| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 May 2009 : Column 1506W—continued
Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding from the public purse has been provided to the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society Combat Stress in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2008-09. [276668]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The following table shows the funding received by Combat Stress for the years requested.
| Funding received by Combat Stress (£ million) | |
Funds are provided through the War Pensions Scheme's discretionary power to meet the cost of any necessary expenses in respect of medical, surgical or rehabilitative treatment of ex-members of the armed forces that arise from a disablement due to service before 6 April 2005 where it is not provided for under other UK legislation. This includes the individual costs of war pensioners undergoing “remedial treatment” at homes ran by Combat Stress for conditions related to their individual pensioned disablement and of related expenses such as travel costs.
In October 2007, my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) announced a 45 per cent. increase to the fees paid to Combat Stress by the MOD and the Scottish Executive.
Military Bases
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which military (a) bases and (b) other sites owned by his Department containing accommodation areas are (i) redundant and (ii) shortly to become redundant for his Department’s purposes; on what date each became or is due to become redundant; what area each covers; what sanitation facilities each has; how many separate sleeping rooms there are; what perimeter fences there are; what the postal address of each site is; and what estimate he has made of the market value of each site. [276765]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Radioactive Waste: Waste Management
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent of 12 May 2009, Official Report, column 753W, on radioactive waste: waste management, if he will place in the Library a copy of his response to the hon. Member when it is issued. [276312]
Mr. Quentin Davies: A copy of my response will be placed in the Library of the House.
Rescue Services
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether UK Search and Rescue (SAR) services will continue to provide a 24 hour service for the UK SAR region from 12 bases in the UK when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency service contract ends in 2012. [276542]
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Construction: Manpower
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many of the 100,000 jobs the Government expects to be created early this year are expected to arise in the construction industry. [247820]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
The pre-Budget report announced the Government's commitment to providing timely, targeted and temporary support to the economy by bringing forward £3 billion of capital spending from 2010-11 into 2008-09 and 2009-10. This additional investment is already supporting a number of industries and employing people across the country.
As the update on the capital fiscal stimulus provided at Budget showed, the majority of the public sector capital projects being brought forward involve construction activity. It is therefore expected that the bulk of the resulting employment impact will be in the construction sector. There are no centrally-prescribed rules for how the additional jobs will be allocated: the Departments concerned are responsible for determining how the funding is most effectively spent.
As set out at Budget 2009, the total announced policy support for the UK economy is expected to protect up to half a million jobs through the fiscal stimulus, together with MPC decisions to cut the Bank of England interest rate and quantitative easing.
Treasury
Bank Services
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the proportion of households with a bank account in each region of the UK. [272718]
Ian Pearson: The Government are committed to reducing financial exclusion and increasing the number of people who can manage their money by using a bank account.
The Family Resources Survey data for 2006-07, published in June this year, show that the number of adults without access to a bank account fell from 2.8 million in 2002-03 to 2.1 million in 2006-07. The survey data also show that around 95 per cent. of households in the UK are ‘banked’. The profile of banked households by Government office region are as follows:
| Government office region | Banked households (Percentage) |
The Financial Inclusion Taskforce recently published its third annual report on access to banking. The report contains profiles of the number of people in the UK without access to a bank account, including breakdowns by region. The report is on the taskforce’s website at:
Banks: Finance
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what position the Government holds in relation to other shareholders in the ranking for settlement in (a) Bradford and Bingley and (b) Northern Rock. [276679]
Ian Pearson: Shares in both banks were transferred to the Treasury when the banks were taken into public ownership. The amount of any compensation due to former shareholders will be decided by an independent valuer. The valuer for Northern Rock has already been appointed and further information can be found on his website at:
The valuer for Bradford and Bingley will be appointed shortly.
Bradford and Bingley
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 417W, on Bradford and Bingley, whether his Department proposed changes to the business plan before agreeing it with the Board. [276504]
Ian Pearson: Treasury officials worked co-operatively with Bradford and Bingley in keeping with the shareholder relationship framework document over a number of months as the bank developed its business plan.
