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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 30 March 2011
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animals: Clones
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to prohibit the sale of food from cloned animals and their descendants; and if she will make a statement. [49365]
Mr Paice: Food from cloned animals is currently regulated under the EU Novel Food Regulation and must be approved before it can be marketed. There have been no applications in any EU member states to authorise food from any cloned animals.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the European Food Safety Authority have advised that, for cattle and pigs, current evidence suggests that meat and milk from healthy clones or healthy descendants of clones is as safe as that from traditionally bred animals. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes reached the same conclusion on 25 November 2010.
The Government’s position is that a ban or temporary suspension on the sale of food from cloned animals and their descendants would be disproportionate in terms of food safety and animal welfare.
The Government consider that EU welfare legislation is sufficient to deal with any welfare issues that may arise for the clone or the surrogate dam.
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what scientific evidence she has assessed on the effects of cloning on animal (a) health and welfare and (b) death rates for (i) cloned animals and (ii) surrogate mothers that carry them to birth; and if she will make a statement. [49366]
Mr Paice: The Government have assessed the 2009 report by the Commission’s European Food Safety Authority and its update report published last year, which considered all aspects of animal cloning.
The Government recognise the potential welfare concerns highlighted in the 2009 report. However, we consider that EU welfare legislation provides the necessary protection to address any welfare issues that may arise for the clone or the surrogate dam. We also believe that the UK welfare codes and the breeding industry’s positive attitude towards animal welfare provide a sound basis for the future.
Automatic Urban and Rural Network
Ms Buck:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what review (a) process and (b) criteria her Department plans to use to decide which monitoring stations will be included in the Automatic
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Urban and Rural Network from 2011; and what opportunities for independent scrutiny of the process there will be; [49481]
(2) what review (a) process and (b) criteria her Department plans to use to decide which monitoring stations will be included in future reports to the European Commission on compliance with the EU limit values for ambient air quality from 2011; and what opportunities for independent scrutiny of the process there will be. [49482]
Richard Benyon: A 5-yearly assessment of the Automatic Urban and Rural National air quality monitoring network will be undertaken in 2011 in accordance with the requirements of the Air Quality Directive (AQD) (2008/50/EC), as set out in Articles 5, 6 and 7. The directive defines the steps to be undertaken in the process and the criteria on which assessment needs to be based. Once the review has been completed this will define the assessment regime to be used for compliance reporting for the next five years.
Where appropriate, local authorities will be engaged in the review. The outcome of the review will be reported as required to the Commission and will be made publically available.
Biofuels
Mr Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects of biofuel production on grain costs. [49452]
Mr Paice: In 2010 DEFRA published a report on the causes of the 2007-08 agricultural price spikes, which included an annex: “The role of demand for biofuel in the agricultural commodity price spikes of 2007/08”. This report is available at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/security/price.htm
Additionally, in 2008 DEFRA published the report “The impact of biofuels on commodity prices”, reviewing the existing research on the impact of biofuels on commodity and food prices. This report is available at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/series/documents/impact-biofuels-commodities.pdf
Bovine Tuberculosis: Cattle
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on the spread of bovine tuberculosis among cattle; and what proposals she plans to bring forward to prevent any further such spread. [49446]
Mr Paice: Tackling bovine TB is a key priority for the Government, and Ministers continue to have regular discussions about how to halt the spread of TB amongst cattle and bring the disease under control.
We received a large number of responses to our consultation on a badger control policy, which we are considering carefully. We will announce our decision and publish a comprehensive and balanced bovine TB eradication programme for England as soon as possible.
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Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of vaccinating cattle against bovine tuberculosis; and if she will make a statement. [49580]
Mr Paice: Cattle vaccination is a potential long-term option for helping to control bovine TB and could have benefits in reducing the risk of infection and onward transmission of disease. However, a vaccine cannot guarantee that all cattle will be fully protected against TB and is therefore unlikely ever to be suitable for use as a sole eradication strategy. In addition, evidence suggests that without addressing the problem in the badger population, it will not be possible to eradicate TB in cattle.
DEFRA has invested around £18 million into the development of a cattle vaccine and associated diagnostic tools. There are still significant technical and regulatory challenges to overcome before a cattle vaccine would be available for widespread use. This includes the need to change EU legislation. We therefore anticipate that a cattle TB vaccine could not be used in the field before 2015 at the earliest.
Carbon Emissions
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with their counterparts in (i) the Department for Energy and Climate Change and (ii) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the introduction of regulations to require mandatory carbon reporting by businesses by April 2012. [49962]
Mr Paice: The Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my noble Friend Lord Henley, has had discussions with the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) and the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), who has responsibility for employment relations, and for consumer and postal affairs, on the matter of corporate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by businesses. The Secretary of State has not had discussions with these Ministers on this issue.
Farmers: Local Enterprise Partnerships
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage farmers to participate in local enterprise partnerships; and if she will make a statement. [49549]
Mr Paice: Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are locally-led organisations and it is for them to determine how best to work with local business interests, including representatives of the farming sector. In early engagement with some of the newly-formed LEPs, DEFRA officials have discussed how they might work with farmers. I would encourage all farmers, in particular through their representative groups, to engage with LEPs and we are aware that some are already doing so.
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Food: Waste
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the level of avoidable food waste in the domestic food supply chain. [49267]
Richard Benyon: The Waste and Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP’s) report, “Waste arisings in the supply of food and drink to households”, published in March 2010, suggested that further work is required to identify the avoidable waste generated in the manufacturing, distribution and retail stages. However in this report WRAP estimated that the value of food and drink waste in supply chains is £5 billion annually.
Horses: Passports
Mr Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2011, Official Report, columns 1218-19W, on horse passports, whether the 1.3 million equine passports currently issued matches (a) her Department's and (b) independent estimates of the UK equine population. [49565]
Mr Paice: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 10 March 2011, Official Report, column 1219W. As of 31 December 2010 the National Equine Database (NED) held records for 1,275,317 equine passports issued in the UK. The British Equestrian Trade Association's National Equestrian Survey 2005-06 estimated the horse population of Great Britain to be 1.3 million. Direct comparisons between the two data sets are not possible.
Mr Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2011, Official Report, columns 1218-19W, on horse passports, for how long she plans to extend the current contract with National Equine Database (NED) Ltd; what plans she has for the future of (a) NED and (b) horse passports; and if she will make a statement. [49575]
Mr Paice: DEFRA is proposing to extend the contractual arrangements with the National Equine Database Ltd by a period of 18 months to allow time for a thorough review of the Government’s requirements in respect of horse passports and associated data.
London Air Quality Network
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the London Air Quality Network monitoring stations at (a) Brent (Neasden Lane), (b) Bexley (Erith), (c) Ealing (Horn Lane) and (d) Lambeth (Bondway Interchange) will meet the criteria for the assessment of air quality set out in Annex III of EU Directive 2008/50/EC. [49479]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA has not carried out a review of whether the air quality monitoring stations the hon. Member refers to meet the assessment criteria of Directive 2008/50/EC. These monitoring stations belong to the local authorities and are used for the purposes of local air quality management.
