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21 July 2009 : Column 1352W—continued
Public Bodies: Reviews
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the terms of reference are of his Department's review of public bodies. [288670]
Mr. Byrne:
On 3 July 2009 I announced that a review of arm's length bodies would be taken forward as part of the Public Value Programme. Discussions with colleagues
are ongoing to agree the scope of the review. The pre-Budget report will provide a progress report on the Public Value Programme.
Public Expenditure
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial transfers are being made from the budget of each other Government department to the Department for Communities and Local Government to fund the housing expenditure announced in the 2009 Draft Legislative Programme; and what programmes in each department are having reductions in their funding to meet that expenditure. [286682]
Mr. Byrne: The departmental contributions towards the housing expenditure announced in the 2009 draft legislative programme will come from a mixture of reprioritisation, efficient programme management and anticipated underspends. Up to £930 million will be contributed from the following sources:
£350 million from the Department for Transport;
£100 million from the Department for Children, Schools and Families;
£90 million from the Home Office;
£50 million from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills;
£340 million of anticipated capital underspends in the Department of Health, Department for Children, Schools and Families, and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The remaining £586 million will be provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Public Sector: Hospitality
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2009, Official Report, column 1187W, on public sector: hospitality, how many visits each customer department booked through the Expotel contract in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what expenditure each customer department incurred in relation to such visits. [269938]
Ian Pearson: As previously stated, Buying solutions only holds summary data for the framework, that is aggregate data for all public sector organisations. Data are not held centrally for the 182 individual public sector bodies that use the framework. Obtaining such a breakdown could be done only at disproportionate cost and I apologise for the delay in responding.
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the size of public sector pension liabilities. [270200]
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what his most recent estimate is of the service cost of all unfunded public sector pension schemes for (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; [271171]
(2) when he plans to answer Question 271171, tabled on 24 April 2009, on unfunded public sector pension schemes. [282337]
Mr. Byrne: The total liability of all pay as you go public service occupational pension schemes will be published in the Long Term Public Finance Report later this year and will include the current service costs of these schemes.
Public Services: Finance
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 14 July 2009, Official Report, column 362W, on public services: finance, if he will publish his Department's 1994 Needs Assessment for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. [288502]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 20 July 2009]: Today I am placing copies of the internal updates to the 1979 Needs Assessments for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland produced by the Treasury in 1994 in the Library of the House.
Real Estate Investments Trusts
Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many commercial Real Estate Investments Trusts have been established; and what effect their establishment has had on levels of receipts of the Exchequer. [287512]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Around 20 UK Real Estate Investments Trusts have been established. It is too early to assess the full effect of their establishment on the Exchequer.
Revenue and Customs: Chorley
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases have been processed by the HM Revenue and Customs office in Chorley in each of the last four months. [285573]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs processing staff based in Chorley have completed the following work in the last four months (March to June):
Capture of 1,225 SA Tax Returns
(847 in March, 378 in April)
Replied to 1,391 items of Customer Correspondence
(829 in March, 323 in April, 128 in May, 111 in June)
Dealt with 15,940 forms from Employers
(3,473 in March, 2,912 in April, 5,244 in May, 4,311 in June)
Dealt with 8,896 miscellaneous processing items such as worklist entries
(2,022 in March, 2,063 in April, 2,772 in May, 2,039 in June)
Revenue and Customs: Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much was paid in bonuses to (a) directors, (b) senior managers, (c) specialist and delivery managers and (d) executive support and administration staff in HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; [280618]
(2) how much was paid in bonuses to (a) administration assistants, (b) assistant officers, (c) officers, (d) higher officers, (e) senior officers, (f) fast stream trainees, (g) Grade 7 employees, (h) Grade 6
employees and (i) senior civil servants in each HM Revenue and Customs office in each of the last five years. [286395]
Mr. Timms: Information on bonuses paid by job role in not available.
In 2007-08 bonus payments were made to top performers and good performers on the pay band range maximum, as they had received a lower consolidated pay award.
