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9 Mar 2009 : Column 103W—continued
Departmental Rail Travel
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of travel by train by staff in his Department was in each year since 1997. [261258]
Angela Eagle: Information on travel by train was not separately identified within the Treasury's accounting system prior to 2005-06 and could not now be provided within the disproportionate costs threshold. Spending on UK and overseas train travel since then was £400,000 in 2005-06, £525,000 in 2006-07 and £523,000 in 2007-08. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Treasury's manual on travel and subsistence.
Departmental Surveys
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent by his Department on staff surveys in 2008; and which companies were contracted to carry out the surveys. [260917]
Angela Eagle: HM Treasury conducts an annual staff survey at the end of every calendar year. This is contracted out to Towers Perrin-ISR. HM Treasury also conducts exit surveys of staff who leave the Department and new starter surveys. These surveys are contracted out to Talent Drain. The breakdown of costs is not available as the contracts are still current so this information is commercially sensitive.
Economic Situation: USA
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the UK economy of measures introduced by the US administration to assist the US economy. [260795]
Ian Pearson: The Government continue to work closely with its international partners to address the global economic slowdown. The 2009 Budget on 22 April will provide updated forecasts for the UK economy and will take into account all relevant factors.
Excise Duties: Motor Vehicles
Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effects of recent vehicle excise duty changes on car dealership businesses. [253699]
Angela Eagle [holding answer 2 February 2009]: Vehicle Excise Duty refund rules have changed so that only a registered vehicle keeper may apply. By advising their customers to take the tax disc for a refund when selling a car to the trade and by deducting the refund value from the price paid for these cars, car dealerships can preserve the financial benefit of refunds for all.
Car dealers benefit from £165 trade licences, transferable between cars for delivery and demonstration purposes, which obviate the need to pay other rates of Vehicle Excise Duty on their stock for the first three months. No dealer will pay more than £5 extra under the standard Vehicle Excise Duty rates for 2009-10. First year rates of Vehicle Excise Duty will be introduced from April 2010 for previously unlicensed new cars.
Financial Markets: Abuse
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used by the Financial Services Authority to determine whether market activity on the part of any individual or organisation designed to undermine a specific financial institution constitutes economic subversion. [261093]
Ian Pearson:
Part VIII, section 118 of the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) defines seven types of behaviour under the civil market abuse regime, which run parallel to criminal offences. The FSA Code of Market Conduct is a code of practice built upon FSMA
that gives appropriate guidance to those determining whether or not behaviour amounts to market abuse.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 906W, on banks: finance, if he will make an estimate of the cost to (a) building societies and (b) banks (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of (A) pre-tax profits for the last three financial years and (B) the total balance sheet of each type of organisation of the management expenses bill levied by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. [261678]
Ian Pearson: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is responsible for making the rules regarding the levies the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) may raise to meet compensation costs and management expenses. The Government consider, consistent with EC law, that the cost of financing deposit-guarantee schemes should be borne, in principle, by deposit-taking firms themselves.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North, dated 28 January 2009, acknowledged by his Department with the reference 3/08679/2009, on his constituent. [261747]
Mr. Timms: I have replied to my hon. Friend.
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to provide a substantive reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North dated 15 January 2009 to the Tax Credit Office on a constituent, acknowledged by the Tax Credit Office with the reference 2009/01002/33; and what the reasons are for the time taken to reply. [261748]
Mr. Timms: HMRC sent a reply to my hon. Friend on 6 March 2009 and apologises for the delay.
Public Sector: Procurement
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used to define local in respect of prioritisation of local suppliers in public procurement policy. [261527]
Angela Eagle: The UK is bound by law and international obligations to make public procurement opportunities available to suppliers from across the EU and certain other countries that are signatories to the Agreement on Government Procurement, and not to discriminate against such suppliers. UK suppliers benefit from other countries' adherence to the same obligations.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Oxford, East of 24 February 2009, Official Report, column 530W, on public expenditure: small businesses, when he expects implementation of each recommendation in the Glover report to be completed; and if he will make a statement. [261666]
Angela Eagle: Projects are under way to meet the 12 recommendations of the Glover report, “Accelerating the SME Economic Engine” which is concerned with improving SME access to public sector procurement. All recommendations will be delivered by the end of 2010 with some projects and a training package covering key parts of the recommendations to be delivered before the end of 2009.
Revenue and Customs
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the net effect on the expenditure of HM Revenue and Customs of the proposed closure of tax offices in the next five years; [261433]
(2) what estimate he has made of the effect on the level of HM Revenue and Customs expenditure on accommodation costs from the proposed closure of tax offices in the next five years. [261434]
Mr. Timms: The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Estate Consolidation Programme covers the period between April 2007 and March 2012.
