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15 May 2009 : Column 1100W—continued
“website’s ability to limit attack is restrictive enough to be considered secure.”
Land Registry: Electronic Funds Transfer
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what risk assessment has been undertaken in respect of the Land Registry's proposed electronic funds transfer service; and what anti-fraud measures will be in place under this service; [275166]
(2) when the Land Registry plans to commence its electronic funds transfer service. [275167]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry is not pursuing the development of the electronic funds transfer service.
Land Registry: Electronic Government
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the future provision of electronic services by HM Land Registry. [275160]
Mr. Wills: The Land Registry is currently consolidating existing e-services onto a new technical platform. Within the current financial year the Land Registry expects to have moved 12,000 professional customers to this new platform, which will support the recent delivery of new electronic services, such as mortgages and redemptions. Welsh language versions of all these services will be made available shortly.
A new Business Gateway service to allow direct connection between customer business software and Land Registry systems without the need to re-key data will be launched as a pilot in June 2009.
Land Registry has recently launched a service developed jointly with the Legal Services Commission for the registration of statutory charges.
The next stage is to introduce a new service allowing electronic transfers of registered land, including the capability to lodge Stamp Duty Land Tax Returns to HMRC. The Land Registry anticipates that this service will be piloted in 2011. Once live, it will be possible for professional customers to apply for the electronic registration of a redemption, transfer and mortgage, so supporting the residential house buying process.
All services will be designed to comply with the appropriate accessibility standards.
To protect the integrity of the Land Register, access to these registration services is made available only to customers who have successfully proved their business and personal identity in accordance with the relevant security checks.
Land Registry: Fraud
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what mechanisms to prevent fraud are used by HM Land Registry. [275154]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry is committed to fighting registration fraud and has implemented a wide ranging anti-fraud strategy. Some aspects of the strategy must remain confidential but measures already implemented include:
publication of Land Registry Public Guide 17—How to safeguard against property fraud and Public Guide 02—Keeping your address for service up to date, which advise property owners to record current contact addresses with Land Registry. Up to three addresses for service are allowed on the register, one of which may be an email address;
enhanced ID requirements, as detailed in Land Registry Practice Guide 67—Evidence of identity;
anti-fraud training for all Land Registry caseworkers; and
the introduction of IT systems to assist in identifying suspect cases.
The strategy is constantly kept under review and revised as appropriate. Land Registry also maintains contact with relevant national bodies, including the National Fraud Authority.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what training on detecting fraudulent activity is provided to Land Registry employees. [275164]
Mr. Wills: All Land Registry staff receive face-to-face training sessions on the importance of combating fraud and their part in this, and there are regular updates to all staff as internal processes and policies are reviewed and changed. The last two of these were in October 2008 and January 2009. In each Land Registry office there are senior staff who have had further training on fraud issues and they are there to support casework staff on high risk applications.
Land Registry's in-house electronic processing systems identify potential fraudulent applications automatically and all casework staff have been trained on the actions
they must take in such circumstances. Land Registry's technical manuals contain clear instructions as to the processes staff must follow on every application received in order to prevent fraudulent registration.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what mechanisms are in place to inform (a) an individual owning an interest in property and (b) legal representatives of an individual owning an interest in property to a suspected incident of property fraud in respect of that interest. [275170]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry informs owners of applications to alter their register where either the land registration legislation requires it or Land Registry thinks it prudent to do so. Notification is most often sent in cases where the application is made by someone who is not a professional conveyancer.
The notice is sent to the owner's address for service as recorded in the register. All owners are required to provide at least one such address and are entitled to enter up to three. It is important that they keep their addresses up to date to ensure they receive such a notice.
Land Registry will usually not know who the owner's legal representatives are at the time notice is to be sent and so does not generally send the notice to them. For example, it cannot be assumed that the solicitor who acted on a transfer to the owner some years ago is still their representative now. However, if an owner gives their legal representatives' address as one of the owner's addresses for service, Land Registry will send any notification to that address.
