Cabinet Office
Addison Lee
Maria Eagle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what meetings (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department have had with John Griffin of Addison Lee since 12 May 2010. [104693]
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Mr Maude [holding answer 23 April 2012]: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations
Details of the most senior Cabinet Office officials' meetings with external organisations are published at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-permanent-secretaries%E2%80%99-meetings-external-organisations
No central record is kept of other departmental officials' meetings and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
No Cabinet Office Special Advisers have met with the named individual since 12 May 2010.
Civil Servants: Code of Practice
Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many investigations into breaches by civil servants of the Civil Service Code of Conduct occurred in his Department in each month from May 2010 to March 2012. [103161]
Mr Maude: Figures broken down by individual months of investigations into potential breaches of the Civil Service Code cannot be provided because of the small numbers involved and the need to protect the confidentiality of individual cases.
The breakdown by year is as follows:
| Breakdown | |
Contracts for Services
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether any requests by a Government Department to implement outsourcing deals have been (a) amended and (b) rejected by his Department since May 2010. [104294]
Mr Maude: Departmental Accounting Officers are ultimately responsible for providing best value for the Crown.
However my Department's spending controls are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-controls-guidance-actions-and-processes-document
These controls have helped Whitehall drive around two thirds of the £3.75 billion of savings delivered over the 10 months to March 2011. The Cabinet Office has announced already that Whitehall is on track to deliver £5 billion of savings in 2011-12.
The Cabinet Office has not, to date, rejected any proposals under the control on complex commercial models which covers business process outsourcing, but has amended proposals.
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Employment: Private Sector
Michael Dugher: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the net change in the number of private sector jobs was in (a) Barnsley East constituency and (b) Barnsley metropolitan borough in the latest period for which figures are available. [105865]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated April 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the net change in the number of private sector jobs was in (a) Barnsley East constituency and (b) Barnsley Metropolitan Borough in the latest period for which figures are available (105865).
Due to small sample sizes the requested data are not available.
Foreign Nationals
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many nationals of each other European Economic Area member state are legally resident in the UK; [105595]
(2) how many nationals of each other European Economic Area (EEA) member state are legally resident in the UK by virtue of EU law; and how many of these have the right to residence under EU law by virtue of being a family member of a national of another EEA member state. [105597]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated April 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking;
1. how many nationals of each other European Economic Area (EEA) member state are legally resident in the UK. [105595] and,
2. how many nationals of each other EEA member state are legally resident in the UK by virtue of EU law; and how many of these have the right to residence under EU law by virtue of being a family member of a national of another EEA member state. [105597]
Table 1 shows the most recent estimate of the number of nationals of each European Economic Area (EEA) member state who reside in the UK. These latest estimates relate to the 12 month period from July 2010 to June 2011 and are based on the Annual Population Survey.
Information on the immigration status of these EEA nationals is not available. Visa statistics are published by the Home Office. However, there is no information available on whether those EEA nationals granted visas are currently resident in the UK.
| Table 1: EEA nationals resident in the United Kingdom, average between July 2010 and June 2011 | ||
| thousand | ||
| Estimate | CI (1) (+/-) | |
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| (1) 'CI' Confidence Interval. (2) Data not available. (3) Data is zero or rounded to zero. Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)/Labour Force Survey (LFS), ONS | ||
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many nationals of non-European Economic Area countries are legally resident in the UK other than by virtue of EU law. [105596]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated April 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many nationals of non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries are legally resident in the UK other than by virtue of EU law (105596).
The most recent estimate of the number of Non EEA nationals who reside in the UK is 2,496,000 with a corresponding margin of error of +/- 69,000. This estimate, along with other published Population by Country of Birth and Nationality estimates, is based on the Annual Population Survey and relates to the 12 month period of July 2010 to June 2011.
The margin of error refers to the 95 per cent confidence interval and is a measure of the uncertainty associated with making inferences from a sample.
Information on the immigration status of these non EEA nationals is not available. Visa statistics are published by the Home Office. However, there is no information available on whether those non EEA nationals granted visas are currently resident in the UK.
