| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Nov 2010 : Column 274W—continued
Individual Savings Accounts
Jake Berry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to bring forward proposals to allow Alternative Investment Market shares to be held in individual savings accounts. [25261]
Mr Hoban: ISAs are the Government's main non-pensions savings incentive, and are held by 20 million adults. The Government believe that ISAs are a trusted brand, and that it is important that this is maintained. The Government also believe that ISAs should be mainstream savings products. The Government therefore do not intend to allow shares listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)-which can be riskier and less liquid-to be qualifying investments for ISAs. It is already the case that companies listed on AIM may benefit from other incentive schemes, such as investments made through the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to answer the letter sent to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 6 October with regard to Ms P J Davis. [25880]
Mr Hoban: I have replied to the right hon. Member.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to answer the letter sent to him by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 16 August with regard to Mr A Ramsden. [25881]
Mr Hoban: I replied to the right hon. Member on 13 October.
Monetary Policy
Steve Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effects of (a) quantitative easing and (b) credit expansion in excess of real savings on the structure of (i) relative prices and (ii) macroeconomic aggregates. [25296]
Mr Hoban: The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has operational responsibility for monetary policy. The MPC decides on use of measures, including the asset purchase facility (APF), in order to target 2% inflation, as measured by the 12-month change in the consumer prices index (CPI).
Assessments of quantitative easing can be found in the Bank of England quarterly inflation reports. In particular, the May 2009 inflation report explains how quantitative easing works to impact the economy through various channels including higher money supply, lower long-term interest rates and rising asset prices. An assessment of the impact on asset prices, in particular on the gilt market, is made in the May 2010 inflation report which says:
"asset purchases appear to be having a sizeable downward effect on gilt yields...equity and corporate bond prices have increased significantly since early 2009. That is likely, in part, to reflect the exceptional monetary stimulus".
The Government have announced the interim Financial Policy Committee (FPC) at the Bank of England will be created this autumn. It will be responsible for looking at risks across the financial system as a whole and how financial markets interact with the wider economy. The Bank of England half-yearly financial stability reports will continue to capture such analysis.
PAYE
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of individuals in each parliamentary constituency who have (a) underpaid and (b) overpaid tax as a result of recent miscalculations of tax liability made by HM Revenue and Customs in the PAYE system. [15456]
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Coventry South constituency HM Revenue and Customs has asked to make additional PAYE tax payments as a result of the recent recalculation of PAYE liabilities; and what the average repayment requested is. [15749]
Mr Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people residing in (a) Streatham constituency, (b) the London borough of Lambeth and (c) London have (i) overpaid and (ii) underpaid tax as a result of miscalculations of tax liabilities in the PAYE system as identified in the most recent PAYE reconciliation process. [15685]
Mr Gauke: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost, as HMRC's national insurance and PAYE system does not hold data in relation to parliamentary constituencies, boroughs or regions.
Personal Income
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people over 50 years of age resident in (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England he expects to experience a reduction in annual income as a result of the comprehensive spending review. [24471]
Mr Gauke: The effect of the spending review at an individual level will be determined by how a household allocates its resources. As different households allocate their resources in different ways and as data on allocation is not available, any analysis using arbitrary assumptions would not be robust. As such it is not possible to provide this information. However, detail at a household level of the impacts of spending review and the fiscal consolidation as a whole are presented in Annex B of the Spending Review.
Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many working households in (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England he expects to experience a reduction in annual income as a result of the comprehensive spending review; [24473]
(2) how many single parent families resident in (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England he expects to experience a reduction in annual income as a result of the comprehensive spending review. [24474]
Mr Gauke: At the June Budget and spending review, this Government have taken the unprecedented step of publishing detailed distributional analysis of the impacts of its decisions for the first time-see for example charts B.4 and B.5 in Annex B of the spending review. This analysis shows that, when Budget and spending review measures are taken together, it is the top decile that contributes most to the fiscal consolidation, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of net income.
Further detail of the methodology used to produce these estimates is provided in the Data Sources document accompanying the Spending Review.
