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29 Jun 2010 : Column 502W—continued
Pregnant Women: Grants
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency, (b) South Lanarkshire council area and (c) Scotland had received health in pregnancy grants on the latest date for which figures are available. [4336]
Justine Greening: Geographical analysis of the number of people benefiting from the health in pregnancy grant has not previously been undertaken, and therefore this information is only available at disproportionate cost.
Public Expenditure: Wales
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on implementing the recommendation of the Independent Commission on Funding and Finance for Wales that the Government produce an annual publication enabling comparisons between Welsh Assembly Government expenditure under the Barnett Formula and equivalent expenditure in England. [4396]
Danny Alexander: The Government note the recommendations of the first report of the Independent Commission on Funding and Finance for Wales and look forward to the Commission's final report. Figures for the country and regional breakdown of public spending are published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA).
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) population ratios, (b) comparability factors and (c) calculations underpinthe consequential changes to the funding of the National Assembly for Wales announced on 22 June 2010; and if he will make a statement. [4397]
Danny Alexander: In relation to changes to the funding of the National Assembly for Wales announced on 22 June 2010, the recycled savings announced on 24 May 2010 were adjusted to reflect changes in business rate relief announced in the Budget. There was a reduction in the recycled savings for the Welsh Assembly Government in 2010-11 of £1.5 million. This was calculated using the Barnett Formula in the normal way. Details of the Barnett Formula, including details of the population figures and comparability factors, are published in the Statement of Funding policy.
The Welsh Assembly Government's budget for the spending review period will be published at the end of the spending review.
Public Expenditure: Yorkshire and the Humber
Simon Reevell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much public sector capital funding was provided in each parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [4358]
Danny Alexander: Capital expenditure for Yorkshire and Humber in each of the last five years was as follows:
| Yorkshire and Humber | |
| £ million | |
Monitoring of capital expenditure at a constituency level is not undertaken centrally.
Public Finance
Glenda Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the oral statement of 17 June 2010, Official Report, columns 1040-1, on public spending, what estimate he has made of the (a) number and cost of redundancies and (b) costs incurred by the cancellation of contracts consequent on the cancellation of the 12 projects. [3983]
Danny Alexander: The operational impact of these decisions is a matter for Departments. There may be some costs incurred and some impact on jobs by cancelling these projects. However, by cancelling the projects at this stage the Government are reducing spending pressures, enabling them to reduce the deficit as quickly as possible. The 12 projects cancelled on 17 June have a lifetime cost of £2 billion which will now not be spent. The 12 projects that have been cancelled carried costs of £491 million in 2010-11.
Liz Kendall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the 2010 Spending Review, what mechanism he intends to use to determine whether capital projects produce a significant economic return. [4639]
Danny Alexander: The Chancellor has announced that the Government will conduct a Spending Review, concluding on 20 October 2010. As part of this, Government Departments have been asked to undertake a fundamental review of all capital spending plans to identify the areas that will achieve the greatest economic return. The Green Book sets out the methodology for investment appraisal in central Government projects.
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what mechanism his Department plans to use to assess capital investment projects in the 2010 Spending Review. [4653]
Danny Alexander: The Chancellor has announced that the Government will conduct a Spending Review, concluding on 20 October 2010. As part of this, Government Departments have been asked to undertake a fundamental review of all capital spending plans to identify the areas that will achieve the greatest economic return. The Green Book sets out the methodology for investment appraisal in central Government projects. The emergency Budget announced no further cuts in capital spending totals beyond those announced as part of the £6.2 billion of savings in 2010-11.
Research and Development Tax Credit
Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the future of research and development tax credits for business; and if he will make a statement. [4509]
Mr Gauke: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget statement that the Government will consult with business in autumn 2010 to review the taxation of intellectual property, the support R&D tax credits provide for innovation and the proposals of the Dyson Review.
