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4 Mar 2010 : Column 1335W—continued
Presbyterian Mutual Society
Mark Durkan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made by the Ministerial Working Group on the Presbyterian Mutual Society. [318467]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry [holding answer 24 February 2010]: The Ministerial Working Group on the Presbyterian Mutual Society (PMS) continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding its collapse, to consider the losses incurred by its members and to consider what, if any, action can be taken to mitigate members' losses, particularly those hardest hit by the collapse.
Public Sector
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of each Total Place pilot report submitted to his Department. [319633]
Mr. Byrne: The publication of documents submitted by the local authorities and their partners involved in Total Place is a decision for them. However, some of the pilots have now made their February 2010 reports public, by either publishing on their own websites or the Total Place website.
Rates and Rating: Caravan Sites
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Traveller pitches are liable for (a) council tax and (b) business rates; and what estimate the Valuation Office Agency has made of the number of pitches which are not rated either for council tax or business rates. [319016]
Ian Pearson: No data are available to differentiate Traveller pitches from other caravan pitches treated as dwellings for council tax purposes.
There are currently six Traveller sites subject to non-domestic rating.
Revenue and Customs: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Chief Executive, HM Revenue and Customs, expects to reply to the letter of 1 February 2010 from the hon. Member for Walsall, North; and for what reasons no initial acknowledgement of the letter was sent. [320348]
Mr. Timms: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 2 March 2010.
HM Revenue and Customs apologises for the oversight in not issuing an acknowledgement.
Revenue and Customs: Surveys
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what HM Revenue and Customs Customer Service Survey overview reports were produced for (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009; and where such reports are published. [312154]
Mr. Timms: The Customer Service Survey overview report for 2007 is available at:
HM Revenue and Customs is currently finalising the report of the 2008-09 Customer Survey and will publish it on the Department's website in due course.
Revenue and Customs: Television
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs has spent on sponsorship of the television programme The Business Inspector. [319939]
Mr. Timms: HMRC's contribution to the series' budget is £370,000. This should provide good value for money in comparison with advertising alone.
Taxation: Holiday Accommodation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will report on the findings from the technical consultation on the proposed legislation on Furnished Holiday Lettings which closed on 26 February. [320577]
Mr. Timms: There are no plans to publish a full report on the findings from the technical consultation on the proposed legislation to repeal the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules, as none of the responses to this informal consultation identified any technical difficulties with the draft legislation which was published at the 2009 pre-Budget report.
Some respondents identified specific points on which they would like more information about the effects of the repeal. HMRC plan to issue further guidance to supplement the information provided in the technical note issued at the 2009 pre-Budget report.
Taxation: Overseas Income
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to allow UK citizens to be taxed on their worldwide income; and if he will make a statement. [319850]
Mr. Timms: Individuals, including UK citizens, who are resident, ordinarily resident and domiciled in the UK are liable to UK tax on their worldwide income. The Government have no plans to introduce legislation to make all UK citizens taxable on their worldwide income.
Valuation Office Agency: Contracts
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2010, Official Report, column 522W, on Valuation Office Agency contracts, how much the Valuation Office Agency spent on each of the listed suppliers in 2008-09. [319644]
Ian Pearson: A list showing the amounts spent by the Valuation Office Agency on the suppliers who provided goods and services to the Valuation Office Agency in 2008-09 is being placed in the Library of the House.
Valuation Office Agency: North East
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff of the Valuation Office Agency worked in (a) the North East and (b) North Lincolnshire in each year since 1997; and how many such staff were visually impaired in each of those years. [319447]
Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency does not hold staff in post or disability data based upon the North East and North Lincolnshire for each year since 1997.
Cabinet Office
Census: Sikhs
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will meet representatives of Sikhs to discuss proposals for the inclusion of a Sikh category in the ethnic data collection within the 2011 National Census. [320257]
Angela E. Smith: The Office for National Statistics consulted widely in establishing the proposed content of the 2011 Census, which included a public consultation and consultation with Sikh representatives. Following consultation, and in accordance with the Census Act 1920, the proposed content was laid before Parliament in "The Census (England and Wales) Order 2009 in October 2009". Parliament approved the Order, which came into force on 10 December. As the content of the 2011 Census is now determined, it is not appropriate for me to meet Sikh representatives to discuss the inclusion of a Sikh category in the ethnicity question within the 2011 Census.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much her Department spent on office refurbishments in each of the last 10 years. [320508]
Angela E. Smith: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Paper
Martin Horwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what (a) suppliers and (b) brands of (i) paper and (ii) paper products (A) her Department and (B) the Prime Minister's Office uses; and what the policy is of each on the procurement of those materials. [320035]
Angela E. Smith: The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Office Depot supplies the Cabinet Office with its paper and paper products.
The majority of the Department's paper usage relates to photocopying and printing, for which Evolve Everyday A4 and A3 80 gsm copier paper is used. These products are 100 per cent. recycled.
The paper for photocopying and printing is ordered centrally; other types of paper products can be bought as required by nominated individuals.
Exports
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the monetary value of goods and services exported from (a) Scotland and (b) the UK was in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [319951]
Ian Lucas: I have been asked to reply.
The figures in the following table for exports of goods have been taken from HM Revenue and Customs Regional Trade Statistics.
| £ billion | ||
| UK | Scotland | |
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for UK exports of services for the same years are shown in the following table on a Balance of Payments basis.
| UK (£ billion) | |
The ONS does not produce comparable services trade statistics for countries and regions of the UK; the Scottish Executive publishes some data as part of their Global Connections Survey, available from:
Honours
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the Prime Minister's speech at Britain's Everyday Heroes Book Launch of 24 July 2007, how much has been spent on the advertising campaign relating to the Good Neighbour MBE to date. [318358]
Tessa Jowell: £400,000 including VAT was spent on a regional advertising campaign in 2007-08 to encourage nominations for people who were doing outstanding service in their local community. The campaign focused on four areas: Scotland, the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber; and the West Midlands, which had shown least awareness of the honours system.
Hotels
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2010, Official Report, column 1145W, on "Government Departments: Hotels", if she will place in the Library a copy of the summary data on bookings made under the Expotel facility in respect of her Department in 2009. [318309]
Angela E. Smith: The summary data for bookings made through the Cabinet Office's corporate contract with Expotel contain information including their commercial rates which must be treated as commercial in confidence.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood of 3 February 2010, Official Report, column 410W, on hotels, which sections of her Department made the 55 bookings for five star hotels; and which hotel was booked in each case. [318327]
Angela E. Smith: Cabinet Office is periodically requested to answer questions which may relate to the involvement of sensitive work streams. In this instance the majority, of the bookings are sensitive.
In order to safeguard the effectiveness of both the security arrangements in place, and those involved in such areas, it has been the practice of successive governments not to disclose specific information concerning those involved or its associates.
This is in line with exemptions 1(a) and 7(b) as set out in Part II of the 'Code of Practice on Access to Government Information'.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people have claimed jobseeker's allowance in each quarter since April 2008. [320172]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles monthly counts of the number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. Table 1 shows the number of people, resident in the United Kingdom, claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) at the end of each quarter since April 2008.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
| Table 1: Number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance resident in the UK Seasonally adjusted: United Kingdom | |
| T housand | |
| Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System | |
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