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20 Nov 2008 : Column 682W—continued
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent press officers (a) work and (b) provide assistance to his Department. [237150]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 6 November 2008, Official Report, column 680W.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many page hits from how many visitors his Department’s website received in 2007-08. [237151]
Angela Eagle: In 2007-08 18,686,268 pages were viewed by 3,174,007 visitors to:
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of maintaining his Department's website was in 2007-08; and what the forecast costs for maintaining websites within his responsibility are for the 2008-09 financial year. [237152]
Angela Eagle: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 13 November 2008, Official Report, column 1312W, on website costs.
The forecast costs for maintaining websites within the Chancellor's responsibility in 2008-09 are as follows:
| Website address | Forecast costs 2008-09 (£) |
| (1) Unavailable | |
Until November the following sites were hosted on a shared server at a forecasted cost of £9,289. In November the sites were transferred to the servers which host the main website and costs are absorbed by the main site. The following table shows any additional forecast maintenance costs:
| £ | |
Maintenance costs includes direct costs, for example web hosting, support, and infrastructure.
Staff costs are not included in the forecast as they could be established only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Liability
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what dates in each of the last five years his Department informed the House of the creation of contingent liabilities relating to his Department or its non-departmental public bodies. [232722]
Angela Eagle: Details of contingent liabilities and related Treasury Minutes can be found in the Contingent Assets and Liabilities note to the relevant years’ Resource Accounts. Copies of the Treasury’s Resource Accounts are available from:
Departmental NDPBs
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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. [236934]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury does not sponsor any non-departmental public bodies.
The remit and projected budgets for the organisations that make up the Treasury Group can be found in the Treasury’s Annual Report: 2007-08. Copies of the Annual Report can be found on the Treasury’s website and in Parliament’s Library.
Members: Correspondence
John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letters of 31 July and 8 September 2008 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of his constituent, Alex Layard. [237919]
Mr. Timms: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Non-Domestic Rates: Empty Property
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2008, Official Report, column 1988W, on empty property: regeneration, whether his Department has received representations from urban regeneration companies on the effect of increases in empty property business rates since that Answer was given. [235106]
Angela Eagle: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government’s practice to provide details of such representations.
Revenue and Customs: Databases
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, columns 103-4W, on Revenue and Customs: databases, what personal details are held on the central frameworks database. [237508]
Mr. Timms: Personal attributes held for individuals are:
NINO-national insurance number;
Surname
First Name;
Second Forename;
Initials;
Title;
Honours;
Sex;
Date of Birth;
Date of Death;
Address.
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, columns 103-4W, on Revenue and Customs: databases, what guidelines there are on (a) the addition of an individual's personal details to and (b) the confidentiality of records held on the central frameworks database. [237509]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs is statutorily obliged to safeguard personal information and all staff have a responsibility for data security, with a view to ensuring that personal details are only made available to those legally entitled to them.
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, columns 103-4W, on Revenue and Customs: databases, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of maintaining the central frameworks database. [237510]
Mr. Timms: The service charges for the 2007-08 financial year were £7.5 million.
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, columns 103-4W, on Revenue and Customs: databases, what the definition is of a business need required to allow staff access to the Taxpayer Business Service. [237511]
Mr. Timms: In the context of the Taxpayer Business Service, a business need is defined as a purpose which is connected solely, and wholly, to matters for which H.M. Revenue and Customs has statutory responsibility.
Revenue and Customs: South West
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the proposed closure of the Penzance HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office upon (a) net average incomes in the area, (b) HMRC’s services to the public, (c) the cost of accommodation in the area, (d) HMRC relocation costs and expenses and (e) the local economy; and what other effects his Department has assessed. [237089]
Mr. Timms: HMRC has reviewed all its accommodation to align it to future business requirements, and thereby create efficiency savings and reduce overall accommodation costs. It has proposed closing the Penzance office because, with the exception of the inquiry centre offering face to face advice to HMRC customers, the business units which are currently represented there can operate more efficiently by consolidating in fewer locations. No final decision has yet been taken on the future of the Penzance office.