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Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what annual mean concentration of PM10 particulates (a) before and (b) after adjustment for natural sources her Department’s time extension reapplication in May 2010 predicts for the calendar year 2011 at the London Air Quality Network monitoring stations at (i) Brent (Neasden Lane), (ii) Bexley (Erith), (iii) Ealing (Horn Lane) and (iv) Lambeth (Bondway Interchange). [49480]
Richard Benyon: The UK’s ‘time extension’ notification was made in accordance with the assessment criteria in annex III of the directive 2008/50/EC. The four London Air Quality Network monitoring stations referred to—Brent (Neasden Lane), Bexley (Erith), Ealing (Horn Lane) and Lambeth (Bondway interchange)—are not part of the UK’s national compliance network and therefore no calculations with respect to natural sources have been undertaken for data from these monitoring stations by DEFRA.
Modulation Payments
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the proportion of modulation payments collected in the UK which were spent in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [49552]
Mr Paice: The table shows the proportion of compulsory modulation payments collected and spent in the UK. Compulsory modulation applies across EU15 member states and its allocation is subject to an allocation key which ensures that at least 80% of the receipts are allocated to the member state in which it is collected. The table shows the amount of compulsory modulation deducted from UK direct payments between 2009 and 2012 and the corresponding amounts allocated to rural development programmes.
Voluntary modulation applies only in the UK, and all receipts are allocated to the programme for the region of the UK in which the voluntary modulation is collected.
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2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
| Notes: 1. Over the period the UK retains 88% of its modulated funds, which is above the minimum threshold that requires at least 80% of modulated funds to remain with the member state in which they were generated. 2. The calculations are made with a lag of one year to reflect the fact modulated funds are allocated to rural development programmes the year after they are modulated. | ||||
Recycling: Plastics
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage the recycling of plastics. [49532]
Richard Benyon: The majority of plastic waste is generated in three areas: End-of-Life Vehicles, Construction and Packaging.
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A target for recycling vehicles applies under the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2005, which is currently set at 85%, and due to rise to 95% from 2015. Last year, a new facility was opened in Worksop processing the plastic content of automotive shredder residue with the help of a £1 million grant for business investment.
DEFRA has developed the Windows Sustainability Action Plan which contains a target for the collection and recycling of PVC in the Construction sector. The Site Waste Management Plans Regulations (2008) and the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s ‘Halving Waste to Landfill’ commitment have helped to encourage waste prevention and recycling in the construction industry.
In 2009 24% of all plastic packaging was recycled but more needs to be done to increase this rate. Much of this material is valuable and there are a range of end markets for it. The current review of waste policy is looking at what steps should be taken to further encourage the recycling of plastic.
Waste Management
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has made an assessment of the contribution of more effective management of food waste to reducing water use in each of the last four years. [49429]
Richard Benyon: The Waste and Resources Action programme has recently published a report, produced jointly with the World Wildlife Fund, entitled “'The Water and Carbon Footprint of Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK”. This report finds that the water footprint of avoidable food waste in the UK is 6,200 million cubic metres per year, representing nearly 6% of the UK's water requirements. In per capita terms, this is 243 litres per person per day, approximately one and a half times the daily average household water use in the UK.
A quarter of this water footprint represents water used to grow and process food here in the UK, i.e. water from the UK's rivers, lakes and aquifers. The report includes case studies that illustrate the water footprint of three food products (wheat, tomatoes and beef) and two countries from which the UK imports food (Spain and Brazil). By preventing food waste from arising, these water-impacts can be avoided.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Beer: Competition
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to promote (a) employment and (b) economic growth in the brewing and public house sector. [49471]
Mr Prisk:
The Government are supporting employment and growth in business generally and manufacturing in particular, including the brewing industry, by introducing more predictable and lower corporate taxes; cutting through the unnecessary red tape and regulation; increasing
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access to finance; and focusing on training and apprenticeships to ensure specialist skills are in good supply.
The brewing industry, like other business sectors, will benefit from a package of measures announced as part of Budget 2011 to promote growth in manufacturing, such as changes to capital allowances; helping firms commercialise technology; the development of a new degree-equivalent Higher Level Apprenticeship; and nine new university based centres for Innovative Manufacturing.
The public house sector will also benefit from government support that offers practical help on those issues that concern all businesses, such as taxation, regulation, and access to finance and on the challenges facing small businesses in particular, such as planning, business rates and access to broadband.
Regulation
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether there is a time limit within which Government Departments must identify a regulation for removal following the introduction of a new regulation under the one-in, one-out rule. [49462]
Mr Prisk: One-in, one-out is measured on the net cost to business flowing from regulations, not on the number of regulations. The identification of ins and outs happens in parallel across Government. Outs must be a sufficient reduction in net cost to business to counter any new net cost to business created by the in. These figures need to be sufficient and accurate at the point of the final impact assessment for the in to ensure that the net costs to business from the in are fully offset by the proposed out.
Departments are allowed to ‘bank’ any reduction in the net cost to business from outs that are identified and implemented but which have not yet been used to compensate for an in.
Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on how many occasions his Department has consulted representatives of small and medium-sized businesses in Mid Derbyshire constituency on the effects of proposed new regulations since his appointment. [49769]
Mr Prisk: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has launched 34 written consultations since May 2010. These are available for viewing on the Department’s internet site at:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations
BIS seeks views on these from businesses from all regions and of all sizes, including those of small businesses. The specific information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Plants
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment. [48430]
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Mr Davey: During the period May to September 2010 the Department spent £7,638.50 (exclusive of VAT) with our foliage suppliers, contracts which originally started in September 2003. The Department ended its foliage contracts with effect from 30 September 2010.
During the 2009-10 financial year, spend was as follows:
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£ |
Public Bodies Reform Programme
Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the change in function of the British Hallmarking Council; [48742]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Advisory Body; [48743]
(3) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board; [48744]
(4) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property; [48745]
(5) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of SITPRO Ltd; [48746]
(6) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the eight Regional Development Agencies; [48747]
(7) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts; [48748]
(8) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Local Better Regulations Office; [48749]
(9) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Hearing Aid Council; [48750]
(10) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Copyright Tribunal; [48751]
(11) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of Consumer Focus; [48752]
(12) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of British Shipbuilders; [48753]
(13) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of British Nuclear Fuels Limited; [48754]
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(14) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Arbitration Tribunal; [48755]
(15) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of Postcomm and Ofcom; [48759]
(16) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading; [48760]
(17) what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Central Arbitration Committee and the Certification Office. [48761]
Mr Willetts: On 16 March 2011, Official Report, columns 9-10WS, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), issued a written ministerial statement updating Parliament on progress on public bodies reform. That statement also announced that Departments estimate cumulative administrative savings of at least £2.6 billion will flow from public bodies over the spending review period.