Revenue and Customs: Manpower
Mr Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were on the payroll of HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessors on (a) 1 May 1990, (b) 1 May 2000 and (c) the most recent date for which figures are available. [4508]
Mr Gauke: The number of staff in HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor departments (HM Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue) at 1 April 1990, 1 April 2000 and 31 May 2010 are shown in the following table. Figures are not available for 1 May 1990 and 1 May 2000.
| Number | ||||||
| Customs and Excise | Inland Revenue | Total/HMRC | ||||
| HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE | |
| HC = Headcount. FTE = Full-time equivalent. Separate figures for headcount and FTE were not reported for 1990. Source: These data are sourced from the statistics archive on the civil service website: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/stats-archive/archived-reports.aspx | ||||||
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) Protestant, (b) Roman Catholic and (c) non-determined appointees there were in HM Revenue and Customs offices in Northern Ireland in 2009. [4528]
Mr Gauke: The numbers of appointees to HM Revenue and Customs in 2009, broken down by Protestant, Roman Catholic and non-determined is as follows:
Protestant: 9
Roman Catholic: 8
Non-determined: 3.
Sheffield Forgemasters: Finance
Angela Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations his Department has received from private sector companies on the decision not to proceed with the loan proposal for Sheffield Forgemasters. [4523]
Danny Alexander: To the best of my knowledge, the Department has not received any representations from private sector companies on the decision not to proceed with this loan.
Tax Allowances
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of his Budget proposals for marginal tax rates on the distribution of personal incomes. [4680]
Mr Gauke: Budget 2010 made no announcements on income tax rates. Budget 2010 Chapter 2 provided a detailed analysis of the impact of Budget tax and welfare changes on household incomes and marginal deduction rates.
Taxation: Aviation
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to introduce value added tax on aircraft fuel. [4559]
Mr Gauke: In accordance with international agreements VAT is not charged on fuel used by aircraft operating on international routes. However, even if VAT were applied to such supplies airlines could recover the VAT charged, as input VAT, in the normal way.
Taxation: Business
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in (a) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency, (b) South Lanarkshire council area and (c) Scotland had used the Time to Pay programme on the latest date for which figures are available. [4334]
Mr Gauke: HMRC collates information on the number and value of Time to Pay arrangements granted through the Business Payment Support Service (BPSS).
Data on the number of businesses using the service are not readily available at constituency or local authority level. At any point in time a business may have more than one arrangement covering its different tax liabilities. A business may be granted a number of successive arrangements.
Following contact with the BPSS between 24 November 2008 and 20 June 2010:
320 arrangements spreading payments covering tax debts worth £5.4 million have been granted to businesses within the parliamentary constituency of Rutherglen and Hamilton West;
1,460 arrangements spreading payments covering tax debts worth £24 million have been granted to businesses within the South Lanarkshire council area;
20,400 arrangements spreading payments covering tax debts worth £340 million have been granted to businesses within Scotland.
Taxation: Probate
Richard Fuller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on contesting the payment of taxes with probate executors in 2009. [4617]
Mr Gauke: The information requested is not available, as HMRC's systems do not capture information specifically in respect of work involving probate executors.
VAT
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effects on the number of jobs of the proposed change to the rate of value added tax. [4656]
Mr Gauke: To continue with the previous Government's fiscal plans would put the recovery and jobs at risk.
By acting now, the Government have reduced the risk of adverse market conditions, which would mean higher interest rates for all, stifle recovery and make the challenges ahead even harder. Raising the standard rate of VAT is an important element of the Government's fiscal consolidation plans.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that unemployment will come down from 8.1% this year, falling in every year to 6.1% in 2015. In producing its forecasts, the OBR has considered the employment impacts of the announced consolidation as a whole.
VAT: Great Yarmouth
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in Great Yarmouth were registered for value added tax in each of the last five years. [4401]
Mr Gauke: The existing population of VAT registered businesses and the number of businesses that registered for VAT during the year, for years since 2003, is shown for Great Yarmouth in the following table.
| Start of year stock | Registrations during year | |
These figures came from the report "Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations", published by The Department for Businesses Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in November 2008. This report is no longer published.
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