G20
Conor Burns: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the Government's priorities are for the G20 leaders summit in Los Cabos in June 2012. [104735]
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Mr Bellingham: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
The British Government are working closely with G20 partners to deliver a meaningful and successful summit. We consider it fundamental to ensure that the G20 effectively fulfils its role as the premier forum for our international economic cooperation including taking the necessary actions to address ongoing risks to the global economic recovery, and secure strong, sustainable and balance growth which supports employment and job creation. Britain is also working to ensure that G20 Leaders give the necessary political momentum to further the global trade agenda, in particular delivering on some elements of the Doha round, renewing our anti-protectionist pledge and furthering efforts to strengthen the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in line with the Prime Minister's global governance report to the G20. We will also look to deliver strong messages on full and consistent implementation of financial regulation reforms, energy and commodity markets, development, infrastructure, food security, green growth and anti-corruption. The UK has been leading the work on anti-corruption jointly with Mexico and we have made excellent progress—a testament of successful collective action under the G20 umbrella. We aim to highlight to leaders the progress made in implementing the Action Plan, including developments on public sector integrity, denial of a safe haven to corrupt officials and international co-operation.
Government Departments: Pay
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which (a) Government Departments, (b) agencies and (c) public bodies (i) were and (ii) were not required to submit details of individuals earning over £150,000 to his Department for publication in (A) 2010 and (B) 2011; and which will be required to submit this information in 2012. [105073]
Mr Maude [holding answer 24 April 2012]:Since July 2010, all Government Departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) have been required to submit information for publication on staff in their organisation with pay rates of £150,000 or more (on a full-time equivalent basis) as at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011. All will be required to provide this information for publication by the Cabinet Office in 2012.
Ministerial Meetings
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) whether (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department have had any meetings with Sarah Southern since May 2010; [103522]
(2) whether (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department have had any meetings with Peter Cruddas since May 2010. [103523]
Mr Maude [holding answer 18 April 2012]:Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-external-organisations
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Details of the most senior Cabinet Office officials' meetings with external organisations are published at
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/cabinet-office-permanent-secretaries%E2%80%99-meetings-external-organisations
No central record is kept of other departmental officials' meetings and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
No Cabinet Office special advisers have met with either named individuals in a Government capacity since May 2010.
Staff
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many full-time equivalent staff worked for (a) the Office for Civil Society, (b) Directgov and (c) the Office of Government Commerce in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and how many he expects to be working for each in (A) 2012-13, (B) 2013-14 and (C) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [104379]
Mr Maude [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The Office for Civil Society and Office of Government Commerce became part of the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG) in June 2010. The headcount of the Office of Government Commerce at June 2010 was around 250 full-time equivalent staff (FTE). It has since ceased to exist as a separately identifiable entity. The headcount of the Office for Civil Society at June 2010 was around 70 FTE.
ERG began to operate a flexible resourcing and development model across its core structure in 2011 This model of working allows for a more flexible working environment by allocating staff to time-bound assignments to ensure we are best able to focus our resources to deliver our priorities.
The following table indicates the number of FTE working on civil society procurement and commercial related projects at the end of 2011-12, the latest date for which figures are available:
| March 2012 | |
There is not yet a planned allocation of resource across projects in ERG for 2013-14 and 2014-15. The overall Cabinet Office planned headcount for 2013-14 and 2014-15 is 1,352 and 1,274 respectively.
The number of full-time equivalent staff in Directgov for the periods requested was;
2010-11: 141
2011-12: 118
The Government Digital Service was launched in December 2011 It replaced Directgov and other digital services. As a result, projections for Directgov in 2012-13 through to 2014-15 are 0 staff.
National Lottery
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2012, Official Report, column 557W, on the National Lottery, how much funding the Big Lottery Fund has allocated for each of its key priorities in 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [105694]
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Mr Hurd: The key priorities outlined in the Big Lottery Fund's strategy document “Fresh Thinking” are intended to signal those areas on which the Big Lottery Fund intends to focus in the next three years. They are not mutually exclusive and have no allocations attached to them. As a consequence, it is not possible to provide the information in the format requested.
Official Secrets Act
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether any person employed by (a) his Department, (b) the agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible and (c) any private firms contracted by his Department is bound by any part of the Official Secrets Act. [104842]
Mr Maude: As has long been the case, staff employed by the Cabinet Office (including its agency and NDPBs) are deemed as being Crown servants and as such are bound by the Official Secrets Act (1989). The Department's contractors are also bound by that Act as they are providing, or are employed in the provision of, goods and services for the purposes of a Minister.
