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25 Nov 2008 : Column 1330W—continued
Private Equity: Taxation
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what taxation is applied by HM Revenue and Customs to profits on carried interests of individuals working in the private equity industry. [238567]
Mr. Timms: There is no specific tax treatment that applies to individuals working in private equity firms. The tax treatment of carried interest is prescribed by legislation on employment-related securities and applies to all individuals in receipt of these, not just to individuals working in the private equity industry.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what evaluation he has made of the effect on local economies of increases in public spending. [238480]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury has not undertaken work to evaluate the effects of public spending at a local level. This is because total public spending data are not disaggregated to a local level.
Racial Harassment
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints of racial abuse relating to staff for which his Department is responsible have been (a) investigated and (b) upheld in the last 12 months. [236907]
Angela Eagle: The procedures for investigating complaints of racial abuse have been initiated less than five times in the last 12 months, I am not able to give the precise numbers on the grounds of confidentiality.
Revenue and Customs: Manpower
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) Civil Service staff and (b) senior Civil Service staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs when it was formed in 2005. [238725]
Mr. Timms: The first staff in post figures for the merged Department were produced on 30 April 2005. HMRC was formed on 18 April 2005.
The total civil service staff in post for HM Revenue and Customs (including the senior civil service at that point was 104,696 headcount (97,046 full-time equivalent.)
The number of senior civil service staff in post at that point was 407 headcount (401 FTE.)
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) Civil Service staff and (b) senior Civil Service staff were employed by HM Revenue and Customs on 31st October 2008. [238726]
Mr. Timms: At 31 October 2008 the HM Revenue and Customs staff in post figures were:
Civil service staff (including the SCS) numbered 88,295 headcount (81,055 full-time equivalent); and
Senior civil staff numbered 413 headcount.
Tax Avoidance
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) tax avoidance schemes and (b) tax avoided by individuals (i) artificially converting income into capital gains and (ii) taking bonuses not in cash but in instruments subject to capital gains tax when sold over the period 1997-98 to 2007-08. [238566]
Mr. Timms: The only estimates the Government have made of the cost to the public purse of direct tax avoidance schemes during the period since 1997-98 are contained in a paper published in March 2008 that set out analysis from 2005 that attempted to derive broad-brush estimates of the direct tax gap at the start of the current decade. The HMRC paper ‘Measuring the “tax gap”—an update’
Tax Avoidance: Research
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research his Department has commissioned since 1997-98 on the potential cost to the public purse of (a) tax avoidance schemes and (b) tax avoided by individuals (i) artificially converting income into capital gains and (ii) taking bonuses not in cash but in instruments subject to capital gains tax; what the conclusions were of such research; and if he will make a statement. [238756]
Mr. Timms: Neither HM Treasury nor HMRC have commissioned any such research.
Valuation Office
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the Valuation Office Agency’s most recent Central Memorandum of Agreement. [235143]
Mr. Timms: A copy of the 2008-09 Valuation Office Agency’s Central Memorandum of Agreement (IT), has been placed in the Library.
Valuation Office: Databases
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 6 November 2008, Official Report, column 684W, on Valuation Office: databases, whether the database alignment exercise is being conducted with the support of external consultants. [236021]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
Valuation: Information and Communications Technology
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much expenditure has been incurred on the Valuation Office Agency’s Automated Valuation Model, including expenditure on contracts with external suppliers, to date. [235078]
Mr. Timms: To 30 September 2008 (the latest date for which figures are available), the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has spent approximately £13.1 million (excluding VAT) on its use of Automated Valuation Modelling (AVM) technology to support a range of its activities. The figure does not include staffing costs, which are not recorded separately.
Culture, Media and Sport
Alcoholic Drinks: Licensing
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2008, Official Report, column 1090W, on alcoholic drinks: licensing, how many premises licences authorising the sale or supply of alcohol there were in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 after figures were scaled up to national totals for England and Wales. [238731]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The most recent DCMS Statistical Bulletin on Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment reports, as at 31 March 2007, there were around 155,200 premises licences authorising the sale or supply of alcohol (32,800 on-sale only; 44,500 off-sales only; and 77,900 with both on and off-sales of alcohol) for England and Wales, after figures were scaled up to national totals.