If the office were to close, HMRC expects most staff to relocate to another office within reasonable daily travel. They would be given help with any additional travelling expenses. There would thus be little effect either on net average incomes or on the local economy.
Whatever the decision on the future of the Penzance office, HMRC services to the public will be unaffected as the inquiry centre services will remain in Penzance and will be staffed according to customer demand.
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the 21 HM Revenue and Customs offices in the Government office of the South West region which are to be closed or substantially closed under the Workforce Change proposals are (a) leased from Mapeley, (b) leased from another landlord and (c) owned by the Government; how many years remain on the lease of each relevant office; what costs or penalties will be incurred for bringing the lease to an early termination in each relevant case; and what assessment he has made of whether each such office is capable of being used for another purpose for the duration of the lease. [237090]
Mr. Timms: Of the 21 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offices identified for possible full or part closure by the Workforce Change proposals:
(a) 17 are included in its strategic transfer of the estate to the private sector (STEPS) contract with its estate partner, Mapeley;
(b) no offices are leased from another landlord; and
(c) four are locations where HMRC occupies space by arrangement with other Government Departments.
HMRC occupies the properties under the terms of the STEPS contract rather than by the terms of a traditional lease. This contract expires on 31 March 2021, but HMRC will be able to continue to occupy beyond this date and also has flexibility within the contract to vacate properties prior to this expiry date.
If, as it intends, HMRC makes use of the contract’s flexibility allowances to vacate properties, its liability under the terms of the contract will terminate in line with its vacation. With that level of flexibility to exploit in the contract, there is no requirement to consider alternative purposes.
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely (a) cost and (b) savings associated with contracts for the lease of office premises resulting from the HM Revenue and Customs Workforce Change proposals for the Government Office of the South West. [237093]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) work force change proposals for the south-west relate to office premises that are either held by inter-departmental (non-lease) arrangements with other Departments or are held under its 20-year STEPS (strategic transfer of the estate to the private sector) contract with its estates partner, Mapeley, which commenced in 2001. Instead of contracts for lease for these premises, HMRC occupies space under the terms of this contract. The STEPS contract provides HMRC with the flexibility to reduce a proportion of its estates holding without penalty subject to a notice period (usually 12 months). HMRC intends to fully utilise this flexibility to achieve office vacations at nil cost where possible to support the work force change proposals. An assessment of whether possible exit costs may be incurred, whether in the south-west or elsewhere, is dependent on the timing of the specific vacation and will be considered as part of HMRC's wider UK proposals as decisions are taken to vacate properties.
In the event that the proposals for the south-west are implemented, HMRC estimates that the resultant estates running costs savings would be approximately £3,991,000 per annum.
Health
Asbestos: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people required treatment for asbestos-related conditions in Tamworth constituency in each year since 1997. [237325]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
Departmental Internet
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for which Government websites his Department is responsible; how many visitors each received in the last period for which figures are available; and what the cost of maintaining each site was in that period. [235032]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has ownership of two main websites. They are:
1. Department of Health website:
Number of unique visitors: April 2007 to March 2008
Department of Health website: 10,445,831
NHS Choices: 11,766,137
Costs of maintaining these two sites: April 20 07 to March 20 08
Department of Health website: £1.169 million
NHS Choices: £5.13 million
The NHS Choices service, which incorporates the original www.nhs.uk site, was launched in June 2007. NHS Choices is a new service for communicating with citizens and stakeholders in healthcare, health improvement and social care, the public and the media.
The Department has signed a contract with Capita plc to drive forward the NHS Choices service for the next three years. This investment demonstrates the Department of Health's commitment to secure the ongoing delivery and development of NHS/Department of Health digital services to the public. This contract is valued at £60 million-£80 million for the three years.
NHS Choices has increased rapidly since its introduction, with recorded visits in excess of three million for October 2008.
In addition to the two main websites above, the Department currently funds and/or manages a further 99 websites.
The Department is actively engaged in reducing this number of websites, in accordance with the guidelines and timescales set for website rationalisation under Transformational Government. By the end of this project in 2011, all 99 websites will have been closed.
To gather visitor figures and maintenance costs for these 99 would incur disproportionate costs.
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