Peel Group
Caroline Nokes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the total amount of public funding (a) paid to and (b) offered to companies owned by the Peel Group by the Government in each year since 2002. [103656]
Mr Maude: Information on the total amount of public funding is not held centrally.
However the Government Procurement Service (GPS), an agency of the Cabinet Office, has paid £251,594.04 to Princes Dock, part of the Peel Group, for the lease of car parking facilities, since April 2004 to March 2011. This arrangement will cease in September 2012 and will not be renewed. The breakdown of the spend figures for each year, since April 2004 to date is as follows:
| Spend (£) | |
The Cabinet Office has no information on public funding offers to the Peel Group that may have been made by other parts of Government.
This answer relates to the Cabinet Office and its agencies only. However, as part of my Department's transparency programme, any spend over £25,000 is available on the Department's website. And all new contracts over the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder
http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk/
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Public Expenditure
Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department allocated to fund (a) the Office for Civil Society, (b) Directgov and (c) the Office of Government Commerce in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; how much he plans to allocate to each in (A) 2012-13, (B) 2013-14 and (C) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [104343]
Mr Maude: The 2010-11 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts sets out 2010-11 expenditure against budget for the Office for Civil Society, Directgov (now the Government Digital Service) and the Office of Government Commerce (since April 2011 part of the efficiency and reform Group).
Planned budgets from 2011-12 to 2014-15 for the Office for Civil Society and Directgov were also set out in that report and for 2011-12 updated through the Parliamentary Estimates process.
Telephone Services
Mr Spellar: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the Government's policy is on whether call centres contracted to Government Departments and agencies should be located in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [105020]
Mr Maude: There is no specific Government policy on the location of call centres contracted to Government Departments.
Treasury
Bank Services
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of banks which offer basic bank accounts; and if he will make a statement. [105692]
Mr Hoban: All of the major banks currently offer basic bank accounts. At present there are around 16 different basic bank accounts on offer in the UK.
More information on the different types of basic bank account on offer is available from the Money Advice Service on their website at:
http://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/_assets/downloads/pdfs/your_money/a5_guides/basic_bank_accounts.pdf
Child Benefit
Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to employers of adjusting PAYE systems to reclaim child benefit from people earning between £50,000 and £60,000. [105055]
Mr Gauke: The high income child benefit charge will be implemented through self assessment for all customers. However, the charge can be collected through the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax code rather than paid as a lump sum where the taxpayer is also in PAYE. Employers will not need to adjust their PAYE systems in response to this, and can continue to operate PAYE codes in the usual way.
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The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) sets out the impact on businesses of the high income child benefit charge. This was published on HMRC's website
www.hmrc.gov.uk
Devolution: Scotland
Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the Barnett consequentials for Scotland for financial years (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 arising from the decision to devolve council tax benefit. [105387]
Danny Alexander [holding answer 25 April 2012]: The amount that will be transferred to Scotland will be finalised in due course.
Excise Duties: Alcoholic Drinks
Dr Poulter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give consideration to (a) reducing the rate at which excise duty is applied to beer and (b) increasing the rate at which excise duty is applied to intoxicating liquors as part of efforts to tackle irresponsible alcohol consumption. [105120]
Miss Chloe Smith: Decisions on excise duty rates are a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), at the Budget. Treasury Ministers consider a wide range of options for alcohol duty rates, as part of the usual decision-making process for the Budget.
Budget 2012 confirmed plans inherited from the previous Government that rates of alcohol duty would increase by 2% above inflation (RPI).
The Government launched its “Alcohol Strategy” on 23 March. This sets out action to tackle irresponsible drinking, and is targeted explicitly at harmful drinkers, problem pubs and irresponsible shops. The Strategy includes a commitment to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol and to consult on the introduction of a ban on multi-buy promotions in the off-trade.
Departmental Expenditure: Flowers
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on (a) cut flowers and (b) pot plants between May 2010 and February 2012. [101421]
Miss Chloe Smith: Since May 2010 there has been no spending within the Department on cut flowers.
The cost of the provision and maintenance of indoor plants within the 1 Horse Guards road building between May 2010 and February 2012 was £16,163.
