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2 Feb 2009 : Column 904W—continued
Valuation Office: Land Registry
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 1317W, on Valuation Office: Land Registry, whether the Valuation Office Agency uses the Land Registry Direct Service for (a) council tax valuation purposes and (b) populating the automated valuation model with property data. [252168]
Mr. Timms: The majority of data used by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) for (a) council tax purposes and (b) populating the automated valuation models is drawn from stamp duty land tax information. The Land Registry Direct Service has not been used as a matter of course but is a further source of information; its availability to the VOA is identical to any other public or private body.
Valuation Office: Local Government
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of each edition of the Valuation Office Agency's IT Services Division Newsletter to Billing Authorities produced since May 2007. [252293]
Mr. Timms: There have been no Valuation Office Agency's IT Services Division Newsletters to Billing Authorities produced since May 2007.
Valuation Office: Parking
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether employees of the Valuation Office Agency whose office is located within the workplace parking charging zone being introduced by Nottingham City Council will be liable to pay the charge in whole or in part. [252194]
Mr. Timms: Nottingham city council has not yet agreed the Work Place Parking Levy Scheme. The Agency will examine the details of the scheme and determine the policy to be followed, should Nottingham city council proceed with the implementation of the proposed Work Place Parking Levy Scheme.
Valuation Office: Rightmove
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the (a) minimum and (b) maximum duration is of the renewed contract between the Valuation Office Agency, HM Revenue and Customs and Rightmove; and on what date the new contract was signed; [252198]
(2) with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 24 November 2008, Official Report, columns 964W, on Valuation Office: Rightmove, upon what terms the extension to the contract with
Rightmove was agreed; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the new contract, redacting commercially sensitive elements. [252207]
Mr. Timms: A redacted copy of the contract extension and variation to the original contract, both signed on 20 November 2008, will be placed in the Library of the House.
Valuation Office: Secondment
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff have been seconded (a) to and (b) from the Valuation Office Agency in the last 12 months; and what divisions of the Agency such staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from. [252470]
Mr. Timms: There have been no secondments into or out of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in the last 12 months. There have been six loans—that is, short-term moves between Government Departments in total (a) to and (b) from the VOA in the last 12 months, as detailed:
(i) One to VOA Finance and Planning
(ii) One from VOA Human Resources
One from VOA Local Taxation
One from VOA Finance and Planning
One from VOA Rating
Valuation: Conferences
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentations and handouts produced by the (a) Director of Council Tax and (b) Head of AVM Development at the Valuation Office Agency at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' automated valuation models conference in November 2008. [252395]
Mr. Timms: A copy of these presentations, and an accompanying paper, has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation on Revaluation 2010 given by the Valuation Office Agency at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' rating annual conference in June 2008. [252399]
Mr. Timms: A copy of this presentation, made by a representative of the Valuation Office Agency, has been placed in the Library.
VAT
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made on the effect on inflation of the reduction in value added tax to 15 per cent. [251915]
Mr. Timms: In pre-Budget report 2008 (Cm7484), it was assumed that the majority of the VAT rate cut will be passed through to consumer prices, but that prices will be reduced progressively rather then immediately. This is in line with international evidence.
The Office for National Statistics published statistics on UK inflation in December on 20 January 2009.
Their First Release discusses the VAT reduction in the context of inflation estimation and can be found at:
It concludes that the VAT reduction made the largest contribution to the sharp fall in inflation to 3.1 per cent.
VAT: Business
Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate his Department has made of the administrative cost to business of the recent temporary reduction in the rate of value added tax following the reduction coming into force; [252311]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the administrative cost to business of the recent temporary reduction in the rate of value added tax prior to that reduction coming into force; [252312]
(3) what estimate his Department has made of the administrative cost to business of a variation in the rate at which value added tax is levied. [252313]
Mr. Timms: Estimated costs to business in the UK are published in the impact assessment of changes to the standard rate of VAT. This is available on the HM Treasury website. Reliable cost estimates cannot be produced on a regional basis.
VAT: Energy
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of changes to value added tax revenues as a result of changes in domestic gas and electricity prices in the last 12 months. [252189]
Mr. Timms: No specific estimate has been made.
Justice
Animal Welfare: Prosecutions
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions there were for offences relating to the torture of animals in each of the last five years. [252347]
Maria Eagle: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against for offences relating to animal cruelty, in England and Wales from 2003 to 2007 (latest published) are contained in the following table. There is no specific offence for the torture of animals.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions were brought for offences relating to the illegal importation of animals into the UK in each of the last five years. [252348]
Maria Eagle: Information on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to the illegal import of animals in England and Wales from 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is in the following table.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
| Number of defendants proceeded against at all courts for offences relating to the illegal import of animals( 1) , England and Wales, 2003 - 07( 2, 3) | |
| Total | |
| (1) Includes the following: Offences under the Animal and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations 2006 Offences under the Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and other Mammals) order 1974 Offences under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997. (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform. | |
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many successful prosecutions for breeding a prohibited breed of dog there were in 2007. [252504]
Maria Eagle: Seven defendants have been found guilty of “breeding or breeding from a fighting dog”, under S.1 (2) (a) of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, England and Wales in 2007.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Apprentices
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 410W, on apprentices, what progress has been made on increasing the number of apprentices in his Department; and how many apprentices his Department employed at the latest date for which figures are available. [251898]
Mr. Wills: Since May 2008, the Ministry of Justice has been working with skills sector councils to promote apprenticeships across a range of subjects to all MOJ employees. The number of people currently employed undertaking apprenticeships is 364. The following table gives a breakdown of these by subject.
| Apprenticeship title | Number |
Additionally 11 participants are taking part in the in the Civil Service West Midlands Apprenticeship pilot scheme, working towards Management and Team Leader Apprenticeships.
Approved Premises
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) residential approved premises exclusively for (i) male and (ii) female offenders and bailees and (b) mixed-sex residential approved premises there are in (A) each of the English criminal justice regions and (B) Wales; in which town or locality each is sited; and how many residents there were in each on the last Friday of each of the last 24 months for which figures are available. [248519]
Mr. Hanson:
A table which has been placed in the Library shows information for each criminal justice region: the names of the current approved premises (APs) and the town or city in which each is located; whether the AP is all-male, all-female or mixed-sex; the total number of APs of each type for each region; and the number of residents in each AP for each month
between December 2006 and November 2008 (the most recent month for which complete figures are available). Numbers of residents in approved premises are recorded on the last day of each month, rather than on the last Friday of the month.
Approved premises provide for enhanced and effective supervision of certain offenders which would be much more difficult to achieve if such offenders were dispersed into less suitable accommodation in the community.
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