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23 Mar 2010 : Column 194W—continued
At the time of the announcement on 13 January 2010 that Lingmell House would close during 2010-11, redeployment solutions had been found for 27 of the 39 staff working there. The announcement on 13 January
provided staff who were unable to relocate the option to volunteer for compulsory early severance or compulsory early retirement and leave the Department by 1 April.
HMRC will continue to help those staff who chose not to take up this option to find redeployment opportunities within the Department or in the wider civil service.
Revenue and Customs: Debt Collection
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a detailed analysis of the remissions and write-offs included in the HM Revenue and Customs Trust Statement in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09. [323205]
Mr. Timms: Paragraph 8.2 Revenue losses on page 100 of HM Revenue and Customs 2008-09 Accounts, Trust Statement sets out the value of remissions and write-offs, by head of duty, for the financial years 2007-08 and 2008-09. Case notes are also included providing the detail of large losses greater than £10 million.
HM Revenue and Customs' 2008-09 Accounts are available at:
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his Department's evaluation of the pilot exercises on the use of commercial debt collection agencies to collect debts owed to HM Revenue and Customs. [323217]
Mr. Timms: The final evaluation of the small scale pilot to test the use of commercial debt collection agencies to collect debts owed to HM Revenue and Customs has not yet been completed.
Smuggling: Tobacco
Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated monetary value of smuggled cigarettes, tobacco and tobacco-related products which were seized was in each year since 1997. [321893]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Data relating to the estimated value of smuggled tobacco products seized by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, and latterly the UK Border Agency, are only available going back to 2003.
Estimates of the total value i.e. the value of the goods and associated tax, in each year since 2003 are:
| Goods and tax values of tobacco seizures border | ||||||||
| Total (£ million) | ||||||||
| Financial year | ||||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |||
Tax Allowances: Housing
Kitty Ussher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) UK taxpayers and (b) hon. Members who varied the nomination of a main residence in order to obtain private residence relief from capital gains tax in each of the last 10 years. [323000]
Mr. Timms: No such estimate has been made.
Taxation
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to reduce the tax gaps in (a) stamp duty land tax, (b) income tax, (c) corporation tax and (d) excise duties. [323206]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have set out its compliance strategy and approach to reducing tax gaps in 'Protecting Tax Revenues 2009', which was published alongside the 2009 pre-Budget report and is available at:
Taxation: Alcoholic Drinks
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average cash value was of (a) valued added tax and (b) alcohol duty charged on a pint of standard (i) lager, (ii) bitter and (iii) cider in each year since 1997. [323575]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The average cash value of value added tax and alcohol duty charged on a pint of lager, pint of bitter and a litre of cider can be found in Section 3 of the HM Revenue and Customs Alcohol Factsheet, available at:
The latest available annual data relate to 2009.
Taxation: Self-assessment
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people completed their tax return forms using (a) online and (b) printed forms in January 2010; and if he will make a statement. [323931]
Mr. Timms: The number of 2008-09 Self Assessment tax returns filed online or in paper format by 31 January 2010 is shown in the following table:
| 2008-09 returns | Percentage of total received | |
Valuation Office Agency: Contracts
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which company or companies have been awarded HM Revenue and Customs contracts, reference 2009/S 200-288191, for the provision of residential property data to the Valuation Office Agency. [323153]
Ian Pearson: This contract has not yet been awarded.
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 4 February 2010, Official Report, column 522W, on the Valuation Office: contracts, how much was spent with Experian in 2008-09; what datasets were purchased by the Valuation Office Agency; and for what purposes. [323192]
Ian Pearson: Costs in relation to Experian in 2008-09, which related to mapping materials for non-domestic property valuations, were £57,055.
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 4 February 2010, Official Report, column 522W, on the Valuation Office: contracts, how much was spent with (a) Rightmove.co.uk, (b) Bodens, (c) Blue Starfish, (d) Bocadillos, (e) Brown's, (f) Chelsea Football Club. (g) Conflict Management Plus Ltd., (h) Euro RSCG Riley and (i) ZSL London Zoo in 2008-09; what goods and services were purchased; and for what purposes. [323196]
Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) spent £776,250 with Rightmove in relation to acquiring property sales data, £271 for publications with Bodens, £9,055 for training staff with Blue Starfish, £1,954 for catering and refreshments with Bocadillos, £2,673 for catering and refreshments with Browns, £293 for training with Conflict Management Plus Ltd., £23,634 for graduate surveyor recruitment and advertising with Euro RSCG Riley, and £3,200 for conference facilities with ZSL London Zoo. VOA did not incur any costs in relation to Chelsea Football Club.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which company or companies have been awarded the Valuation Office Agency contract for property data to replace the previous Rightmove.co.uk contract. [323577]
Ian Pearson: This contract has not yet been awarded.
