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27 Apr 2009 : Column 1048W—continued
Tax Credit: Scotland
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) families and (b) individuals are in receipt of (1) working tax credit in (i) Scotland, (ii) Glasgow and (iii) Glasgow, South West constituency; [270801]
(2) child tax credit in (i) Scotland, (ii) Glasgow and (iii) Glasgow South West constituency. [270802]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the number of families benefiting from child and working tax credits in each Government office region, local authority and parliamentary constituency are available in the latest HMRC provisional awards snapshot publication, “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Geographical analyses” for December 2008. The publication is available on the HMRC website at:
HMRC do not produce these statistics separately for child tax credit and working tax credit.
Taxation: Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the £400 million of funding to stimulate housing development referred to on page 105 of the Budget 2009 Red Book will be allocated to each objective referred to on that page. [271492]
Angela Eagle: Budget 2009 announced £400 million in funding to unlock currently stalled housing developments in England. The funding will be allocated via a competitive bidding process, which will be open to all developers. The precise amount of additional funding for each component will depend on the sites that come forward from developers. The Homes and Communities Agency will set out criteria for bids shortly.
Taxation: Pensions
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Budget Statement of 22 April 2009, what percentage of expenditure incurred in the provision of tax relief would be attributed to expenditure incurred in relation to the 1.5 per cent. of pension savers if his proposals are implemented; and if he will make a statement. [271299]
Ian Pearson: The effect of the measure announced at Budget 2009 is to reduce the proportion of tax relief going to those with incomes above £150,000 from just over 25 per cent. to around 15 per cent. Both estimates relate to tax relief in 2011-12.
Valuation Office
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes the Valuation Office Agency has made to its methodology for valuing properties for the purposes of stamp duty land tax in the last 24 months; and whether further changes have been planned. [270429]
Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency has not changed its methodology for valuing properties for the purposes of stamp duty land tax. It has, however, together with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, issued guidance on the valuation approach that should be adopted when it is necessary to apportion the price paid for certain businesses when they are sold as a going concern. If any further alterations to this guidance are considered appropriate, then further changes will be made.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed by the Valuation Office Agency. [270430]
Mr. Timms: The numbers of full-time equivalent staff employed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is 4,096 at 21 April 2009. This figure includes staff from the former Rent Service whose functions transferred to the VOA on 1 April 2009.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2009, Official Report, column 1191W, on the Valuation Office, on what dates the project board overseeing the (a) electronic capture of hard copy records and (b) installation of a geographical information system met in the last 12 months. [270497]
Mr. Timms: The project boards overseeing (a) the electronic capture of hard copy records and (b) the installation of a geographical information system have held regular meetings over the last 12 months.
The dates of the respective project board meetings were:
(a) electronic capture of hard copy records:
16 April 2008;
13 May 2008;
21 July 2008;
29 September 2008;
30 October 2008;
27 November 2008;
28 January 2009;
19 February 2009;
26 March 2009.
(b) installation of a geographical information system:
3 April 2008;
28 April 2008;
13 May 2008;
8 September 2008;
14 October 2008;
4 November 2008;
10 December 2008;
14 January 2009;
25 February 2009;
22 April 2009.
Valuation Office: Geographical Information Systems
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Valuation Office Agency's new geographic information system to become operational; and what his most recent estimate is of the (a) set-up and (b) annual running costs of the system. [270433]
Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) Geographic Information System (GIS) is designed to provide more accurate valuations, improving the service the VOA provides.
The GIS is expected to be operational in January 2010, and is estimated to involve set-up costs of £2,460,000, and annual running costs of £840,000.
Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 6 May 2008, Official Report, column 829W, on Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services, what meetings have taken place since May 2008. [270427]
Mr. Timms: Two meetings of the Steering Committee on Harmonisation (Practice and Procedure) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have taken place since the start of May 2008. These were the 47th meeting held in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on 7-8 May 2008 and the 48th meeting in Glasgow on 12-13 November 2008.
Valuation Office: Video Recordings
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what video films the Valuation Office Agency has produced under its e-learning programme. [270431]
Mr. Timms: The VOA e-learning programmes include a number of short, internally produced digital film clips or vignettes. The VOA does not maintain a single comprehensive record of all such filmed sequences and to collate this material could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Working Tax Credit
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will review the operation of the 30-hour threshold for working tax credit eligibility for childless households of working age. [269262]
Mr. Timms: Parents and people with a disability are eligible for working tax credit (WTC) if they work at least 16 hours per week, while other people, who face less of a barrier to work, are eligible from 30 hours. WTC, including the 30-hour rule, has helped improve work incentives for people on low incomes.
