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8 Dec 2008 : Column 12W—continued
Scanners
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many body scanners his Department operates in (a) airports, (b) ports and (c) railway stations; and where each is located. [241784]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport has been involved in trials of body scanner technology at Luton and Heathrow airports, and at Paddington railway station, as part of joint industry and Government effort to further improve the security of the travelling public in the UK. Currently there are no body scanners deployed for transport security purposes at airports, ports and railway stations.
Shipping: Noise
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what recent discussions his Department has had with the shipping industry on reducing incidental noise from commercial shipping operations in the marine environment; and if he will make a statement; [240967]
(2) what plans his Department has to contribute to the work of the International Marine Organisation's correspondence group on drafting non-mandatory guidelines on ship noise reduction; and if he will make a statement. [240968]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Shipping is a global industry and the regulation of international shipping is best taken forward in the forum of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) met in October and, following discussion of a submission from the USA, MEPC agreed a new work programme item aimed at minimising the introduction of incidental noise from ships into the marine environment.
Consequently, at future sessions of MEPC there will be an agenda item entitled ‘Noise from commercial shipping and its adverse impacts on marine life’. This Department and its Maritime and Coastguard Agency will take part in the work under this agenda item, including the IMO correspondence group which is being coordinated by the USA.
Speed Limits: Cameras
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of speed cameras deliberately damaged or destroyed in Essex in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [241334]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport has not made any such estimate. This information may be held by Essex police who take such criminal behaviour seriously and seek to prosecute anyone caught committing such acts.
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty: Scotland
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the economic impact of the revised rates of air passenger duty on air travel (a) to, (b) from and (c) within the Highlands and Islands of Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [240702]
Angela Eagle: The existing scope of, and exemptions from, air passenger duty will remain in place, including the exemption for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There will be no economic impact of the revised rates of air passenger duty on the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Economic and Monetary Union
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department were engaged in preparatory work for the recent assessment of the UK's performance against the five economic tests for joining the euro. [240964]
Ian Pearson: The Chancellor announced in Budget 2008 that,
“the Government do not propose a euro assessment to be initiated at the time of this budget”.
The Treasury will again review the situation at Budget time next year as required by the Chancellor's June 2003 statement.
Exchange Rates
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effects on sterling of the scale of bank deposits and other short-term instruments held by non-residents. [240262]
Ian Pearson: Exchange rates are determined by a range of factors. The Government’s objective is for a stable and competitive exchange rate in the medium term, consistent with meeting the inflation target.
Income Tax
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of income tax receipts were paid by the wealthiest (a) one per cent., (b) five per cent., (c) 10 per cent., (d) 25 per cent. and (e) 50 per cent. of the population in the most recent year for which figures are available. [241144]
Mr. Timms: The information can be found in Table 2.4 “Shares of total income (before and after tax) and income tax for percentile groups” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
Insurance
Lorely Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to establish a means-tested hardship fund for policyholders following the near-collapse of Equitable Life. [241143]
Ian Pearson: As my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, told this House on 3 December 2008, Official Report, column 38, there will be a statement on Equitable Life before the House rises at Christmas.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for Walsall North's letter of 16 October 2008, regarding a constituent, ref: 2/01966/2008. [240354]
Ian Pearson: The Financial Services Secretary will respond to the hon. Member shortly.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter dated 24 September 2008 and subsequent correspondence from the hon. Member for Billericay regarding a constituent, Mr D. Randall. [240682]
Ian Pearson: I have today replied to the hon. Member.
Public Private Partnerships
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions have been made on the net present value of public-private partnership projects for the purposes of preparing the pre-Budget report for 2008. [241355]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury uses departmental returns as the basis for its statistics on public-private partnerships published at each pre-Budget and Budget report. These are in turn based on HM Treasury's Green Book, which can be found on the Treasury's website at
and which sets out guidance for the calculation of net present value.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions are made by his Department when estimating the effects of inflation on future public-private partnership costs. [241356]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury uses departmental returns as the basis for its statistics on public-private partnerships published at each pre-Budget and Budget report.
Departments are required to factor the inflation assumptions set out in their PPP contracts into their estimates of future unitary charge payments.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discount rate of capital is used when determining the net present value of public-private partnership projects; and what risk premium is included in that rate. [241357]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury's Green Book, which can be found on the Treasury's website at
sets out guidance for the calculation of net present value.
VAT
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to change the designation for VAT purposes of products designed to protect children from the sun; and if he will make a statement. [240290]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my predecessor gave him on 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2327W.
VAT: Clothing
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will meet with representatives of the School Wear Association in order to discuss VAT on school uniforms; [240447]
(2) if he will make it his policy to change the definition for VAT purposes of children’s clothing from clothing to fit an average-sized 13 year old and smaller to that which fits an average-sized 15 year old and smaller; and if he will make a statement. [240449]
Mr. Timms: Treasury officials, in the first instance, would be happy to meet the representatives of the School Wear Association to discuss VAT.
Under the VAT agreements with our European partners, signed by successive Governments, we can retain our existing VAT zero rates, but we may not extend them or introduce new ones. It is therefore not possible to extend the present zero-rating for children’s clothing to clothing designed for children older than 13.
VAT: Financial Services
Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the effect of the changes in value added tax announced in the Pre-Budget Report 2008 on the financial services sector. [240444]
Mr. Timms: The reduction in the standard rate of VAT from 17.5 per cent. to 15 per cent. between 1 December 2008 and 31 December 2009 will benefit the financial services sector because it will incur less irrecoverable VAT (in respect of its exempt supplies).
There may be compliance costs for those parts of the financial services sector making taxable supplies. The Impact Assessment can be found on the HM Treasury website at the following address:
Prime Minister
Damian Green
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister (1) whether he authorised under the terms of the Wilson Doctrine the interception of telephone or other electronic communications of the hon. Member for Ashford (a) before and (b) after his recent arrest; [240503]
(2) whether (a) listening devices and (b) other forms of surveillance technology have been placed in the homes or offices of an hon. Member by (a) the police and (b) the intelligence and security services in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [240785]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary (Jacqui Smith) during her statement on 4 December 2008, Official Report, column 143.
Women and Equality
Disabled: Carers’ Benefits
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality with reference to paragraph 3.11 of the Carers at the Heart of 21st Century Families and Communities report, how much of the £150 million funding for breaks for carers of disabled children will be provided by the Government Equalities Office over each of the next two years. [240813]
Maria Eagle: The £150 million fund will be provided entirely by the Department of Health and will increase the support available for all carers, not just those that care for disabled children.
Females: Alternatives to Imprisonment
Anne Moffat: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on alternatives to imprisonment for women. [240282]
Maria Eagle: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on this matter in my capacity as Ministerial Champion for Women in the Criminal Justice System and through the inter-ministerial group on reducing re-offending and the ministerial sub-group on Corston. The Government are fully committed to providing appropriate alternatives to custody for women who are not violent or dangerous, in line with recommendations set out in Baroness Corston’s review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. A progress report one year on from the Government’s response to Baroness Corston’s review will be published later this month and will outline progress and future plans on this important issue.
Communities and Local Government
Housing: Low Incomes
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding from each regional development agency project budget for 2008-09 was reallocated to the Homebuy Direct scheme. [241327]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), on 30 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1271-272W.
Housing: Overcrowding
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what percentage of households of each (a) type of tenure, (b) size, (c) income level and (d) ethnicity in each region in England are estimated to be overcrowded. [240882]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following estimates of the number of overcrowded households are based on the Bedroom Standard definition of overcrowding and are derived from the Survey of English Housing.
(a) Estimates of the number and percentage of overcrowded households by tenure for each region in England are given in Table 1.
| Table 1: Overcrowded( 1) households by region and tenure, England, 2004-05 to 2006-07( 2) | ||||||||
| Tenure (thousand households) | Percentage | |||||||
| Government office region | Owner occupiers | Social renters | Private renters | All tenures | Owner occupiers | Social renters | Private renters | All tenures |
| (1) Overcrowded i.e. one or more bedrooms below the “bedroom standard”. (2) Sample sizes are too small to give robust annual figures. A three-year average is therefore provided. Source: Communities and Local Government, Survey of English Housing. | ||||||||
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