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19 Nov 2008 : Column 469W—continued
“Bottom 5-10% of performers—do not receive a bonus and have action taken to address under performance or ongoing poor performance, including the drawing up of a Performance Improvement Plan.”
Public Sector: Procurement
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will incorporate British Standards Institution Standard BS ISO 15686-5 on Standardized Method of Life Cycle Costing for Construction Procurement into public sector procurement of new buildings. [236828]
Angela Eagle:
Government welcome the development of the Standardized Method of Life Cycle Costing for Construction Procurement. Officials from both the Office
of Government Commerce and Defence Estates have also been involved with BSI and others in the development of this work.
Government policy, set out in the HM Treasury Green Book: “Appraisals and Evaluation in Central Government” already requires investment decisions to be made on the basis of value for money over the whole-life of the asset or service.
As the construction industry moves to adopt the standardised approach then that will help all sectors, including Government, to ensure that decision-making is appropriately informed.
Tax Credit: Crosby
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of children in Crosby constituency who have been taken out of poverty by tax credits. [236681]
Mr. Timms: Tax credits play a key role in making work pay and reducing poverty, and have helped to lift 600,000 children out of relative poverty since 1998-99.
Child poverty statistics are not available on a constituency basis, however, estimates of the number of recipient families with tax credits, including the number of children in these families, by constituency, as at 5 April 2008, are available in the HMRC snapshot publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical Analyses. April 2008”. This is available on the HMRC website at:
This shows that 9,700 children in Crosby were benefiting from tax credits in April 2008, though it is not known how many of these have been lifted above the poverty line as a result.
UK Financial Investments
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements he has made for the accountability to Parliament of his Department’s arms-length company, UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI); from what budget UKFI will be funded; and what salary will be paid to (a) the chairperson, (b) the chief executive and (c) each of the non-executive board members. [234604]
Ian Pearson: Annual reports on UKFI’s performance will be laid before Parliament and the chair and chief executive will make themselves available for scrutiny by the relevant parliamentary committees.
UKFI will be funded by HM Treasury which will in due course determine the remuneration packages of the chair, chief executive and non-executive board members.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will appoint non-executive directors from (a) banking trades’ unions, (b) relevant non-governmental organisations and (c) elected politicians as non-executive directors to the board of UK Financial Investments Ltd. [236231]
Ian Pearson:
The Chancellor’s letter of 3 November 2008 to the Chairman of the Treasury Committee announced the appointment of Sir Philip Hampton as
Chair of UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI). Three further non-executive directors will be recruited to the Board of UKFI on the basis of appropriate commercial skill and experience through a process of fair and open competition.
Valuation Office: Information and Communications Technology
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the Valuation Office Agency’s (a) Information Asset Register and (b) E-BAR post-implementation review. [235076]
Mr. Timms: The VOA does not currently hold an Information Asset Register. We are currently reviewing this position and associated use of the Government Information Asset Register (as held by Office of Public Sector Information).
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 1 September 2008, Official Report, column 1429W. The post-implementation review is already in the Library.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer Question 228544, on pension funds, tabled by the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire on 15 October 2008. [236729]
Ian Pearson: I have now done so and very much regret not having been in a position to do so earlier.
Scotland
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) work for and (b) provide assistance to his Department. [236644]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office employs two full-time press officers, a Chief Press Officer based in Edinburgh and a Press Officer based in London.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) page hits and (b) visitors his departmental website received in 2007-08. [236645]
Ann McKechin: Between March 2007 and April 2008, the Scotland Office website received 350,006 page hits and 94,714 visitors.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost of maintaining his departmental website was in 2007-08; and what it is expected to be in 2008-09. [236646]
Ann McKechin:
Between March 2007 and April 2008, the cost of hosting the Scotland Office website was £550 and the cost of routine maintenance was £2,440. In the
period 2008-09, the hosting cost is expected to be £1,700. This is due to the adoption of a new hosting contract that will enable the content management of the website to be brought in-house. The routine maintenance costs for 2008-09 are therefore expected to be minimal.
Departmental NDPBs
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the remit is of each non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department; and what budget each has been set for (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [236931]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office sponsors the Boundary Commission for Scotland, a small advisory non-departmental public body responsible for reviews of:
constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament;
constituencies in Scotland for the Westminster Parliament.
The Commission's budget for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 is set out in the Scotland Office 2008 annual report which is available on the Scotland Office website.
Further information about the Commission can be found on its website:
Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre: Children
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he plans to make an announcement on the details of an alternative to detention for children at Dungavel. [235996]
Ann McKechin: On Thursday 23 October my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that the UK Border Agency, working with the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council the Scottish Refugee Council and other partners, is going ahead with an alternatives to detention pilot based in Glasgow. The pilot is due to commence in early 2009 and run for an initial 18-month period, although this will kept under review when the pilot commences.
Women and Equality
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mrs. May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many official receptions have been hosted by the Government Equalities Office since its creation; what the cost was of each reception; and who attended each reception. [235474]
Maria Eagle: Since its creation on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has hosted nine official receptions.
I refer the right hon. Member to a previous response on 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 4W, which lists details up to and including February 2008. Details of the four receptions since February are listed as follows:
| Reception | Date | Cost (£) |
|
Launch of a Framework for a Fairer Future (The Equality Bill) | ||
All figures are inclusive of VAT.
Lists of those attending these receptions will be placed in the Commons Library. This will be subject to data protection requirements.
Wales
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on hotel bills in 2007-08. [237143]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department is split over two sites with a requirement that some staff have to attend meetings in both London and Cardiff as well as supporting Ministers visiting different parts of Wales. For the year 2007-08, £26,879 was spent on hotels.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Loans
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on banks lending to farmers. [237199]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 18 November 2008]: DEFRA has not received any recent formal representations about banks lending to farmers. The issue has, on occasion, been informally raised by farming representatives at meetings, but I am not aware of any current concerns and my officials will remain in touch with the sector should any problems arise.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many holdings claimed payments under the single payment scheme not exceeding 250 euros or equivalent in the last year for which figures are available. [230704]
Jane Kennedy: The Rural Payments Agency is the accredited paying agency for the common agricultural policy within England and, as such, does not hold equivalent information for single payment scheme (SPS) claimants in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The latest information available for English SPS claimants in 2007 shows that there were 7,475 claims with a value less than €250.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what value of payments were made under the single payment scheme in each of the last three years, broken down by claims (a) not exceeding £1, (b) between £1 and £100, (c) between £100 and £1,000, (d) between £1,000 and £10,000, (e) between £10,000 and £50,000, (f) between £50,000 and £100,000, (g) between £100,000 and £250,000, (h) between £250,000 and £500,000, (i) between £500,000 and £1,000,000, (j) between £1,000,000 and £2,000,000 and (k) more than £2,000,000. [230705]
Jane Kennedy: The Rural Payments Agency is the accredited paying agency for the common agricultural policy within England and, as such, does not hold information for single payment scheme (SPS) claimants in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The following table shows the payments, made by value groups, in England in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | ||||
| Value group | Number | £ | Number | £ | Number | £ |
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