The following table sets out estimated cumulative net administrative savings from structural reforms to BIS's public bodies over the spending review period.
These are our best current estimates of net administrative savings and are dependent upon factors such as the individual timetables for implementation—many of which require the Public Bodies Bill and subsequent secondary legislation.
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We estimate that annual savings from the merger of the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading would be between £3.5 million and £6.8 million, with a best estimate of £5.1 million, but that there would be a one-off transitional cost for which our best estimate is £6.8 million.
We intend to change the status of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts so it is no longer a non-departmental public body, and establish it as an independent charity. While financial savings were not the driver for this change in status, it is likely to lead to some savings, though they have not yet been quantified.
We are considering changing the status of the Copyright Tribunal so that it is no longer a non-departmental public body, and jurisdiction of the tribunal is moved into the Ministry of Justice's Tribunals Service. Any potential savings have not yet been quantified.
Departmental Theft
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what items with a value of over £100 have been taken without authorisation from his Department since his appointment; and what steps have been taken to recover such items. [48450]
Mr Davey: During the period May 2010 to March 2011 the Department’s records show that four prints were reported as lost or stolen with an estimated total value of £5,500. After investigation three prints with an estimated value of £4,000 were recovered.
Diamond Resorts International
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many representations the Secretary of State has received from hon. and right hon. Members in the last three years on the operation of Diamond Resorts International; and what the purpose was of each such representation. [49494]
Mr Davey [holding answer 28 March 2011]:The Department has received 20 representations from hon. Members since the beginning of 2008. Correspondents have sought to draw the Government’s attention to, and to seek help or advice in respect of timeshare contracts which their constituents have entered into, and the way in which Diamond Resorts International seek to enforce them.
Employment Rights
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people worked on the enforcement of employment rights and related protections in the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each of the last five years; how many people he expects to work on such matters in that body in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [47434]
Mr Davey: The number of staff working on enforcement of employment rights and related protection in the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, on 1 April for each of the last five years, were:
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Staff |
No formal allocations have been made for the next financial year or beyond.
Training: English Language
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how much his Department allocated for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in 2010-11; and how much it plans to allocate in 2011-12; [49519]
(2) what assessment he has made of the potential effect of changes in funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses on adult and community learning; [49521]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of financial barriers on participation in English for Speakers of Other Languages courses; [49522]
(4) whether his Department has undertaken an equality impact assessment on proposed changes to funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses. [49523]
Mr Hayes: In the 2010-11 academic year we introduced increased freedoms for Further Education colleges and training organisations giving them increased flexibilities to determine the balance and mix of the provision they offer and the route through which this is delivered.
Building on this, Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth (November 2010) confirmed that from the 2011/12 academic year there will be a single adult skills budget. This allocation can be used to support the delivery of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, but there is no separate allocation of funding for ESOL.
As part of the spending review tough decisions about departmental budgets have been taken and, like all other areas, FE has made its contribution. This has included reviewing the extent to which automatic fee remission for adult skills is provided, and in this context we have prioritised ESOL funding to unemployed people in receipt of jobseekers allowance or in the employment and support allowance (work-related activity) group, where English language skills have been identified as a barrier to entering employment. We will continue to pay 50% of ESOL course fees for other people who are settled here. We will no longer fund ESOL courses delivered in the workplace. Increased freedoms and flexibilities for providers will allow them to respond to the needs to their communities and determine within their funding where this is prioritised.
The equality impact assessment published alongside Skills for Sustainable Growth (November 2010) found that, at the aggregate level, there are unlikely to be disproportionate impacts on protected groups. A separate assessment of how the changes may affect ESOL learners is currently being carried out by my Department, and I expect to be able to publish the assessment in due course. A review of informal, mainly unaccredited,
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adult and community learning (IACL) is also currently under way, with implementation of any changes beginning in the 12/13 academic year.
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in receipt of (a) housing benefit, (b) working tax credit, (c) income support, (d) council tax credit and (e) pension credit are enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages courses with (i) full and (ii) partial fee remission provided by his Department. [49520]
Mr Hayes: We collect information on learners who receive full fee remission for any government funded learning they undertake. We do not collect information on learners who have received partial fee remission. From those data, we can identify learners who have received full fee remission due to being in receipt of working tax credit, income-based state benefits and pension guarantee credit. Information for those in receipt of housing benefit, income support and council tax credit is not directly recorded in the system.
From those data we can provide some information on learners in receipt of a range of benefits but this should be used with caution given it neither provides an accurate picture about the level of learners who are also benefit claimants nor what other learning and or benefit entitlements that person might also have.
Table 1 as follows shows the number of adults participating on an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course who received full fee remission due to being in receipt of working tax credit, income-based state benefit and pension guarantee credit. Data are shown for 2009/10, the latest year for which full-year data are available.
| Table 1: N umber of adults participating on ESOL courses who were in receipt of full fee-remission due to being in receipt of working tax credit, income-based state benefit and pension guarantee credit 2009/10 (near-final data) | |
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Total |
| Notes: 1. This data covers participation in Learner Responsive, Apprenticeships, Train to Gain, Adult Safeguarded Learning and University for Industry provision. Further Education/Learner Responsive provision includes General Further Education Colleges including Tertiary, Sixth Form Colleges—Agricultural and Horticultural Colleges and Art and Design Colleges, Specialist Colleges and External Institutions. 2. Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Figures for 2008/09 onwards are not directly comparable to earlier years as the introduction of demand led funding has changed how data is collected and how funded learners are defined. More information on demand led funding is available at: http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/datadictionary/businessdefinitions/Demand+Led+Funding.htm Source: Individualised Learner Record | |
Information on participation on ESOL courses is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 27 January 2010:
http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
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Transport
Coastguards: Scotland
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what requirements have been put in place in respect of lone working at (a) Fife Ness coastguard station and (b) other coastguard stations in Scotland. [49714]
Mike Penning: There is no expectation that staff working at a maritime rescue co-ordination centre will be in a situation where lone working is necessary.
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vacancies there are for watchmen at Fife Ness coastguard station. [49715]
Mike Penning: As of 28 March 2011 there are six vacancies at the Forth Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre; two are for coastguard watch assistants, three for watch officers and one for a watch manager.
Commission for Integrated Transport
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) costs will be incurred and (b) savings will be made from abolishing the Commission for Integrated Transport in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14 and (v) 2014-15. [46485]
Norman Baker: The exact costs and savings from abolishing the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) will depend on the nature of the successor arrangements which are developed. We currently estimate that the abolition of CfIT will result in projected savings over the spending review period (2011-12 to 2014-15) of around £3.9 million from net administration savings, compared with the baseline of the last full year of CfIT in 2009-10.