Public Expenditure
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely effects of changes announced in the (a) June 2010 Budget and (b) the 2010 spending review on the incomes of (i) families with children, (ii) pensioners, (iii) couples without children and (iv) single person households. [21760]
Mr Gauke: At the June Budget and spending review, this Government have taken the unprecedented step of publishing detailed distributional analysis of the impacts of their decision for the first time-see for instance charts B.4, B.5 and B.6 in annex B of the 'Spending Review 2010' document. This analysis shows that, when Budget and spending review measures are taken together, it is clear that the top decile contributes the most to the fiscal consolidation, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of net income.
The Government have taken action in the June Budget and this spending review to help low-income families. For example, increasing the child element of tax credits by £180 next year and a further £110 the year after. These steps have ensured that there is no measurable impact on child poverty from all modelled measures to 2012-13.
Estimates of the impact of the June 2010 Budget and 2010 spending review on net household income by household type for 2012-13 can be found in the following table. The methodology used to produce these estimates is consistent with the one used in charts B.4 and B.5 in annex B of the 'Spending Review 2010' document (see 'Spending Review 2010 Distributional Impact Analysis-Data Sources' document for further detail).
| Impact of measures as a per cent of net income by household type, 2012-13 | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Household type | Budget( 1) | Spending review |
| (1) Including impact of indirect measures Source: HM Treasury tax and benefit micro-simulation model | ||
Revenue and Customs: Databases
Mr Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the potential effects of combining the child benefit and child tax credit systems on (a) administrative costs and (b) levels of administrative error. [23662]
Mr Gauke: The Government consider a range of options when formulating policy. The Chancellor announced that child benefit will be withdrawn from families containing a higher rate taxpayer from January 2013. This can be delivered within existing PAYE and self-assessment systems, avoiding the need for new systems to be developed.
Revenue and Customs: Dismissal
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) part-time and (b) full-time employees of each (i) grade, (ii) sex and (iii) ethnicity HM Revenue and Customs has dismissed in each of the last five years. [21958]
Mr Gauke: The information requested has been deposited in the Library.
Revenue and Customs: Expenditure
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on compliance activities in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and how much it plans to spend on such activities in 2010-11. [23866]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 16 November 2010]: It is not possible to estimate the total spent on compliance activities. However, HMRC total pay bill costs for the main directorates involved in compliance activity are:
| £ million | |
The Government also announced that £900 million will be made available over the spending review period, to enable HMRC to step up its activity in tackling evasion, avoidance and fraud to bring in £7 billion additional revenue year by 2014-15. Reducing tax loss, whether it stems from misunderstanding or deliberate evasion, is a key priority for this Government and HMRC are determined to relentlessly pursue those who bend or break the rules.
Revenue and Customs: Finance
Owen Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons HM Revenue and Customs is to receive additional funding as a result of the comprehensive spending review. [25346]
Mr Gauke: HMRC is not receiving additional funding as a result of the spending review settlement. They are making savings of 25% (including a 33% saving in administration spending) and then reinvesting £900 million in tackling non-compliance in the tax system in order to bring in an additional £7 billion in tax revenues by 2014-15.
Owen Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effects he expects the outcomes of the comprehensive spending review to have on his Department's funding for HM Revenue and Customs in each year of the spending review period. [25347]
Mr Gauke: The outcome of the spending review is that HMRC will be required to make savings of 25% in real terms on a straight line basis over the next four years and that they will re-invest £900 million to tackle non-compliance in the tax system.
The overall net effect is a real terms reduction of about 15%.
Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the average waiting time was for a caller to the tax credit helpline whose call was permitted to be put on hold in each week in (a) July and (b) August 2010; [24592]
(2) how many calls were (a) received, (b) answered and (c) abandoned or cut off by the tax credit helpline in each week in (i) July and (ii) August 2010. [24593]
Mr Gauke: The information requested is in the following table:
| Week commencing:( 1) | Callers( 2) | Calls attempts received( 3) | Calls answered( 4) | Calls abandoned( 5) | Calls cut off( 6) | Average waiting time (mm:ss)( 7) |
| (1) Week commencing-Calculated within HMRC business results from Sunday to Saturday. (2) Callers-The number of individual callers telephoning on each individual day. (3) Call attempts received-The number of attempts (including redials) made to the tax credit helpline. (4) Calls answered-The number of calls handled by advisers and by automated message. (5) Calls abandoned-The number of calls abandoned after a customer has selected an option from the call steering menu. (6) Calls cut off-The number of calls unable to enter call steering menu/queue as the queue is full and a busy message is played. (7) Average speed to answer-The time taken from when a customer selects an option from the call steering menu to when the call is connected to an adviser. | ||||||
Customer demand on HMRC's telephone helplines fluctuates significantly during the year, with demand peaks around key tax year deadlines. There are significant peaks in demand on the tax credits helpline in July for renewals and in August as customers who have had their payments terminated call to re-instate their awards. Performance therefore tends to be lower in this period than at other times of the year although HMRC switches advisers between helplines to manage this peak.
During peak periods, callers who cannot get through on their first attempt often use the redial facility on their telephone to make numerous successive calls which rapidly increases the number and proportion of unanswered calls. In addition, a combination of factors including increases in the number of renewals packs and termination notices issued has significantly increased demand on the tax credits helpline this year.
Performance on the tax credit helpline has significantly improved in recent weeks.
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many calls were (a) received, (b) answered and (c) abandoned or cut off by the child benefit helpline in each week in (i) July and (ii) August 2010; [24594]
(2) what the average waiting time was for a caller to the child benefit helpline whose call was permitted to be put on hold in each week in (a) July and (b) August 2010. [24591]
Mr Gauke: The information requested is in the following table:
| Week commencing:( 1) | Callers( 2) | Calls attempts received( 3) | Calls answered( 4) | Calls abandoned( 5) | Calls cut off( 6) | Average waiting time (mm:ss)( 7) |
| (1) Week commencing-Calculated within HMRC business results from Sunday to Saturday. (2) Callers-The number of individual callers who telephoned on each individual day. (3) Call attempts received-The number of attempts (including redials) made to the child benefit helpline. (4) Calls answered-The number of calls handled by advisers and by automated message. (5) Calls abandoned-The number of calls abandoned after a customer has selected an option from the call steering menu. (6) Calls cut off-The number of calls unable to enter call steering menu/queue as the queue is full and a busy message is played. (7) Average speed to answer-The time taken from when a customer selects an option from the call steering menu to when the call is connected to an adviser. | ||||||
Customer demand on HMRC's telephone helplines fluctuates significantly during the year, with demand peaks around key tax year deadlines. There is a particular peak in demand in July and August connected with tax credits renewals and terminations and HMRC switches advisers between helplines to help manage this peak. Performance across all of HMRC's helplines, including child benefit, therefore tends to be lower in this period than at other times of the year.
Performance on the child benefit helpline has significantly improved in recent weeks.
Mr Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 9 November 2010, Official Report, columns 287-8W, on Revenue and Customs: Christchurch, if he will provide a telephone number for the inquiry centre at Holland House, Bournemouth so that customers can arrange appointments for advice on their tax affairs by telephone. [24693]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 17 November 2010]: The helpline number for the Bournemouth area, including Christchurch, is 0845 300 0627 and customers can make appointments at the inquiry centre using this number. HMRC's helpline numbers are available on their website at:
or in telephone directories. To help resolve their inquiries as efficiently as possible, customers should call the helpline number that is most relevant to their query.
Tax Allowances
Thomas Docherty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the value for money of tax reliefs other than those relating to pension savings. [25831]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs publishes a list showing the annual cost of the principal tax expenditures and structural reliefs on its website at:
The Office of Tax Simplification has been asked to carry out a review of all tax reliefs by Budget 2011, identifying changes that can be made to simplify the tax system.
On 8 November 2010 the Office of Tax Simplification published a list of all tax reliefs and its proposed approach to the review. The Government will carefully consider the recommendations from the review in due course.
Tax Allowances: Breweries
Dr Poulter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has made an assessment of the merits of placing time limits on the tax relief offered to micro-breweries. [25081]
Justine Greening: The Treasury keeps all tax reliefs under review. Small breweries relief provides duty relief to micro and small breweries producing up to 60,000 hectolitres per annum. Decisions about tax policy are a matter for the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.
