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25 Jan 2010 : Column 606W—continued


A2 Claims for tax credits-United Kingdom
Period Claims received Claims approved Claims rejected

2007-08

990

556

75

2008-09

1,263

931

134

Totals

2,253

1,487

209

Notes:
1. The tables show counts of events occurring in each period, as identified by HMRC monitoring, not the results of claims arriving in that period. If an A2 national appears in more than one claim then all his/her claims are included in this table.
2. The figures for 2007-08 include those for Quarter 1 in the calendar year 2007, to take account of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU on 1 January 2007.
3. The figures for 2008-09 are based on Quarters 2 to 4 in the calendar year 2008 and Quarter 1 in the calendar year 2009.
4. For both child benefit and tax credits, there are cases where a claim may be processed in a different month to that in which it was received and therefore the number of claims received will not total the number of approved and rejected claims. This is because once a claim is received HMRC makes further enquiries about the claimant's date of arrival in the UK and employment status, in order to ascertain whether the claimant has a right to reside.

Tax Allowances

Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of making the personal allowance transferable between members of couples individually subject to the basic rate of income tax who marry and have children after 1 April 2011 in each year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. [311061]


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Mr. Timms [holding answer 18 January 2010]: The cost to the Exchequer of making the personal allowance transferable between couples individually subject to the basic rate of income tax, will depend on whether one or both members of the couple are subject to the basic rate of income tax; and if one, whether the intended focus is for second member to be subject to a higher rate of income tax, or alternatively a zero rate of income tax. Any answer would be highly dependent on these factors.

Taxation

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the status is of the national implementation programme for the In and Out of Work scheme. [312147]

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.

Following evaluation of the initial trials and pilots in 2007 and 2008, implementation of the In and Out of Work processes has been rolling out nationally since October 2008.

The In and Out of Work Project has been working to ensure the new service reaches all local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales and to date, it has been implemented in 370 out of 408 authorities. Rollout is scheduled to be completed by March 2010.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many programmes for which HM Revenue and Customs is responsible have a verification procedure for access by users to (a) their tax records and (b) HM Revenue and Customs officials for discussions on their tax arrangements. [312408]

Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a legal duty to protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information. Only authorised users may access HMRC services and access or submit data relating to them. Customers have to give their consent in writing if they wish an agent or personal representative to act on their behalf.

HMRC uses leading technologies and encryption software to safeguard data and operates strict security standards across the whole of its IT estate to prevent any unauthorised access to it. All customers who use the Department's online services to access their tax records are required to register and enrol with the UK Government Gateway to obtain a unique online User ID. Before they can access their records they must log in and provide further information to enable HMRC to verify their identity.

All individuals calling HMRC have to answer a series of security questions to validate their identity, before any tax information held on HMRC's systems can be disclosed. Customers who fail to satisfy the identity checks will be asked to put their inquiry in writing.

The Department operates strict internal security and audit arrangements in relation to officials' access to taxpayer accounts, with stringent control and monitoring processes to ensure that staff access to individual accounts is allocated and used strictly according to business need.

All staff accesses to taxpayer accounts are recorded automatically by HMRC's systems to identify any fraudulent or misappropriate use of access. The National
25 Jan 2010 : Column 608W
Audit Office also audits HMRC's security arrangements as part of its yearly audits of the Department's major processes.

Taxation: Holiday Accommodation

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the evidential basis is for the statement in his Department's document, "Impact assessment of withdrawing the furnished holiday letting rules", that the difference in the tax treatment between furnished holiday lettings in the UK and furnished holiday lettings in the rest of the European Economic Area may not comply with European law; and when his Department was first informed of that evidence. [311585]

Mr. Timms: As was the case with the previous Administration, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of its legal advice.

Taxation: Property

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment his Department has made of the extent of the practice of re-designating property ownership to avoid tax liability on the sale of second homes; and what estimate he has made of the likely effect on revenue of such practices in the last 12 months. [310419]

Mr. Timms: No such assessment has been made, as it is not possible to distinguish between the cost of private residence relief attributable to nominations of main residences for avoidance and non-avoidance purposes.

HMRC apply a risk-based approach to investigating any cases where they suspect an individual has nominated a property as the main residence on a spurious basis.

