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16 Sep 2009 : Column 2280W—continued
Motor Vehicles: Registration
Bob Russell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many vehicles in each category were registered with a statutory off road notification classification in each of the last three years. [291288]
Paul Clark: The following table shows the number of vehicles by category which were registered as SORN during the last three years.
| Cars | Motor cycles | Light goods | Heavy goods | Buses and coaches | All other vehicles | Total | |
All other vehicles includes vehicles like tractor excavators, forklift trucks, rollers, ambulances, taxis, three wheelers and agricultural vehicles.
Motorway Service Areas
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will publish the valuation his Department made of motorway service areas owned or partly owned by the Government. [291415]
Paul Clark: A detailed valuation study of the Government's freehold interest in motorway service areas was commissioned by the Highways Agency in April this year. This is being undertaken by property consultants with specialist sector knowledge and their report is expected in October.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which motorway service areas are (a) wholly and (b) partially owned by his Department. [291416]
Paul Clark: There are 67 Motorway Service Areas (MSA) across the Strategic Road Network in England. The Secretary of State wholly owns the freehold of 20 sites as listed. The Secretary of State has no partial ownership in any MSA.
Birch
Birchanger Green
Burtonwood
Cherwell Valley
Clackett Lane
Corley
Keele
Knutsford
Leicester Forest East
Membury
Newport Pagnall
Northampton
Sandbach
Strensham (Northbound)
Thurrock
Toddington
Trowell
Warwick
Watford Gap
Woodall
Public Transport: Internet
Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of providing free wifi access on all buses and trains in England. [291393]
Paul Clark: No such assessment has been made. The Department for Transport is supportive of the objective of the recent Digital Britain report to provide ubiquitous mobile coverage throughout the transport networks. This is a commercial matter for rail franchisees and bus operators a number of whom have chosen to provide Wifi services to their customers.
Speed Limits: Cameras
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how long on average elapses between the installation of an average speed camera and it becoming operational; and what percentage of such cameras installed in the last 12 months have not become fully operational within this period. [291387]
Paul Clark: This information is not held by the Department for Transport. Since 1 April 2007 the deployment of safety cameras has been the responsibility of individual local road safety partnerships. The partnerships are entirely responsible for the installation and operation of all cameras within their area.
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of (a) average and (b) fixed speed cameras installed in England and Wales on (i) motorways, (ii) A roads and (iii) B roads in the last 12 months. [291388]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not routinely assess the effectiveness of speed cameras, although the Department's guidance does recommend that speed and collision data are collected by road safety partnerships and the contribution cameras make to casualty reduction monitored and reviewed, at least annually. Cameras that operated under the National Safety Camera programme, which ended on 31 March 2007 proved to be very effective. Fatal casualties reduced by an average of 43 per cent. at fixed camera sites and killed or seriously injured casualties reduced by an average of 51 per cent. At mobile camera sites fatal casualties reduced by 42 per cent. and killed or seriously injured casualties reduced by an average of 22 per cent.
Traffic Management Act 2004
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on what occasions highways authorities have been found in breach of the duty to ensure the expeditious movement of traffic under the Traffic Management Act 2004 since the legislation came into force. [291413]
Paul Clark: Section 20 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 enables the Department for Transport to issue an intervention notice to a local traffic authority in England, giving an opinion that the authority is failing to perform its Network Management Duty under Sections 16 and 17 of the same Act. No such intervention notices have been issued.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many resurfacing notices have been issued under the Traffic Management Act 2004 since the legislation came into force. [291414]
Paul Clark: Currently there is no provision in secondary legislation for street authorities to issue resurfacing notices, consequently none have been issued.
Treasury
Bankruptcy
Willie Rennie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of bankruptcy claims arising from the application of the provisions of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008; [289115]
(2) what recent estimate his Department has made of the effect on small businesses of the application of the provisions of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008. [289116]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 will apply to a small number of individuals who have used a highly artificial tax avoidance scheme seeking to avoid paying UK tax on their UK income.
Section 58 clarifies understanding of the law to give taxpayers certainty in completing their tax returns. It puts beyond doubt that the scheme users are chargeable to UK tax on their share of the partnership income. The Government believes its action was entirely justified and fair to the majority of taxpayers.