Tax Allowances: Pensions
Thomas Docherty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the likely monetary value of tax subsidies in respect of pension savings in (a) 2001, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (e) 2015. [25830]
Mr Hoban: Total pensions tax relief for 2001-02 was around £17 billion (gross) rising to over £28 billion in 2009-10. No estimates or forecasts are published beyond this date.
HM Revenue and Customs publish pensions tax relief statistics which are available from the HMRC's website at:
Tax Avoidance
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funding his Department has allocated to reducing the level of tax avoidance by higher rate taxpayers in each financial year since 1997. [20890]
Mr Gauke: Neither HMRC nor its preceding departments have allocated funding in accordance with the criteria set out in the question.
This Government are committed to tackling avoidance and intend to build in sustainable defences against avoidance opportunities when undertaking policy reform and to review areas of the tax system in which repeated changes have been necessary to close loopholes. As part of the HMRC spending review settlement we announced that £900 million will be made available over the spending review period to enable HMRC to step up its activity in tackling evasion, avoidance and fraud. We are also considering whether there is a case for developing a general anti avoidance rule (GAAR) for the UK. Alongside this we will continue to use intelligence obtained from the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regime and other sources to detect avoidance schemes early and we will challenge avoidance robustly where we find it.
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs on its proposals for an alternative dispute resolution system; and what his policy is on encouraging the resolution of disputes on tax avoidance out of court. [24420]
Mr Gauke: The vast majority of tax disputes are resolved by agreement between HMRC and the taxpayer, rather than through the courts, as the most cost effective way of ensuring that tax due under the law is established and paid. HMRC is currently exploring whether use of a third party mediator would facilitate such agreements in certain cases. HMRC's approach for bringing tax disputes to a conclusion, whether by agreement with the taxpayer, or through the courts, is set out in its published Litigation and Settlement Strategy. This applies to all cases where criminal prosecution is not being pursued. HMRC's approach under this Strategy is always to seek agreed terms for settlement before going to litigation. In avoidance cases where HMRC has a strong case, it will not settle for less than 100% of the tax due.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion
Owen Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to establish new units within his Department to tackle tax avoidance and evasion. [25387]
Mr Gauke: The Government confirmed their commitment to reducing tax losses from avoidance and evasion when they announced £900 million would be made available over the spending review period to reduce avoidance, evasion and fraud.
The spending review proposed a new team to crack down on offshore evasion and more resources for the prevention of tobacco and alcohol fraud. It will also provide resources to tackle high risk areas, including extending the provision of dedicated tax experts to deal with large businesses. Business plans are being prepared for spring publication.
Taxation: Banks
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue the Exchequer has received from UK banks through each taxation stream since 1983. [23258]
Mr Hoban [holding answer 11 November 2010]: The specific data requested are not available.
Corporation tax, PAYE income tax and class 1 NICs, VAT and BPT will account for a large part of total tax paid by banks.
HMRC produce a breakdown by broad industrial sector for corporation tax and PAYE income tax and class 1 national insurance contributions (NICs) and value added tax (VAT). These breakdowns include the financial services sector rather than banks specifically. Receipts from UK banks will make up part of the financial services sector.
Historical figures for corporation tax receipts paid by several broadly-defined business sectors are regularly updated and published in table 11.1, on the HMRC National Statistics website. These include financial services excluding life assurance receipts. Data are available back to 1997-98 only. The sectors are defined by HMRC's summary trade classifications. The latest update is available here:
PAYE income tax and class 1 NICs received by HMRC from companies in the financial sector in respect of employee and employer liabilities are:
| Financial sector receipts | £ billion |
Data are available back to 1999-2000 only. The sectors are defined by the Office for National Statistics' standard industrial classification 2003.
Declared VAT is published by trade group in the VAT factsheet, table 2.3
These figures constitute net VAT declared by the financial services sector accrued on non-exempt activity within that sector. Archived factsheets provide figures for earlier years
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=factarchive&;factcategory=8
Given that sectors for corporation tax and VAT and PAYE income tax and class 1 NICs are defined differently these sets of figures are not directly comparable.