Comparable costs for the previous 22 months (July 2008 to April 2010) were £22,181.
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Income Tax
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue to the Exchequer (a) gained and (b) forgone as a result of the recent changes in the top rate of income tax for persons earning (i) £150,000 a year, (ii) £250,000 a year, (iii) £500,000 a year, (iv) £1,000,000 a year, (v) £2,000,000 a year and (vi) £5,000,000 or more per year; and what the (A) gain and (B) revenue to the Exchequer forgone is for each in pension tax relief as a result of his recently announced change. [103616]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 18 April 2012]:At Budget 2012 the Chancellor announced a reduction in the additional rate of income tax applicable on incomes above £150,000 to 45% from 2013-14.
The impact of this measure on Exchequer revenues can be found in Table 2.1 of the Budget 2012 report.
The estimated cost includes the change in the value of pension tax relief, and behavioural responses of those affected—including changes in the level of tax reliefs they make use of.
Details of how this cost was estimated can be found in Annex A of HMRC's Report “The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax”, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.pdf
The Exchequer impact of this measure is not available broken down by income band.
Taken together, it is estimated that the reduction in the additional rate of income tax to 45%, the cap on previously uncapped income tax reliefs at £50,000 or 25% of income (whichever is the greater) and the increase in stamp duty rates for high value properties will result in an expected average contribution to the Exchequer from those with incomes of above £150,000 of an additional £1,300 a year.
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the report prepared for him by HM Revenue and Customs on the proportion of income paid in tax by a selected group of high income individuals; [105106]
(2) with reference to the study prepared for him by HM Revenue and Customs on the income tax paid by some high net worth individuals, how many of the approximately 330 individuals paying less than 10 per cent in tax made major donations to charity on which they claimed reliefs; and what proportion of their reduced tax bill was achieved through deploying tax reliefs of charitable gifts (a) on average and (b) in the (i) highest and (ii) lowest cases. [105225]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 24 April 2012]: The proportion of taxpayers liable to income tax by their total income and average income tax rate are shown in the following table:
| Proportion (%) of individuals reporting various average tax rates by total income category (2010-11) | |||||||
| Income | |||||||
| Average tax rates | £100,000 to £150,000 | £150,000 to £250,000 | £250,000 to £500,000 | £500,000 to £1,000,000 | £1,000,000 to £5,000,000 | £5,000,000 to £10,000,000 | Over £10,000,000 |
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Figures are based on an analysis of self-assessment (SA) returns for the 2010-11 tax year, as available at Budget 2012. Income bands include those with average rates at the lower limit (e.g. a tax rate of exactly 30% falls in the “30% to <40%” category).
At Budget 2012 the Government announced they would introduce a cap on unlimited income tax reliefs to ensure that those on higher incomes cannot use them excessively. The Government will explore with philanthropists ways to ensure this new limit on uncapped reliefs will not impact significantly on charities that depend on large donations to carry out their charitable activities. A consultation document on the detail of the policy will be published in the summer.
Income Tax: Colchester
Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in Colchester constituency who pay the additional rate of income tax. [102023]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 26 March 2012]: Data on the number of additional rate tax payers at parliamentary constituency level are not published.
Income Tax: Rates and Bands
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were liable for the 50 pence income tax rate in each (a) region, (b) parliamentary constituency and (c) local authority at the latest date for which figures are available. [102305]
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Ogmore constituency and (b) Wales will be liable to pay the 45 pence rate of income tax from April 2013. [102244]
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what his estimate is of the number of taxpayers in Northern Ireland who will be affected by the reduction in the 50 per cent rate of income tax; [102042]
(2) what his estimate is of the cost to the Exchequer of the reduction in the 50 per cent rate of income tax for Northern Ireland. [102043]
Mr Gauke: Updated statistics on taxpayer populations and liabilities will be published on the HMRC website on 27 April 2012:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/index.htm
Data on the number of additional rate payers at a local authority and parliamentary constituency level are not published.
An estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of the reduction in the 50% rate of income tax for Northern Ireland alone cannot be made. The additional rate costing includes a significant behavioural response which is only estimated in aggregate.
