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26 Feb 2009 : Column 935W—continued
Trade Unions
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie) of 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 546W, on trade unions, what guidance and advice has been produced on the use for political activity of the facilities allocated for the exclusive use of the trade unions. [258660]
Nick Harvey: Guidance and advice on the use of the facilities allocated for the exclusive use of the trade unions is contained within the House of Commons Facilities Time agreement. The agreement is available on the parliamentary intranet, and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Electoral Commission Committee
Policy Advisers
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Chichester of 12 January 2009, Official Report, columns 4-5W, on policy advisers, what political declaration was made by each expert adviser who made such a declaration. [258666]
Sir Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that all the policy advisers referred to in the answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, columns 4-5W, have declared that they have not in the past 10 years: (a) held office (for example chair, treasurer or secretary) of a registered party or accounting unit of such a party; (b) been an employee of a registered party or accounting unit of such a party; (c) held relevant elective office; or (d) donated sums of £1,000 or more to a political party or regulated donee.
Redundancy
Mr. Maude: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many staff have taken (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancy from the Electoral Commission in the last 24 months; and what the total cost of redundancy payments has been, including matching pension contributions. [258390]
Sir Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that during the 24 month period to February 2009, two staff were made redundant on compulsory terms, and 11 staff took voluntary redundancy as part of a restructuring of the party and election finance directorate. The total cost of redundancy payments was £443,000.
Treasury
Banks: Iceland
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what compensation has been provided by the Government to (a) individuals, (b) local authorities and (c) charities who had deposits with (i) Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander, (ii) Heritable and (iii) IceSave. [255008]
Ian Pearson: Heritable and Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) are UK-based banking subsidiaries of the two Icelandic banks Landsbanki and Kaupthing. On 7 and 8 October 2008 respectively, the FSA concluded that Heritable and KSF no longer met their threshold conditions, and were in default for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The Treasury, using powers under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008, transferred certain accounts of Heritable primarily used by retail depositors and KSF's Edge retail deposit business to ING Direct. The Government also committed to paying out in full FSCS eligible depositors whose accounts were not transferred. The remainders of Heritable's and KSF's businesses were subsequently placed into administration following due legal process.
On 8 October, the FSA announced that the UK-based branch of Landsbanki was in default for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). To maintain financial stability and protect retail depositors, the Chancellor announced that all retail depositors with the Icesave brand of the branch would receive their money in full.
The Government have put in place arrangements to ensure that all FSCS-eligible depositors with the UK branch of Landsbanki, Heritable or Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander will receive their money in full. If a charity is eligible to claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, it will be entitled to benefit from these arrangements.
For local authorities, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 14 October 2008, Official Repor t, column 35WS.
Council Tax: Parking
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 19 March 2008, Official Report, column 1218W, on council tax: parking, how many domestic dwellings in England have been assigned by the Valuation Office Agency with the value significant codes of (a) VC, (b) VE, (c) VH, (d) VI, (e) VL, (f) VM, (g) VO, (h) VP, (i) VR and (j) VS. [258476]
Mr. Timms: Value significant codes indicate the existence of special features that are likely to affect, either negatively or positively, the value of a property. The numbers of dwellings assigned value significant codes by the Valuation Office Agency as at 1 February 2009 is provided in the following table. These data should not be interpreted as definitive, and it should be noted that dwellings can be assigned to several significant codes at any one time.
A comprehensive exercise to capture information about all value significant features of all domestic properties has not been undertaken, nor is one planned.
Number of dwellings assigned value significant codes:
| Number | |
Departmental Data Protection
Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what IT security strategy his Department has in place; what steps are being taken to ensure the strategy is being followed; what policy is in place on the use of encryption when data are sent externally; and what sanctions are in place for use should the policy not be followed. [259006]
Angela Eagle: Following the publication of a National Information Assurance Strategy in June 2007, the Cabinet Office published a Security Policy Framework (SPF) for HM Government in December 2008, available at:
The SPF sets out a number of mandatory measures that all Government Departments must have in place, including those for ensuring that its principles are being followed, and for the use of encryption of data sent externally.
HM Treasury adheres to the IT security principles set out in this Framework. Any potential cases of the policy not being followed would be investigated, with sanctions taken in accordance with the Department’s disciplinary procedures.
Equitable Life
Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will authorise interim payments of compensation for maladministration to older people who have lost money with Equitable Life. [253572]
Ian Pearson
[holding answer 3 February 2009]: The Government have announced their intention to set up a scheme to make ex-gratia payments to Equitable Life policyholders who have been disproportionately affected by events at the society. We believe that it is important to set up a scheme that can pay out as swiftly as possible
and will consider all options, but also would not wish to delay the main payments scheme.