HMRC collected £3.45 billion of gross receipts in 2009-10 from the temporary bank payroll tax on bonuses greater than £25,000. This tax included both UK and non-UK owned banks. It is estimated that the net yield was £2.3 billion. In line with the general methodology set out in June Budget policy costings document, the net yield takes account of all direct behavioural effects of a measure on the tax base itself (in this case the tax base for the bank payroll tax) or closely associated receipts (in this case receipts from income tax and national insurance contributions).
Taxation: Business
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 25 October, Official Report, column 144W, on BP: tax allowances, for what reasons it is inappropriate for Government to comment on the tax affairs of individual businesses. [24195]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 15 November 2010]: The tax information of individual businesses held by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is subject through legislation to a strict duty of confidentiality and therefore the tax position of individual businesses cannot be disclosed by HMRC to any third parties including Government Ministers.
Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies have had outstanding tax liability of more than £100 million forgiven by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value was of the liability forgiven by HMRC in each such year. [24531]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 16 November 2010]: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Summary details of Revenue losses (write-offs and remissions) where in individual cases the amount exceeds £10 million-including those where the individual loss exceeded £100 million-are set out each year in HMRC's published consolidated accounts as is the total figure for all losses in each year. The accounts are laid before the House annually and are also available on the HMRC website :
Taxation: Construction
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information HM Revenue and Customs holds on the number of small businesses which have had their C1S6 Gross Status Certificate withdrawn in each of the last three calendar years. [18558]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 21 October 2010]: It is not possible to analyse with any degree of accuracy those subcontractors whose gross payment status has been was withdrawn by reference to the size of their business.
Taxation: Land
Mr Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to commission research on the merits of introducing a land value levy. [25144]
Mr Gauke: Land value tax has been the subject of considerable previous research, for example see:
There are no plans to commission further research, but the Government keep all taxes under review.
VAT: Sixth Form Education
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons (a) sixth form colleges, (b) schools with sixth forms and (c) academies are not liable to pay value added tax; and whether he plans to review such tax arrangements to take account of the implementation of the proposed change in the status of sixth form colleges as part of a review of value added tax liabilities. [25214]
Mr Gauke: Education funded by local or central Government is not a business activity, so would not be subject to VAT if it was charged for. However, schools and sixth form colleges, in common with everyone else, are liable to pay VAT on the taxable goods and services they purchase. The Chancellor has no plans to review this.
Those institutions are currently funded for these costs either through up-front central Government funding or, if they are local authority controlled schools, through a mechanism in section 33 of the VAT Act 1994.
Working Tax Credit
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of individuals in households in which at least one member works for 16 hours per week who (a) will have their income reduced and (b) will fall below the equivalised poverty threshold of 60 per cent. of median household income as a result of (i) changing the eligibility rules for working tax credits on hours worked per week to 24 with one partner working at least 16 hours per week, (ii) reducing to 70 per cent. the percentage of childcare costs that parents can claim through the childcare element of working tax credit, (iii) freezing the basic and 30-hour elements of the working tax credit for three years from 2011-12 and (iv) adopting the Consumer Price Index for the indexation of tax credits; and what estimate he has made of the average amount by which the income of affected households will change as a result of these measures. [21759]
Mr Gauke:
The Treasury does not hold the specific numbers associated with this request, and to undertake the analysis required to produce these would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold. Given the interaction of tax credit measures with other benefits, it is the overall impact of measures that is important for a
household. At the June Budget and the spending review, this Government have taken the unprecedented step of publishing detailed distributional analysis of the impacts of their decisions for the first time. This analysis shows that through providing extra support through the child tax credit, there is no measurable impact from modelled Budget and spending review measures on child poverty over the next two years.
Furthermore, in chart B.6 (p100) in annex B of the 'Spending Review 2010' document the Government have made efforts to bring together tax, welfare and departmental expenditure limit changes together for the first time. This shows that the top 20% contribute most to the fiscal consolidation as a percentage of net income and benefits-in-kind.