For more details see the HMRC report “The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate of income tax”, available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/excheq-income-tax-2042.pdf
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who will move from paying the basic rate of income tax into the higher tax band from April 2013 in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency in the UK. [102464]
Mr Gauke: [holding answer 16 April 2012]: It is estimated that 590,000 basic rate taxpayers will become higher rate taxpayers in 2013-14, of which 51,000 are resident in Scotland.
The majority of those brought into higher rate tax will still pay less income tax and national insurance in 2013-14 because of the increase in the personal allowance announced in Budget 2012.
Reliable estimates are not available at the parliamentary constituency level, due to greater uncertainties in making projections for small geographical areas and small sample sizes.
These estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes data projected to 2013-14 in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.
Mr Darling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was to the public purse of producing the document entitled The Exchequer effect of the 50 per cent additional rate in income tax, published by HM Revenue and Customs on 21 March 2012. [102539]
Mr Gauke: [holding answer 16 April 2012]: At Budget 2011 the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that he had asked HM Revenue and Customs to assess the revenue from the 50% additional rate of income tax. The cost of analysis of the self-assessment data and consideration of evidence around behavioural response forms part of HMRC's baseline running costs.
Meetings
Mrs Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had any discussions on (i) the Helioslough Radlett rail freight exchange proposal and (ii) other rail freight issues since May 2010; and whether they have received any representations on these issues since May 2010; [105193]
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(2) whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had any meetings with (i) Simon Hoare, (ii) CGMS, (iii) Freshwater UK, (iv) Intermodality LLP, (v) BNP Paribas Real Estate, (vi) Helio Europe and (vii) Bircham Dyson Bell LLP since May 2010; and whether he has received any recent representations from each such individual or organisation since May 2010. [105192]
Danny Alexander: The Government published “The Logistics Review—Connecting People with Goods” in November 2011 alongside the autumn statement. Its aim is to examine the conditions for logistics sector success including issues such as rail freight, and to identify what actions Government can take to address barriers to growth of the industry.
Following on from this process run through the Government's Growth Review, officials have been given details of the proposal for a strategic rail freight interchange north of the M25.
Treasury Ministers and officials receive regular correspondence and representations from external organisations whom they engage with as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm
PAYE
Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the interim solution adopted for real time information for PAYE will allow for reconciliation of information provided by employers with actual sums paid to employees when those employers make payments through internet banking and do not have a BACS service user number. [105611]
Mr Gauke: The reconciliation of information provided by employers with the sums paid to employees will be facilitated by a cross-reference in the payment instruction where payments are made to an employee using a BACS service user number. Payments made using internet banking will not include the cross-reference when real time information is first implemented.
Over time, HMRC may extend the requirement for a cross-reference to other electronic payment methods.
Pensioners
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employee personal pension arrangements were (a) DSS rebated only, (b) DSS and employee contribution based, (c) DSS employee and employer contribution based and (d) in another form in each of the last 30 years. [105500]
Mr Gauke: Estimates of contributions to personal pensions for 2010-11 are contained in table PEN2 of HMRC's Personal Pension Statistics:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/pensions/pensions-intro.pdf
The estimates show the total number of scheme members and a breakdown of the minimum contributions, employee contributions and employer contributions.
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Personal Income: Wales
Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (1) higher rate taxpayers there were in (a) Newport East constituency and (b) Wales in the last year for which figures are available; [102029]
(2) how many individuals earnt over £1 million in (a) Newport East constituency and (b) Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [102030]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 26 March 2012]: There were an estimated 3.19 million higher rate taxpayers in the UK in 2009-10, and 16,000 taxpayers with total income assessable for income tax over £1 million.
There were an estimated 90,000 higher rate taxpayers in Wales and 2,000 in Newport East in 2009-10.
Reliable estimates for individuals with total income over £1 million in Wales and Newport East are not available due to small sample sizes.
Estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households in (a) Ogmore constituency and (b) Wales earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £60,000 per annum. [102246]
Mr Gauke: The information required to address this question is available only from the Family Resources Survey, an annual survey of 25,000 private households across the UK. The sample is too small for estimates to be possible for individual parliamentary constituencies, and even for Wales as a whole the estimates are in this case fairly imprecise.
The latest available Family Resources Survey data are for 2009-10. All estimates from this source are rounded to the nearest 100,000, given their inevitable imprecision.
