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8 Feb 2010 : Column 760W—continued
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the annual unitary payment is to the private finance initiative provider responsible for works and refurbishment to his Department's buildings. [309165]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The annual unitary payment to the PFI provider for the 1 Horse Guards Road building can be calculated from data shown in the Treasury's 2008-09 Annual Report and Accounts HC 611 available from:
The unitary payment of £18,287,000 is the sum of 'Interest element of on-balance sheet PFI contract' £11,929,000 and 'Service element of on-balance sheet PFI contract' £4,444,000 in note 7.2 'Other administration costs' on page 198 plus 'PFI contract' £1,914,000, shown in note 17.1 'Creditors analysis by type-amounts falling due within one year'.
Departmental Drinking Water
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on bottled drinking water in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [313029]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the former Exchequer Secretary, the hon. Member for Burnley (Kitty Ussher) gave on 11 June 2009, Official Report, column 979W, to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell).
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented. [313823]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: All staff in HM Treasury and its agencies have annual performance reviews.
Unsatisfactory performance is dealt with under the Managing Capability Policy.
The number dismissed due to inefficiency/unsatisfactory performance in each of the last five years has been less than five and is thus not disclosed on grounds of confidentiality.
Information on staff numbers in HM Treasury and its agencies are published in the annual report and accounts, available at:
Income Tax
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional (a) steps he has taken and (b) HM Revenue and Customs staff have taken or deployed to restrict conversion of income into capital gains or corporation revenues following his announcement of an increase in the top rate of income tax. [313901]
Mr. Timms: Anti-avoidance rules are already in place in tax legislation to prevent the conversion of income into capital. The effectiveness of these rules is kept under review.
Most recently, Finance Act 2009 introduced principles- based legislation to address attempts to convert interest-like returns on investments into a capital gain (the disguised interest rules) and attempts to dispose of rights to future income in return for a capital payment (sale of income streams rules).
HM Revenue and Customs is also consulting on a proposed new hallmark covering Income into Capital schemes within the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes regime, which will help ensure the Department has early information about any schemes being developed.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to allow local authorities to use systems of tax increment financing. [315148]
Mr. Byrne: As announced at PBR 2009, Government are continuing to examine the framework that would be needed to implement tax increment financing, while considering the primary legislation that would be needed if schemes were to be introduced. Any decision to implement the policy will have to be taken in light of the overall fiscal position.
Low Incomes: Pensioners
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer(1) how many people aged 75 years and over had an income below (a) £10,000, (b) the age-related personal allowance of £9,640 and (c) the basic level of personal allowance of £6,475 in 2009-10; [314173]
(2) how many people aged between 65 and 74 years old had an income below (a) £10,000, (b) the age-related personal allowance of £9,640 and (c) the basic level of personal allowance of £6,490 in 2009-10. [314174]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 29 January 2010]: Estimates of the number of taxpayers with total income below £10,000 in 2009-10 are provided in the following table.
| under £6,475 | under £9,640 | under £10,000 | |
Figures are based on the 2006-07 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) and projected in line with the 2009 pre-Budget report assumptions.
Similar figures covering non taxpayers with incomes below the age-related personal allowances of £9,640 for those aged 75 and over and £9,490 for those aged 65 to 74 in 2009-10 are not available in the SPI.
PAYE
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the terms of reference and objectives of the Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) Improvement Group; when the PAYE Improvement Group was established; what the PAYE Improvement Group's (a) staff and (b) budget (i) was in each of the last three years and (ii) is expected to be in 2010; and what (A) documents and (B) reports the PAYE Improvement Group has produced to date. [315158]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) PAYE Improvement Group was created in 2005 to help the Department explore options for improving the operation of PAYE. The information requested is provided in the following table; the group has not produced any formal reports.
| Staff numbers (FTE) | Budget- excluding staff costs (£) | |
Public Holidays
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the introduction of an additional public holiday; and if he will make a statement. [315113]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No such estimate is available.
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer over what timetable the proposals in the pre-Budget report 2009 to cap contributions to public sector pension schemes will be implemented. [315260]
Mr. Byrne: Cap and share reforms will apply to valuations of the teachers, local government, civil service and NHS pension schemes due to be completed by April 2012.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment has been made of the likely effect of the implementation of proposals in the pre-Budget report 2009 to cap contributions to public sector pension schemes on the pension deficit implied on each affected pension scheme. [315336]
Mr. Byrne: Cap and share applies to the teachers, NHS, civil service and local government pension schemes. With the exception of the local government scheme these operate on a pay-as-you-go basis: these schemes have no fund, so no surplus or deficit. Future cash flow projections for the pay-as-you-go public service pension schemes are presented in chart 6.E of the Long Term Public Finance Report 2009, which was published alongside the pre-Budget report 2009. These projections include allowance for the potential savings as a result of cap and share due to increasing life expectancies. This shows that in the long-term the cost of providing public service pensions will remain a low and stable share of GDP.
