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20 July 2009 : Column 893W—continued
Child Trust Fund: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Bexley had received child trust fund payments by the latest date for which figures are available. [288228]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The most recent constituency level statistics on child trust fund accounts were published on 6 November 2008 and can be viewed on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
There were 11,700 children born before 6 April 2007 in the London borough of Bexley who have a child trust fund account.
Child Trust Fund: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children in (a) Hemel Hempstead constituency, (b) Dacorum and (c) Hertfordshire had received Child Trust Fund payments on the latest date for which figures are available. [287861]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In Hertfordshire there were 57,300 children born before 6 April 2007 who have a child trust fund account. Similarly in Dacorum there were 7,100 such children.
I referred the hon. Member to the constituency level data available on the HM Revenue and Customs website in my answer to him on 2 July 2009, Official Report, column 422W.
Contracts
Mrs. McGuire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research has been carried out into the number of contracts for goods or services let by the Government which are then sub-contracted by the prime contractor. [286713]
Ian Pearson: No specific research has been carried out into the number of contracts let by Government which are then subcontracted.
The Glover report, "Accelerating the SME economic engine", refers to limited research conducted by Middlesex university and to earlier external research, both covering SME subcontracting and is available at:
www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/Accelerating_the_ SME_Economic_Engine.pdf
Damian McBride
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury last met Mr. Damian McBride in the course of his official duties. [287408]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The duties and responsibilities of the Chief Whip are not matters for the Treasury. However, I understand that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury has not met Mr, Damian McBride in the course of his official duties.
Departmental Accountancy
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish his Department's resource accounts for 2008-09. [287344]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department's resource accounts for 2008-09 have been published.
Departmental Conditions of Employment
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of employees in his Department are on a (a) flexible working contract and (b) job share employment contract. [287105]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury offers flexible working and job share to staff where operational constraints permit in order to improve work/life balance. Many flexible working arrangements including job share are made informally between managers and staff and are therefore not formally recorded. This information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Flags
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many flags his Department owns; and what the cost of maintaining them was in the latest period for which figures are available. [287958]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury owns five flags on which no maintenance costs are incurred.
Departmental Flowers
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on flowers in each of the last five years. [287950]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: For information on spending on flowers by the Department, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 February 2009, Official Report, column 2101W to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt). Spending in 2004-05 on flowers was the same as in 2005-06.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on the maintenance of his Departmental website in each of the last two years. [287953]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: For previous answer referring to maintenance costs of the departmental website for the last two years, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 June 2009, Official Report, column 901W.
Economic Growth
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on economic growth rates over the next two financial years. [287960]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury's latest assessment of the economy was published in Budget 2009 (HC 407). HM Treasury continues to monitor all relevant factors to inform its assessment of the UK economy, and has regular engagements with outside organisations including relevant Government Departments on a range of issues relating to the economy.
Empty Property
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which public bodies are not required to report their actual and vacant property to the e-PIMS database. [287360]
Ian Pearson: The following public bodies are not required to report their actual and vacant property to the e-PIMS database:
1. HM Court Service Courts
2. Laboratories
3. Other specialist facilities owned, leased and occupied by central Departments, agencies and NDPB's such as museums, power stations and port facilities
4. Civil engineering infrastructure owned, leased and used by central Departments, agencies and NDPB's such as flood defences, roads, canals and railways.
5. English Heritage estate.
6. Historic Royal Palaces.
7. Defence military estate.
8. Prisons estate.
9. NHS Estate, e.g. hospitals,
10. DEFRA estate e.g. farms.
11. F and CO and Home Office overseas estate.
12. Doctors' surgeries and clinics.
13. Schools.
14. Higher Education facilities.
15. Police stations.
16. Fire stations.
17. All local government estate.
18. The Crown estate.
19. Parliament's estate.
20. Public corporations' estate
21. Devolved assemblies.
EU Grants and Loans: Wales
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2009, Official Report, column 325W, on EU grants and loans: Wales, whether monies received by the Welsh Assembly Government from the EU Convergence Programme are paid through his Department. [287265]
Mr. Byrne: The European Commission makes cash payments from the EU Convergence Programme direct to the United Kingdom paying authorities, including the devolved Administrations, not through HM Treasury.
EU Law
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the statutory obligations upon it provided for in legislation on matters for which it is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available. [283470]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It is very difficult to provide precise figures for the proportion of UK legislation that stems from the European Union.
Holiday Homes
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what consultation he undertook before deciding to reclassify income from holiday lets as unearned income; [288116]
(2) what estimate he has made of the effects on the revenue of the Exchequer of reclassifying income from holiday lets as unearned income. [288117]
Ian Pearson: The Government are not reclassifying income from holiday lets as unearned income.
Income from furnished holiday lettings will continue to be assessed as property income, but after the repeal of the FHL rules, it will no longer be treated as trade income for certain purposes.
This change was necessary because the FHL rules may not be compliant with EU law, it was therefore not appropriate to consult on whether a change should be made.
The repeal was announced in the Budget 2009 in order to provide advance notice of the change, and allow those affected time to plan. Although a formal consultation is not planned, the Government do intend to publish draft legislation at the pre-Budget report, and will be happy to receive comments at that time.
Estimates of the revenue impact of this change were published at Budget 2009, and an impact assessment will be published at PBR 2009 alongside the draft legislation.
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people claimed tax relief for expenditure on furnished holiday letting properties in each of the last five years; and how much was claimed in relief in each of those years. [288205]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) on 5 May 2009, for estimates for 2006-07, the last full year for which information is available. Estimates for earlier years are of a similar magnitude.
Housing
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on the sale and rent back market. [287949]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors to discuss 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 discussions.
On 1 July 2009, the Government extended the scope of Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation to include sale and rent back agreements. The FSA's regime affords borrowers important protections and provides
consumers with means of redress in case they experience problems. More information on the FSA's regime is available at:
Housing: Valuation
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 6 November 2008, Official Report, column 682W, on housing: valuation, what the value significance of each individual locality reference in each valuation area in the (a) North East and (b) North West is. [286813]
Mr. Timms: A list of locality reference numbers, ranked in order of value significance by valuation area within the areas covered by (a) the Government Office for the North East and (b) the Government Office for the North West, has been placed in the Library. The list is based on data extracted between 9 June 2009 and 17 June 2009.
Information that identifies the extent of each locality can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Individual Savings Accounts: Pensions
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the merits of permitting persons with a value of £250,000 or over to add the proceeds of such accounts to their personal pension provisions in return for a guarantee of retirement with immediate effect. [287694]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Individual investors are free to use their savings from individual savings accounts as they choose. Any contributions to registered pension schemes will be subject to the tax rules that apply to those schemes. Those rules include limits on the amount of tax relief that is provided.
Industrial Health and Safety: Training
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on health and safety training in each of the last two years. [287951]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Estimated external expenditure on health and safety training was £36,500 in 2007-08 and £40,000 in 2008-09. Other information and training for officials is provided by our in-house health and safety team and costs cannot be identified separately from their other duties.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) when the Financial Secretary plans to respond to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 31 March 2009 on the KSFIOM Depositors Group; [280873]
(2) when the Financial Secretary will respond to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 31 March 2009 on the KSFIOM Depositors Group. [285493]
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