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5 Mar 2010 : Column 1484W—continued
—continuedJohn McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many pornographic or violent images of
(a) children and (b) adults have been found on illicit mobile phones seized from prisoners in the last three years. [320100]
Maria Eagle: Prisons are responsible for the analysis of the information recovered from mobile phones. Where there is evidence of a criminal offence, the matter is referred to the police. However, the majority of phones seized are not attributable to individual prisoners. The National Offender Management Service does not hold a centrally disaggregated record of the data found on illicit mobile phones found in prisons. To provide the information requested, we would need to contact all prisons in England and Wales, ask them to check their local records and to submit this information to headquarters. This would incur disproportionate cost.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has made a recent assessment of the level of transfer between illicit mobile phones in prisons of violent or pornographic images. [320102]
Maria Eagle: Data found on illicit mobile phones found in prison are analysed by establishments. However, for security reasons it is not possible to disclose details of how this is undertaken. Analysis of the data found on illicit mobile phones provides a potentially valuable source of intelligence for prisons and law enforcement agencies. Guidance to ensure a greater level of consistency across the estate is due to be circulated shortly.
Due to the covert nature of mobile phone use in prisons, we are not able to estimate the number of mobile phones or component parts in circulation, nor are we able to assess their usage.
Probation Officers
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding his Department and its predecessor allocated for the (a) recruitment and (b) training of probation officers in each year since 1997. [317631]
Maria Eagle: Recruitment funding is included in the general grant paid to areas for probation officer training delivery. However, information about the specific local spend on recruitment was not routinely collected and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
The following information is the best quality information that is available but it has been transferred over time from the Home Office Adelphi finance system to the Prison Service Phoenix system and there is the possibility that there may be some gaps.
Details of the funding allocated for the training of probation officers is contained in the following tables.
| Probation service officer (PSO) costs | |
| Financial year | Training allocation (£) |
| Note: The allocation for 2003-04 is not known. In 2005-06, areas were required to bid for PSO training funding. In 2006 to date, funding is provided for 1,000 PSOs at £800 per head per year and Areas are allocated maximum numbers calculated using the cash limit formula. In 2008-09 and 2009-10, an additional investment was made in PSO training in preparation for the launch of the new Probation Qualification Framework in April 2010. | |
Treasury
Banks: Loans
Mr. Syms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with UK Financial Investments on the level of bank lending. [320390]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with UKFI as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, the Government do not disclose the outcome or results of all such meetings and discussions.
Carbon Sequestration: Finance
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 7.19, page 123, of the pre-Budget report, Cm 7747, from what level the Government have doubled its support for carbon capture and storage technology. [320373]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: At Budget 2009, the Government made a commitment to fund two CCS demonstration plants. At the pre-Budget report, the Government announced this commitment would be extended to fund four demonstration plants.
Chemical Engineering: Government Assistance
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 7.30, page 125, of the pre-Budget report, Cm 7747, from which budget the £30 million for the Teesside chemicals industry will be allocated. [320368]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The £30 million in support for the chemicals industry on Teesside is part of the £200 million extension to the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) announced at 2009 pre-Budget report (PBR).
The SIF, which is administered by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, was created in Budget 2009 to support advanced industrial projects of strategic importance. Together with the PBR extension, it has total funds of £950 million. Of this, £400 million is to be spent on low-carbon projects (including the Teesside support).
Climate Change Levy
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the monetary value of receipts from the Climate Change Levy in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12. [320512]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Current estimates of Climate Change Levy receipts for 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 are set out in Table B10 of the pre-Budget report 2009.
Economic Situation: Greece
Mr. Syms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the effects on EU member states of the fiscal situation in Greece. [320388]
Ian Pearson: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with European Finance Ministers on European economic matters. The situation in Greece was discussed at the last ECOFIN on 16 February.
Excise Duties: Beer
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had concerning the proposal to levy a lower duty on cask beer; and if he will make a statement. [320559]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Alcohol duty policy is restricted by EU rules. It is not possible to levy different rates of duty on cask beer compared to beer sold in other types of packaging.