Public Bodies Reform Programme
Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of Cycling England. [48687]
Norman Baker: On 16 March 2011, Official Report, columns 9-10WS, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), issued a written ministerial statement updating Parliament on progress on public bodies reform. That statement also announced that Departments estimate cumulative administrative savings of at least £2.6 billion will flow from public bodies over the spending review period.
I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 28 March 2011, Official Report, column 86W. This is our best current estimate of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of Cycling England.
Departmental Responsibilities
Maria Eagle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what functions and responsibilities have been transferred from his Department and the non-departmental bodies
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responsible to him to other bodies since 11 May 2010;
(a)
from and
(b)
to whom the functions and responsibilities were transferred in each case; and what transfer of funds was made in each case. [46474]
Norman Baker: There have been no functions and responsibilities transferred from the Department for Transport and its non-departmental public bodies since 11 May 2010.
Great Western Railway: Electrification
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to take steps to increase line speeds on rail services between Swansea and Cardiff. [45223]
Mrs Villiers: The route between Cardiff and Swansea contains various characteristics which impact on journey times, including a number of curves, gradients and low speed junctions. Many of these would be difficult to address without major engineering work. There are no plans for such work to be carried out in the current control period which ends in 2014.
However, the electrification of the Great Western Main Line and the delivery of the new train fleet will reduce journey times for passengers between Swansea and London by 20 minutes to two hours and 39 minutes from the end of 2017.
This journey time saving will benefit passengers in Swansea and enhance the attractiveness of the area for inward investment.
Heathrow Airport: Railways
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has considered the merits of including a direct link to Heathrow airport in Stage 1 of the proposed High Speed 2 scheme. [49707]
Mr Philip Hammond [holding answer 29 March 2011]: The report provided to Government by HS2 Ltd on options for a direct link to Heathrow considered the case for such a link both as part of an initial London-West Midlands line and as part of a Y-shaped national high speed rail network. This report is available online at:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/proposedroute/routesupplement/pdf/routesupplement.pdf
The Government's proposed strategy is set out in the consultation document, High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain's Future, available on the HS2 consultation website at:
http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/library/documents/consultation-document
High Speed Two
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what basis households and businesses along the proposed High Speed 2 route were selected to receive a letter from HS2 Ltd notifying them of forthcoming roadshows. [49925]
Mr Philip Hammond:
HS2 Ltd posted letters to residents and businesses within 1 km either side of the proposed line of route and within 250 metres either side of the
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proposed tunnels. Letters were sent to all of the households and businesses in post code areas intersected by these ‘corridors’ around the proposed route.
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many households along the High Speed 2 route were sent a letter by HS2 Ltd dated 2 March 2011 in respect of roadshows. [49924]
Mr Philip Hammond: HS2 Ltd sent letters to 172,174 households and business premises.
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to his Department was of (a) printing the High Speed 2 (HS2) personalised envelopes sent to households along the proposed HS2 scheme route, (b) printing the letters sent to households along the HS2 scheme route and (c) postage for the letters sent to households along the HS2 route in order to notify inhabitants of the forthcoming roadshows. [49927]
Mr Philip Hammond: The information requested is as follows:
The cost of printing 172,174 envelopes was £4,470;
The cost of printing 172,174 letters was £4,403;
The cost of posting 172,174 letters was £28,716.54
High Speed Two: Costs
Mr Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the projected costs the Government will incur on the High Speed Two programme in each of the next five years. [49935]
Mr Philip Hammond: The ‘Economic Case for HS2’, available on the HS2 consultation website, sets out the Government's estimates of the overall costs of both its proposed Y-shaped high speed rail network, and the proposed initial London-west midlands phase.
For the four years from 2011-12 to 2014-15, the spending review settlement includes approximately £773 million to fund the development of the Government's proposals for a high speed rail network from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
Subject to the outcome of the current consultation, annual expenditure over the spending review period is currently estimated to be as follows:
|
|
£ million |
Expenditure in years of 2014-15 will be dependent on the results of future spending reviews.
High Speed Two: Manpower
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are employed by HS2 Ltd; what roles they undertake; and what remuneration they receive. [49710]
30 Mar 2011 : Column 354W
Mr Philip Hammond [holding answer 29 March 2011]: As of 25 March 2011, HS2 Ltd had 28 permanent members of staff. A further 27 people were seconded to HS2 Ltd, including 18 from the Department for Transport. In addition, HS2 Ltd had 21 people on temporary contracts.
Roles occupied by the above include route engineers, operations specialists, project and programme planners, economists, communications and consultation officers, environmental specialists and support staff in finance, human resources and administration.
The remuneration of the chief executive is published on the DfT website as part of the Government's transparency agenda and can be found at the following link:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/staff/salarydisclosure/
Permanent members of staff are remunerated on salary scales that were established on the basis of an independently conducted market survey. In addition to salary, employees may opt to join a stakeholder pension scheme in which HS2 Ltd matches employee contributions up to a maximum of 5%.
Secondees are remunerated on the basis of their host organisation structures.
Temporary staff are remunerated by their respective agencies on rates that are established through central Government procurement contracts.
Members: Correspondence
Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to reply to the letter of 9 February 2011 from the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye on the Hastings to Bexhill link road. [44854]
Norman Baker [holding answer 7 March 2011]: I can confirm that my response to the hon. Lady’s letter dated 9 February 2011 was dispatched on 25 March 2011.
Network Rail: Contracts
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate has been made of the savings Network Rail will make as a result of widening the pool of suppliers involved in infrastructure work in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15. [46650]
Mrs Villiers: Network Rail is tasked to deliver the value for money needed to meet the output and efficiency targets for the operation, maintenance and renewal of the national network set by the independent Office of Rail Regulation.
The contractual arrangements for infrastructure work on the railway are commercial matters between Network Rail and the infrastructure companies. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to her question:
David Higgins
Chief Executive
Network Rail
Kings Place
90 York Way
London
N1 9AG.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 355W
High Speed Rail
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to ensure that the High Speed Rail consultation roadshow locations are held (a) in accessible venues and (b) at times of the day likely to maximise public participation. [49926]
Mr Philip Hammond: HS2 Ltd carefully considered the placement of events along and around the proposed line of route; 30 events are being held over 40 days, specifically including areas where HS2 Ltd was aware of significant interest in the proposals. Ease of accessibility from the surrounding areas was prioritised, so that the events could be attended by as wide a community as possible. Event locations were discussed and agreed with local councils.
HS2 Ltd has organised two types of event, according to the location and locally available facilities. Exhibitions are being held in areas with a large catchment area and where an adequately sized venue was available. Smaller trailer exhibitions are being held where it is not physically possible to hold an exhibition, or where there is likely to be a lower level of attendance. This aims to provide reasonable equality of access to information between urban and rural locations.
