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9 Feb 2009 : Column 1630W—continued
VAT
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the average saving made by households in each income decile with people of working age as a result of the reduction in the rate of value added tax to 15 per cent. over the course of a year; [252977]
(2) what estimate he has made of the average saving which will be made by households in each income decile with people of working age with dependent children as a result of the reduction in the rate of value added tax to 15 per cent. over the course of a year; [252978]
(3) what estimate he has made of the average saving for pension age households in each income decile (a) mainly dependent on state benefits and (b) mainly dependent on other forms of income from the reduction in the standard rate of value added tax to 15 per cent. over the course of a year. [252979]
Mr. Timms: The benefit to a household from a reduction in VAT of 2.5 percentage points, net of increases to alcohol and tobacco duty, is, on average, £275. This amount is derived from HMRC revenue forecasts, and therefore cannot be used for analysis by decile and household type.
Household spending patterns vary widely within deciles and household types, so estimates of savings on such a basis should be treated with caution. This is exacerbated by there being greater sampling variability associated with estimates for deciles and groups of given household types due to the relatively small sample sizes.
However it is possible to infer the following estimates of the benefit of the VAT reduction by household type and income decile, based on figures for average expenditures on VAT published by the ONS in their article “The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes, 2006-07”.
The estimates assume the majority of the VAT reduction will be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices in line with past experience, and that spending patterns remain unchanged.
| Decile groups of retired households ranked by equivalised disposable income | ||||||||||
| Percentage | ||||||||||
| Retired households | ||||||||||
| Bottom | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | Top | |
| Decile groups of non-retired households ranked by equivalised disposable income | ||||||||||
| Percentage | ||||||||||
| Non-retired households | ||||||||||
| Bottom | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | Top | |
| Decile groups of non-retired households with children ranked by equivalised disposable income | ||||||||||
| Percentage | ||||||||||
| Non-retired households with children | ||||||||||
| Bottom | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | Top | |
VAT: Accountancy
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of valued added tax (VAT) registered traders who are eligible to use VAT cash accounting do not use it. [255051]
Mr. Timms: Businesses are not required to notify HMRC if they use cash accounting. As a result of research conducted in 2006, HMRC estimates that the scheme is used by at least one in three eligible businesses which would benefit from it. The scheme is already available to over 90 per cent. of the VAT registered population, but does not benefit businesses that already operate on a cash receipts basis such as retailers.
Welfare Tax Credits
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of the increase in the tax credits income disregard from £2,500 to £25,000 in each financial year between 2009-10 and 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [255659]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) on 7 November 2006, Official Report, columns 1043-1044W.
Welfare Tax Credits: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claimants in West Chelmsford constituency were overpaid tax credits in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [254716]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the number of families with tax credit awards, including information on overpayments by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes, for the years 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 are available in the HMRC publications “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised Annual Awards. Supplement on Payments. Geographical Analyses”, for each relevant year.
These publications are available on the HMRC website at:
Welfare Tax Credits: EC Nationals
Mr. Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit paid to EU nationals in respect of family members resident in other EU member states in the last 12 months. [255297]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available for child tax credit. The working tax credit is not a family benefit within the scope of EC Regulation 1408/71 and it is therefore not payable in respect of a worker's family members resident in other EEA member states.
Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individual cases of tax credit overpayment reclamation his Department has taken to court in (a) each year from 2006-07 and (b) each month of 2008-09 for which information is available; and what the average overpayment was. [249233]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) initiates court action only as a last resort. HMRC initiated 467 and 365 court actions for the recovery of tax credit overpayments through county court (England and Wales)(1), sheriffs court (Scotland) and magistrates court (Northern Ireland) in November and December 2008 respectively.
For information on earlier months and years, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central (Jenny Willott) on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1926W.
Information on the total number of overpaid awards, and the aggregate amount overpaid, in 2006-07 is provided in the main aggregates table in the HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards. Supplement on Payments 2006-07”. This publication is available on the HMRC website at:
Information on overpayments in 2007-08 is not yet available.
(1) For England and Wales, these figures relate only to actions commenced centrally and exclude actions commenced by local HMRC debt pursuit offices where it is not possible to readily disaggregate tax credit cases from the total number of local initiated court actions.
Welsh Language
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on (i) translation and (ii) interpretation between English and Welsh in each year since 2000. [254200]
Angela Eagle [holding answer 4 February 2009]: No central record of spending on translations by language is held and the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Women and Equality
Charities
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2009, Official Report, column 1312W, on charities, whether the Government Equalities Office plans to provide further funding to each of the charities referred to. [251979]
Maria Eagle: Decisions on any future funding to these or other charities will be announced in the usual way.
Departmental Buildings
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the location is of each office occupied by the Government Equalities Office which has been (a) newly occupied and (b) refurbished in the last 24 months; and what the floor area in square metres is of each. [251675]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. It was based initially in Ashdown house, a Communities and Local Government building in Victoria street in London SW1. In February 2008, the GEO moved to Eland house, another CLG building, also in London SW1.
The GEO’s area in Ashdown house was not refurbished during GEO’s tenure and there are no plans to refurbish GEO’s area in Eland house.
The GEO’s floor area in Eland house is 372 sq m. No records exist of the floor area in Ashdown house but space there was less than it is now in Eland house.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality from which providers the Government Equalities Office sources internet access. [251669]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office sources its internet access through Steria, the in-house provider for the Department of Communities and Local Government. Steria is, in turn, supplied by Cable and Wireless and the internet is accessed via the Government secure internet (GSI).
Departmental Public Appointments
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality which of the public appointments for which the Government Equalities Office is responsible are due to be (a) renewed and (b) filled in the next 24 months; what the (i) remit, (ii) salary, (iii) political restriction, (iv) eligibility requirement and (v) timetable for each appointment is; and what records the Government Equalities Office keeps in respect of such appointments. [254228]
Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) sponsors two non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs): the Women’s National Commission (WNC) an advisory NDPB, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) an Executive NDPB.
The WNC has a board and chair totalling 16 members. The existing terms of five of the commissioners are due to end in the summer of 2009. It is expected that recruitment of between two and five commissioners will take place during 2009.
The roles of the chair and 12 commissioners of the EHRC will be renewed or filled in the next 24 months. Remit, salary eligibility requirement and timetable have yet to be confirmed.
GEO complies fully with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) guidance on political restrictions.
The remit, remuneration and further information about these posts will be made available via the public appointments website at:
Records and documentation evidence of these appointments will be retained by GEO for at least two years in accordance with guidelines from OCPA.
Departmental Recruitment
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many people aged over (a) 55 and (b) 60 years were recruited by the Government Equalities Office in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits. [251672]
Maria Eagle:
The Government Equalities Office was established on 12 October 2007. Including those staff who came to us through the machinery of government changes that set up the GEO, in 2007-08 GEO recruited
two staff over 55 years of age, representing 11 per cent. of new recruits, and one member of staff aged over 60 years, equivalent to 6 per cent. of new recruits.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality with reference to the answer of 27 October 2008, Official Report, columns 688-89W, on departmental temporary employment, how many staff were recruited through each company in each year; and for how long on average staff recruited through these companies worked for the Department in each year. [242316]
Maria Eagle: With reference to the answer of 27 October 2008, Official Report, columns 688-89W, on departmental temporary staff, the total number of staff recruited through each company and the average length of contract, in weeks, is as follows:
| Company | Number of staff recruited | Average contract length (Weeks) |
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