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1 Mar 2010 : Column 914W—continued
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have received assistance under the Home Energy Efficiency scheme since the inception of that scheme. [318081]
Mr. Kidney: The operating name of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in England is Warm Front.
The following table shows how many households in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have received assistance from Warm Front under the present phase of the Scheme (since 2005).
| Essex | Castle Point | |
| (1) Up to 31 January 2010. | ||
Prior to 2005 these regions were under the control of a different Scheme Manager. The data retained by the present administrator are not sufficient to provide a consolidated response.
Wind Power
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the total output of UK's off-shore wind turbines, expressed as a proportion of their load factor, was in each week in January 2010. [318167]
Mr. Kidney: Total output figures for offshore wind are available only on an annual basis. The most recent data are for 2008, when offshore wind generation was 1,305 GWh. Data for wind generation as a whole, by major power producers, are collected monthly, with the latest data showing December 2009's generation as 572 GWh.
Load factors are defined as the average hourly quantity of electricity supplied during the year, expressed as a percentage of the average output capability at the beginning and end of the year. As such, these are only calculated on an annual basis, with the latest data for 2008 showing a load factor of 34.9 per cent.
Treasury
Banks
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has agreed any instrument or facility whereby an investment bank has been authorised to trade in the securitisation of future public revenues not otherwise reported to Parliament. [318195]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry [holding answer 24 February 2010]: No such agreement has been entered into by the Department.
Banks: Redundancy
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many jobs in each (a) region and (b) county have been lost in total in Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley since the Government acquired its stake in each; [318821]
(2) how many jobs in each (a) region and (b) county were lost in those banks in which UK Financial Investments Ltd. has a stake were lost in the last 12 months; [318822]
(3) how many jobs have been relocated offshore by Lloyds Banking Group in the period since the Government acquired its stake in the bank; and what discussions have taken place between (a) his Department and (b) UK Financial Investments Ltd. with Lloyds Banking Group on that matter. [318823]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government's investments in the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, Northern Rock plc, Northern Rock (Asset Management) plc, and Bradford and Bingley plc are managed on a commercial and arm's-length basis by UK Financial Investments Limited.
Decisions about business operations remain the responsibility of the directors of those banks. It is a matter for each company's management to release specific business updates or provide any required disclosures in their audited annual report and accounts.
Business: Government Assistance
Mr. Binley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses have used the HM Revenue and Customs Business Payment Support Scheme in the last 12 months. [316858]
Mr. Timms: Since its introduction on 24 November 2008 the Business Payment Support Service ( BPSS ) has agreed around 292,000 Time To Pay arrangements (TTP ) in the UK with businesses to spread tax payments of about £5 billion over an agreed period.
This has helped to support more than 160,000 businesses, the vast majority of whom are small and medium sized. Over 90 per cent. of the value of arrangements is being paid on time.
Between 1 February 2009 and 31 January 2010, 229,000 TTP agreements were made with customers via the BPSS.
Child Benefit
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many young people there are with non-resident parents who are legal migrants to the UK and who claim child benefit. [302375]
Mr. Timms: For information on awards of child benefit in respect of children living in other member states, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) on 13 October 2009, Official Report, column 787W.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department, (b) HM Revenue and Customs, (c) the Valuation Office Agency and (d) his Department's other agencies spent on font licensing in the last three years. [315284]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Spending on font licensing in the last three years was £14,268 for HM Treasury, £240 for HM Revenue and Customs and nil for the Valuation Office Agency and Debt Management Office.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many designs for its website his Department has commissioned since 2005. [318641]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No designs for the Department's website have been commissioned since 2005.
Departmental Plants
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies has spent on pot plants in 2009-10. [319196]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on spending in the current financial year will be available once the financial year has been completed and the Treasury's Resource Account has been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Government Departments: Personal Records
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to implement a cross-government change of circumstances service and a cross-government identity management system. [318844]
Mr. Byrne: Steps to implement a cross-government change of circumstances service and a cross-government identity management system were set out in the Government's document "Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government", page 24. This was published in December 2009 and is available at:
Income Tax
Pete Wishart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the collection rate of income tax was in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in each year since 2007. [317920]
Mr. Timms: Collection rates are normally calculated as the amount collected as a proportion of the amount billed (or charged). The balance will be either still being collected or will have been written-off as a loss. The majority of income tax is either deducted at source (i.e. via PAYE) or self-assessed via income tax self assessment (ITSA), so is never actually billed or charged and as such a collection rate measurement is not appropriate.
