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12 Jan 2009 : Column 335W—continued
(i) Pint of beer—Duty/100*0.568*4.2 (assumes that a pint is 0.568 litres and the average strength of a pint of beer is 4.2 per cent.).
(ii) 75cl Bottle of wine—Duty/100*0.75
(iii) 70cl Bottle of Spirits—Duty*0.7*0.3877 (assumes the average strength of a bottle of spirits is 38.77 per cent.).
Average strengths have been calculated using market data.
Financial Services Authority
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to increase the accountability to Parliament of the Financial Services Authority. [244310]
Ian Pearson: The FSA is accountable to Parliament, the Treasury, the public and industry in a number of ways including the requirement for the FSA to publish an annual report on the discharge of its functions and the extent to which its regulatory objectives have been met.
Government Departments: Energy
Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to reduce energy waste on the part of Government Departments. [244625]
Angela Eagle: The Government's Delivery Plan for “Sustainable Procurement and Operations on the Government Estate”, published in August 2008, provides a full account of the initiatives that Departments are taking to reduce their energy waste. Government have committed to updating the Delivery Plan on a six monthly basis, and the first of these updates will be published on 18 December 2008.
Housing: Valuation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 5 November 2008, Official Report, column 542W, on housing: valuation, if he will publish the multiple regression methodology which the automated valuation model uses to apply a value significance to the 10,000 localities. [245916]
Mr. Timms: Multiple regression is a statistical technique. Its use by the Valuation Office Agency within automated valuation modelling is subject to commercial confidentiality.
Inheritance Tax
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect of falling house prices on the ability of families to meet inheritance tax liabilities when they inherit a home from a deceased parent or relative. [245961]
Mr. Timms: As with the whole tax system, the Government keep the effect of falling house prices on the ability of families to meet inheritance tax liabilities under review.
The Government therefore have two measures in place to address this eventuality of falling house prices affecting the ability to meet inheritance tax liabilities:
While a house remains unsold, the inheritance tax due on it can be paid in instalments for up to 10 years.
Where a house is sold within four years of the death for less than the value on which inheritance tax was paid, the personal representatives can in most cases make a claim for inheritance tax ‘loss on sale’ relief. The loss on sale relief does not apply if the sale is to a beneficiary or relative of a beneficiary. This is because of the risk of avoidance.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Valuation Office Agency has targets for inheritance tax yields. [246059]
Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency does not have a target to increase inheritance tax yields.
Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) his Department and (b) any of its agencies has had (i) correspondence and (ii) discussions with (A) Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Ltd. and (B) another bank or intermediary relating to the withdrawal by customers of deposits in the 10 days before 8 October 2008. [245434]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 18 December 2008]: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations 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 all such meetings and discussions.
Landsbanki: Guernsey
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he or his officials will meet representatives of depositors in Landsbanki Guernsey to discuss the means of recovering their savings. [243800]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 15 December 2008]: The Treasury has offered a meeting at officials’ level to the Landsbanki Guernsey Depositors Action Group.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Landsbanki Resolution Committee on the collapse of Landsbanki Guernsey. [244324]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 16 December 2008]: In line with usual constitutional arrangements, the UK Government will represent the Crown Dependencies in their negotiations with the Icelandic authorities.
Engagement with the Landsbanki Resolution Committee on issues relating to the failure of Landsbanki Guernsey is a matter for the administrator of Landsbanki Guernsey and the Government of Guernsey.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had with the Icelandic government on the collapse of Landsbanki Guernsey. [244325]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 16 December 2008]: In line with usual constitutional arrangements, the UK Government will represent the Crown Dependencies in their negotiations with the Icelandic authorities.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken in response to the collapse of Landsbanki Guernsey; and if he will make a statement. [244698]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 18 December 2008]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) on 6 November, Official Report, column 683W.
Loans
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans his Department has to introduce a national loan guarantee scheme. [245851]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the statement by the Prime Minister on 10 December 2008, Official Report, column 527-28.