Financial Services: Local Government
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will request the Financial Services Authority to make a formal response to the Second Report of the Communities and Local Government Committee, on Local Authority Investments: Role of the Financial Services Authority, HC287. [319729]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) responded to the Communities and Local Government Committee's first report, explaining that the boundaries of regulation are set by HM Treasury, not the FSA.
Public Bodies: Empty Property
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer of 20 July 2009, Official Report, column 895W, on empty property, if he will take steps to require all central public bodies to report their actual and vacant properties for the e-PIMS database. [320905]
Ian Pearson: Central civil government departments, their executive agencies and arm's length bodies are already required to record actual and vacant properties on the e-PIMS database.
Public Sector: Energy
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 7.32, page 125, of the pre-Budget report, Cm 7747, what the baseline is for the 10 per cent. reduction in public sector energy spending. [320367]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The commitment to a 10 per cent. reduction in public sector energy spending by financial year 2012-13 is with respect to a baseline of financial year 2008-09.
Renewable Energy: Finance
Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 7.25, page 124, of the pre-Budget report, Cm 7747, from which budget the (a) £50 million for the development of offshore wind technologies and (b) £40 million for the development of low carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing technologies will be allocated. [320366]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: £50 million for the development of offshore wind technologies and £40 million for low carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing technologies are to be funded from the £200 million extension to the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) announced at 2009 pre-Budget report (PBR).
The SIF, which is administered by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, was created in Budget 2009 to support advanced industrial projects of strategic importance. Together with the PBR extension, it has total funds of £950 million. Of this, £400 million is to be spent on low carbon projects (including the two areas noted above).
Taxation: Domicile
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what tests HM Revenue and Customs applies when determining domicile; and what investigations are normally undertaken in the cause of applying such tests. [320738]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Domicile is a concept of common law that is used in tax law for certain purposes. HM Revenue and Customs applies this legal concept to the facts of each case, those facts being established through the normal inquiry process.
HMRC has produced detailed guidance on domicile which gives an indication of the kind of information and documents that HMRC might request during an inquiry. These lists are not exhaustive. The guidance is available at:
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many UK citizens acquired a new domicile of choice and retained long-term UK residence in each year since 2000. [320739]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: This information is not available, as individuals are not required to report their UK domicile status or residence status to HM Revenue and Customs unless either is relevant to their liability to UK tax within that year.
UK Financial Investments: Expenditure
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse of (a) establishing and (b) maintaining UK Financial Investments Ltd has been to date. [319954]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on establishing and maintaining UK Financial Investments Ltd during 2008-09 is shown in Note 13.8.1 on page 214 of HM Treasury Group's Annual Report and Accounts 2008-09 (HC 611).
Information on spending in the current financial year will be available once the financial year has been completed and the Treasury's Resource Account, due for publication in the summer, has been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Further information on UK Financial Investments Limited's expenditure can be found in its Annual Report and Accounts 2008-09, available at:
Defence
Afghan Campaign Medal
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the merits of changing the rules under which members of the Royal Air Force Aero-Medical Evacuation Squadron at RAF Lyneham are ineligible for the Afghan Campaign Medal. [317537]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The criteria for campaign medals are always complex, and subject to periodic review. The Ministry of Defence is aware of the situation pertaining to Aero-Medical personnel and consideration of their position is currently under active consideration and we hope to reach a conclusion shortly.
Armed Forces: Bomb Disposal
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many specialist bomb disposal staff were trained in the armed forces in each of the last three years. [320283]
Bill Rammell: Specialist bomb disposal operators are highly skilled officers and senior non-commissioned officers of all three services that are trained to lead bomb disposal teams. The following table provides information on the number who have qualified as Conventional Munitions Disposal and/or Joint Service Improvised Explosive Device Disposal, and/or High Threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal operators. As a result some personnel will have been recorded more than once.
| Training year | Total |
To determine those personnel who have completed just a single course would require a manual search of records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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