Revenue and Customs
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultation HM Revenue and Customs has conducted with (a) staff and (b) unions on proposed redundancies among its human resources staff. [314284]
Mr. Timms: Between 2006 and 2008 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) undertook a Regional Review Programme to bring its office network in line with plans to modernise the Department and improve service to customers while delivering significant efficiencies. The final decisions on which offices would close were announced in December 2008.
As part of the regional reviews HMRC held eight week consultation periods to give staff and unions the opportunity to comment on its restructuring proposals and the feedback received was taken into consideration as part of the decision making process.
Following the announcements about which offices would close managers held one-to-one meetings with staff affected by the decisions to discuss their options. HMRC maintains a regular dialogue with union
representatives and staff on the impact of transformation and is committed to supporting staff directly affected.
On 13 January 2010 HMRC announced that under the next stage of the Workforce Change programme, 130 offices identified for closure during the regional reviews would be vacated in the 2010-11 financial year. As a result, approximately 1,700 staff who have not yet found alternative posts will be eligible to apply for voluntary redundancy or severance on compulsory terms. Of this number less than 1 per cent. are human resources staff. Discussion with the unions took place before the announcement was made.
HMRC is committed to avoiding compulsory redundancy wherever possible and will make every effort to redeploy people who wish to continue their careers in the Department or the wider Civil Service.
Sir Peter Viggers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the work of HM Revenue and Customs High Net Worth Team; what changes are proposed to be made to the team; and if he will make a statement. [314922]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) High Net Worth Unit (HNWU) was created in April 2009 to deal specifically with the tax affairs of the UK's wealthiest individual taxpayers.
The unit's aim is to take an overall view of the tax affairs of these individuals and improve HMRC's understanding of them. This will enable HMRC to communicate more effectively with them, influence their behaviours and provide a more robust evidence base for policy decisions and assessment of their liabilities. However, it is too early to assess the overall impact of the unit's work.
Following its initial creation, the unit is now in a position to make some changes to the staff structure of its teams, to reflect the growing understanding of its requirements within this specialist segment. This will maintain the unit's existing nine offices, while improving efficiency and effectiveness.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost has been of HM Revenue and Customs' Special Customer Records programme; and how many taxpayers are registered as special customers. [315258]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not have a 'Special Customer Records Programme'. HMRC applies high standards of confidentiality and security to all customer data.
It would not be in the public interest, and could put individuals at personal risk, to disclose the number of individuals for whose records HMRC provides additional safeguards.
Tax Avoidance
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many disclosures have been made under the Liechtenstein disclosure facility; how many disclosures were made under the offshore disclosure facility; and what revenue was (a) predicted and (b) achieved from such disclosures. [313905]
Mr. Timms: The facility to make disclosures under the Liechtenstein disclosure facility has been available since 1 September 2009 and will run until 31 March 2015. As at the end of January, 198 people had registered that they intend to make a disclosure and six had made their final disclosures, which are being reviewed.
HM Revenue and Customs' initial estimate is that approximately £1 billion in unpaid taxes may be recovered over the five year period of this facility.
For information on the offshore disclosure facility I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 1 February 2010, Official Report, column 105W. The revenues recovered from this were in line with projections.
Taxation: Business
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses deferred tax payments to HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last three financial years; how much was deferred in tax payments in each of those years; how many companies did not comply with their agreements for deferral of tax payments in each of those years; and what the average length of payment deferral time was in each of those years. [315501]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost, as data are not centrally held by HM Revenue and Customs' systems.
The 2009 pre-Budget report confirmed that since its introduction in November 2008 HMRC's Business Payment Support Service supported over 160,000 businesses, collectively employing more than 1.2 million people, spread payment of over £4 billion of tax over a period they could afford.
Sampling exercises show that over 90 per cent. of all arrangements were being paid either fully or partially in line with the agreements agreed under the Business Payment Support Service. Over 60 per cent. of all arrangements are for three months and below.
Taxation: Domicile
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2009, Official Report, column 588W, how many individuals claimed non-domiciled status in each taxable income band in (a) April 2008 and (b) April 2009. [313575]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 26 January 2010]: Information is only available on the numbers of individuals indicating non-domicile status on their Self Assessment (SA) returns. The last available full year's SA data relate to 2006-07, and are provided in the following table:
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