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22 Feb 2010 : Column 238W—continued
VAT: Charities
Janet Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will lift the requirement for registered charities to pay value added tax on digital audio equipment. [317176]
Mr. Timms: A zero rate of VAT applies to equipment purchased by charities which they make available to disabled people for their domestic or personal use, provided the equipment is designed solely for use by a disabled person. This covers digital audio equipment which is so designed, but does not cover any equipment which disabled people may find useful, but which is also suitable for more general use.
The application of VAT throughout the EU is governed by agreements between the UK and its EU partners. Under these agreements, we are allowed to keep our existing zero rates, but may not extend their scope or introduce new ones.
Welfare Tax Credits
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of couples with children receiving (a) child tax credit only and (b) both working tax credit and child tax credit have both adults in work and do not receive the 30 hour element of working tax credit. [315979]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available. Households eligible for child tax credit, but not working tax credit, are not eligible for the 30-hour element of working tax credit.
Working tax credit is designed to remove barriers to work and to top up the earnings of working people on low to moderate incomes. People with a child or a disability can claim it from age 16, provided they work at least 16 hours a week. The hours worked by couples with children can be combined; therefore if both adults in a couple work at least 16 hours a week they will be eligible for the 30 hour element of working tax credit.
In most cases if an individual in the couple works less than 16 hours, HM Revenue and Customs will not hold the necessary information to determine whether the individual is working at all. As such, the Department cannot produce the analysis requested.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on each element of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit in each (i) county and (ii) region in each of the last four years. [317923]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the average number of recipient families and their entitlements to tax credits, by county, local authority and parliamentary constituency, for 2004-05 to 2007-08, are available in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publications "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised Annual Awards. Geographical Analyses", available at:
The same information for 2008-09 is not yet available as awards have not yet been finalised. However, estimates of the number of recipient families with tax credits, based on provisional awards, as at 1 December 2009, are available in the HMRC snapshot publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical analyses. December 2009", available at the same internet address.
HMRC do not produce these statistics separately for child tax credit and working tax credit.
Welfare Tax Credits: Newport
Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households in Newport East constituency are in receipt of tax credits. [317347]
Mr. Timms: The latest information on the number of households benefiting from tax credits, by each parliamentary constituency, is available in HM Revenue and Customs snapshot publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical Analyses. December 2009", available at:
Welfare Tax Credits: Rotherham
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid in working tax credits to eligible households in Rotherham in the latest year for which figures are available. [317510]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the average number of recipient families and their entitlements to tax credits, by local authority and parliamentary constituency, for 2007-08, are available in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publications 'Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised Annual Awards. Geographical Analyses', available at:
The same information for 2008-09 is not yet available as awards have not yet been finalised. However, estimates of the number of recipient families with tax credits, based on provisional awards, as at 1 December 2009, are available in the HMRC snapshot publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Geographical analyses. December 2009", available at the same internet address.
HMRC do not produce these statistics separately for child tax credit and working tax credit.
International Development
Afghanistan and Pakistan: Overseas Aid
Stewart Hosie:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which non-governmental organisations are receiving funding from his Department
to conduct aid work in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Pakistan; and how much each is receiving in 2009-10. [317247]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Details of the Department for International Development's (DFID) bilateral aid delivered by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in recipient countries are published annually in "Statistics on International Development", which is available in the House Library or online at:
Final data for 2009-10 are not yet available and will be published in the 2010 edition of "Statistics on International Development".
Following is a list of some of the NGOs in Afghanistan and Pakistan that DFID has funded so far in 2009-10. For security reasons it is not possible to name all individual NGOs receiving direct funding from DFID in Afghanistan.
HALO Trust
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
The British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG)
Agency Co-ordinating Body for Afghanistan Relief (ACBAR)
Mercy Corps
Peace Dividend Trust
War Child
BBC World Service Trust
Womankind
Relief International
Tiri
Actionaid UK
ACTED
Concern World Wide
Catholic Relief Services
Handicap International
International Committee of the Red Cross
International Medical Corps
International Relief Committee
Mercy Corps
Merlin
Muslim Aid
Oxfam GB
Relief International
Save the Children UK
Sarhad Rural Support Programme
Contact International
Rabta Consortium
Nai Zindagi
Family Health International
Rural Support Programme Network
Mountain Glacier Protection Organisation
Departmental Energy
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the estimated (a) amount and (b) cost was of energy used in his Department in each year since 1997; what proportion of the energy used was generated from renewable sources in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [317225]
Mr. Michael Foster: The amount and cost of energy use of the Department for International Development's UK estate, for the last five years, (without any allowance for organisational changes or weather correction) are provided in the table.
| Amount (KWH) | Cost (£) | Percentage from renewable sources | |
Information on environmental performance is supplied to the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), in accordance with the Government targets set for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE). Detailed information is available on the respective OGC and SDC websites. As a result of various measures taken by the Department for International Development (DFID), the carbon emissions after allowing for weather correction have reduced by 15 per cent. over the last two years. All energy is purchased via central Government framework contracts arranged by the Office of Government Commerce, and the variation in expenditure is partly attributable to the changes in unit costs under these contracts.
Iraq Committee of Inquiry
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) documents and (b) other items of information in electronic format provided by his Department to the Iraq Inquiry that Inquiry has sought to publish under the procedure set out in the protocol on documents and other written and electronic information; and if he will make a statement. [314541]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer given to her by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 9 February 2010, Official Report, column 849W.
Overseas Aid
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the funding provided by his Department to UNITAID was allocated to tuberculosis drugs, vaccine and diagnostics in the latest period for which figures are available. [316703]
Mr. Michael Foster: Donor contributions to UNITAID are not earmarked for specific purposes. At the end of 2009, the cumulative total of funding provided to UNITAID by all donors was $1,017,801,290. Of this amount grants supporting TB treatments and diagnostics were just over 11 per cent. at $113,379,034.
Overseas Aid: Climate Change
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of the £1.5 billion fast start finance for climate change adaptation programmes announced by the Prime Minister at the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009 was additional to existing aid allocations. [315411]
Mr. Thomas: All fast start finance will contribute towards the existing Government Official Development Assistance (ODA) target of 0.7 per cent. of Gross National Income (GNI). In order to reach this target the UK's aid programme is growing and fast start will be financed from part of this growth. All of the £1.5 billion fast start finance is additional to spending on climate change in 2009-10.
Overseas Aid: Health Services
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to implement the World Health Assembly's resolution 62.15 on prevention and control of multidrug resistant tuberculosis and extensively drug resistant tuberculosis. [316704]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is working to implement resolution 62.15 and the earlier resolution 60.19 through our support to the delivery of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-15. We recognise that drug resistant strains of TB pose serious threats to achieving the goals of the Global Plan and are working with our partners to ensure that prompt quality diagnosis and effective treatment is available to those who need it.
This includes a 20-year commitment to UNITAID of up to €60 million per year by 2010. UNITAID aims to triple access to rapid testing for multi-drug resistant TB and to reduce the price of multi-drug resistant TB medicines by 25 per cent. by 2010. DFID funds research into new TB drugs and diagnostics, including through the Global Alliance for TB Drugs and the Tropical Disease Research special programme at the World Health Organisation (WHO). In 2006 DFID also provided an additional £1.6 million to the Stop TB Partnership to address extensively drug resistant TB in South Africa.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to promote the development and production of anti-tuberculosis drugs appropriate for children in developing countries. [316705]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to supporting the delivery of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-15, which specifically highlights children with tuberculosis.
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