production of any television programmes in the last three years or during 2008-09 to date.
Wood
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much timber and timber products were procured by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what cost; [213710]
(2) how much timber and timber products were procured by his Department originating from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed FLEGT partner in each of the last five years; and at what cost. [213711]
Angela Eagle: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Treasury actively seeks to buy all wood and wood products (including furniture) from legal and sustainable sources.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many penalty notices for disorder in relation to the sale of alcohol to a person under 18 years of age were issued in (a) England and Wales and (b) each police force area in each year since 2004; how many of these resulted in an unpaid fine in each area, and what the average fine levied was. [200477]
Mr. Coaker: The number of persons issued with a penalty notice for disorder (PND) for the offence of selling alcohol to a person under 18 years of age in each year since 2004 in (a) England and Wales and (b) by police force area can be viewed in the following table. The table also includes the number of PNDs not paid by the end of statutory enforcement period, which were registered as fines (a) in England and Wales and (b) by police force area.
The offence attracts an £80 penalty. Where the offender either fails to pay the penalty or opts for a court hearing, a fine of one and half times the penalty amount (£120) is registered against them.
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