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24 Feb 2010 : Column 631W—continued


The number of tax credit overpayments remitted separately on hardship grounds are compiled annually to the end of October and are shown in the following table.

Year to end of October Number of overpayments remitted

2006

134

2007

2,092

2008

1,176

2009

1,189


Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of recovering tax credits debt where deduction from ongoing payments is not possible; [317290]

(2) what plans he has for the treatment of the remaining £559 million of tax credits overpayments created in 2003-04 that had not been recovered by 31 March 2009; [317304]

(3) what steps he plans to take to increase the number of opportunities for recovering tax credit overpayments from any subsequent tax credits payments where one award has ceased and a new award started; [317306]

(4) what changes he proposes to enable a greater number of tax credits customers to repay overpayments through deduction from income and benefits. [317307]

Mr. Timms: These issues were included in the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee of Public Accounts report 2009-10: 'HM Revenue and Customs: Improving the Processing and Collection of Tax: Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax and Tax Credits' (HC 97), published on 10 December 2009. The Government will publish their responses to the Committee's Report in a Treasury Minute.


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Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the total tax credit debt was recovered (a) by deduction from ongoing tax credit payments and (b) by other means in the 2008-09 tax year. [317305]

Mr. Timms: The information requested is on page R39 of HM Revenue and Customs 2008-09 Accounts, available at:

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects on (a) children living in poverty and (b) households in the lowest quartile of annual income of recovery of tax credits overpayments. [317308]

Mr. Timms: Processes are in place to ensure that the recovery of overpayments does not cause hardship. HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) policy on the recovery of overpayments is set out in the Code of Practice 26 'What happens if we have paid you too much tax credits?', available at:

Households receiving the maximum tax credits, with no reduction due to income, will have a maximum of 10 per cent. of their award recovered to re-pay an overpayment. Those entitled to the child element above the family element or working tax credit below the maximum award will have a maximum of 25 per cent. of their award recovered in order to repay an overpayment. If a customer cannot meet their living expenses, due to recovery of the overpayment, HMRC may allow more time to repay the overpayment.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Adult Education

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to support (a) Portsmouth and (b) other local authorities in the achievement of the aims of "The Learning Revolution" White Paper. [318435]

Kevin Brennan: Local authorities have a key part to play in achieving the aims of "The Learning Revolution" White Paper. During 2010-11 we will work with the Skills Funding Agency to develop new lead accountable bodies, led by local authorities, to take responsibility for funding and planning informal adult learning in order to strengthen local ownership, widen local partnerships and improve coherence between key policies at the local level.

Funding priorities for 2010-11 are set out in the "Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11", published November 2009. In 2010-11 we will continue to invest £210 million in Adult Safeguarded Learning, reaffirming our White Paper commitments. In the 2009-10 financial year we have invested an additional £20 million in a Transformation Fund which is supporting more than 300 innovative projects to strengthen local infrastructures and widen access to learning for hard-to-reach groups. Funding is supporting two projects in Portsmouth: "Memories are made of this" and the "Portsmouth Informal Learning Project". Portsmouth is also an eligible district for the
24 Feb 2010 : Column 633W
Community Learning Champions Support Programme grants and can bid for funding to support a second round project.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what role Adult Safeguarded Learning funds will play in achieving the aims of "The Learning Revolution" White Paper. [318438]

Kevin Brennan: Our funding priorities are set out in the strategy document, "Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11", published November 2009. In 2010-11, we will continue to invest £210 million in Adult Safeguarded Learning-learning for personal, family and community development. This reaffirms our commitment to implementing the vision set out in "The Learning Revolution" White Paper. A new priority will be to encourage Digital Life Skills which can often be embedded with other provision and open up a whole range of new learning opportunities to help thousands of offline adults take their first steps with computers and the internet.

We want every adult to benefit from a wide choice of learning opportunities. Informal learning can make a profound difference to people's lives by developing family and community cohesion, improving people's health and providing a stepping stone towards training and employment. During 2010-11 we will work with the Skills Funding Agency to develop new lead accountable bodies, led by local authorities, to strengthen local ownership, widen partnerships and improve coherence between policies at the local level.

