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8 Jun 2009 : Column 744W—continued
Myasthenia Gravis
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for treatment for patients diagnosed with myasthenia gravis was in the latest period for which figures are available. [278666]
Ann Keen: Data on the average waiting time for treatment for those diagnosed with myasthenia gravis are not collected centrally.
Organs
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Human Tissue Authority to publish its report on human tissue legislation and the regulation of tissue-based research. [278006]
Ann Keen: We understand from the Human Tissue Authority that the findings will be published later in the year.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many primary care trusts include on surgery consent forms an option for patients to consent to the storage and use of their tissue for research purposes. [278007]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected by the Department.
Treasury
Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what budget has been allocated to Sir John Chadwick's office for its review of the payment of compensation to Equitable Life policy-holders; [276896]
(2) how many staff have been employed for the purposes of Sir John Chadwick's review of the payment of compensation to Equitable Life policy-holders; [276897]
(3) what the salary is of each member of staff employed for the purposes of Sir John Chadwick's review of the payment of compensation to Equitable Life policy-holders; [276898]
(4) which agency was used to recruit staff for the purposes of Sir John Chadwick's review of the payment of compensation to Equitable Life policy-holders. [276899]
Ian Pearson: The Government are committed to giving Sir John Chadwick all the support he needs. He is currently assisted by a core team of three staff in his office: counsel, private secretary and administrative support, and his team will be joined shortly by professional actuarial advisers. The Treasury keeps Sir John’s resource requirements under review and will fund any additional staff for his office he believes necessary to meet his terms of reference in a timely way.
No agency was used. Sir John is responsible for recruiting his staff and services, using a competitive procurement process to buy the services. The salaries of each member of the team constitute personal data and release of this data would breach the Data Protection Act 1998 as it would disclose personal financial information without public interest justification.
Gold and Foreign Exchange Reserves
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes in the UK's holding of currency reserves there have been in each year since 1997. [278106]
Ian Pearson: It is not possible to provide a consistent series for the official reserves before 1999, given changes in accounting methodology. Back data for the UK's official reserves prior to 1999 can be found on the ONS publication, “Economic Trends Annual Supplement No. 32 2006 edition.”
Detailed historical data for the official reserves on a consistent basis from July 1999 can be found on the Bank of England website:
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what gold reserves the Government hold. [278119]
Ian Pearson: This information can be found at:
Housing: Sales
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many responses his Department received to its consultation on regulation of the sale and rent back market; and by what date he expects to determine steps to be taken as a result of that consultation; [277767]
(2) what steps he plans to take to increase the level of consumer protection in the sale and rent back market; [277768]
(3) when he expects a new framework for the regulation of the sale and rent back market to be implemented; and if he will make a statement; [277769]
(4) if he will extend the remit of the Financial Services Authority to regulate sale and rent back agreements. [277815]
Ian Pearson: On 2 June 2009, the Government laid before Parliament secondary legislation to extend the scope of Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation to include sale and rent back agreements, and published, “Regulating the sale and rent back market: summary of responses to consultation”, available at:
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter of 10 March 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mrs E. Flint. [273762]
Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the right hon. Member.
Revenue and Customs
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the tax department of HM Revenue and Customs uses auditable systems to record the date on which correspondence is received. [277781]
Mr. Timms: Correspondence received by HM Revenue and Customs on paper is manually stamped with the date the letter was received and the name of the receiving office. For correspondence which is scanned the date of receipt is recorded electronically. E-mails and faxes have the date of receipt automatically recorded.
Revenue and Customs: Debt Collection
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rights of entry debt collectors acting on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs have. [277772]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have no right of forced entry for debt recovery work without a court order. HMRC’s current small scale six month pilot to test the use of private debt collection agencies does not involve face to face contact or visits to home or business premises.
Taxation
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse (a) in total and (b) per £1,000 of revenue collected was of the administration of (i) value added tax, (ii) income tax and (iii) tax revenue raised by local authorities. [278068]
Mr. Timms: The figures are in the following table:
| (a) Total cost of administration 2007-08 (£000) | (b) Cost per thousand of revenue collected 2007-08 (£) | |
| (1) Information relates to England only, and can be found in the Local Government Financial Statistics volume 19, at: http://www.cornmunities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/financialstatistics192009 | ||
Revenue raised by local authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the respective devolved administrations.