Prosecutions: Council Tax
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many successful prosecutions there have been in England and Wales for non-payment of council tax in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority. [275621]
Maria Eagle: Persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under Section 56 of the Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cannot be separately identified on the Ministry of Justice Court proceedings database as they form part of a miscellaneous group which cannot be analysed.
Prime Minister
Forfeiture Committee
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister when the Forfeiture Committee next plans to meet. [275836]
The Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 12 February 2009, Official Report, column 2136W.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Prime Minister when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire dated 27 February 2009, on tax evasion. [275843]
The Prime Minister: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.
Scotland
Departmental Buildings
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on building maintenance in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [274563]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not separately identify the costs of building maintenance from the routine repair, maintenance and refurbishment of existing facilities. Over the period of the last five years, the Office has shared its accommodation with a number of other Government Departments. The following figures show the gross total for repairs and maintenance of Scotland Office buildings, but does not include the contribution by the departments towards their share of the costs.
| Cost (£) | |
| (1) Under the terms of the building leases the Office is required to maintain the buildings to an acceptable standard of decoration and repair, which in 2007-08 included roof and exterior repairs to Dover House in London. | |
Departmental Official Hospitality
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on (a) conference services and (b) banqueting services in each of the last five years. [274498]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office do not separately record the cost of conference and banqueting services. All expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Transport
Aviation: EU Countries
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) scheduled and (b) charter flights there were from British airports to (i) Belgium, (ii) Finland and (iii) Greece in each of the last five years. [275830]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following tables show the number of scheduled and charter flights departing from British airports to Belgium, Finland and Greece in each of the last five years.
| Table 1: Scheduled flights from British airports to Belgium, Finland and Greece | |||||
| Thousand | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Source: DFT analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data | |||||
| Table 2: Charter flights from British airports to Belgium, Finland and Greece | |||||
| Thousand | |||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (1) Less than 100 flights Source: DFT analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data | |||||
Bus Services: Concessions
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with representatives of West Lancashire district council on (a) funding for, (b) pool arrangements for and (c) surplus from the national concessionary bus fares scheme. [275845]
Paul Clark: Department for Transport Ministers have not had any recent discussions with representatives of West Lancashire district council. However, Ministers have had discussions with representatives of other councils within the Lancashire region.
Departmental officials have met with representatives of the Lancashire Concessionary Travel Scheme, of which West Lancashire is a member. This group comprises the districts and unitary authorities of Lancashire plus the county council. These discussions focused on the concerns that some local authorities in Lancashire have regarding the allocation of concessionary travel special grant funding.
I am aware that authorities within the Lancashire County Scheme already choose to pool a proportion of their funding. This year West Lancashire will receive £252,714 of special grant funding to meet the cost of the new England-wide concession. This represents an increase of 23 per cent. on the authority's spend on concessionary travel in 2007-08.
As funding for concessionary travel is not ring-fenced, local authorities are free to spend the money on any services, provided they meet their statutory obligations. This is consistent with wider policy on local government funding of giving authorities greater freedom and flexibility.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has provided for West Lancashire district council in respect of the national concessionary bus fares scheme in each year since the scheme was introduced. [275846]
Paul Clark:
Before 1 April 2008, funding for the statutory minimum bus concession was provided exclusively through the Formula Grant system, which is administered by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The Department for Transport
therefore provided no separate funding to West Lancashire district council for concessionary bus travel from 2001, when the statutory minimum was first introduced, until 2008.
The Department did however provide West Lancashire with £50,404 in 2007-08 for the cost of producing and issuing the new England-wide bus passes to all those eligible.
In 2008-09 West Lancashire district council received additional special grant funding from the Department for Transport of £246,891 to meet the additional cost of the new, England-wide concession. This represents an increase of 22 per cent. on the authority's spend on concessionary travel in 2007-08. In 2009-10 West Lancashire district council will receive special grant funding of £252,714.
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