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants were sent letters inviting them to renew their tax credits through the specialist assisted renewals teams; and how many such claimants took up that offer. [24395]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs sent letters to around 400,000 households this year, inviting claimants with high value tax credits awards to call to complete the annual declaration and renewal process. Around 341,100 calls were received between 12 April and 31 October by the specialist renewals teams. Included in that total are a proportion of repeat or follow up calls from customers who had cause to call more than once. It is not possible to identify the breakdown of the various categories of calls received by the team.
Kate Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many tax credit claimants had the disability element of that credit removed from their (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2011-12 award after making contact with the assisted renewals helpline; [24396]
(2) how many tax credit claimants whose 2009-10 award was higher than £8,500 including a disability element, had the disability element of that credit removed in respect of (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2010-11; [24397]
(3) how many people lost all entitlement to working tax credit following the removal of their entitlement to the disability element of that credit during the renewals period of 2010. [24398]
Mr Gauke: The specific information requested is not recorded separately.
Justice
Prison Population
19. Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fewer offenders he estimates will be sent to prison in each year in order to meet his Department's target of reducing the prison population by 3,000 by 2014. [25578]
Mr Blunt: Specific proposals on reforms to sentencing and rehabilitation will be set out in the forthcoming Sentencing and Rehabilitation Green Paper. As a consequence the Government expect that the prison population will be 3,000 lower than the current level by March 2015. Without these proposals we currently expect the prison population will exceed 88,000 in 2015.
Safe Prison Cells
20. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the additional prison cells provided in the last five years met the criteria for safe cell classification. [25579]
Mr Blunt: About 6,200 safer cells have been provided since 2005.
Prisoner Voting Rights (Costs)
21. Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of the likely cost to his Department of making arrangements in prisons for prisoners to cast their vote in an election. [25580]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: As the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr Harper) made clear in the House on 2 November 2010, Official Report, column 771, Ministers are considering how to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, and when decisions have been taken they will be announced to the House in the usual way.
Sentencing Policy
22. Mr Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to publish his proposals on the future of sentencing policy. [25581]
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to publish his proposals on the future of sentencing policy. [25563]
Mr Kenneth Clarke: We intend to publish the Green Paper setting out proposals on sentencing and rehabilitation in December.
Prison Service
23. David Rutley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to make the Prison Service more efficient. [25583]
Mr Blunt: We will set challenging efficiency targets for prison governors, requiring them to make savings while maintaining safe, legal and decent establishments. We will support them by a number of central initiatives, including reducing central prescription, benchmarking costs between establishments and developing proposals for a competition strategy for all offender services.
Heroin Addiction
24. Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those serving a prison sentence have been treated for heroin addiction. [25584] [Official Report, 21 December 2010, Vol. 520, c. 5MC.]
Nick Herbert: Of those adults remanded or sentenced in 2009-10, 60,067 had clinical interventions for the management of heroin dependence, and 4,933 heroin users entered accredited drug treatment programmes in custody in the same period.
Courts Service: Dorset
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding was allocated to the Courts Service in Dorset in 2009-10; and how much funding will be allocated in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [25650]
Mr Djanogly: Courts funding is not allocated along county boundaries. Local budgets have been analysed to provide an estimate of the budget within the county boundaries. This has been done by collating court budgets, and apportioning regional and national budgets which can be attributed directly to local courts.
The funding allocated to the Courts Service in Dorset for 2009-10 was £10.8 million.
The funding allocated to the Courts Service in Dorset for 2010-11 was £10.0 million.
The total funding for Her Majesty's Courts Service nationally has not yet been finalised for 2011-12. It is anticipated that the allocation to court level will be finalised by end February 2011.
Departmental Press: Subscriptions
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible spent on press cuttings services in each of the last 12 months. [25485]
Mr Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice, Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian, Legal Services Commission, Youth Justice Board, Criminal Cases Review Commission, Information Commissioner's Office, Office for Legal Complaints, Land Registry and National Archive spent the following on press cutting services in the last 12 months:
| £ | |
These figures do not include data for the Probation Trusts. These data are not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate costs to investigate the costs incurred, if any, for the Probation Trusts.
Additionally we can provide the following supporting data:
The Parole Board; the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority; the Judicial Appointments Commission; the Legal Services Board and the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsmen do not use a press cutting service.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission and Tribunals Service are invoiced annually rather than monthly in February and October respectively.