Income Tax: Young People
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many 16 and 17 year olds pay income tax. [258406]
Mr. Timms: Information on the number of taxpayers by age can be found in table 3.2 “Distribution of median and mean income tax by age, range and gender” on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander: Isle of Man
Mr. Slaughter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in the Government's discussions with the Icelandic government on the status of British depositors with Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man). [256649]
Ian Pearson: Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Isle of Man is a subsidiary of the Icelandic parent company, Kaupthing. Arrangements for depositors in banks in the Isle of Man are a matter for the Government of the Isle of Man. Deposits with Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Isle of Man, will be subject to the Isle of Man Deposit Compensation Scheme.
In line with usual constitutional arrangements, the Government will represent the Crown Dependencies in its negotiations with the Icelandic authorities. The focus of the negotiations is to ensure the fair and equitable treatment of creditors.
The IMF Stand-By Arrangement to Iceland, agreed on 19 November, includes Iceland's commitment to
“ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of depositors and creditors of the intervened banks”.
Members: Correspondence
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Northavon of 16 October 2008, on behalf of Mr Gary Baker, which was acknowledged by his Department with the reference PO REF: 1/61869/2008. [259075]
Ian Pearson: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Non-Domestic Rates
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent version of the Valuation Office Agency’s (a) non-domestic rating Referencers Manual and (b) rating manual. [258408]
Mr. Timms: An electronic copy of the current version of the Valuation Office Agency’s NDR Referencers’ Manual was placed in the Library on 2( )February 2009 following the reply to the parliamentary question PQ0875W 2008-09. The Rating Manual is available for viewing on the Valuation Office Agency’s website:
Political Parties: Finance
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2008, Official Report, columns 46-47W, on political parties: finance, and with reference to the MPs, Ministers and Tax guidance note, whether Labour hon. Members’ contributions to fund the services of the Parliamentary Labour Party based in Parliament are classified by HM Revenue and Customs as (a) a personal donation to a political party and (b) a cost incurred by an office holder that is wholly, exclusively and necessarily in performance of their Parliamentary duties. [258626]
Mr. Timms: As noted in the booklet “MPs, Ministers and Tax”, payments by Members to political organisations for party political purposes and any expenses incurred as a member of a political party are not allowable for tax purposes. HMRC would therefore normally classify contributions to fund the services of the parliamentary Labour party as (a) a personal donation to a political party, regardless of whether those services are based inside or outside Parliament.
Revenue and Customs: Reorganisation
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of job losses in Somerset likely to result from the re-structuring of HM Revenue and Customs. [258070]
Mr. Timms: As part of the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Relocation programme HMRC has committed to reducing its workforce by 25,000 posts by 2011.
It is estimated that, by 2011, there will be 90 fewer full-time equivalent HMRC posts located in Somerset than there were in 2008.
HMRC has given up over 17,000 posts to date. This has been achieved without the need to make staff compulsorily redundant and it is planned to continue with this policy wherever it is reasonable to do so.
Royal Bank of Scotland: Loans
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of lending in the UK by RBS was in January (a) 2009, (b) 2008, (c) 2007 and (d) 2006. [254585]
Ian Pearson: Details of UK lending by the RBS group can be found in the Annual accounts which are published at:
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse has been of administering stamp duty land tax relief for zero-carbon homes. [258403]
Ian Pearson: The precise costs of administering individual stamp duty land tax reliefs are not collected but HMRC estimates that those associated with the relief for zero carbon homes will have been negligible to date.
UK Financial Investments: Directors
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many directors are employed by UK Financial Investments Limited; and what the salary of each is. [258143]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 23 February 2009]: The UKFI Board will comprise up to nine members, including a private sector Chair, non-executive private sector members, a Chief Executive and senior Government officials. Details are available at:
The salary for paid non-executive board members is £30,000. The Chief Executive is on secondment from HM Treasury; his salary was disclosed in last year’s Treasury annual report.
The company’s annual report and audited accounts will be laid before Parliament.
UK Financial Investments: Manpower
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are employed by UK Financial Investments Limited, broken down by Civil Service pay grade. [258144]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 23 February 2009]: UK Financial Investments Ltd. is not part of the civil service, but a small number of civil servants (around five) are expected to be seconded into it. Total staffing is currently expected to be around 15.
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