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13 May 2009 : Column 850W—continued
Departmental Stationery
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much his Department spent on the purchase of (a) recycled office supplies in the last 12 months and (b) printer ink cartridges in each of the last five years; [274570]
(2) what proportion of office supplies purchased by his Department were recycled products in the latest period for which figures are available. [275337]
Ian Pearson: The Treasury is fully committed to making procurement sustainable and has a policy of using the Sustainable procurement quick wins wherever possible. However:
(a) It is not possible to identify how much the Treasury has spent on, or what proportion were, specifically recycled office supplies from other “green” products.
(b) The Treasury pays for a fully managed printer service, which includes the provision of printer ink cartridges. It is not possible to separate the amount spent on ink cartridges from the total cost of the managed service.
Departmental Training
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has spent on IT training for its staff in each of the last five years. [274222]
Mr. Timms: HM Treasury systems do not record centrally all details of IT training attended by staff, as this is delegated to individual teams. The following data on the cost of centrally organised training since 2005-06 is available. 2007-08 HM Treasury revised its contracts for the external provision of IT training to ensure better value for money.
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In addition, HM Treasury has an in-house IT trainer who delivers induction for internal computer systems to all new starters.
Gaming
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was generated from remote gaming duty in 2008-09. [274684]
Angela Eagle: HM Revenue and Customs is not currently able to publish a breakdown of remote gaming duty while maintaining taxpayer confidentiality.
Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander: Isle of Man
Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has discussed with the Isle of Man Government the provision of a Treasury loan secured against the assets of Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander frozen by the Government in order to enable UK depositors in Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man) to access their deposited funds. [269083]
Ian Pearson: On 8 October, the Treasury made Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008 in order to freeze funds and financial assets relating to Landsbanki. Landsbanki is the only Icelandic bank which has been made the subject of a freezing order. Assets in Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander have not been frozen by the UK Government.
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with 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 meetings and discussions.
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. This matter was discussed at the Treasury Select Committee on 3 February with representatives of the Isle of Man Government.
Landsbanki: Guernsey
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made representations to the Guernsey authorities with a view to providing a loan to progress payments to depositors affected by the collapse of Landsbanki Guernsey. [271805]
Ian Pearson: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with 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 meetings and discussions.
Arrangements for depositors in banks in Guernsey are a matter for the Government of Guernsey.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 19 February 2009, on company directors (PO Ref: 1/67667/2009). [274436]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 11 May 2009]: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the hon. Member for Totnes’ letters of 3 March and 21 April 2009 on Mr. Ian Bramble of Kingsbridge, regarding Mr Bramble's concerns as a financial adviser. [274691]
Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Mr. Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 420W, on hon. Members: correspondence, what the reasons are for the time taken to respond to the correspondence; and if he will make a statement. [275174]
Ian Pearson: The volume of correspondence has risen significantly over the last 12 months and it is regretted that this has resulted in replies to some correspondence being delayed. HM Treasury is taking action to help minimise the effects on service delivery times.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he proposes to publish his Department’s factual paper on the operation of the Barnett formula. [274359]
Yvette Cooper: No date has yet been decided for the publication of the factual paper on the Barnett formula.
Taxation: Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue accrued to the Exchequer from (a) stamp duty land tax and (b) housing sector corporation tax in each year since 1997. [273632]
Ian Pearson: Exchequer receipts from stamp duty land tax between 2001-02 and 2007-08, the latest year for which figures are available, are given at:
Figures for earlier years up to 1999-2000 are given in the publication Inland Revenue Statistics 2000, which is available in the House of Commons Library.
Receipts for 2000-01 are not available from either of these sources. Receipts from stamp duty land tax in 2000-01 amounted to £4.1 billion.
It is not possible to estimate corporation tax receipts for the housing sector.
Taxation: Self-assessment
Janet Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps HM Revenue and Customs is taking to rectify the system fault which has affected its on-line tax return system; for how long he expects the system to be unavailable; what estimate he has made of the number of applications for tax rebates which will take longer to process as a result of the fault; and if he will make a statement. [274802]
Mr. Timms
[holding answer 12 May 2009]: In April 2009 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) identified an accounting issue which affected some customers who had submitted 2008-09 self-assessment tax returns (paper as well as online). As a consequence, from 20 April to 2 May 2009 HMRC suspended processing all Tax Returns onto their back-end systems to ensure customers did not receive incorrect calculations and statements. The issue was rectified on 1 May 2009 and
HMRC resumed processing on 2 May 2009. Any resulting repayments have been made in accordance with normal processes.