Communities and Local Government
Allotments
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to encourage the development of more allotments; what guidance she has provided to local authorities on this issue; and what research her Department has undertaken into the potential contribution of allotments to local food chains and sustainable community agriculture. [278464]
John Healey: At a meeting between my noble Friend Baroness Andrews and allotment policy stakeholders on 20 February 2009, it was agreed that the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens should be commissioned to update the Local Government Association (LGA) publication “Growing in the Community” and that this should be made available online, to ensure that it reaches a wider audience. “Growing in the Community” is a good practice guide for local authority allotment officers, which assists them in their statutory duty to provide allotments. A free copy was sent to all local authorities following its revision in March 2008 and it is available on request from the LGA.
In respect of research into the potential contribution of allotments, my officials have started discussions with DEFRA about jointly commissioning research to identify and collect evidence on how communities can be engaged and empowered to realise the benefits of urban green spaces (including allotments), which align with key Government priorities.
Departmental Film
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many films her Department has produced in (a) video, (b) DVD and (c) digital formats in the last 12 months; and what the (i) title and (ii) purpose was of each film. [277035]
Mr. Khan: The Department does not maintain a central record of films produced. A range of short films produced in digital format during the period specified have been published on the Department’s YouTube channel at:
In addition, the Department’s Communication Directorate has produced one internal film, entitled “Making it Happen”, in a digital format for the purpose of introducing departmental values to staff.
Departmental Legal Costs
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what legal costs were incurred in the Court of Appeal by (a) her Department, (b) the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and (c) the Board of Medical Referees in defending the appeals brought by Martin Marrion, Neil Burke and Andrew Scott, case number C1/2008/1332. [277999]
Mr. Khan: The legal costs incurred by the Department amounted to £43,930. These included the cost of representing the Board of Medical Referees. Any costs incurred by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority are a matter for the authority.
The Department will also pay the appellants' reasonable costs in the Court of Appeal as are agreed or, if not, following a detailed assessment.
Departmental Marketing
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent by her Department on advertising in weekly and regional newspapers in each of the last five years. [277162]
Mr. Khan: The Department buys advertising space via the central contracts operated by the Central Office of Information. They have confirmed that the Department spent £405,165 in total on regional press advertising through the COI last year, £1,184,904 in total in 2007-08 and £646,826 in total in 2006-07.
COI do not hold records of any such spend by CLG’s predecessor Departments in the period requested.
Departmental Publications
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many editions of her Department’s We Can publication have been produced; to whom her Department distributes that publication; and how many copies have been distributed in each of the last four quarters; [277353]
(2) how many staff were employed to produce her Department’s We Can publication; what the job title is of each such member of staff; and how much has been spent on staff salaries for those staff in each of the last three years; [277354]
(3) how many copies of each edition of her Department’s We Can publication have been printed; and what the cost of (a) publishing and (b) printing the publication has been in each of the last three years; [277356]
(4) what budget has been allocated to her Department’s Local Democracy and Participation Directorate for production of the We Can document in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [277357]
Mr. Khan: In the last four quarters we have produced three editions of WeCan! The publication is distributed to 1,350 subscribers comprising local authorities (county, district and parish levels), third sector and voluntary organisations, Government Departments, housing, police and health organisations and tenant associations, think tanks, charities, minority representative groups, university departments, NHS trusts and community groups. In each quarter 1,350 print copies were distributed to subscribers with the remainder provided for internal staff, partner organisations and for distribution at conferences and events.
There is no dedicated member of staff working on the WeCan! publication, it is part of one person’s wider job remit.
In 2006-07 three editions were produced and 2,000 copies were printed per edition. In 2007-08 two editions were produced and 3,000 copies were printed for each edition and in 2008-09 three editions were produced and 3,000 copies were printed for each edition. The total publishing and printing costs for these were £21,000 in 2006-07, £17,000 in 2007-08 and £38,000 in 2008-09.
The funding for meeting these costs was allocated to the local democracy and participation directorate for the production of the WeCan! publication in each of the last three years.
Departmental Security
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many breaches of security have been reported at (a) the Fire Service College, (b) Ordnance Survey, (c) the Planning Inspectorate and (d) the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in the last five years; and what procedures each agency follows when a breach of security involves the disclosure of personal data. [276957]
Mr. Khan: In the last five years there have been eight breaches of security. These are:
| Security breaches | |
The Department and its agencies report all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information on personal data security breaches is published on an annual basis in the Department’s annual resources accounts as was announced in the data handling review published on 25 June 2008.
Additionally, all significant control weaknesses including other significant security breaches are included in the statement of internal control which is published within the annual resource accounts.
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