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16 Dec 2008 : Column 597W—continued
From 2008-09, the Supporting People administrative grant is no longer a separate allocation and is paid to each local authority as part of their area based grant.
Leader of the House
Departmental Data Protection
Paul Holmes: To ask the Leader of the House how many civil servants in her Office have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for (i) losing and (ii) deliberately disclosing (A) data stored on her Office's equipment and (B) confidential information in each year since 1997. [242911]
Chris Bryant: There have been no cases relating to the loss or deliberate disclosure of data in the Leader of the House of Commons Office since 1997.
Departmental Rail Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Leader of the House on what date she last used a train in the course of her official duties. [242609]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House last used a train in the course of her duties on Friday, 28 November 2008. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Business: North Yorkshire
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many new businesses registered for VAT in Vale of York constituency in each year from 1997. [240559]
Ian Pearson: The number of businesses registering for VAT in Vale of York constituency in each year since 1997 are shown in the following table.
| Vale of York, businesses registering for VAT | |
| Number of registration s | |
| Source: BERR National Statistics publication “Business start-ups and closures: VAT registrations and de-registrations 2007” available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat/index.htm | |
The number of new VAT registrations in Vale of York exceeded the number of de-registrations in every year since 1997.
VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was £64,000 at the start of 2007. Only 1.96 million out of 4.7 million UK enterprises (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2007.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many businesses in Vale of York constituency were VAT-registered in each year from 1997. [240560]
Ian Pearson: The number of businesses registered for VAT in Vale of York constituency between the start of 1997 and the start of 2008 is shown in the table.
| Vale of York constituency: VAT registered business | |
| Number | |
| Source: BERR national statistics publication ‘Business start-ups and closures: VAT registrations and de-registrations 2007’ available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat/index/htm | |
The number of VAT-registered businesses in Vale of York constituency rose from 4,345 at the start of 1997 to 5,090 at the start of 2008—a rise of 17 per cent.
VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was £64,000 at the start of 2007. Only 1.96 million out of 4.7 million UK enterprises (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2007.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what IT projects (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of (i) the cost and (ii) the completion date of each is. [242267]
Mr. McFadden: The current IT projects being undertaken in BERR, their lifetime costs, and expected completion dates into service are as follows:
HR Online—a new HR system for professional users and individual self help services, at an estimated life-time cost of £14 million up until the end of 2012.
SPIRE 3—enhancements to an existing system supporting export control, at an estimated life-time cost of £1 million up until the end of 2011.
RITE—a system allowing remote and secure access to BERR's IT systems, at an estimated development and implementation cost of £800,000, with on-going support costs and length of contract still the subject of negotiation with the Department's preferred IT supplier.
Point of Single Contact—this is an EU Directive and is funded by the EU, at an estimated implementation cost of £1.6 million, with on-going support costs and length of contract still being negotiated with the supplier.
I have asked the chief executives of the agencies Insolvency Service and Companies House to reply to the hon. Member directly.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, columns 336-7W, on Government Departments: information and communications technology, which IP addresses are used by (a) his Department and (b) computers in the offices of its (i) Ministers, (ii) communications officials and (iii) special advisers. [241945]
Mr. McFadden: To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard good information security practice for corporate IT systems, not to publish internal IP addresses. When accessing internet websites, the IP addresses of all of the computers on the Department internal office IT system are hidden behind the following IP addresses which are publicly available: 164.36.50.240, 164.36.50.240 and 164.36.50.217.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he expects to publish his Department’s autumn performance report. [242164]
Mr. McFadden: The BERR autumn performance report 2008 was published online on 11 December 2008.
Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal
Greg Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effect of the waste electrical and electronic equipment regulations on the market for compact fluorescent lamps; and if he will make a statement. [242480]
Ian Pearson: No assessment has been made of the effect of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations on the market for compact fluorescent lamps.
During Compliance Period 1 (1 July 2007 to 31 December 2007) 12.818 tonnes of WEEE was collected in category 5 covering lighting equipment, including light bulbs and household luminaries.
The Department will continue to work with industry, as the UK WEEE system matures, to ensure that the separate collection of all categories of WEEE are maximised.
Internet
John Thurso: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he is considering measures to regulate the administration of UK internet domain names; and if he will make a statement. [242276]
Mr. McFadden: The Government have no proposals in relation to Nominet. Officials in my Department have written to the company seeking clarification of how the present governance of the company reflects the wider stakeholder interest in Nominet's activities in regard to the management of .co.uk Domain Name System. We understand that the company has commissioned an independent review in order to reply fully to that request. We look forward to the outcome of that review.
Post Offices
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the extent of queuing at post offices. [243214]
Mr. McFadden: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the right hon. Member. Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Consumer Focus has recently published a report about queuing times at Crown and franchised post offices. The report is available on the Consumer Focus website at:
Regulation: Departmental Co-Ordination
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer of 19 November 2008, Official Report, column 545W, on regulation: departmental co-ordination, whether the Code of Practice on Guidance applies to (a) non-departmental public bodies and (b) arms-length public sector regulators. [242044]
Ian Pearson: The Code of Practice on Guidance applies to regulatory guidance issued to business and third sector organisations from Government Departments and non-departmental bodies. It only applies to arms-length public sector regulators when they issue regulatory guidance which affects business and the third sector.
The code also provides a model which may be helpful in other circumstances and can be found at
VAT: Small Businesses
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what representations he has received on the effect on small businesses of administering the temporary change to rates of value added tax. [242636]
Ian Pearson: My Department is in regular contact with small businesses and their representatives on a range of issues. I am aware that some businesses will face implementation difficulties, but it is important to make this change quickly—to make goods and services cheaper and, by encouraging spending, help stimulate growth.
HMRC is providing advice and guidance to all VAT registered businesses to help them implement this change.
International Development
Afghanistan: Climate Change
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the (a) objectives, (b) proposed timescale and (c) estimated costs are of his Department's proposed climate change assessment for Afghanistan. [240847]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The current DFID-funded climate change assessment for Afghanistan will assess the impact of forecast climate change, including the impact of drought on the domestic wheat harvest and its contribution to food insecurity, raise national and international awareness of the risks, and support the government of Afghanistan, donors, the private sector and NGOs in implementing policies to adapt to and mitigate changes. The assessment is expected to be completed by the end of January 2009. DFID has budgeted up to £110,585 for the assessment.
Climate Change
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of its capacity to adapt to climate change; and what plans he has to publish a climate change adaptation strategy. [241184]
Mr. Thomas: Climate change poses a serious long-term threat to development in poor countries. The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to helping countries manage impacts and integrate climate risks and responses into development. Further information on DFID's climate change adaptation policies are available on the DFID website:
In addition, the cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change programme increases Government's capacity to adapt by ensuring a co-ordinated approach across all Departments and the public sector. This includes implementation of the adaptation aspects of the Climate Change Act, such as development of the national climate risk assessment. Information about the programme can be found at
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