To ensure that the road shows are available to a wide range of people with different work schedules and commitments, they are opening for 12 hours on weekdays, beginning at 8 am and closing at 8 pm. At weekends road shows will be open between 9 am and 5 pm.
Railways: Fees and Charges
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse from allowing train operating companies to have flexible regulated rail fares; [47120]
(2) what financial saving there will be to his Department from allowing train operating companies to have flexible regulated rail fares in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15. [46498]
Mrs Villiers: The previous Government decided to remove the 5% flexibility for one year. The underlying contracts are unchanged. Reversion to the normal arrangements does not therefore involve a saving to the Government.
Railways: Rolling Stock
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial provision his Department has made for the cost of the private finance initiative project for Intercity Express Programme trains in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15. [46333]
Mrs Villiers: The costs of the payments made to Agility Trains under the Intercity Express Programme for all of those years will be zero. Payments will only be made to the train service provider once the trains have entered revenue-earning service, from 2016.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 356W
Thameslink Railway Line: Finance
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial provisions his Department has made for private finance initiative contracts for Thameslink for the period after 2014-15; and what proportion this constitutes of his Department’s provision for private finance initiative projects in that period. [46496]
Mrs Villiers: Provision has been made within the Department for Transport’s forward forecasts for delivery of the full 24 train per hour railway, including the leasing of up to 1,200 new rail vehicles.
Thameslink is not classified as part of the private finance initiative. Network Rail is constructing the infrastructure and the Department is procuring rolling stock through a form of leasing arrangement.
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department’s budget for Thameslink is for each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15. [46497]
Mrs Villiers: The costs for the infrastructure element of the Thameslink Programme are included in the payments made to Network Rail in the form of a Network Grant which covers the capital investment of all renewals and enhancements.
With respect to the Department’s direct programme costs and incremental franchise change costs for Thameslink, financial provision has been made as shown in the following table.
|
|
£ million |
Justice
Fraud: Jobseeker’s Allowance
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people resident in Airdrie and Shotts constituency were prosecuted for offences relating to fraudulent claims for jobseeker's allowance in each of the last three years. [48823]
Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available, as to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.
Prosecutions in Scotland are the responsibility of the Procurator Fiscal, and data are not collated centrally.
Discrimination
Mr Bain:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will estimate the costs incurred by the courts in the pursuit of separate actions in cases before tribunals or courts where the same litigant raised issues of discrimination against another litigant on any two of the grounds of
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(a)
gender,
(b)
race,
(c)
nationality,
(d)
sexual orientation,
(e)
religious belief and
(f)
disability in each of the last four years; [49731]
(2) in how many cases before tribunals or courts the same litigant raised issues of discrimination against another litigant on any two of the grounds of (a) gender, (b) race, (c) nationality, (d) sexual orientation, (e) religious belief and (f) disability in each of the last four years. [49796]
Mr Djanogly: Under the Equality Act 2010, the term ‘protected characteristic’ is used to describe one or more of the following characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/paternity, race (which includes nationality), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. An individual who thinks he or she has been discriminated against on the basis of a protected characteristic may bring a claim to a court or employment tribunal, depending on the nature of the claim.
Information on claims made to the civil courts in England and Wales about discrimination is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 358W
In the employment context, where a person feels they have experienced discrimination due to more than one protected characteristic, they may submit an employment tribunal claim which contains more than one jurisdictional complaint, for example a claim for sex and race discrimination. There is no restriction to the number of jurisdictional complaints that can be included in the claim; however, where a claim does contain more than one jurisdictional complaint, although treated as individual complaints, they tend to be heard together by one tribunal panel.
No calculation of the average cost of Employment Tribunal appeals is available because of the significant variations which occur in the duration of hearings within jurisdictions and individual cases, and the consequent difficulty in producing an accurate overall figure. For this reason it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the additional costs incurred in cases involving more than one issue of discrimination.
The following table sets out the number of cases submitted to employment tribunals that include discrimination complaints under two or more of the protected characteristics listed in the question for each in the last four completed financial years.
| Number of cases with multiple discrimination jurisdictions (1) | |||||
| Number of multiple discrimination jurisdictions (2) | |||||
| Financial year | Two jurisdictions | Three jurisdictions | Four jurisdictions | Five jurisdictions | Total |
| (1) The jurisdictions asked about and included in the reported data are: Gender; Race (including nationality); Sexual Orientation; Religious Belief; Disability. (2) Each figure in the table is rounded independently and thus may not add to totals. The following conventions have been used: Values less than 100 remain as unit values; Values from 100 to 999 are rounded to the nearest ten; Values of 1,000 and over are rounded to the nearest hundred. Source: ET Central database March 2011 | |||||
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the likely effect of not implementing the dual discrimination provisions of the Equality Act 2010 on the number of separate claims for discrimination before tribunals or courts in each of the next four years. [49811]
Mr Djanogly: The Government do not expect that there will be any direct impact on the number of separate (single-characteristic) claims flowing from the non-implementation of the Equality Act's dual discrimination provisions.
Legal Aid: West Midlands
Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in (a) Wolverhampton North East constituency and (b) the West Midlands received legal aid in each of the last five years. [49758]
Mr Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is responsible for administering the legal aid scheme in England and Wales. The LSC does not record the number of people who receive legal aid, but instead records the number of ‘acts of assistance’. One individual may receive a number of separate acts of assistance, and one act of assistance can help more than one person.
We are re-examining the data in respect of all of the constituencies and I will write separately with this information.
Women and Equalities
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Fiona Mactaggart:
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities who will be responsible for preparing the UK’s seventh periodic report under Article 18 of the
30 Mar 2011 : Column 359W
Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; and what plans she has for consultation with civil society organisations in the preparation of this report. [49759]
Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) is responsible for overseeing the UK’s commitments to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and leads across Government in co-ordinating the UK’s Periodic Report to the CEDAW Committee, in preparation for submission of the 7(th) Periodic Report, we organised a national public consultation event last November with UK non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which I attended with the Minister for Women and Equalities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May). Officials have also met with NGO stakeholders and supported NGO consultation events in the Devolved Nations.
Treasury
Banks: Crown Dependencies
Graham Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking following the collapse of the Crown Currency Exchange to prevent similar collapses. [49896]
Mr Hoban: I refer the hon. Member to my letter to every Member of the House on 18 November 2010.
Graham Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) the Financial Services Authority and (b) Barclays Bank on the (i) regulation and (ii) collapse of Crown Currency Exchange. [49897]
Mr Hoban: I wrote to every Member of the House to set out the Government’s position on Crown Currency Exchange on 18 November 2010.
Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with 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 discussions.
Child Benefit
Ed Balls: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many single income families will be affected by the removal of child benefit from households containing a higher-rate taxpayer in (a) the UK, (b) each region and (c) each constituency. [44861]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 7 March 2011]: It is estimated that around 180,000 single-income families in the UK will have their annual income reduced as a result of the proposed changes to child benefit in 2012-13. These households are all within the top 20% of household incomes.