The estimates of the number of households in Wales earning more than £50,000 and earning more than £60,000 both round to 100,000. (The actual numbers will of course be different but this difference is lost within the rounding.)
A household is defined as a single person or group of people living at the same address as their only or main residence, who either share one meal a day together or share the living accommodation (i.e. living room). A household will consist of one or more families.
This analysis has been carried out on the basis of gross earnings only (i.e. income from employment or self-employment) rather than income, so it excludes income from investments, state support and other sources.
Public Sector: Pensions
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women in employment were members of public sector pension schemes in each of the last 30 years. [105502]
Danny Alexander: The Treasury has responsibility for setting overarching public service pensions policy. Individual public service schemes are the responsibility of the relevant Secretaries of State and the data on membership are held by the relevant individual Department.
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Tax Allowances: Charitable Donations
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the financial effect on charities of his proposal to introduce a cap on tax relief for charitable donations. [105176]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 24 April 2012]: At Budget 2012 the Government announced they would introduce a cap on unlimited income tax reliefs to ensure that those on higher incomes cannot use them excessively.
The Government will explore with charities and philanthropists ways to ensure this new limit on uncapped reliefs will not impact significantly on charities that depend on large donations to carry out their charitable activities.
A consultation document on the detail of the policy, including the implications for philanthropic giving, will be published in the summer.
Tax Allowances: Pensioners
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) with reference to the Budget Statement, what the cost to the Exchequer is of the changes to the personal age-related allowances for pensioners in Northern Ireland; [102044]
(2) what his estimate is of the number of pensioners in Northern Ireland who will be affected by the freezing of the age-related personal allowance for pensioners in April 2012; [102045]
(3) what his estimate is of the number of pensioners in Northern Ireland who will be affected by his abolition of the age-related personal allowance in April 2013. [102046]
Mr Gauke: The Government remain committed to supporting pensioners and have introduced a triple guarantee for the basic state pension ensuring it will increase each year by the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5% From April 2012, the basic state pension increased by £5.30 per week, the biggest cash increase ever. The Government has also protected other key pensioner benefits.
In 2013-14, it is estimated that the changes to the age-related personal allowances will yield £360 million in 2013-14 of which around 2.2% will be from individuals resident in Northern Ireland.
It is estimated that in Northern Ireland, 91,000 individuals will be affected in real terms by the combined changes to age-related personal allowances. Within this total, 89,000 are estimated to be affected by the freeze in the amount of these allowances and 13,000 by the changes to the eligibility conditions for them. The estimates do not sum to the total as some individuals are affected by both announcements.
None will lose in cash terms. Those individuals who will no longer be eligible for the age-related allowances will benefit from the largest ever cash increase in the level of the personal allowance and further increases in future as part of the Government's long term commitment to increase the personal allowance to £10,000.
These estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes data projected to 2013-14 in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.
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Taxation: Bingo
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the rate of gross profits tax levied on (a) bingo clubs and (b) bookmakers; and for what reasons there is a difference between the two rates. [105511]
Miss Chloe Smith: The rates of general betting duty, and bingo duty were set by the previous Government. Bingo duty is charged at 20% of gross profits and general betting duty is charged at 15% of gross profits. The March 2012 Budget left rates unchanged. All taxes, including gambling taxes, are kept under review.
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the bingo industry on the relationship between bingo gross profits tax and total tax revenue from the gaming sector. [105512]
Miss Chloe Smith: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on bingo taxation. [105513]
Miss Chloe Smith: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the rate of machine games duty on the bingo industry. [105514]
Miss Chloe Smith: The assessment of the impact of Machine Games Duty (MGD) on individuals and businesses is available in the relevant Tax Information and Impacts Note published at Budget 2012. This document is accessible at the HMRC website:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0738.pdf
Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the overall taxation burden on the bingo industry of the planned introduction of machine games duty at 20 per cent; and whether he has considered representations from the bingo industry that the revenue neutral rate would be just over 16 per cent; [105705]
(2) when he will be able to assess the detailed tax effect on the bingo industry of the planned introduction of machine games duty at 20 per cent. [105706]
Miss Chloe Smith:
The announced revenue-neutral machine games duty (MGD) rates are based on data from HM Revenue and Customs, the Gambling
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Commission, data supplied by the industry, and published financial accounts. All representations received from industry have been considered.
