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19 Oct 2009 : Column 1288W—continued
Valuation Office
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what aerial photography the Valuation Office Agency has obtained for its new Geographical Information System; and whether this information was obtained (a) through the Pan-Government Agreement, (b) directly from Ordnance Survey or (c) by another means. [292751]
Ian Pearson: As noted in the response given by the former Financial Secretary on 21 April 2009, Official Report, column 1688W, the use of aerial photography is not within the scope of the Agency's Geographical Information System.
Working Tax Credit
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working tax credit recipients were receiving the 50-plus element on 1 January (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. [293189]
Mr. Timms: The estimated number of households receiving working tax credit and benefiting from the 50-plus element on 1 January 2008 was 14,600.
The equivalent figure for 1 January 2009 was 16,600 households.
Women and Equality
Equality and Human Rights Commission: Manpower
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the Equality and Human Rights Commission's (a) budget and (b) estimated expenditure on interim staff is for 2009-10. [294050]
Maria Eagle: Costs and projected spend on interim staff for 2009-10 is as follows:
| £000 | ||
| Budget | Actual | |
| (1 )Provisional | ||
There was no budget set for agency or interim staff costs. These costs were managed within the overall budget for staffing.
The Commission are currently undertaking a mid-year review of all budgets so the 2009-10 budget is subject to change.
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what the Equality and Human Rights Commission's budget for interim staff was in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [294051]
Maria Eagle: The Equality and Human Rights Commission came into existence in October 2007. Interim staff costs from October 2007 are as follows:
| Actual (£000) | |
There was no budget set for agency or interim staff costs. These costs were managed within the overall budget for staffing.
Equality and Human Rights Commission: Pay
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many staff in each grade employed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission received no pay rise in each of the last two years. [294053]
Maria Eagle: The breakdown of employees of the Equality and Human Rights Commission by grade who have received no pay rise during 2007-08 and 2008-09 is as follows:
| Level | Total | Percentage of total permanent employees |
Cabinet Office
Charity Commission
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what declaration of political activity has been made by each (a) Commissioner and (b) Executive Director of the Charity Commission; [292597]
(2) what the total annual monetary remuneration of each commissioner of the Charity Commission is, including (a) expenses and (b) monies paid to compensate for tax liability. [292598]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the commission to reply.
Letter from Andrew Hind, dated October 2009:
As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Questions that ask for a list of declarations of political activities made (292597) and the total annual monetary remuneration of each Board member including expenses and any monies paid to compensate for tax liability (292598).
Appointments to the Commission's non-executive Board (as 'Members of the Commission') only came under the formal regulation of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) in February this year, so a declaration of political activity has not yet been required from the majority of our Board members. The Chair, however, was re-appointed in July under OCPA's formal regulation, so a declaration of political activity was made then. That declaration was that the Chair is inactive politically. The senior Executive team - me and the four Executive Directors, are all Senior Civil Servants and thus abide by the Civil Service Management Code and contractual commitments to impartiality; all of us are politically inactive.
We have a comprehensive biographical section and Register of Interests available publicly on our website, respectively at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/commissioners.asp and http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/decint.asp. These provide further details of the Commission's Board members' and senior executives' backgrounds.
Details of the remuneration of Members of the Commission are shown in our 2008/09 Resource Accounts, available in the House Library and on our website at http://www.charity commission.gov.uk/Library/spr/pdfs/resac0809.pdf. For ease, I attach at Annex A the relevant table (extended slightly to reflect the compensation for tax liability and the context of this letter) from these accounts. Members of the Commission are remunerated at a rate of £350 a day. The terms of their appointments are for 4-6 days a month for the two legally-qualified Members and 2-3 days a month for the others. The Chair's appointment is for a minimum of three-days-a-week.
Expenses for 2008/09 are also published on our website at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/expenses.asp and I attach this table at Annex B. We will be publishing, in the next few weeks, the first six months' of expenses claimed / paid in 2009/10.
I hope this is helpful and please do let me know if you wish to discuss or need anything further.
| Annex A: 2008-09 remuneration (audited) | |
| 2008-09 remuneration (£000) | |
| (1) Indicates part-time non-Executive appointed on a three-year fixed term contract, with the option of extension or reappointment. J. Williams and T. Woodcraft transferred to the new contracts for members on 4 January 2008 and 1 May 2008 respectively, and since transfer, receive the same remuneration as those members appointed since 1 July 2007. (2) Members appointed since July 2007 receive a daily fee of £350. No pension contributions are paid. Note: In addition to the above, Dame Suzi Leather in accordance with her contract of employment received additional payments amounting to £25,403 in respect of reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs arising from her home base being out of London. The Charity Commission meets the resulting tax liability of £22,355 for this contractual commitment. | |
Annex B: Charity Commission expenses incurred by board members and the senior executive team
In line with its commitment to transparency and openness, the Charity Commission has decided to publish board members', chief executive's and directors' expenses online. This publication of expenses covers the financial year 2008-09 (1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009) for each board member and director by significant expense class-see following table.
Expenses will be published hereafter quarterly, i.e. covering the previous three months. These expenses will be scrutinised by the Charity Commission's Audit Committee every six months.
| Subsistence | Mileage | Accommodation | Rail | Flights | Taxis | Bus/ Coach | Parking | Postage | Food | Total | |
| Notes: 1. The reported expenses include the cost of all travel, accommodation and other support services for board members, the chief executive and directors. The variation in travel and accommodation expenses between board members reflects their respective time commitments and duties, the range of activities they undertake, the location of their homes and other individual factors. All board members, directors and the chief executive are required to travel around the UK to some extent. 2. The Commission has four offices in England and Wales: London, Liverpool, Newport (Gwent) and Taunton. With the probable exception of the chair and chief executive, the majority of board members' and directors' travel is between these offices. 3. Rail travel and accommodation are mainly booked through central agencies rather than by individuals who then claim the expense back. The costs shown, therefore, are those incurred by individuals rather than 'expenses claimed'. 4. 'Subsistence' covers the allowances payable for significant time out of the office and for overnight stays, at rates agreed with HMRC. 5. Where the board and directors attend key events that are organised centrally and through a 'block booking' by the Commission, e.g. where open board meetings are held away from the London office, the accommodation and food costs are not included as, retrospectively, this would involve disproportionate resource and expense. Events of this type held in 2008-09 were open board meetings in Liverpool and Swansea, the Charity Commission's Annual Public Meeting in London and the board's away day in Hertfordshire. The cost of these would add around £500 in total to each individual's accommodation/food costs. | |||||||||||
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