Reliable estimates at the regional and parliamentary constituency level are not available for this group.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 360W
Child Care Support
Mr Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what cost savings would accrue to the Exchequer from restricting (a) child benefit and (b) child tax credit to three children only for children born after 1 January 2012 in each year from 2012-13 to 2020-21; and if he will make a statement. [49434]
Mr Gauke: This information is available only at disproportionate cost.
Child Benefit: Lone Parents
Ed Balls: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Newcastle Upon Tyne North of 28 February 2011, Official Report, column 39W, how many single parent families in the UK he expects to have their annual income reduced as a result of the proposed changes to child benefit. [44574]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 7 March 2011]: It is estimated that around 55,000 single-parent families in the UK will have their annual income reduced as a result of the proposed changes to child benefit in 2012-13. These households are all within the top 20% of households.
Child Care Support
Ed Balls: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect of the decision to reduce the rate of childcare support from 80% to 70% on the weekly income of families (a) in each income decile and (b) with each number of children. [43459]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 2 March 2011]: No estimate has been made.
The reduction of child care support to 70% from 80% is part of a range of reforms to the tax credits system announced at the spending review.
The Government published estimates of the distributional impact of the package of announced tax and benefit measures which can be found at:
http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sr2010_annexb.pdf
Estimating the impact of an individual measure does not give a clear indication of the full monetary impact on an individual household.
Ed Balls: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate of the change (a) in weekly cash income and (b) in proportion of weekly income for families in each income decile of the decision to remove the baby element from the child tax credit from April 2011. [43567]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 2 March 2011]: No estimate has been made.
The removal of the baby element is part of a range of reforms to the tax credits system announced at the emergency Budget.
Estimating the impact of an individual measure does not give a clear indication of the full monetary impact on an individual household.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 361W
The Government published estimates of the distributional impact of the package of announced tax and benefit measures which can be found at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/junebudget_annexa.pdf
Conditions of Employment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people worked on the enforcement of employment rights and related protections in HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; how many people he expects to work on such matters in that body in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [47436]
Mr Gauke: The number of staff working in compliance teams on the enforcement of the national minimum wage within HMRC in each of the last five years is in the following table:
| At April | Staff in post |
No estimate of future staff numbers is available as HMRC is currently considering future resource requirements for 2011-12 and beyond, in the context of the comprehensive spending review.
Corporate Bond Market
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the potential for small and medium-sized businesses to access funds from the corporate bond market; and if he will make a statement. [49872]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 29 March 2011]: The corporate bond markets are generally only a financing option for larger companies and are not suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as the Government set out in the “Financing a Private Sector Recovery” Green Paper last year.
However, as set out in “The Plan for Growth” published alongside the Budget, the Government will continue to support industry-led developments to improve access to bond markets for midcap businesses, which have a higher turnover than SMEs.
Defence: Finance
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to announce his decision in respect of the Ministry of Defence’s Planning Round 11. [49630]
Danny Alexander [holding answer 28 March 2011]:The Ministry of Defence’s spending plans were published in the spending review, which set out plans to reduce expenditure by 8% over the next four years. The Ministry of Defence will announce the conclusions of the planning round in due course.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 362W
Cycle to Work Scheme
Tessa Munt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the future of the Cycle to Work scheme. [49581]
Mr Gauke: The Cycle to Work scheme provides an exemption from income tax on the benefit in kind created when an employer hires cycles or cycling safety equipment to an employee. The Government have no plans to change this exemption. In the Budget the Government announced their intention to abolish the separate tax relief that is currently available where employers provide breakfasts to cyclists on designated cycle to work days, as recommended by the Office of Tax Simplification.
Departmental Plants
Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment. [48423]
Justine Greening: The cost of the provision and maintenance of indoor plants within the 1 Horse Guards Road building between 1 May 20.10 and 28 February 2011 was £7,423. The contract covering the provision and maintenance of the outdoor plants and trees is part of a wider maintenance contract in place since 2002 and the element applicable to outdoor plants and trees is not separately identifiable.
Departmental Senior Civil Servants
Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) job title on departure and (b) payband was of each senior civil servant in HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessors who resigned to take up a position with (i) Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG or Ernst and Young and (ii) a FTSE 100 company in each of the last six years. [49959]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs holds data on the number of applications from senior civil servants who sought approval to take up an outside appointment for this year and the previous two years only.
Strategic Response Unit, SCS1 to (i) Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG or Ernst and Young
Deputy Director Specialist International, SCS1A to (i) Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG or Ernst and Young
Chief People Officer, SCS3 to (ii) a FTSE 100 company
HRD Transformation Project, SCS1 to (ii) a FTSE 100 company
HR Director Corporate Services, SCS1 to (ii) a FTSE 100 company
Assistant Director, Low Income and Diversity, SCS1 to (i) Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG or Ernst and Young.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 363W
Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the effect of (a) price elasticity in the (i) on-trade and (ii) off-trade and (b) pass-through rates of alcohol duty on (A) levels of employment and (B) receipts to the Exchequer. [49473]
Justine Greening: Price elasticities for both the on and off trade are used to assess the impact on receipts from changes to alcohol duty rates.
HMRC research on price elasticities is published in the following technical paper:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/alcohol-consumption-uk.pdf
As part of the Budget process, macroeconomic effects such as employment are considered for the whole package of economic measures, including estimates of alcohol duty receipts. The Office of Budget Responsibility's ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’, published on 23 March 2011, estimates that total employment will rise by 900,000 between 2010 and 2015.
Excise Duties: Beer
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the effect of (a) levels on employment and (b) revenue to the Exchequer of (i) retaining beer duty at the level in force on 22 March 2011 and (ii) changing it in line with the 2011 Budget proposals. [49472]
Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Andrew Griffiths) on 28 March 2011, Official Report, column 35W.
Income Tax
Ed Balls: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the change in the number of people paying income tax at the 40 per cent. rate with effect from 5 April 2011 in each region. [43460]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 2 March 2011]: In the June 2010 Budget, it was estimated that 880,000 persons would be taken out of tax in 2011-12 as a result of the above indexation increase in the personal allowance to £7,475.
The number of higher rate income taxpayers is projected to increase by 600,000 in 2011-12. A breakdown by region is provided in the following table.
| Thousand | |||
| Government Office Region | 2011-12 | 2010-11 | Change |
30 Mar 2011 : Column 364W
| (1) Includes some taxpayers who reside abroad or region is not known. | |||
These estimates are based on the 2007-08 Survey of personal incomes projected to 2010-11 and 2011-12 in line with the Office of Budget Responsibility’s November 2010 economic and fiscal outlook.