To provide extra help to people working shorter hours, the Chancellor announced in the Budget that from 31 July 2009, HM Revenue and Customs will provide a four-week run of entitlement to WTC for those who cease to be eligible as a result of working fewer than 30 hours.
Solicitor-General
Smuggling: Tobacco
David Taylor: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2009, Official Report, column 1626W, on the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office, how many full-time equivalent staff in the Attorney-General's office were working on the prevention of tobacco smuggling in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09; and what expenditure was incurred in employing such staff in each year. [270365]
The Solicitor-General: The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) is an independent Government Department. It prosecutes cases in England and Wales investigated by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Its independence as a prosecutor is a key constitutional safeguard.
Its prosecutors work closely with investigators from HMRC and SOCA who are responsible for gathering evidence. Before any prosecution is initiated, its prosecutors will advise them on:
the potential prosecution consequences of the investigation routes that might or have been followed;
evidential requirements;
charges;
appropriate disclosure of material to the defence.
As soon as criminal proceedings begin, RCPO takes over full responsibility for the conduct of the case. RCPO therefore employs no staff on the prevention of tobacco smuggling which is an inherent part of HMRC's functions.
David Taylor: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2009, Official Report, column 1626W, on Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office, what the estimated cost of legal action taken against those accused of tobacco smuggling offences was in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [270366]
The Solicitor-General: The information is as follows:
(a) In 2007-08 RCPO spent an estimated £2,838,268 to prosecute tobacco smuggling offences.
(b) In 2008-09 RCPO spent an estimated £2,152,722 to prosecute tobacco smuggling offences.
Work and Pensions
Crisis Loans
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what consultations he has undertaken on his proposal to limit claimants to three Social Fund crisis loans a year; [268405]
(2) what criteria he plans to use to determine whether an application for a Social Fund crisis loan will be granted in circumstances where the applicant has received three such loans in the preceding 12 months; [268406]
(3) what information his Department gathers to monitor the level of fraudulent applications for Social Fund crisis loans. [268407]
Kitty Ussher [holding answer 2 April 2009]: Proposed changes to the existing Crisis Loans scheme have been shared with DWP Customer Representative Groups and the Independent Review Service. Jobcentre Plus is committed to consulting on any changes before they are implemented.
Under planned changes due to be piloted this year, an award for a Crisis Loan will generally not be granted where an applicant has received three such loans in a 12-month period. There will be circumstances in which a further award may be made when need has arisen as a consequence of a disaster.
The Department does not gather specific information about the level of fraudulent applications for Social Fund Crisis Loans. However, any referrals of suspected fraudulent activity would be dealt with by the Fraud Investigation Service in the same way as any other referrals.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people given a crisis loan from the Social Fund repaid the loan in the latest period for which figures are available. [268700]
Kitty Ussher: The social fund loans scheme was introduced in 1988. Loans from the social fund are repayable over a period of 104 weeks, which can in exceptional circumstances be extended to 130 weeks. Where a customer has more than one loan the oldest is repaid first.
Figures up to 31 March 2008 show that £1.225 billion has been awarded in crisis loans since 1988. Of this £0.947 billion, 77 per cent., has so far been repaid.
Departmental Billing
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of invoices his Department has paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last five months. [270540]
Jonathan Shaw: The percentage and number of invoices paid by the Department for Work and Pensions within 10 days of receipt in each of the last five months is shown as follows.
| Percentage of invoices paid within 10 days | Number of invoices paid within 10 days | |
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [263119]
Jonathan Shaw: In accordance with guidance from HM Treasury, the Department maintains records of property that it owns, and which has been lost or stolen. In the past 12 months, no items have been recorded as lost or stolen, and there is therefore no corresponding replacement cost. These records do not include assets which are leased to, but not owned by the Department, for example under contractual arrangements.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of replacing lost or stolen property from his Department was in the last 12 months. [268039]
Jonathan Shaw: In accordance with guidance from HM Treasury, the Department maintains records of property that it owns, and which has been lost or stolen. In the past 12 months, no items have been recorded as lost or stolen, and there is therefore no corresponding replacement cost. These records do not include assets which are leased to, but not owned by the Department, for example under contractual arrangements.
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