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7 Oct 2008 : Column 593W—continued
Minimum Wage
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many prosecutions have been brought against employers for breach of national minimum wage legislation in the last 12 months; and how many of those cases related to employers in (a) Wakefield district and (b) Hemsworth constituency. [221753]
Mr. Timms: Since 1 August 2007, there have been five successful prosecutions for minimum wage offences. HMRC does not maintain statistics at district or constituency level.
Minimum Wage: Hampshire
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many fines have been issued to employers for paying employees at rates below the national minimum wage in (a) Southampton and (b) the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire. [222292]
Mr. Timms: HMRC does not hold statistics based on town or county locations.
Minimum Wage: West Yorkshire
Colin Burgon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps HM Revenue and Customs has taken to ensure effective enforcement of the minimum wage in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) Leeds. [222758]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs does not record activity by reference to the areas specified in the question.
Non-domestic Rates: Ports
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether an impact assessment has been produced in relation to the Valuation Office Agency's decision to (a) increase business rates on port and shipping companies and (b) backdate the higher rateable values. [224525]
Mr. Timms: The regulatory changes in relation to ports introduced from 1 April 2005 concerned the valuation basis on which the statutory designated port operators' occupations are assessed (moving from a “formula” to a “conventional” basis). They did not change the law regarding what should or should not be separately assessed, under which the present action is being taken.
Valuation officers have no discretion over the effective date from which alterations in assessment take place, which is prescribed by separate regulation of general application. The valuation officers are simply discharging their normal functions, so no impact assessment has been undertaken by or on behalf of HM Treasury.
Northern Rock: Nationalisation
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse of nationalising Northern Rock has been to date. [221719]
Mr. Timms: Financial information related to Northern Rock is given in the HM Treasury's resource accounts 2007-08, published on 16 July 2008. This is available at the Treasury website:
Pensions: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cash equivalent transfer value of pensions accrued by (a) special advisers and (b) press officers in Government; and if he will make a statement. [224257]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Under the Model Contract for Special Advisers, special advisers appointed from October 2002 are entitled to the same pension choices as civil servants. Civil servants, including departmental press officers, have the choice of joining the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) or opting for a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Copies of the Model Contract and the rules of the PCSPS are available in the Libraries of the House.
Powers of Entry
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers of entry are exercisable by representatives of (a) the Valuation Office Agency and (b) HM Revenue and Customs under (i) primary and (ii) secondary legislation. [222696]
Mr. Timms: Powers exercisable by (a) the Valuation Office Agency are contained in primary legislation. For council tax these are contained in section 26 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. They do not extend to forcible entry. For other functions of the Valuation Office Agency I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 1037W.
Powers exercisable by (b) HM Revenue and Customs (of which VOA is an agency) are contained in primary and secondary legislation. HMRC has a wide range of responsibilities across a number of functions ranging from administration of tax and duties, enforcement of prohibitions and restrictions through to criminal offences. Within HMRC powers of entry are only used within the limits of a particular function and when it is proportionate and reasonable to do so. The main powers exercisable by HMRC (other than those listed elsewhere as exercisable by the VOA) are shown in the following table.
The Home Office is leading a review of powers of entry across all Government Departments and in which HMRC is engaged. The latest findings can be found at
Private Finance Initiative
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of which private finance initiative projects the obligations on either party have not been met, leading to (a) contract renegotiation and (b) contract failure followed by project reversion to public control. [224456]
Yvette Cooper: In all cases but one, the National Physical Laboratory, the failure of either party to meet its obligations under the private finance initiative has led to contract re-registration or reversion to public ownership.
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the capital liabilities in respect of private finance initiative contracts were in each year since 1990-91, broken down by Department. [224471]
Yvette Cooper: The full list of all signed PFI projects can be found on HM Treasury's website at:
For each PFI project, this list details the project name, the capital value, the constituency and the procuring authority.