Valuation Office

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals from which ports against the (a) new rating assessments and (b) demands for retrospective payments by the Valuation Office Agency have gone to (i) regional hearings, (ii) lands tribunals and (iii) judicial reviews; and what funding his Department has provided to the Agency to meet its legal costs arising from such cases in 2009-10. [312095]

Ian Pearson: Of the 567 proposals (appeals) settled under the fast track arrangements introduced by the Valuation Office Agency from 24 November 2008, (i) 18 have been heard before independent valuation tribunals, (ii) none have been heard before the Lands Tribunal and (iii) none have gone to judicial review.

No additional funding has been provided to the Valuation Office Agency to deal with such cases.

Valuation Office: Pay

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether remuneration arrangements for members of the Valuation Office Agency board include benefits in kind. [313086]


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Ian Pearson: The remuneration arrangements for members of the Valuation Office Agency board do not include benefits in kind.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Mr. Benyon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to prevent poor and vulnerable people being required to repay overpayments of tax credits received for 2003-04 and 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [311392]

Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) approach to recovering overpayments is designed to prevent hardship and does not vary according to the tax year.

For information on HMRC's approach to hardship I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett), on 20 May 2008, Official Report , column 212W.

International Development

China: Overseas Aid

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid his Department provided to China in 2009; and if he will make a statement. [312018]

Mr. Michael Foster: Final calendar year out-turn for 2009 will be available in March 2010.

Information on in country expenditure is published annually in Statistics on International Development (SID), which is available on the Department for International Development's (DFID's) website:

Departmental Carbon Emissions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) associated non-departmental public bodies plan to sign up to the 10:10 campaign for cutting carbon usage in 2010; and if he will publish the (i) criteria and (ii) research upon which such a decision will be taken. [312111]


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Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) signed up to the 10:10 campaign to cut carbon usage in October 2009.

The only non-departmental public body to which DFID is associated is the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC). The CSC, which does not own any premises, is not a signatory to the 10:10 campaign.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many iPODs have been bought by his Department since 2005; and at what cost. [311914]

Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not retain a central record of iPODS purchased. Collating this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on (a) strategy and planning, (b) design and build, (c) hosting and infrastructure, (d) content provision and (e) testing and evaluation for its websites in each of the last three years; and what budget was allocated to each category in 2009-10. [311843]

Mr. Michael Foster: The reporting of costs in these categories for the last three years cannot be calculated without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departmental Waste

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what volume of waste his Department and its predecessors generated in each of the last three years; what percentage of this was (a) paper, (b) plastic, (c) glass, (d) metal, (e) electrical goods and batteries and (f) food waste; and what percentage of his Department's waste was (i) disposed of securely, (ii) disposed of in landfill and (iii) recycled. [311839]

Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID's) reported waste from its UK operations was as follows:


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25 Jan 2010 : Column 612W
Percentage

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Total Waste (tonnes)

329

264

227

of which:

Paper

70

71

70

Plastic

1

1

1

Glass

5

4

4

Metal

1

1

1

Electrical goods and batteries

1

1

1

Food Waste

(1)-

(1)-

(1)-

Means of Disposal

Secure disposal(2)

0

0

0

Landfill

19

19

24

Recycled

81

81

76

(1) Not separately recorded
(2) All classified/confidential waste is shredded on site and therefore forms part of our recycled paper waste

DFID reports performance on waste as part of the Sustainable Development in Government process. DFID currently meets the two government targets on waste, namely to achieve a reduction of 5 per cent. relative to 2004/05 (DFID performance: 37.5 per cent. reduction) and to achieve at least 40 per cent. recycling by 2010-11 (DFID latest performance: 76 per cent.).

The latest assessment of government performance was published by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) on 19 December 2009 and is available on the OGC website at

Developing Countries: Malaria

Mr. Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist the development of a safe, effective and affordable malaria vaccine. [311878]

Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) supports malaria vaccine development through the European and Developing Country Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). To date EDCTP has provided €20 million for malaria vaccine development, funding high quality clinical trials to accelerate the process of vaccine development. These trials are necessary to ensure that safe vaccines go beyond discovery and actually enter the market in developing countries.

DFID also supports the Advance Market Commitment (AMC). This funding mechanism, launched by the Prime Minister at the G8 summit, commits governments to fund agreed volumes of as yet unavailable vaccines, at an agreed price, if a product is successfully developed. The first AMC is funding the pneumococcal vaccine. The DFID White Paper, 'Eliminating World Poverty: Building our common future', makes a commitment to consider the funding of malaria vaccine as a possible future AMC.


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