Insolvency
Ed Balls: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses were entered into insolvency by HM Revenue and Customs in each (a) region and (b) parliamentary constituency since May 2010. [44862]
Mr Gauke: The number of bankruptcy and winding up orders granted to HMRC in England and Wales from May 2010 to December 2010 was approximately 3.100.
The other information is not available in the format requested.
HMRC takes a sympathetic approach to both individuals and businesses that have genuine short-term difficulties in paying the tax they owe. In such cases HMRC will aim to come to an arrangement to give time to pay and so avoid taking action that might lead to an otherwise viable business—or individual—being declared insolvent by the courts.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 17 February 2011 on Mr J Taylor. [49774]
Mr Hoban: I have replied to the right hon. Member.
Monetary Policy
Steve Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the (a) short and (b) long-term effects of quantitative easing on levels of employment. [49083]
Justine Greening: Quantitative easing (QE) through the asset purchase facility provides the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England with another tool, in addition to reductions in bank rate, to support nominal demand in order to meet the inflation target in the medium term.
The bank’s May 2009 inflation report explains how asset purchases work to stimulate nominal spending along various channels. The bank’s analysis, for example in the Quarterly Bulletin 2011 Q1, is that QE has had a positive impact along these channels.
National Asset Management Agency
Ben Gummer:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what conditions were placed on the loan facility extended to the government of the Republic of Ireland
30 Mar 2011 : Column 365W
relating to the sale or release of property assets in the UK owned by the National Asset Management Agency; [49377]
(2) what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Republic of Ireland on the sale and release of assets in the UK owned by the National Asset Management Agency. [49378]
Mr Hoban: The conditions of the bilateral loan were set out in the loan agreement placed in the library of the Houses of Parliament on 10th January 2011:
http://www.parliament.uk/deposits/depositedpapers/2011/DEP2011-0015.pdf
The mandate for the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) was set by the Irish Government under Irish legislation. NAMA's role has been set out in agreement with international partners in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Irish Government and the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and the European Central Bank.
The Government maintain a dialogue with the Irish authorities on a wide range of issues in respect of the financial crisis. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not this Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
National Insurance: Databases
Mr Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the National Insurance and PAYE Service holds a computer record for every individual for whom a national insurance number has been issued; [49599]
(2) how many individual records have been added to the National Insurance and PAYE Service system since it went online. [49600]
Mr Gauke: DWP holds a computer record for every individual for whom a national insurance number (NINO) has been issued.
HMRC systems reflect the population of adults who have an active record and estimates approximately one million new NINO records are added to the system in each fiscal year.
Mr Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent assessment is of progress in the introduction of a real-time information system to the National Insurance and PAYE Service computer system; and whether he expects it to be in operation by spring 2012. [49602]
Mr Gauke: HMRC has made good progress in developing the new Real Time Information system. This includes the completion of a public consultation and the submission of requirements to its IT suppliers in line with plans. I expect HMRC to be in a position to pilot the Real Time Information system with employers, pension providers and payroll bureaux from the spring of 2012.
Oil: Excise Duties
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the forecast of future oil prices on which he based his assessment of the fiscal effects of his proposed changes to fuel duty. [49422]
30 Mar 2011 : Column 366W
Justine Greening: [holding answer 28 March 2011]: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. The OBR published its latest ‘Economic and fiscal outlook’ on 23 March 2011, which can be found online at:
http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/economic_and_fiscal_outlook_23032011.pdf
The oil prices used by the OBR to produce their economic and fiscal forecasts are set out on page 95, in Table 4.3: Determinants of the fiscal forecast.
Personal Taxation
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the effect on the average annual level of income tax payable by an individual in the (a) 20 per cent., (b) 40 per cent. and (c) 50 per cent. band of income tax if personal taxation allowances were linked to the retail price index in each of the next four financial years; [49770]
(2) if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of linking personal taxation allowances to the retail price index in each of the next four financial years. [49795]
Mr Gauke: Income tax allowances are not linked to consumer price index (CPI) during the years in question (2012-13 to 2015-16. Only national insurance contribution (NICs) rates and thresholds are linked to CPI from 2012-13 onwards (excluding the Secondary Threshold for employer Class 1 NICs).
The only change to income tax allowances from 2012-13 is the £630 cash increase to the personal allowance (PA), for individuals under 65, with an equal decrease in the basic rate limit (BRL). This leaves the higher rate threshold (the sum of the PA and BRL) unchanged.
The following is a link to the 2011 Budget Report Overview:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2011/overview.pdf
The PA increase is explained on Page A24 with relevant Exchequer impacts.
Tax Yields
John Cryer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue to the Exchequer to accrue from the application of a surcharge of 15% on unearned investment income over £7,000 in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [49488]
Mr Gauke: Total investment income exceeding the specified £7,000 threshold across individuals is estimated at £42.7 billion in 2009-10 and £43.5 billion in 2010-11.
These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes 2007-08, projected in line with the Office of Budget Responsibility’s November 2010 economic and fiscal outlook.
An additional charge of 15% on this income would give rise to substantial behavioural effects. Estimates of the behavioural responses to changes in tax rates on investment income, and hence overall impacts on tax revenues, are not available.
30 Mar 2011 : Column 367W
Taxation: Self-assessment
David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will remove the rules that prevent pay as you earn employees who have been taxed at an incorrect code transferring the overpayment and setting it against their self-assessment liabilities. [49548]
Mr Gauke: Customers in receipt of PAYE income and who are required to complete an annual self-assessment tax return have their total taxable income (from all sources) and resultant tax liability calculated under self-assessment and not as part of the annual PAYE end of year reconciliation process.
Working Tax Credit: Lone Parents
Mr Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the effect on the number of single parents in employment of the reduction in the child care element of working tax credits. [47048]
Mr Gauke: No estimate has been made.
The reduction of child care support to 70% from 80% is part of a range of reforms to the tax credits system announced at the spending review.
There are interactions between the measures so estimating the impact of just one measure does not give a clear indication of the full impact on households.
The Government published estimates of the distributional impact of the whole package of announced tax and benefit measures which can be found at:
http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sr2010_annexb.pdf
Home Department
British Nationality
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to bring forward proposals for further substantial changes to the rules for obtaining settlement and citizenship in the UK as indicated in November 2010. [49943]
Damian Green: The Government will consult on proposals to break the link between temporary migration and permanent settlement later this year.
Children: Protection
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any of the alleged child abuse suspects identified by the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre in March 2011 would not have been subject to the proposed revision to the regime for criminal record checks. [49298]
Lynne Featherstone [holding answer 28 March 2011]: On 11 February Sunita Mason, the Independent Advisor for Criminality Information Management, published her report on the Criminal Records Regime. We are carefully considering her recommendations.
Changes proposed in the protection of freedoms Bill will not change the current eligibility for criminal records
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checks. Legal requirements for checks will continue to apply in the education and health sectors, and for people working with children on a less frequent basis, employers will still have discretion to request a check.