In 2008-09 bonuses were paid only to top performers. The amounts paid out by HMRC were as follows:
| Total bonus paid (rounded to nearest £000) | Staff in post | |||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | April 2008 | April 2009 | |
Providing details of bonuses paid split by grade and by office could jeopardise staff confidentiality. The small number of staff in some of the local offices means that when the bonus figures are combined with post numbers it is possible to identify individual bonus payments.
We have provided a split of total bonus payments by office for the years above. This detail has been deposited in the Library of the House. For confidentiality reasons, total bonuses for those offices with less than 20 staff have not been included.
HMRC does not hold the required data for earlier years in an easily accessible format and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Scotland
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements (a) his Department and (b) the Public Works Loan Board made with the Scottish Executive in relation to housing debt of those local authorities in Scotland which (a) undertook stock transfer prior to devolution and (b) have undertaken such transfers after devolution. [288976]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government operate similar financial arrangements on stock transfers in Scotland as in England. The policy on stock transfers is a devolved matter. However where stock transfers from local authorities to housing associations give rise to receipts which are insufficient to cover the debt, the Government have made available additional provision to the Scottish Executive to cover the overhanging debt repaid by the relevant Scottish local authorities to the Public Works Loan Board. These arrangements did not exist prior to devolution in either England or Scotland.
Shared Ownership Schemes
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the Financial Services Authority has issued on the level of cash deposit lenders when granting mortgages for those participating in shared ownership schemes. [281697]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Decisions concerning whether and on what terms to engage in lending to support shared ownership remain commercial decisions for firms.
The Government remain committed to the delivery of affordable housing, including through both shared equity and shared ownership schemes.
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the merits of introducing (a) a loan guarantee scheme and (b) direct lending from banks wholly or partly in public ownership for first-time buyers to participate in shared ownership schemes. [284411]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government's key objective for housing is to ensure everyone has access to a decent home at a price they can afford. The Government remain committed to the delivery of affordable housing, including through both shared equity and shared ownership schemes. Since 1997 the Government have helped more than 110,000 households into low cost homeownership through shared ownership and shared equity.
Decisions concerning whether to engage in lending to support shared equity of shared ownership remain commercial decisions for firms. Where there is public sector investment in financial institutions these stakes will be managed on an arm's length and independent basis by UK Financial Investments Ltd.
Valuation Office
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 15 June 2007, Official Report, column 1422W, on the Valuation Office Agency, and to the decision of the Government to publish the ID Card Gateway Reviews, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Gate 4 review of the Valuations Project. [270670]
Ian Pearson: A copy of the review, with appropriate redactions, has been placed in the Library.
VAT: Registration
Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for value added tax registration submitted in the last 12 months took over (a) one week, (b) two weeks, (c) three weeks, (d) four weeks, (e) five weeks, (f) six weeks, (g) seven weeks, (h) eight weeks, (i) nine weeks, (j) 10 weeks, (k) 11 weeks and (l) 12 weeks to clear. [288556]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data at the level of detail requested.
HMRC departmental strategic objective is to process 70 per cent. of applications within 12 days (reduced from 13 days in 2008-09) allowing for 30 per cent. that require further work before they can be processed because they are incomplete or need further risk checks.
In 2008-09 HMRC achieved an overall performance of 74.9 per cent. against the 13-day target and for April and May 2009 72 per cent. and 70.4 per cent. against the 12-day target. HMRC has seen a significant increase in the number of cases requiring further risk checks which take longer to process, and this has impacted on June's performance which is 69.0 per cent.
VAT: Tax Rates and Bands
Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of postponing the reversion of the rate of value added tax to 17.5 per cent. until after the January 2010 sales period. [288626]
Mr. Timms: The Government recognise that changing the rate at this time will be challenging for some businesses and have considered the representations businesses have made very carefully. The decision to reconfirm the 1 January reversion date that was announced last November has not been taken lightly. We have had to balance the needs of the economy as a whole against the challenges for businesses. Deferring the change by a month, as some have suggested, would have cost a further £800 million.
By confirming the date for the end of the rate change in Finance Bill, businesses have a long lead time over which to plan for the change. HMRC will continue to talk to businesses with a view to identifying satisfactory arrangements for any particularly awkward cases.
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