The Government have announced a package of measures to ensure the stability of the financial system; protect ordinary savers, depositors, businesses and borrowers; and protect the interests of taxpayers. More information is available on the Treasury website at:
The Government will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the stability of the financial system.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 11 November 2008, Official Report, column 1084W, on borrowing: local authorities, how many local authorities have had their initial applications rejected for not meeting the lending terms in the last three years. [245897]
Angela Eagle: No local authorities have had their loan applications rejected by the Public Works Loan Board for not meeting its lending terms in the last three years.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 11 November 2008, Official Report, column 1084W, on borrowing: local authorities, if he will publish the lending terms that local authorities must meet for applications to borrow to be approved. [245898]
Angela Eagle: The Public Works Loan Board's lending arrangements are displayed on its website,
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department will reply to the hon. Member for Billericay’s letter of 21 October 2008 about his constituent, Mr. S Ford. [246128]
Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Sir John Butterfill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Bournemouth, West of 13 October, 3 November and 11 December 2008 in respect of his constituent Mr Ian Wilson and deposits with Icelandic banks. [246206]
Ian Pearson: The Treasury regrets the delay in replying to the hon. Member and hopes to be in a position to do so shortly.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter to him dated 28 October 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms J. Ferneyhough. [246528]
Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to my right hon. Friend.
Minimum Wage: North West
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many fines have been issued to employers in the North West for paying employees at rates below the national minimum wage. [246069]
Mr. Timms: The national minimum wage (NMW) regime of enforcement activity does not include the use of fines for non-payment of national minimum wage. In January 2007, the DTI published the NMW penalty notice policy. In line with this, since February 2007, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has been issuing penalty notices, for those employers who fail to comply with an enforcement notice within 28 days. The Employment Act 2008 will introduce changes, from 6 April 2009, to the NMW enforcement regime, which will see the issue, by HMRC, of financial penalties in most cases of minimum wage non-compliance.
Non-domestic Rates
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes have been made to the tax treatment of lump sum payments made by businesses surrendering onerous leases in the last 12 months. [245978]
Mr. Timms: There have been no recent changes to the tax treatment of lump sum payments made by businesses surrendering onerous leases. Such payments are not an allowable expense in computing trading profits, unless the trade consists of the buying and selling of leases.
Offenders
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many former prisoners are employed by his Department; and what his Department's policy is on employing former prisoners. [246338]
Angela Eagle: The Department does not keep records of the numbers of ex-offenders employed.
All candidates are subject to fair Recruitment and Selection procedures, underpinned by our Equal Opportunities policy and the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). Candidates are assessed according to suitability for the post. During
normal security vetting procedures, the Head of Security will consider the nature of spent and unspent convictions and, so long as no security risk is identified, ex-offenders are not precluded from employment within HM Treasury.
OGCbuying.solutions: Small Businesses
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Chancellor will review the threshold turnover level for the Office of Government Commerce's facilities catalogue to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises whose turnover falls below £1 million are not discriminated against in favour of large companies. [245615]
Angela Eagle: OGC guidance recommends that supplier turnover should not be the only consideration when assessing a potential new supplier. There have been no examples in the past two years of any companies being excluded from consideration solely on the basis of turnover when compared with contract value. There are therefore currently no turnover thresholds applied during the procurement process.
Pay As You Earn
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has made of the number of people registered on the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system who had additional undeclared sources of income in each of the last 12 months; how much uncollected tax revenue this figure represented (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the estimated total tax owed by these people through PAYE in each of those months; and what estimate HMRC has made of the value of uncollected income tax as a proportion of the total income tax that was collected through PAYE in each of the last 12 months. [246178]
Mr. Timms: No such estimates have been made.
Personal Records: Databases
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff of each grade in his Department have access to electronic databases containing personal information relating to members of the public resident in Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency. [244669]
Angela Eagle: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Moss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many Private Finance Initiative schemes were concluded in each of the last 10 years; what their capital value was; what the repayment amount is; and over how many years this is to be repaid; [246703]
(2) how many Private Finance Initiative schemes are in the process of being completed; and what their (a) capital value and (b) repayment amount is; [246705]
(3) what proportion of Private Finance Initiative schemes are taken into account when calculating the national debt. [246706]
Angela Eagle: The full list of all signed PFI projects can be found on HM Treasury's website at:
For each PFI project, this list details the project name, the capital value, the constituency, the procuring authority and whether it is on or off balance sheet; as used by the ONS in calculating public sector net debt.
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