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1 Apr 2009 : Column 1201W—continued
Members: Correspondence
Alistair Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Financial Secretary to the Treasury plans to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire of 24 November 2008 and 8 January 2009 on the Tax Credit Office. [256266]
Mr. Timms: The correspondence referred to could not be traced. The hon. Member's office has supplied copies and a reply should be provided shortly.
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Northavon of 3 December 2008 on behalf of Mr A Edgington of Coalpit Heath, on membership of HM Treasury working party. [267258]
Angela Eagle: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Performing Arts
John Mason: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2009, Official Report, column 1193W, on Members: correspondence, what the cost to his Department was of engaging actors to contribute to training programmes organised by his Department in each year since 1997. [267471]
Angela Eagle: The costs of using actors within training programmes are not separately invoiced and their use is not centrally recorded. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Royal Bank of Scotland: Pensions
Sir John Butterfill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the amount paid by the Government to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been allocated to the RBS pension scheme; what estimate he has made of the current deficit of the RBS pension scheme; whether Sir Fred Goodwin has commuted any part of his pension entitlement into a lump sum; and if he will make a statement. [262126]
Ian Pearson: Details of the position on the RBS Group pension fund are set out in the annual accounts, available on the RBS website.
Sir Fred Goodwin has converted part of his pension entitlement into a lump sum, but RBS has asked him to consider waiving part of his entitlement.
Tax Allowances: Pensioners
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse to cease reducing the age-related allowance for people (a) between 65 and 74 and (b) over 75 years old when their income exceeds the income limit. [255268]
Mr. Timms: The full-year cost for 2008-09 of not reducing age-related allowance for taxpayers with income above the income limit is around £420 million for those aged 65 to 74, and £270 million for those aged 75 and over.
These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal incomes for 2005-06 projected forward in line with pre-Budget report 2008 assumptions.
Tax Avoidance
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many holders of offshore bank accounts have declared unpaid tax bills under the partial amnesty announced by his Department; and what his estimate is of the revenue foregone by the Exchequer arising from such unpaid tax liabilities in the last five years. [267830]
Mr. Timms: 31,700 people came forward to disclose previously unreported tax liabilities in response to the Offshore Disclosure Facility launched in April 2007 following HM Revenue and Customs having obtained specific information of offshore bank accounts. Those disclosures resulted in £400 million being recovered. There are no reliable estimates of the overall tax losses associated with such accounts.
Tax Credit
Mr. Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of time taken by the Adjudicator's Office to process reviews of decisions taken by HM Revenue and Customs was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [267876]
Mr. Timms: The average investigation turnaround was 23 weeks in 2007-08.
Information relating to investigation turnaround of all investigations in 2008-09 will be collated at the end of the financial year and will be published in the Adjudicator's Office 2008-09 annual report.
Taxation: Video Games
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made for benchmarking purposes of the effectiveness of the tax incentives provided to the video games development industry in the UK compared to those of other countries. [267566]
Angela Eagle: The Government are committed to supporting enterprise and innovation in all sectors, including the creative industries. A number of measures are available to assist small and developing companies, such as those found in the video games sector, in overcoming barriers to growth. Companies in the games industry are amongst those innovative companies benefiting from the UK's generous and recently enhanced R and D tax credit, though no assessment is available by individual sector.
The UK remains a highly competitive place to do business. At 28 per cent. the main rate of corporation tax is the lowest in the G7, and at its lowest ever rate.
The small companies rate, at 21 per cent. in 2008-09 is highly competitive internationally.
VAT: Food
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what provision EU directives on value added tax make for the imposition of value added tax at a rate other than zero on the sale of specially-formulated, very low calorie diet products. [268218]
Mr. Timms: Under EU VAT agreements, supplies of goods and services are subject to the standard rate of VAT except where specific provisions permit the application of a lower rate.
The Principal VAT Directive allows member states to apply a reduced rate of VAT of not less than 5 per cent. to foodstuffs, including beverages other than alcoholic beverages, and the UK is also allowed to continue to apply a zero rate to those supplies, including food, whose supply was zero-rated at 1 January 1991, although the scope of this zero rate may not be extended.
Working Tax Credit
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the Portsmouth travel-to-work area have been (a) underpaid and (b) overpaid working tax credit in the last two years. [256549]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 February 2009, Official Report, column 333W.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer Question 256549 tabled on 29 January 2009 by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South on tax credit; and what the reasons are for the time taken to answer. [267908]
Mr. Timms: I have now replied to the hon. Member and apologise for the delay, which was due to an administration error.
Justice
Civil Service
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent progress has been made in preparations for legislative proposals to underpin the role, governance and values of the Civil Service. [267967]
Mr. Wills: The Governance of Britain Green Paper set out the Government's commitment to bring forward legislation to enshrine the governance, core principles and values of the civil service in law. The draft Constitutional Renewal Bill contained provisions in respect of the civil service. It remains the Government's intention to bring forward this legislation, and the Bill is in the final stages of drafting.
Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on the recruitment exercise for a Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses. [268075]
Mr. Straw: The total cost of the recruitment campaign in 2006 for the role of Victims' Commissioner was £96,625.
Courts: Travel
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what resources have been made available to meet the travel and accommodation costs of people living in Torbay for attendance at video conferencing facilities for hearings by (a) HM Courts Service and (b) the Legal Services Commission; [267040]
(2) what steps have been taken by (a) HM Courts Service and (b) the Legal Services Commission to facilitate video links to hearings for people in Torbay; and how far anyone living in Torbay would be expected to travel to a video link by (i) HM Courts Service and (ii) the Legal Services Commission; [267041]
(3) what (a) procedures and (b) policies his Department and the bodies it sponsors have put in place to minimise the amount spent on travel and accommodation by lawyers representing them at court hearings; [267042]
(4) what procedures are in place to facilitate the attendance of litigants in person at administrative court hearings in circumstances where funding is not available from the Legal Services Commission; [267043]
(5) what funds are available to HM Courts Service to facilitate the attendance at court hearings of litigants in person who do not have the means to pay for travel and accommodation; [267044]
(6) if he will take steps to assist litigants in person who do not have the financial means to attend a hearing at the Administrative Court to present their case (a) in person and (b) by videolink; and what mechanisms HM Courts Service has in place in respect of litigants in person who are unable to attend hearings; [267490]
(7) if he will put in place mechanisms to monitor levels of access to legal redress for individuals resident outside the area of the High Court to ensure that such individuals are not disadvantaged; [267543]
(8) if he will take steps to ensure that litigants in person have equality of arms in respect of proceedings involving Government departments. [267544]
Bridget Prentice: I will write to the hon. Member when I am in a position to do so and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Crimes of Violence: Prosecutions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals were prosecuted for (a) attempted murder, (b) manslaughter and (c) rape in (i) England and Wales, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each year since 1997. [265340]
Maria Eagle: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, for attempted murder, manslaughter, and rape, in Cleveland police force area, the north east region, and England and Wales, 1997 to 2007 is shown in the following table.
Court proceedings data are not available at constituency level, thus Cleveland police force area data have been provided in lieu.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one 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.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
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