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8 May 2009 : Column 488W—continued
Railways: Franchises
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require rail franchises and concessions which are operated in part or in full by non-UK companies to allocate to their UK operations profits which accrue in respect of those operations. [272394]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
Activities undertaken in the UK, including the operation of rail franchises and concessions, are subject to UK tax whether undertaken by UK or foreign operators. The UK already has in place legislation to prevent profits from such activities being artificially diverted abroad. This legislation is kept under review.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the replacement of train franchises by fixed fee operating agreements. [273988]
Paul Clark: Operating agreements with train operating companies may be considered when appropriate to discharge the Department for Transport's duty to ensure continuity of rail services.
This duty, under section 30 of the Railways Act 1993, allows action to be taken in a way which is affordable, delivers value for money and fits with the department's wider objectives.
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cyclist deaths associated with a vehicular accident have occurred in respect of each type of vehicle in the last five years. [273995]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of pedal cyclist fatalities resulting from reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain with each type of vehicle in the last five years is given in the table:
| Number of pedal cyclist fatalities | |||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| (1) Includes other motor and non-motor vehicles. | |||||
Treasury
Child Care Tax Credit
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what models of child care tax credit are being piloted through HM Revenue and Customs; when he expects the outcomes of such pilots to be available; and if he will publish the outcomes upon availability; [273814]
(2) what models of child care tax credit are being piloted through the Childcare Affordability Programme 2009; when he expects the outcomes of these pilots to be known; and if he will publish such outcomes. [273815]
Mr. Timms: HMRC will be piloting a new payment model for the childcare element of the working tax credit as part of the Childcare Affordability Programme 2009 (CAP09). As announced in PBR 2008, the model is concerned with making child care payments that more closely reflect child care costs at the time they were incurred. The pilot will run until April 2011 and the results will be published in the evaluation of the CAP09.
Crown Estate Commissioners: Pay
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of full-time staff employed by the Crown Estate in (a) each region of England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland are paid less than £15,944 per annum. [273113]
Angela Eagle: The Crown Estate has 10 such employees, some 2.8 per cent. of the total workforce. All of these work in the South East of England, making up some 3per cent. of the workforce for this region.
Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the change in the rate each duty on alcohol was in each year since 1990; [273264]
(2) how much revenue from duties on alcohol has accrued to the Exchequer in each year since 1990. [273265]
Angela Eagle: HM Revenue and Customs publishes alcohol duty rates and revenues on the UKTradeInfo website:
Members: Correspondence
John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter of 27 February 2009 from the hon. Member for Buckingham on Lloyds TSB's sale of Abbey Life Financial Advisers in 2000. [273193]
Angela Eagle: Due to the large volume of correspondence received on these issues there has been a delay in sending some responses. The Financial Services Secretary hopes to be in a position to reply to the hon. Member shortly.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter of 12 March 2009 from the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean on the merger between Lloyds TSB and HBOS, reference FD1238. [273657]
Angela Eagle: Due to the large volume of correspondence received on these issues there has been a delay in sending some responses. The Financial Services Secretary hopes to be in a position to reply to the hon. Member shortly.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Financial Secretary plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 31 March 2009 on the abolition of IR35 reference: 3/09551/2009. [273822]
Angela Eagle: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Economic Secretary plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 25 February 2009 on Lloyds TSB Bank staff bonuses. [273823]
Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Mortgages
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on consumer protection matters relating to the mortgage industry; and if he will make a statement. [273176]
Angela Eagle [holding answer 7 May 2009]: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Overseas Trade
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effects on variance in top levels of (a) income and (b) social taxes in OECD economies on UK competitiveness in those economies. [273659]
Angela Eagle: The Government are committed to maintaining the competitiveness of the UK. When comparing UK tax rates internationally we consider both the overall level and wider structure of taxation.
Revenue and Customs: Closures
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) for what reasons no equality impact assessment was undertaken in respect of HM Revenue and Customs Workforce Change programme; [273238]
(2) whether an equality impact assessment has been carried out on the proposal to close HM Revenue and Customs' Shrewsbury office. [273327]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs undertook equality screening on all its proposals for rationalising its estate before publishing these for staff consultation.
Further equality screening on the proposals took place both during and following the staff consultation period to identify any additional adverse impacts requiring mitigating action.
The outcome of the further equality screening undertaken was included in the Impact Assessment published for each building scheduled for closure, including New Mayfield House, Shrewsbury. These impact assessments can be found on the HMRC Internet site at:
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether he plans HM Revenue and Customs employees based in offices in Shropshire to be compulsorily relocated on closure of those offices; [273328]
(2) what steps his Department plans to take to assist staff in Shrewsbury's HM Revenue and Customs office who have not secured alternative work by the date the office is due to close. [273331]
Mr. Timms: The expectation is that staff at the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office in Shrewsbury will commute to one of the offices HMRC is retaining, if it is within reasonable daily travel for them. For those unable to do so a range of redeployment options will be explored, including other jobs within HMRC or other Government Departments. Staff will be supported through this process by managers and the local implementation team.
HMRC remains committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies where it is practical to do so. Compulsory home moves are one measure HMRC will consider if there are no other alternatives that would avoid compulsory redundancies.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake a review of the financial basis for the proposed closures of HM Revenue and Customs offices in the current economic circumstances. [273332]
Mr. Timms: No. In the current economic climate it is more important than ever for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to manage its business and estate as efficiently as possible so as to achieve the best possible value to the taxpayer. That is the rationale behind office closures. HMRC is keeping the offices that best match its future business needs and giving up office space that is no longer needed as a result of its business reorganisation.
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the closure of HM Revenue and Customs offices; and if he will make a statement. [274078]
Mr. Timms: Earlier this year officials in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) signed an agreement with officials in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help provide opportunities for HMRC staff who may wish to voluntarily transfer to Jobcentre Plus. This agreement provides a framework to identify where there is a good match between DWP Jobcentre Plus recruitment plans and HMRC staff who may be looking for new opportunities. HMRC is supporting staff through the application process, should they decide to move to other Government Departments.
Under this agreement the first group of HMRC staff have moved across to DWP and both departments continue to work together to maximise opportunities for HMRC staff.
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