We cannot comment on individual cases that form part of an investigation by the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre.
Public Bodies Reform Programme
Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the abolition of the Forensic Science Service. [48681]
James Brokenshire: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has been making huge financial losses and we are determined to make the managed closure as cost effective to the taxpayer as possible. We are actively seeking to reduce the cost to the taxpayer such as through the sale of FSS assets and transfer of staff.
Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the level of savings which will accrue from the merging of the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the Criminal Records Bureau. [48808]
Lynne Featherstone: The reviews of the Criminal Records Regime and Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) recommended that a single new body be created to carry out both criminal records disclosure and barring functions. The details of this new organisation have yet to be finalised and we will be taking a careful and considered approach to its formation.
There is potential to realise efficiencies by delivering a new proportionate criminal records regime, however, the planning for this is currently in its early stages.
DNA: Databases
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with officials in her Department on the process of loading batches of samples to the National DNA Database; how many samples are contained in each batch loaded to the database; whether such batches can be split retrospectively after loading; and if she will make a statement. [48098]
James Brokenshire: I have had no recent discussions with officials on this issue.
DNA samples are not added to the National DNA Database (NDNAD); the samples are analysed and converted into a numerical DNA sample profile which is then added to the NDNAD. DNA sample profile records are submitted to the NDNAD in electronic ‘Analytical Results Files’.
The number of DNA sample profiles in each of these electronic files depends on the processes used by the submitting DNA Forensic Supplier. Each file can contain between one and 1,000 DNA sample profile records. On receipt, the batch file will be copied into a folder within the NDNAD Confidential Network by an NDNAD operator. The NDNAD system then processes the batch file, as a whole, automatically. Batch files are not split
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retrospectively after receipt by the NDNAD. Any alterations to a batch file would result in it failing to load onto the NDNAD.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of her proposals to remove certain DNA profiles from the National DNA Database. [48099]
James Brokenshire: We estimate that implementing our proposals for the deletion from the National DNA Database of the DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted of an offence and the destruction of biological DNA samples will have a one-off cost of £4.8 million.
Further details of these costs are contained in the impact assessment produced for the Protection of Freedoms Bill which can be found on Home Office website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/legislation/freedom-bill/pof-bill-ia
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who will be responsible for (a) taking possession of DNA profile material and (b) supervising the destruction of records following the closure of the Forensic Science Service. [48172]
James Brokenshire: As part of the managed closure process we will ensure steps are taken to safeguard records and prevent any break in continuity when the company ceases trading. We will also ensure records are destroyed where appropriate.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of the potential effects of the closure of the Forensic Science Service on the Government's plans to remove profiles from the National DNA Database; [48173]
(2) what (a) funding and (b) staff she plans to allocate for the removal of DNA profiles from the National DNA Database following the closure of the Forensic Science Service. [48160]
James Brokenshire: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) and other forensic science providers derive DNA profiles from biological samples taken by the police and submit them to the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) for loading onto the NDNAD. It is the profiles on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) that are the primary focus of the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Bill. Consideration is currently being given to the destruction of profiling records held by all forensic suppliers. The NPIA is already working on the implementation of the Bill and, on the assumption that the Bill receives Royal Assent by early 2012, plans will already be in place to implement the legislation.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her proposals for removal of DNA profiles from the National DNA Database contemplate the removal from the database of all records associated with a DNA sample. [48905]
James Brokenshire:
Where the Government's proposals in the Protection of Freedoms Bill would result in a person's numerical DNA profile being removed from
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the National DNA Database, all other associated records will also be removed from that database.
In addition to our proposals in respect of the removal of DNA profiles from the National DNA Database, we propose that all biological DNA samples will be destroyed within six months of being taken.
Domestic Violence: Immigrants
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to undertake a review of the Sojourner Project; and if she will make a statement. [49750]
Damian Green: A full, independent evaluation of the pilot is currently underway, led by the charity Against Violence and Abuse. This evaluation is due to report in the spring.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Sojourner Project; and if she will make a statement. [49751]
Damian Green: The Sojourner Project started on 29 November 2009. An internal, interim evaluation of the pilot was conducted when the pilot had been in existence for three months. This provided an opportunity for the Home Office and the UK Border Agency to understand the emerging findings arising from the pilot to help inform any future developments in this policy area.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to the merits of extending the 20-day limit for applications for indefinite leave to remain from women accepted on the Sojourner Project; and if she will make a statement. [49752]
Damian Green: From April 2011 the Home Office will provide a total of 50 days funding for those accepted on the Sojourner Project; 30 days for the claimant to submit an application under the Domestic Violence provisions and 20 days for the UK Border Agency to reach a decision on the application.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for indefinite leave to remain were made within the 20-day limit by women accepted on to the Sojourner Project; and if she will make a statement. [49753]
Damian Green: Figures(1) from the beginning of the Sojourner Project (November 2009) indicate that 23% of applications for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of domestic violence were submitted to the UK Border Agency within the 20 day limit by applicants accepted onto the Sojourner project.
We have recognised that applicants face difficulties in gathering and submitting the necessary evidence within the initial 20 day period. That is why we have chosen to extend the funding period which a person who has been accepted onto the Sojourner project is eligible to receive.
(1) The information has been provided from local management information and is not a National Statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
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Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what proportion of cases the UK Border Agency met the 20-day target for the processing of applications for indefinite leave to remain in domestic violence cases in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [49754]
Damian Green: The information is as follows:
Figures for the latest period, January 2011, show that the UK Border Agency met the 20 day target for processing applications for indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence in 74% of cases.
The information has been provided from local management information and is not a National Statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.
Domestic Violence: Suicide
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether an estimate has been made of the number of those who experience domestic violence who have committed suicide; and if she will make a statement. [49745]
Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office does not collect data on the number of people who experience domestic violence who have committed suicide. However, according to the British Crime Survey, in 3% of incidents of partner abuse in 2008-09, the victim tried to commit suicide.
European Gendarmerie Force
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy not to consent to the deployment of the European Gendarmerie force on UK territory. [49844]
James Brokenshire: There have been no European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) personnel deployed in the UK and the Government currently see no circumstances in which they would consent to an EGF operation in the UK. The EGF is a multinational initiative of six countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Romania) aimed at improving crisis management capability in sensitive areas and supporting peacekeeping missions around the world. The UK is not part of this initiative.
Metals: Sales
Mr Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to prohibit payments in cash for supplies of scrap metal. [49153]
James Brokenshire: We are exploring the feasibility, with the ACPO Conductive Metal Theft Working Group, of introducing a non-statutory cashless trading model for scrap metal dealers.
Scotland
Oil and Gas
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met representatives of the oil and gas industries in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [49954]
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Michael Moore: Since appointment I have had a number of meetings with representatives of the oil and gas industry in Scotland and will continue to do so.