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21 Oct 2009 : Column 1484W—continued
Child Trust Fund: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children in Leeds West constituency had received child trust fund payments on the latest date for which figures are available. [294018]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The most recent constituency level statistics on child trust fund accounts can be viewed on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
and show that 4,534 children born before 6 April 2007 in the Leeds West constituency have a child trust fund account.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of procurement contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies awarded to small businesses in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08, (iii) 2008-09 and (iv) 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. [293243]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It would not be possible to identify from records held centrally by HM Treasury or its agencies which businesses were classified as small or medium-sized enterprises at the time when contracts were awarded to them without incurring disproportionate costs.
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on overnight accommodation for (a) Ministers and (b) officials while overseas in each of the last three years. [294697]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information is not available, as the Treasury's accounting system does not record accommodation costs separately from subsistence spending.
Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Northern Rock
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the independent valuation of Northern Rock will be completed. [294006]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Derbyshire on 19 June 2009, Official Report, column 548W.
Royal Mint
Lorely Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent progress has been made on the disposal of the Royal Mint; and if he will make a statement. [291894]
Ian Pearson: Royal Mint is owned 100 per cent. by Government. It is currently vesting the business of the Royal Mint Trading Fund into a company structure, with the intention of completing the process by the end of this year. Vesting will have no impact on the ownership of the Royal Mint.
Taxation: Property
Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many penalties have been imposed by HM Revenue and Customs on estates as a consequence of a difference between the official valuation of a property and the final sale price in the last 12 months; how many such penalties have been challenged; how many such
challenges have been upheld; and how much revenue accrued to the Exchequer from the imposition of such penalties. [294125]
Mr. Timms: The precise information requested is available only at disproportionate cost as HM Revenue and Customs' systems do not allow for identification of penalties imposed specifically due to a difference in the initial valuation of a property and the final sale of price of that property
Inheritance tax (IHT) rules require all assets-including property-in an estate to be valued for IHT purposes at the point immediately before the deceased's death. Where a property is subsequently sold within four years of this for less than the value on which IHT was paid 'loss on sale' relief may be claimed.
In the last 12 months penalties have been charged in 17 cases as a result of undervaluation of some part of the estate, resulting in approximately £120,000 of additional revenue accruing to the Exchequer
The numbers of penalties challenged and those subsequently upheld are not available.
Valuation Office: Expenditure
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency has spent on its automated valuation model for (a) council tax and (b) business rates. [294653]
Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency do not record these costs separately for council tax and business rates.
Valuation Office: Rightmove
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Dunne) of 14 September 2009, Official Report, column 2134W, on the Valuation Office: data protection, whether the Information Commissioner's Personal Data Flowchart guidance on domestic property data was taken into account when the Valuation Office Agency signed its contract with Rightmove.co.uk to obtain property data. [294366]
Ian Pearson: The contract is between HMRC and Rightmove.co.uk and predates the Personal Data Flowchart Guidance.
Welfare Tax Credits: Fraud
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much and what percentage of tax credits overpaid as a result of fraud have been recovered in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [293573]
(2) how much of the sum overpaid in tax credits as a result of fraud has been classified as (a) recoverable and (b) unrecoverable in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [293574]
Mr. Timms: The precise information requested is not available. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not keep separate records on the level of recoverable debt arising from compliance checks.
Information on tax credits debt and HMRC's estimates of tax credits error and fraud are provided in Trust Statement section of HMRC's departmental accounts.
HMRC's departmental accounts for the last five years are available at:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/ channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel =pageVAT_ShowContent&propertyType=document &columns=1&id=HMCE_PROD1_025710
Health
Dental Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of dentists graduating from medical schools in England were not working in the NHS (a) three and (b) five years after qualification in each year since 1997 for which figures are available. [294355]
Ann Keen: We do not hold information about the number of dentists working privately, but almost all new dental graduates undertake one year's vocational training in a dental practice with a major national health service commitment. We are also aware that it is some years before a newly qualified dentist can build up a significant private practice and that most dentists work in mixed practice providing both NHS and private dentistry. There is no evidence of a shortage of dentists willing to take NHS contracts when they are offered.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of tooth (a) extractions and (b) fillings carried out under the NHS in each year since 1997. [294575]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested.
The estimated full year number of clinical dental items delivered, by patient type during 2003-04 and 2008-09, is available in Tables 1 and 2 for England and Tables 7 and 8 for Wales in the "Provisional Clinical Dental Report, England and Wales: Quarter 3, 31 December 2008-Experimental Statistics" report.