During this period customers were still able to file their online and paper tax returns. Between 20 April 2009 and 2 May 2009 the self-assessment online service was fully available apart for a period of 10 hours of planned downtime on 29 April 2009.
Valuation Office: Equality
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency has spent on diversity and equality courses for its staff at the National School of Government in the last 12 months; and how many staff have attended such courses in that period. [258397]
Mr. Timms: No Valuation Office Agency staff have attended such courses at the National School of Government in the last 12 months.
International Development
Overseas Aid
6. Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent audit he has made of the value for money being achieved by his Department's expenditure on overseas aid. [274663]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Government are committed to maximising the impact of UK aid. DFID assesses the value for money of its projects and programmes each quarter and aims to improve value for money of its projects by £66 million over the comprehensive spending review period.
DFID has a rigorous system of evaluation and makes full use of value for money audits carried out by National Audit Office.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) how much his Department allocated to civilian aid to Afghanistan between 1997 and 2008; [273850]
(2) how much his Department allocated to civilian aid to Iraq between 1997 and 2008; [273851]
(3) how much his Department allocated to civilian aid to (a) Israel and (b) Palestine between 1997 and 2008. [273852]
Mr. Michael Foster: All of the Department for International Development’s (DFID) development assistance has the purpose of reducing poverty in the civilian populations of the countries in which it is provided.
Details of the UK’s bilateral expenditure and imputed share of multilateral official development assistance (ODA) are contained in the DFID publication “Statistics on International Development”. This publication is available in the Library of the House and online at
Afghanistan
7. Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent assessment is of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [274664]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The UK Government have committed £22.5 million since January 2008 to support those in Afghanistan worst affected by the high food prices and drought.
£17 million of this was channelled through emergency appeals led by the UN World Food Programme (WFP). These reach 8.7 million people, and the WFP assess that there is sufficient food to stabilise supply from the current harvest onwards.
9. Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's spending through the UN Development Programme in Afghanistan. [274666]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The UNDP is an important partner for the Department for International Development in Afghanistan, providing expertise in areas such as voter registration and support for the democratic elections. The Department's funding has helped to ensure the success of the voter registration process. It also helped to launch the Afghanistan national development strategy, which unites the Governments of Afghanistan and the UK, and other partner Governments, behind a common vision to help to build a new Afghanistan.
Gaza
8. Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent support his Department has provided to charities and other non-governmental organisations working in Gaza. [274665]
Mr. Michael Foster: In response to the recent Gaza crisis, my Department has pledged close to £47 million to assist with humanitarian relief and early recovery. Of this, nearly £7 million has already been allocated to non-governmental organisations. A further £12.8 million has been allocated to United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
10. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on the delivery of assistance for reconstruction in Gaza; and if he will make a statement. [274667]
Mr. Michael Foster: In response to the recent Gaza crisis, the UK Government have committed nearly £20 million to United Nations agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and a number of non-governmental organisations to address urgent humanitarian and early recovery activities. This has included removing rubble, clearing unexploded ordnance and supporting cash for work schemes.
However, meaningful progress on reconstruction will not be possible without the opening of the crossings into Gaza to allow materials and personnel to enter. The UK Government are continuing to press the Government of Israel on this issue.
12. Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent assessment is of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. [274669]
Mr. Michael Foster: The humanitarian situation in Gaza has stabilised since the ceasefire. However, the situation remains extremely concerning. Over 15,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged during the crisis and over 30,000 homes sustained some damage. Approximately 32,000 people are without piped water, and a further 100,000 only receive water supplies every 2-3 days.
Success of the response effort will be dependent upon opening of the crossings in order to allow movement of materials and personnel into Gaza. The UK Government are continuing to press the Government of Israel on this issue.
Algeria
11. Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance his Department is providing to refugees from the Western Sahara in refugee camps in Algeria. [274668]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports Western Saharan refugees through its 17 per cent. share of the budget of the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and its £19 million core contributions to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), for its work with refugees across the world. In 2008, ECHO committed to provide €10 million to support Western Saharan refugees, while UNHCR spent $3.1 million in their support.
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