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30 Nov 2009 : Column 369W—continued
Treasury
Angad Paul
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings (a) he, (b) other Ministers and (c) officials in his Department have had with Angad Paul in each of the last three years. [302867]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors 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 meetings.
Banks: Loans
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the provision of (a) mortgages and (b) other loans by UK banks to existing borrowers who have not defaulted on their mortgages; and if he will make a statement. [301712]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his earlier question of 2 November 2009, Official Report, column 777W, on this matter.
Banks: Regulation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make the appointment of directors of banks the responsibility of bank employees, borrowers or depositors. [301783]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 5 March 2009, Official Report, column 1808W.
Child Care Vouchers
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information his Department holds on the average time taken to transfer payments from child care vouchers to child care providers in the latest period for which figures are available. [302382]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available. HM Revenue and Customs does not administer child care voucher schemes. Generally child care voucher provider companies are contracted by employers to do the administration on their behalf.
Departmental Scientists
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) scientific advisers and (b) civil servants in scientific posts there are in his Department. [302023]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: There are no specific scientific adviser posts or posts that require in-depth scientific knowledge in HM Treasury.
Departmental Statistics
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what mechanisms are in place for the valuation of non-market impacts; and if he will make it his policy to collect data on happiness levels in respect of each income decile. [302031]
Mr. Timms: The Green Book is HM Treasury's guidance on appraisal and evaluation in central Government, including the valuation of non-market impacts. Annex 2 outlines techniques for valuing non-market impacts, and some typical applications.
The Government publish information on life satisfaction, broken down by socio-economic class, as part of the sustainable development indicators published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, available at
The British Social Attitudes survey also occasionally asks questions on self-reported happiness, broken down by income band, most recently in 2008; it is available at
Dunfermline Building Society: Finance
Willie Rennie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid from the public purse to (a) consultants, (b) accountants, (c) legal advisers and (d) other financial advisers for work connected with management of the assets of Dunfermline Building Society. [302929]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No advisory fees have been paid from the public purse in connection with the management of the assets of Dunfermline Building Society. The assets of the society are being managed by the administrator, KPMG, whose fees are paid from the receipts generated through administration of the assets.
Financial Services: Education
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which bodies the Government have asked to perform functions on behalf of the consumer financial education body to be established by the Financial Services Bill. [301714]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry:
Provisions in the Financial Services Bill allow the consumer financial education body (CFEB) to ask other bodies to support it in fulfilling its function. This will allow CFEB to partner with organisations to deliver the money guidance service and other financial capability programmes. The Government have not asked any bodies to perform functions on behalf of CFEB.
This will be a matter for the FSA in its planning to set up CFEB, for CFEB on its establishment and for negotiation with the bodies concerned.
Pensioners
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the hon. Member for Stroud's correspondence with the Director of HMRC National Insurance Contributions Office ref DCT/158006, when he expects resolution of the matter to enable the hon. Member's constituent Mrs. Campbell to receive her pension; and if he will make a statement. [301759]
Mr. Timms: The National Insurance Contributions Office resolved the disagreement over the national insurance record of my hon. Friend's constituent on 23 November 2009. On the same day the Pension Service was notified, and are now in position to determine the amount of state retirement pension due.
Public Expenditure
Andrew George:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much central Government expenditure
which cannot be attributed to geographical parts of the country there has been in each year since 1997; how such expenditure is calculated; and what proportion of all central Government expenditure such expenditure constituted in each such year. [301030]
Mr. Byrne: The Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) is an annual statistical exercise that is undertaken to allocate expenditure by country and region. For the purposes of the CRA, all departmental expenditure on services is classified as 'identifiable' (benefiting individual regions) or 'non-identifiable' (benefiting the UK as a whole). Spending that is classified as 'non-identifiable' is not allocated to specific regions.
The latest figures for non-identifiable expenditure can be found in chapter 9, table 9.1, of the PESA 2009 publication:
This table also shows non-identifiable expenditure as a proportion of Total Managed Expenditure (TME). For your convenience, this information is provided below. PESA 2009 gives information for all years back to 2003-04. We cannot provide data further back than 2003-04 on a comparable basis.
| £ million | ||||||
| National Statistics | ||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Outturn | Outturn | Outturn | Outturn | Outturn | Plans | |
| Source: Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses | ||||||
Tax Yields: Gambling
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross gaming yield from remote gambling has been in each month since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force. [301768]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport gave him on 20 October 2009, Official Report, column 1326W.
HMRC are not currently able to publish detailed figures for the revenue collected from Remote Gaming Duty while maintaining taxpayers' confidentiality.
Taxation: Scotland
Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Scottish Executive Parliament has powers to vary rates of (a) air passenger duty and (b) other taxes applicable to aviation. [302105]
Mr. Byrne: No powers exist under which the Scottish Executive could vary air passenger duty or other taxes applicable to aviation.
Ulster Bank: Pay
Mark Durkan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he was first informed that Ulster Bank was withholding payment of contractual bonus payments to staff in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland until such time as employees signed a new pension contract; what discussions UK Financial Investments Ltd. has had with the Bank's pension trustees on the matter; and if he will make a statement. [302483]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry:
Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in
the public and private sectors 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.
The Government's shareholdings in RBS are managed on a commercial and arm's length basis by UK Financial Investments Ltd. (UKFI). UKFI's objective is to protect and create value for the taxpayer as shareholder, with due regard to the maintenance of financial stability, and to act in a way that promotes competition.
VAT: Derelict Land
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek through discussions at EU level to exempt from value added tax the development of brownfield sites. [301828]
Mr. Timms: VAT is a broad-based tax on consumer expenditure and reliefs from it have always been strictly limited. The application of VAT reliefs is governed by European agreements, signed by successive Governments. These provide that EU Member States may not extend the scope of existing zero rates and exemptions or introduce any new ones.
The current agreements were agreed in March this year, after discussions lasting over six years. There is no realistic prospect of amending them, to allow for exemption on supplies connected with the development of brownfield sites, beyond those reliefs we already have.
Supplies of bare land, such as freehold sales and leases, are normally exempt from VAT. Through Land Remediation Relief (LRR), developers can also claim enhanced tax relief against corporation tax for the costs of clearing up contaminated and derelict brownfield sites. Further information on LRR is available at:
When constructing a new building, VAT normally has to be charged at the standard rate. However, a zero rate of VAT already applies to the construction of new eligible dwellings and buildings that will be used solely for a relevant residential or charitable purpose, whether on brownfield or greenfield sites.
Further information is provided on HMRC's website at:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channels PortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000513&propertyType=document
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