The National Archive changed suppliers in July 2010 from Adfero to Precise because the service was of a higher quality, more accurate and offered better value for money.
The LSC's contract with the press cutting agency Durrants will terminate on 21 November. The LSC's £10,000 licence with the Newspaper Licensing Agency expired on 19 October. Cancelling these contracts will save approximately £26,000 in 2010-11 and £60,000 annually. The LSC will now use the Ministry of Justice's media monitoring. To supplement this, the LSC's press office has, since 30 September 2010, been trialling a subscription to The Times and Sunday Times website at a cost of £1.00 for the first month and £8.66 for the second month. A decision on whether to continue this subscription will be made before Christmas 2010.
October figures for the Land Registry and the Information Commissioner's Office are unavailable as they have not yet received invoices for that month.
The Office for Legal Complaints has only used a press cutting service the last six weeks. The year long subscription they paid for in September has been pro rated to give the proportion of the cost that can be attributed to the last 12 months.
Secure Training Centres: Restraint Techniques
Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many minor injuries were sustained during the use of restraint procedures on (a) boys and (b) girls in each secure training centre in each month since April 2008. [25382]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of minor injuries sustained during the use of restraint procedures in each month in 2008-09 in secure training centres (STCs). Data for injuries are not available by gender. It is a contractual requirement for any young person within a STC who has been restrained to be visited by a registered nurse within 30 minutes following the use of restraint.
| Minor injuries | ||||||||||||
| 2008 | 2009 | |||||||||||
| Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | |
| Notes: 1. The 2009-10 figures will be available once the 2009-10 Youth Justice Board annual workload data are released. Hence only figures for 2008-09 are given. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time. | ||||||||||||
I have requested that the disparity in the figures provided above should be investigated and I will write in due course with any findings.
Sentencing
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to make changes to sentencing guidelines to reduce the number of adults sent to prison; and if he will make a statement. [25747]
Mr Blunt: The responsibility for issuing sentencing guidelines rests not with the Government but with the independent Sentencing Council. The Government submit their views on draft guidelines but do not have any say in their final content.
We are conducting an assessment of sentencing policy and will shortly publish a consultation paper with proposals for reform.
Sentencing: Young Offenders
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to make changes to sentencing guidelines to reduce the number of young offenders sent to prison; and if he will make a statement. [25748]
Mr Blunt: Sentencing guidelines are produced for the judiciary by the independent Sentencing Council. On 20 November 2009 the Sentencing Guidelines Council, predecessor to the Sentencing Council, published a sentencing guideline specifically for the sentencing of under-18s for the first time. This guideline states that custodial sentences should only be imposed as a measure of last resort. As this guideline is new there are no immediate plans to revise it, but the guideline will be subject to review if legislation is changed.
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority Committee
Human Resources
Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, if the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority will establish a human resources department to deal with staff of hon. Members; and if he will make a statement. [25172]
Mr Charles Walker: The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has no plans to establish a human resources department for MPs' staff.
Members: Allowances
John Mann:
To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority,
what the policy of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is on responsibility for the reimbursement of travel expenses of candidates who have attended interviews for jobs with hon. Members. [26016]
Mr Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
As Interim Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking about IPSA's policy on reimbursement of travel expenses for interview candidates (26016).
Travel expenses for interview candidates are not a reimbursable expense under the MPs' Expenses Scheme.
Support for travel expenses may be available from Job Centre Plus for certain candidates.
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what comparators the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority took into account in determining its policy on payment for reimbursement of travel expenses for persons travelling to job interviews with hon. Members. [26071]
Mr Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
As Interim Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about IPSA's policy on reimbursement of travel expenses for interview candidates (26071).
Reimbursement for travel expenses for interview candidates, while still prevalent in some industries, is no longer standard practice in either the public or private sectors.
John Mann: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker), representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the policy of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is on the reimbursement of travel expenses of those called for interviews for jobs with the Authority. [26072]
Mr Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
As Interim Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking about IPSA's policy on reimbursement of travel expenses for interview candidates (26072).
IPSA does not pay travel expenses for candidates attending interviews for its own vacancies.
| Index | Home Page |