Apprentices: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many modern apprenticeships have been started in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point since 1997. [318107]

Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in Essex local authority, Southend-on-Sea local authority, Thurrock local authority and Castle Point parliamentary constituency from academic year 2003-04 onwards, the earliest year for which comparable data are available. Essex is made up of Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock local authorities.

Table 1: Apprenticeship Programme Starts for Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock local authorities and Castle Point parliamentary constituency, 2003-04 to 2008-09.

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Essex local authority

4,300

4,100

3,900

4,200

5,000

5,200

Southend-on-Sea local authority

500

500

400

400

500

500

Thurrock local authority

400

400

300

400

500

600

Castle Point Parliamentary Constituency

300

290

290

270

340

400

Notes:
1. Figures for Castle Point Parliamentary Constituency are rounded to the nearest 10. Local Authority figures are rounded to the nearest100.
2. Figures are based upon home postcode of the learner.
3. Figures include apprenticeships, advanced apprenticeships and higher level apprenticeships.
4. Essex is made up of Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock Local Authorities.
Source:
Individualised Learner Record

24 Feb 2010 : Column 634W

Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by parliamentary constituency, local authority, Government Office Region and for England is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December, and re-issued on 21 January to include provisional national estimates of the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements in the first quarter of 2009-10:

Apprentices: Per Capita Costs

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average annual cost to the Government is of an apprenticeship undertaken through the National Apprenticeship Service. [318239]

Kevin Brennan: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families allocate funding to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for the provision of apprenticeships in England. Planned investment for 16-18 and adult apprenticeships for 2009-10 and 2010-11 financial years is given in the following table.

£000
Financial year

2009-10 2010-11

16-18 apprenticeships

695,000

780,000

Adult (aged 19 and over) apprenticeships

389,914

398,410

Sources:
Adult apprenticeships-BIS Skills Investment Strategy 2010-11, November 2009
16-19 apprenticeships-DCSF 16-19 Statement of Priorities and Investment Strategy 2010-11

Apprenticeships for those aged 16-18 are fully funded by the public purse. For learners aged 19 or over the employer is expected to make a contribution towards the cost of the course.

The public cost of delivering an apprenticeship varies significantly depending on the industry in which the apprenticeship framework is being delivered; whether the framework is at level 2 or 3; and whether the participant is in the 16-18, 19-25 or 25+ age group. For example the LSC estimates that it costs £2,749 to deliver a level 2 adult apprenticeship framework in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools and £4,083 to deliver the level 3 equivalent framework. Between industries the difference in estimated costs can be more marked. LSC estimates that the cost of delivering a level 3 adult apprenticeship in clock and watch repair is £13,409 but the cost of an adult apprenticeship at the same level in business and administration is £3,327.

It is not therefore possible to provide a meaningful average cost to the public purse of an apprenticeship.

Business: Regulation

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the annual cost to businesses of compliance with Government regulations introduced since 27 June 2007 in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency. [318497]


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Ian Lucas: In October 2009, the Government published the first Total Benefit/Cost ratio of New Regulations, for all legislation that received Royal Assent or was made by Parliament in the previous financial year, 2008-09. This is summarised in the following table:

Measure Quantified equivalent annual benefits (£ billion) Quantified equivalent annual costs (£ billion) Ratio of quantified benefits to costs (rounded)

The Pensions Act 2008

9.95

9.95

1.00

Primary Legislation

3.13

1.11

2.82

Secondary Legislation

11.20

2.01

5.57

Total

24.28

13.07

1.85


These data were calculated from information provided in published Impact Assessments (IAs) and includes all costs and benefits, not only those to business.

Nationwide data for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Government do not collate data about regulation such as road closure orders that affect business on a purely local basis. It also does not hold data on national regulation at local authority or constituency level.

Departmental Advertising

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent on advertising by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in 2009. [317251]

Mr. McFadden: For advertising spend by the Department in 2009/10 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 1 February 2010, Official Report, column 132W.

Figures for advertising spend for each non-departmental public body could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

I have approached the chief executives of the Insolvency Service, Companies House, the National Measurement Office and the Intellectual Property Office and they will respond to the hon. Member directly.

Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 15 February 2010:

Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 16 February 2010:


24 Feb 2010 : Column 636W

Letter from John Alty, dated 16 February 2010:

Letter from Peter Mason, dated 24 February 2010:


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