There will be short-term costs, including staff redeployment costs, associated with the closure of offices, but reliable figures will only be established once solutions have been found for all staff and the accommodation has been vacated. HMRC expects to achieve cumulative accommodation cost savings of £231 million over the period April 2007 to March 2012. Further annual savings of around £90 million a year will accrue beyond March 2012.
There will be savings resulting from business efficiencies as well as from a reduction in the size of its estate.
Revenue and Customs: Data Protection
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of HM Revenue and Customs’ new data security packet rule book. [250523]
Mr. Timms: I have today placed a copy of the HMRC Data Security Pocket Rulebook in the Library. This has been redacted to remove some procedural and contact details for security reasons.
Senior Tripartite Committee
Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what dates meetings of the Senior Tripartite Committee were held in each of the last two years; and how many times the committee has met in each year since its establishment. [259155]
Ian Pearson: The three authorities meet at a number of levels under the auspices of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a very regular basis. The Standing Committee meets at least monthly (and more recently weekly and even daily) to discuss financial stability issues and can convene at any time when necessary. As a matter of course, we do not comment on meetings of the Standing Committee.
Social Security Benefits
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what modelling he undertook for the purposes of the pre-Budget report 2008 on predicted levels of (a) job seeker’s allowance claims and (b) incapacity benefit claims in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11; and whether the Government’s proposals on welfare reform announced on 10 December 2008 were taken into account in that modelling. [244468]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 16 December 2008): The forecasts for jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) and incapacity benefits for the pre-Budget report (PBR) 2008 were based on the latest available information at the time of publication, relating to past trends of relevant caseloads and expected future economic conditions. The JSA forecast uses the claimant unemployment assumption, which is audited by the National Audit Office (NAO), as described in Box B1 on page 188 of the PBR 2008.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2009, Official Report, column 895W, on stamp duty and tax, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of the stamp duty land tax holiday for first-time housebuyers in the next 12 months. [260882]
Ian Pearson: An estimate could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
TNT: Taxation
Roger Berry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs has imposed any financial penalty on TNT companies for tax irregularities in the last 10 years. [261347]
Mr. Timms: I am unable to comment on any company’s tax affairs because of the requirement for taxpayer confidentiality.
VAT: Tax Rates and Bands
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of businesses which (a) have not passed on the reduction in value added tax to customers and (b) have replaced the value added tax reduction with other promotional offers. [261601]
Mr. Timms: HMRC has made no such estimates. ONS statistics for the consumer price index in January show that 70 per cent. of standard rated goods have had their prices reduced. The report can be found at:
Vulture Funds
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Answer of 13 November 2007, Official Report, columns 227-29W, on vulture funds, what progress the Government has made in dealing with vulture funds; and if he will bring forward proposals to prohibit their operation. [261352]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him on 5 March 2009, Official Report, column 1815W.
Health
The following questions were answered on 4 March 2009
Antidepressants: Children
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many courses of anti-depressant medication were prescribed to children under 16 years of age in each strategic health authority area in each of the last five years; [260483]
(2) how many children aged under (a) 10, (b) 12, (c) 14 and (d) 16 years were prescribed anti-depressant medication in each of the last five years. [260484]
Phil Hope: This information is not collected centrally.
Baby Care Units: West Midlands
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the West Midlands have had to travel more than 50 miles to access neo-natal emergency treatment in each of the last 10 years. [259417]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not held centrally.
The Government set out their policy for neonatal services in the “Report of the Review Group on Neonatal Intensive Care”, which was published in 2003. A copy is available in the Library.
Neonatal networks have established a more structured, collaborative approach to caring for newborn babies. This includes the designation of some hospitals that are specially equipped to care for the sickest and smallest babies, with other hospitals providing high dependency and special care as close to home as possible. They are also aiming to help to reduce the number of long distance transfers—over 96 per cent. of babies are cared for within their local network.
Contraceptives
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in each (a) age group and (b) NHS trust area were given prescriptions for an (i) intra-uterine system, (ii) intra-uterine device and (iii) sub-dermal implant in each of the last 10 years. [259646]
Dawn Primarolo: Data on the number of prescription items dispensed in the community by primary care trust for 2004-05 to 2007-08 have been placed in the Library. Information is not held prior to 2004-05. Data on the number of patients receiving a prescription, and also data by age, are not available.
Data supplied by community contraceptive clinics by age and trust for 2005-06 to 2007-08 have also been placed in the Library. Data for the seven years preceding 2005-06 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in each age group were fitted with an intra-uterine (a) system and (b) device in each of the last 10 years. [259647]
Dawn Primarolo: The information available is shown in the following tables.
The following tables shows data on the number of prescription items dispensed in the community. Data by age are not available.
| Intra-uterine system items | |
| Financial year | Number (Thousand) |
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