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the public sector pension deficit is if calculated using a discount rate based on index-linked gilts; and what rate was used for the most recent calculation of the deficit. [224505]
Yvette Cooper: As page 38 of the Long Term Public Finance Report published on 12 March 2008 explains, the key actuarial assumptions used to value the liabilities of individual schemes, such as discount rates, are set out in the relevant reports by the scheme actuary as reported in individual scheme resource accounts. Applying different discount rates would produce different estimates of the total liability but this would not affect the size of future actual cash payments to pensioners. Further information on the liabilities for individual pension schemes is available in the individual scheme resource accounts.
Revenue and Customs
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cost of employing each member of staff in the compliance department of HM Revenue and Customs was in the last financial year. [222615]
Mr. Timms: The latest available cost figures are for 2006-07. In this year the average cost per member of compliance staff(1) was £37,600.
(1) Included are Local Compliance, National Teams and Special Civil Investigations, Stamps Tax, Charity Assets and Residence and Large Business Service.
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average yield produced by each member of staff in the compliance department at HM Revenue and Customs was in the last financial year. [222616]
Mr. Timms: The latest available yield figures are for 2006-07. In this year the average yield per member of compliance staff(1) was around £680,000.
(1) Included are Local Compliance, National Teams and Special Civil Investigations, Stamps Tax, Charity Assets and Residence and Large Business Service.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many tax payers resident in Scotland are attached to Inland Revenue Centre 1, Glasgow; [224308]
(2) how many tax payers resident outside Scotland are attached to Inland Revenue centres outside of Scotland; [224309]
Mr. Timms: Information on taxpayer numbers is available on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income tax/menu.htm
The total number of taxpayers is shown in Table 2.1: ‘Number of individual income taxpayers’. Estimates of the number of taxpayers resident in Scotland can be found in Table 2:2 ‘Number of individual income taxpayers by country and region’.
Revenue and Customs: Art Works
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on works of art in each HM Revenue and Customs office in the last 12 months. [223974]
Mr. Timms: Nothing, according to HMRC’s records.
Revenue and Customs: Buildings
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had on (a) the future of the Mapeley STEPS Ltd estate and (b) the reorganisation of HM Revenue and Customs offices. [221859]
Mr. Timms: The Minister responsible for HM Revenue and Customs has frequent discussions on these issues, and many other departmental issues and keeps the Chancellor of the Exchequer informed on a regular basis.
Revenue and Customs: Correspondence
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the number of letters received by each HM Revenue and Customs office where processing has not yet been concluded. [224258]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 17 September 2008]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has received over 25 million items of post (letters and forms) from customers in the last 12 months.
As at end of August 2008, HMRC estimates that there were approximately 1.2 million items of post due to be processed, which represents approximately two weeks worth of post received.
This is within HMRC’s normal expectation for this time of year and reflects the fact that volumes of work outstanding are affected by seasonal demands.
This information is not held by individual HMRC offices.
Revenue and Customs: Scotland
Mr. Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial savings he expects to accrue from the closure of the HM Revenue and Customs offices in (a) Hawick and (b) Galashiels, broken down by (i) financial year and (ii) each category of expense representing five per cent. or more of the total savings in each year. [222818]
Mr. Timms: No final decision has been taken to close the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offices at Hawick and Galashiels. HMRC announced proposals for the possible closure of both offices on 11 June 2008 and, as part of their normal commitment to consultation with stakeholders including staff and customers, have invited feedback. I expect to take decisions on these and other proposals based on HMRC’s recommendations following feedback from the consultation exercise and after detailed feasibility work has been carried out by them. Estates financial savings are neither the sole nor the primary factor in making those decisions.
Overall, estates savings in Scotland in the period 2007-08 to 2011-12 are currently estimated at around £23.8 million. HMRC is unable to disclose the financial savings from closure of individual buildings because the release of this information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of HMRC’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) accommodation partners and to impact upon wider aspects of the way in which PFIs operate in the Department and in the wider Government.
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