HM Revenue and Customs does publish figures on revenue losses in its Trust Statement which form part of its published accounts, available at:
Inheritance Tax: Castle Point
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue accrued to the Exchequer from inheritance tax on estates in Castle Point constituency in the last five years. [318099]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimate that around £400 million was received in inheritance tax receipts for the Government office region of east of England in 2007-08.
Information for other years or at a sub-regional level is currently available only at disproportionate cost because:
Inheritance tax data are based on a UK wide sample of cases which is designed to produce national level figures. The size of the sample means that HMRC cannot currently reliably estimate the number of taxpayers below a regional level; and
Postcodes are frequently missing from inheritance tax returns, and while the completion rate has improved to the point where analysis of the tax receipts on a regional basis can be carried out for 2007-08 this is not possible for earlier years.
Inheritance Tax: Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue accrued to the Exchequer from inheritance tax on estates in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency in the last five years. [318931]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' Inheritance Tax receipts from Scotland are published by the Scottish Executive in Table 4.2 of their Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report, available at:
Information for other years or at a sub-regional level is currently available only at disproportionate cost because:
Inheritance tax data are based on a UK wide sample of cases which is designed to produce national level figures. The size of the sample means that HMRC cannot currently reliably estimate the number of taxpayers below a regional level; and
Postcodes are frequently missing from inheritance tax returns, and while the completion rate has improved to the point where analysis of the tax receipts on a regional basis can be carried out for 2007-08 this is not possible for earlier years.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letter of 18 December 2009 from the hon. Member for Billericay on his constituent Mrs Dunne. [318967]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 23 February 2010.
Mortgages
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 11 January 2009, Official Report, column 709W, on mortgages, what assessment has been made of the effect of the European Commission proposals on (a) the level of access by first time buyers to mortgages and (b) the maximum loan to value mortgage permitted for residential mortgages. [319318]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Tripartite Authorities continue to engage in European proposals concerning mortgage markets and are themselves exploring changes to mortgage regulation at a UK level. The FSA issued a Discussion Paper in October 2009 reviewing the current regulations. Chapter 3 discusses prudential measures, and Chapter 4 considers product regulation. The paper is available online at:
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many applications have been made to the Homeowner Mortgage Protection Scheme in 2010; [318831]
(2) how many homeowners are participating in the Homeowner Mortgage Protection Scheme. [318832]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
For management information on Homeowners Mortgage Support I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 16 December 2009, Official Report, column 1297W.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many homeowners in Dundee East constituency are in receipt of assistance under the Homeowner Mortgage Protection Scheme. [319599]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
For management information on Homeowners Mortgage Support I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 16 December 2009, Official Report, column 1297W. This information is not monitored at constituency level.
Public Sector: Construction
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps the Office of Government Commerce is taking (a) to monitor compliance by public sector construction clients with the Common Minimum Standards, (b) to ensure that supply team workforces have
Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards and (c) to exclude from tendering companies which are not compliant with the Construction Skills Certification Scheme; [319832]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the number of public sector construction clients who do not (a) adhere to the Common Minimum Standards and (b) by contract require their contractors to ensure that their employees have Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards. [319819]
Ian Pearson: The Common Minimum Standards (CMS) summarise Government policy affecting the procurement of built environments. Government do not centrally monitor procuring organisations' implementation of that policy. One of the standards is for clients to include a contract clause requiring individuals in their supply teams to be registered on the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), a trade body run by CSCS Ltd., or to be able to prove their competence in some other appropriate way.
CSCS is managed under contract by CITB-ConstructionSkilis, a sector skills body. The rules and scheme criteria are set by the scheme's owners and Government have no involvement.
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