This publication carries the label "Experimental statistics". Experimental statistics are new official statistics undergoing evaluation. They are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in their development and as a means to build in quality at an early stage.
Note that as the nature of the dental contract was different in 2003-04 to 2008-09, covering a differing range of services, with different data collection practices and funding regimes in place, there are a number of reasons why figures are not fully comparable across the two years. The figures published should be treated with the caution appropriate to all experimental data.
This report, published on 19 August 2009, has been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget for NHS dental services has been in (a) Vale of York constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each year since 1997. [294576]
Ann Keen: Prior to April 2006, most primary dental services were provided under former General Dental Service (GDS) arrangements. These were demand led services where the pattern of dental expenditure was largely determined by where dentists chose to practice, and how much national health service work they chose to undertake.
The NHS Information Centre for health and social care published the following report on 26 March 2008: "NHS Expenditure for General Dental Services and Personal Dental Services: England 1997-98-2005-06". This report has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
The report includes information on primary dental care expenditure by parliamentary constituency, primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) area for 1997-98 to 2005-06 in Tables A3 and B3 of Annex 3. Table A3 relates to 'gross' expenditure and table B3 relates to 'net' expenditure. 'Gross' expenditure refers to the full cost of the payments recorded; 'net' expenditure reflects the cost of these payments to the NHS after the deduction of income from NHS dental charges paid by patients.
This information is based on the old contractual arrangements which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. Further notes to aid interpretation of the information are shown in the 'Contents and Notes' page of Annex 3. The data will not be directly comparable with data based on the new dental service framework introduced from 1 April 2006.
The former GDS arrangements were replaced with effect from 1 April 2006, when PCTs were given responsibility for planning and commissioning primary dental services and provided with local, devolved, dental budgets. The primary dental service funding allocations made to the North Yorkshire and York PCT, the aggregate allocations to all PCTs within the Yorkshire and the Humber SHA, and the aggregate allocations to the NHS in England, for each of the four years since PCTs assumed full responsibility for primary dental care services, are in the following table. These are net of income from dental charges paid by patients, which are retained locally by PCTs to supplement the resources available for dentistry. PCTs may also dedicate some of their other NHS resources to dentistry if they consider this an appropriate local priority. Allocations are not apportioned by individual constituencies or towns; PCTs determine the distribution of resources within their area on the basis of local needs and priorities. Actual expenditure levels are determined by the pattern and type of services commissioned by each PCT and are recorded in the notes to PCT accounts.
| Primary dental service net funding allocations | ||||
| £000 | ||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
| Notes: 1. The PCT allocation figure for 2006-07 is the aggregate of the allocations made initially to the Craven, Harrogate and Rural District, Hambleton and Richmondshire, Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale, and Selby and York PCTs before they merged to form the North Yorkshire and York PCT with effect from 1 October 2006. 2. PCTs are awarded separate funding allocations to meet the cost of any dental vocational trainees who may be placed with dental practices in their area. The funding totals for the Yorkshire and Humber SHA, and England, include funding for vocational trainees. | ||||
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many units of dental activity in (a) band 1, (b) band 2 and (c) band 3 have been carried out by dentists in (i) Vale of York constituency, (ii) North Yorkshire and (iii) England in each year since 2006. [294577]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested.
The number of units of dental activity performed in England by treatment band in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 is available in Table B3 of Annex 3 of the "NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2008-09" report. Information is provided by primary care trust and strategic health authority but is not available at constituency level. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006.
This report, published on 19 August 2009, has already been placed in the Library and is available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Dental Services: Children
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of schoolchildren who received (a) screenings and (b) advice from dentists providing NHS services in each year since 1997. [294574]
Ann Keen: There is no information held centrally on which we could base an estimate of the number of children who still receive dental screening examinations in school. The National Screening Committee advised that that there is no evidence to support universal screening for dental disease among children aged six to nine years. In the light of this expert advice, we have concentrated on targeted initiatives like the Brushing for Life scheme which provides for families with young children to receive toothpaste and brushes at child health clinics or Sure Start centres, together with advice on how the children can be seen by a dentist.
Data published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care showed that 7,643,000 children and young people aged under 18 were seen by a primary care national health service dentist in the 24-month period ending June 2009. This is equivalent to 69.5 per cent. of the population aged under 18.
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