As at 31 March 2008, there were around 162,300 premises licences authorising the sale or supply of alcohol (34,600 on-sale only; 47,000 off-sales only; and 80,800 with both on and off-sales of alcohol) for England and Wales, after figures were scaled up to national totals.
Arts
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Arts Council has taken to implement the objectives of the Creative Economy Programme. [227185]
Barbara Follett: Arts Council England is currently working with its national and regional offices to draft a delivery plan which will identify areas of activity that will contribute to its commitment to help deliver the objectives of the Creative Economy Programme. These will be aligned with their future work and will support Arts Council England's mission of great art for everyone. Arts Council England will finalise this plan in January 2009, which will include £6 million towards the find your talent pilots, encouraging the take-up of apprenticeships amongst its regularly funded organisations, and its contribution to skills development in the creative sectors.
Big Lottery Fund: Public Relations
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what public relations services were provided to the Big Lottery Fund by Cake in each of the last three years; and what the total cost was in each year. [238031]
Barbara Follett: The Big Lottery Fund have advised that Cake provided the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) with PR campaign support specifically for the one-off People's £50 million ITV public vote programme, which took place in 2007-08.
| Financial year | Cost (£) |
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which organisations provided the Big Lottery Fund with public relations services in each of the last five years; and how much the Big Lottery Fund spent on public relations in each year. [238032]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 24 November 2008]: The Big Lottery Fund has advised that it has received public relations services from the following public relations service providers: Stan Blackley, Concourse Initiatives, Chocolate Communications, COI Communicators and Cake.
| Financial year | Spend on public relations (£) |
Churches Conservation Trust: Information Officers
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent by the Churches Conservation Trust on employing press and communications officers in each of the last five years. [227206]
Barbara Follett: The information requested has been provided by the Churches Conservation Trust. Inclusive of NIC and pensions, the total spent in each of the last five years is:
| £ | |
| Note: For consistency, figures are rounded up to the nearest £100 | |
Conference Centres: Great London
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken to promote the concept of a new major international conference centre in London. [238026]
Barbara Follett: In “Winning: A tourism strategy for 2012”, published by the Department in September 2007, we reiterated the KPMG study of 2005 which advises that an international convention centre should be located in London. However, this is primarily a matter for the London Mayor and I will continue to work with his office on this decision.
Creative and Business International Network
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much he expects his Department to spend on the Creative and Business International Network in each of the next three years; and how much he expects the Network’s inaugural meeting to cost. [238033]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 24 November 2008]: In Creative Britain—New Talents for the New Economy, we committed to launching a world creative business conference. The final cost of the event will depend on a number of factors, including the number of attendees. However, DCMS has allocated approximately £3 million to the delivery of this, now called the Creativity and Business International Network (C&binet) between 2008 and 2011. The approximate cost of C&binet’s inaugural meeting, bringing together 20 leading international figures from the creative industries on 20 November in Liverpool, is £47,600 not including travel costs.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many invitations to attend the inaugural Creative and Business International Network meeting have been sent; and how many recipients have indicated that they will attend. [239586]
Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his earlier question on this subject, on 14 October 2008, Official Report, column 1210W. No invitations have yet been sent. It is expected that formal registration for the event will begin next spring.
Departmental Data Protection
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether there have been any incidents of loss of employees’ personal data from (a) his Department and (b) the organisations for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three years; what procedures apply when such losses occur; and if he will make a statement. [238071]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There have been no incidents of the loss of employees' personal data from my Department. I have been informed of one loss of personal data from an NDPB, which concerned payroll data including bank account details. The organization in question has informed staff, the Office of the Information Commissioner and the trade union side.
All NDPBs have been informed of the recommendations of the Hannigan Review and clearly informed that the responsibility for ensuring the proper handling of personal data resides with their Accounting Officer.
Departmental Early Retirement
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees in his Department took early retirement in each of the last five financial years; and at what cost. [238435]
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees of his Department took early retirement in each of the last five financial years; and at what cost. [238504]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information relating to the overall early retirements numbers and costs in the last five years is contained in the table.
| Number of staff | Overall cost to Department until the minimum pension age of 60 (£) | |
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