Valuation: Caravan Sites
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the policy of the Valuation Office Agency is on valuing illegal encampments and Traveller camps for (a) council tax and (b) business rates; and for how many months such a dwelling or hereditament may exist before it is rated. [323444]
Ian Pearson: Where caravans are sole or main residences and the use of the site is not merely transitory, then either the land as a whole or the individual caravan pitches are liable to be banded for council tax, according to the facts of each case.
Where land is used for caravans which are not sole or main residences, and the occupation is not merely transitory it will be non-domestic and subject to a non-domestic rateable value.
There is no minimum period defined by statute in either case and each situation will be treated on its own merits. However, where a Traveller's caravan occupies a non-established pitch for a period materially less than 12 months, with no sign of likely return, this will generally be regarded as too transient to establish the pitch as a dwelling. The legality of the occupation is not relevant: it is the period of occupation that is considered.
Work and Pensions
Departmental Food
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will take steps to ensure that the meat and dairy products procured by her Department and its non-departmental bodies are free range or produced to standards equivalent to those of the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme. [323078]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department has a private finance initiative contract for the provision of fully serviced accommodation which includes catering. The contract is with Telereal Trillium and their catering services supplier is Eurest (part of the Compass Group UK and Ireland). Since 2003, the Department has been working with these suppliers, actively pursuing a Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative action plan and one of the key objectives of this Initiative is to raise farming standards.
Compass Group has confirmed that they endorse the Farm Animal Welfare Council's Five Freedoms concept and provide full traceability of products and suppliers within their approved supply chain to ensure animals reared for meat, fish, milk and eggs are raised to high standards of animal welfare.
Compass Group has also confirmed a long-standing commitment to source its seafood as sustainably as possible. They were the first food service company to achieve the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody certification enabling them to serve certified sustainable, MSC labelled seafood choices. Within the DWP contract many of their sites are buying products to these standards and promotional activities are run to encourage DWP staff to purchase the more ethically sourced products.
The information requested in respect of DWP's non-departmental bodies is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Legal Costs
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department and its predecessors have spent in (a) legal fees and (b) compensation on legal cases concerning remuneration of its employees in each of the last 10 years. [322065]
Jonathan Shaw: Cases for DWP are conducted both in-house and by agents acting on behalf of the Department. The information requested in respect of legal fees concerning remuneration of its employees and compensation on legal cases also concerning remuneration of its employees in each of the last 10 years is not readily available. It would involve a detailed examination of individual records held by the DWP (London and Leeds office) and from external sources from the last ten years. The information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what property has been recorded as (a) lost and (b) stolen from her Department in the last 12 months; and what estimate has been made of the cost of the replacement of that property. [322067]
Jonathan Shaw: In accordance with guidance from HM Treasury, the Department maintains records of certain high-value property that it owns, such as specialist equipment and plant and machinery. In the past two years, no items recorded on the register have been reported as lost or stolen.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to her Department is of the agreements it has entered into with mobile telephone operators to provide free calls to the Department's 0800 numbers from a mobile telephone. [319980]
Jonathan Shaw: The mobile telephone operators in question are charging the Department on the basis of a discounted per minute rate. The Department estimates that the overall cost of the scheme will, on current volumes, be less than £10 million per annum. This will be offset by reduced costs of call back by the Department at a higher rate and the associated staff costs.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants received awards of disability living allowance on the basis of drug or alcohol dependency in the latest period for which figures are available. [316777]
Jonathan Shaw: Entitlement to disability living allowance is not dependent on a diagnosis or condition but relies instead on the care and/or mobility needs arising. In the case of someone with drug or alcohol dependency, needs may arise as a result of their substance dependence or a physical or mental complication caused by drugs or alcohol. Many people with drug or alcohol dependency may also have a mental health condition.
The number of disability living allowance cases in payment where the main disabling condition is recorded as drug and alcohol abuse, which will represent a subset of all disability living allowance claimants with a drug or alcohol dependency, at August 2009 is 22,000.
Notes:
1. The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and have been uprated to be consistent with Work and Pensions Longitudinal Survey data.
2. The figure shows the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
3. Where more than one disability is present only the main disabling condition is recorded.
4. A diagnosed medical condition does not mean that someone is automatically entitled to disability living allowance. Entitlement is dependent on an assessment of how much help someone needs with personal care and/or mobility because of their disability. These statistics are only collected for administrative purposes. For example, a customer would not be awarded disability living allowance on the basis of a diagnosis of drug/alcohol abuse. The decision is based upon the care/supervision and difficulty getting around as a result of the substance dependency and any associated physical or psychological complications.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample.
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