Building Societies: Credit Rating
Ms Keeble: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of downgrading of the credit rating of some UK building societies; and if he will make a statement. [276472]
Ian Pearson: The Government note the recent ratings downgrades for some UK building societies and will continue to do what is necessary to protect depositors and consumers, ensure financial stability, protect public funds and support the wider economy. The Government welcome the role that mutuals play in the wider community, and in ensuring the diversity of the UK financial services sector.
Housing: Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Government expenditure was spent on housing in each year since 1997. [275948]
Yvette Cooper: Government expenditure on housing and community amenities from 1987-88 is laid out in the Budget 2009 National Statistics functional tables available at the following link:
Total managed expenditure is a measure of public sector expenditure on a National Accounts basis and is included at the above link.
Job Creation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many of the planned 100,000 new jobs will be in the public sector; and what the timetable is for their creation; [250508]
(2) how many of the up to 100,000 new jobs he plans to create will be in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector; and over what period of time the jobs will be created. [258728]
Yvette Cooper: The 2008 pre-Budget report announced the Government’s commitment to providing timely, targeted and temporary support to the economy by bringing forward £3 billion of capital spending from 2010-11 into 2008-09 and 2009-10. This additional investment is already supporting a number of industries and employing people across the country.
As the update on the capital fiscal stimulus provided at Budget showed, the majority of the public sector capital projects being brought forward involve construction activity. It is therefore expected that the bulk of the resulting employment impact will be in the construction sector. There are no centrally-prescribed rules for how the additional jobs will be allocated: the Departments concerned are responsible for determining how the additional funding is most effectively spent.
As set out at Budget 2009, the total announced policy support for the UK economy is expected to protect up to half a million jobs through the fiscal stimulus, together with MPC decisions to cut the Bank of England interest rate and quantitative easing.
Mortgages: Complaints
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints the Financial Services Authority received on (a) mortgages and (b) repossession of homes by mortgage lenders in each of the last five years. [266283]
Ian Pearson: The matters raised in this question are the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority, the day-to-day operations of which are independent from Government control and influence. The FSA wrote to the hon. Member on 13 May.
National Insurance Contributions: Local Authorities
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of the increase in national insurance contributions for employers announced in the pre-Budget report 2008. [246393]
Yvette Cooper: The total employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) for English local authority staff in 2007-08, including police, fire and rescue staff and teachers is set out in the Local Authority Revenue Expenditure Final Outturn 2007-08, which can be found at:
The additional cost of national insurance contributions incurred by councils from 2011 onwards will be considered in the normal way in the next spending review. This will be made in the proper spending review process alongside a holistic view of all additional costs experienced by the sector at this time.
Public Finance: Migration
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will recalculate Table 4.1 on page 36 and Table 4.2 on page 42 of his Department’s report of March 2008 on long-term public finance: an analysis of fiscal sustainability assuming long-term average annual net migration of (a) 50,000 a year, (b) 60,000 a year, (c) 100,000 a year, (d) 6 per cent. below the principal migration projection each year, (e) 5 per cent. below the principal migration projection each year and (f) zero. [276279]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 18 May 2009]: Table 4.3 on page 45 of the 2008 long-term public finance report shows the sensitivity of spending projections to alternative assumptions on fertility, life expectancy and migration. The next Long-term public finance report will be published in 2009.
Public Sector: Pensions
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph C.76, page 242 of the 2009 Budget, if he will place in the Library a copy of the actuarial advice he has received on public sector pensions; and if he will make a statement. [272645]
Yvette Cooper: The actuarial advice referred to in paragraph C.76 is that received by individual schemes, reflecting the particular scheme characteristics.
Public Sector: Recruitment
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to increase public sector employment in deprived areas. [275477]
Yvette Cooper: The Budget announced a Future Jobs Fund, which will provide funding for an additional 50,000 jobs in areas of high unemployment across the country. A further 100,000 jobs, as well as work placements and work-focused training, will be offered to all young people aged 18-24 who have claimed jobseeker’s allowance for 12 months. We expect many of the jobs, made available through the Future Jobs Fund, to be provided by local authorities.
Stock Market: Regulation
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Financial Services Authority on the regulation of the stock market. [275438]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 14 May 2009]: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with colleagues in the Financial Services Authority on an ongoing basis. It is not the Government’s practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |