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30 Mar 2010 : Column 1045W—continued
Revenue and Customs: Data Protection
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) from what baselines HM Revenue and Customs will measure progress against its strategic objectives in respect of data security between 2009 and 2012; and by what mechanism such progress will be (a) measured and (b) evaluated; [325293]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2010, Official Report, column 74W, on Revenue and Customs: data protection, how many data security incidents there were in his Department in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and what estimate he has made of the number of persons affected. [325295]
Mr. Timms:
HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) plans to achieve its data security targets, and the
measurement criteria to evaluate performance against them, are set out in the Department's annual business plans, available at:
Information on data security incidents in 2008-09 is published on page 15 of HMRC's 2008-09 accounts; available at:
Information for 2009-10 will be published in HMRC's 2009-10 accounts.
Revenue and Customs: Debt Collection
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish his Department's evaluation of the trials involving the collection by commercial agencies of debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs. [325292]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs currently expects to be able to publish a summary of the small scale pilot to test the use of commercial debt collection agencies by autumn 2010.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was received in stamp duty land tax for purchases over £500,000 in each year since 1997. [325229]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Estimated stamp duty land tax (SDLT) receipts for purchases over £500,000, available at:
are given in the following table for years from 1997-98:
| Estimated SDLT( 1 ) receipts | |
| £ million | |
| (1)This was stamp duty on land and property prior to December 2003. | |
Estimates for 1997-98 to 2000-01 were published in previous years at the same web address.
Taxation: Highland Airways
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether HM Revenue and Customs provided assistance to Highland Airways through the business payments scheme; [325286]
(2) whether HM Revenue and Customs had discussions with Highland Airways prior to its entry into receivership. [325287]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs is under a strict, statutory, duty of confidentiality and cannot comment on the tax affairs of individual businesses.
Taxation: Holiday Accommodation
Mr. Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he made an assessment of the merits of bringing forward proposals to extend the provisions of the Furnished Holiday Lettings rules to all UK owners of furnished holiday accommodation in the UK and other EEA countries. [324520]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 29 March 2010]: An assessment of extending the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) rules to those with furnished holiday accommodation in other EEA countries was included in the impact assessment published alongside the 2009 pre-Budget report, available at:
Taxation: Personal Records
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) hon. Members, (b) noble Lords, (c) researchers, (d) former elected representatives, (e) local authority councillors and (f) members of the armed forces are eligible for special category status for personal tax records held by HM Revenue and Customs; [324326]
(2) how many staff members of (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Valuation Office Agency have their personal tax records given a special category classification. [324327]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) applies high standards of confidentiality and security to all customer data. The provision of additional safeguards in respect of data relating to certain categories of individuals is an operational matter for HMRC. I am able to confirm that Ministers of the Crown, some Elected Representatives and certain other individuals are subject to additional safeguards. All HMRC staff are subject to additional safeguards for reasons of propriety.
Taxation: Self-assessment
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are estimated to have been late in filing their tax returns by 31 January 2010. [323326]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 22 March 2010]: 1,165,538 self-assessment tax returns were not filed by 31 January 2010.
Taxation: Self-assessment and PAYE
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the cost under each budget heading was of administering the (a) Pay-As-You-Earn and (b) self-assessment system in (i) 2006, (ii) 2007, (iii) 2008 and (iv) 2009.; [312331]
(2) how much it cost to operate PAYE, Self Assessment and national insurance in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008 and (d) 2009, broken down by budget heading. [313970]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is set out in the following table. The figures are based upon an allocation of total costs for the Department. HMRC's reporting systems do not allow for costs to be reported at the level of budget heading.
The figures reflect a period of significant change across HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) following the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise, and the creation of the UK Border Agency. Consequently, the allocations of overhead costs have not always been consistent as structures change, and improvements are made.
| £ million | ||||
| HMRC's administrative costs | ||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
A large part of the increase in reported cost between 2005-06 and 2006-07 was due to the introduction of a new financial system in April 2006. This system allowed additional costs that were previously treated as departmental overheads to be directly allocated to business functions. This resulted in the increase of costs directly attributed to income tax functions.
Departmental restructuring during 2007-08 affected the way in which cost allocation data was captured during the year. As a consequence of this, the figure of £805 million for administering income tax self-assessment during 2007-08 is likely to be understated.
Valuation Office Agency: Contracts
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 4 February 2010, Official Report, column 522W, on the Valuation Office: contracts, how much was spent with Gfk NOP Ltd. in 2008-09; what polling and opinion research was purchased by the Valuation Office Agency from GfK NOP Ltd.; and for what purposes. [323193]
Ian Pearson: Expenditure incurred by the Valuation Office Agency in relation to GfK NOP Ltd. was £84,919. No polling material was purchased.
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 4 February 2010, Official Report, column 522W, on the Valuation Office: contracts, how much was spent with Speakers for Business in 2008-09; which speakers were hired; and for what purposes. [323195]
Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency spent £2,375 on "Speakers for Business". This related to speaking engagements from Professor Richard Scase and Col. Bob Stewart and related to staff training and development on leadership and managing change in the finance function of the VOA.
VAT: Churches
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received in favour of the extension of the provisions of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme beyond March 2011; and if he will make a statement. [325260]
Mr. Timms: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations. The future of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme beyond March 2011 will be considered in the spending review later this year.
Welfare Tax Credits
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many checks his Department carried out on (a) expenditure on (i) food and (ii) childcare by and (b) bank statements from more than six months previously of recipients of tax credits in each year since 2005; what criteria are used to decide to carry out such checks; and if he will make a statement. [324123]
Mr. Timms: The information is not available. For information relating to HM Revenue and Customs compliance checks on tax credits awards I refer the hon. Member to the information published in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 Comptroller and Auditor General's standard reports.
Information for years up to and including 2007-08 can be found in table 6 on page R15 of the 2007-08 report published at:
Similar information for 2008-09 is included in table 33 on page R41 of the Standard Report published at:
Providing further information about the criteria used to carry out such checks might assist those attempting to defraud the system.
Justice
Land Registry
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate the Land Registry made of the average price of (a) a detached house, (b) a semi-detached house, (c) a terraced house, (d) flat and (e) an average dwelling in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the most recent period for which figures are available in (A) England, (B) each Government Office region and (C) each local authority area. [324536]
Mr. Wills: Land Registry is able to provide information based on the total number of residential properties sold at full value(1) in the requested categories in 1996 and 2009, for (A) England and Wales and (C) each local authority. Land Registry do not hold figures broken down by Government office region. The information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
(1) Full value = residential property transactions where the full price has been paid. The figures exclude a number of transactions including Right to Buy sales at a discount, properties sold by way of a gift and properties sold under a compulsory purchase or court order.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Dundee East of 12 March 2010, Official Report, column 545W, on Ministerial policy advisers, what contractors from each company were employed by the Communications Directorate; and what the cost to the public purse was of each contract. [324830]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice was formed in May 2007 and is one of the largest Government Departments. Communications, including the work of the press office, is an important element of this. The Ministry of Justice press office operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, dealing with all media relations for the Department and its Agencies from the international, national and regional media. Communication in all its forms is an important element of ensuring that the public know and understand the work of the Ministry of Justice and its Agencies. Contractors and agency staff play a part in the functioning of the Communications Directorate where expert knowledge is required for a defined period of time.
Contractors and agency staff who work as communications officers include press officers, intranet/internet staff, event organisation, marketing and publishing staff and others involved in communications roles. Support staff and consultants are excluded from the following information.
Under the Data Protection Principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), it is not possible to disclose the positions of each individual contractor or agency staff member as it would breach the fair processing principle. The individual to whom the personal data relate has a reasonable expectation that the Department would hold that information in confidence. However, outside of the Act this information can be provided at agency level.
The amount spent in 2008-09 by agency:
| Agency | Expenditure (£) |
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