Banks: Government Assistance
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) which banks have made use of the Guarantee scheme for Asset Backed Securities announced on 19 January 2009 to date; [291405]
(2) what the monetary value is of the agreements with banks signed under the Guarantee scheme for Asset Backed Securities announced on 19 January 2009. [291406]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The ABS guarantee scheme was made available at Budget 2009, extending funding options open to banks and building societies alongside other Government support schemes, including the existing Credit Guarantee scheme. Demand for the guarantees will depend on eligible institutions' access to alternative sources of funding and demand for mortgage credit in the economy.
A list of eligible instruments guaranteed under the scheme will be made available by the DMO at:
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which banks have signed up to final contracts under the Asset Protection scheme announced on 19 January 2009. [291407]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The announcements made in February and March set out an in-principle agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Lloyds Banking Group with regard to their participation in the Asset Protection scheme. These agreements were subject to further due diligence, negotiation on the details of the scheme terms, and state aid and shareholder approval. The final agreements remain under negotiation.
Banks: Loans
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to prevent banks targeting loans and remortgaging packages to people approaching state retirement age. [291349]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: For some people approaching state retirement age, mortgages can be an appropriate way of helping to manage their finances. The Government are determined, however, that lenders treat all customers fairly.
In 2004, the Government extended the scope of Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation to include mortgages. The FSA's regime requires lenders to treat customers fairly, and offers consumers protection by requiring that, for example, firms satisfy themselves that a mortgage commitment is affordable.
The FSA publishes guidance for lenders on how they should deal with mortgages that will run into retirement. This guidance is available on the FSA's website at:
Contracts: Goldman Sachs
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts the Government holds with Goldman Sachs Bank; and what the monetary value of such contracts is in 2009-10. [288567]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Goldman Sachs were engaged in autumn 2007 to work for HMT on issues surrounding Northern Rock. To date, Goldman Sachs have been paid £3.8 million in respect of this contract. There are no other contracts in place with Goldman Sachs.
Under the agreement with Northern Rock, certain fees are recoverable and this sum does not therefore represent a net cost to the Treasury.
Council Tax: Scotland
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions (a) Ministers in his Department, (b) officials in his Department and (c) representatives of HM Revenue and Customs have had with (i) Members of the Scottish Parliament and (ii) the Scottish Executive on options for the replacement of council tax in Scotland with a local property tax following the publication of the Burt Review of local Government finance; and if he will make a statement [291404]
Ian Pearson: The Burt Review of local government finance in Scotland was commissioned by the Scottish Executive and was a devolved matter.
Departmental Billing
John Mason: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of invoices from suppliers his Department paid within 10-days of receipt in June 2009. [288921]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury paid 99.84 per cent. of invoices not in dispute within 10-days of receipt in June 2009.
Holiday Homes
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of holiday lets in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) England which will be affected by the decision to reclassify income from holiday lets as unearned income; [288114]
(2) what the revenue to the Exchequer from taxation on holiday lets was in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) England in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006, (iii) 2007 and (iv) 2008. [288115]
Mr. Timms: The estimated taxable profit for those who made a net profit on furnished holiday lettings was £90 million, which would be subject to taxation at the marginal rate of the taxpayer. This estimate relates to 2006-07 which is the latest year for which full data is available; estimates for the preceding year are thought to be similar. An impact assessment for the withdrawal of the furnished holiday lets concession will be published at the pre-Budget report, alongside the draft regulations. HM Revenue and Customs do not have information on the number or location of furnished holiday lettings.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 21 April 2009 on Kaupthing Bank and its effect on his constituent, Mr. Stephen Nix. [288793]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: A reply has been sent to the right hon. Member.
Mobile Phones
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what HM Revenue and Customs' policy is on finalisation of historic unused credit received by mobile telephone companies from consumers. [291370]
Ian Pearson: HM Revenue and Customs' policy is to follow the commercial accounts as prepared under generally accepted accounting practice (GAAP). It is normal accountancy practice as part of GAAP to draw up accounts on the accruals basis. Under this practice, credit purchased by consumers that remains unused and is not repaid is a taxable trade receipt.
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