The impact of MGD both across and within gambling sectors was analysed before the rates of MGD were announced at Budget 2012. The assessment of the impact of MGD on individuals and businesses is summarised in the relevant Tax Information and Impacts Note (TIIN) published alongside the Budget. This document is accessible at the HMRC website:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0738.pdf
As indicated in the TIIN, the impact of the measure on tax receipts will be monitored after implementation. The impact on compliance costs will also be considered for evaluation.
Taxation: Multinational Companies
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will discuss with his EU counterparts introducing a policy requiring that taxes be paid by companies in countries where their products are made or their services delivered, irrespective of where their ownership is registered. [105698]
Mr Gauke: All companies which are resident or which have a permanent establishment in the UK are subject to corporate tax on their UK trading activities. This is an approach shared by our EU partners. Treasury Ministers are engaged in dialogue with their European counterparts on a variety of issues, including tax.
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy that profits made by (a) Amazon and (b) other retailers from book sales in the UK are taxed in the UK and not in another country. [105699]
Mr Gauke: Internet-based booksellers trading in the UK are subject to tax on their profits in the same way as any other company operating in the UK.
Taxation: Self-assessment
David T. C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will require HM Revenue and Customs to allow members of the public to use the free online system to submit form SA101. [105139]
Mr Gauke: Members of the public who are in self-assessment and file their self-assessment tax return on paper may need to provide HMRC with further information on form SA101. If this information is relevant for people who do their self-assessment return online then the relevant questions are included in the return.
The majority of people who are in self-assessment file their return online.
David T. C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs about allowing public enquiries to the self-assessment helpline and tax enquiries line to be dealt with by email. [105326]
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Mr Gauke: HMRC has over 100 electronic contact services available to customers that offer a structured and secure means of communicating with HMRC through its website and we are always looking to provide more. HMRC will only introduce electronic contact solutions where we are certain about the authenticity of the person sending the e-mail and where there are strong controls around the data being sent.
This is common across all of HMRC's lines of business, including self-assessment.
David T. C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the HM Revenue and Customs target time is to answer telephone calls on the (a) self-assessment helpline and (b) tax enquiries line. [105327]
Mr Gauke: HMRC do not have a target time for answering telephone calls.
HMRC uses a variety of measures to assess the accessibility of telephone services which include the percentage of call attempts handled by its contact centres. In 2011-12, HMRC has significantly improved the number of call attempts handled to 74% (compared with 48% in the previous year).
HMRC recognise that there are further improvements to be made and aim to achieve 90% of call attempts handled by 2014-15.
Tobacco: Smuggling
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the proportion of the market for cigarettes accounted for by illegal cigarettes in (a) the UK and (b) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; [103713]
(2) what estimate he has made of the revenue forgone due to tobacco smuggling in (a) the UK and (b) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [103714]
Miss Chloe Smith: Estimates of the illicit market share for cigarettes in the UK are shown in the following table. Also included are estimates of total revenue losses associated with the illicit market of tobacco products.
| Illicit market for tobacco and associated revenue losses (1) | |||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
|
Associated Revenue Losses for Hand-Rolling Tobacco (£ million) |
|||||
| (1) Includes both duty and VAT. | |||||
These estimates are published in “Measuring Tax Gaps 2011”, which can be found at the following link:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/measuring-tax-gaps.htm
Separate estimates for Northern Ireland are not available, nor are separate estimates for the revenue lost in the UK from tobacco smuggling.
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VAT
Mr Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of listed properties owned by (a) the Government, (b) Historic Royal Palaces, (c) the Church Commissioners and (d) Parliament in developing his proposals to charge VAT on alterations to listed buildings; what estimate he has made of the cost of alterations planned to such buildings; and what increase in VAT collected he has calculated will result from his proposals. [105214]
Mr Gauke: Annex B—Tables of Impact for individual Measures in HM Revenue and Customs consultation document “VAT; Addressing Borderline Anomalies”, published at Budget 2012, sets out estimates for VAT which will be raised from approved alterations to listed buildings and a summary of impacts upon which comments are invited.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he made of the effect on listed churches of the imposition of VAT on alterations to listed buildings; what proportion of the extra cost to listed churches will be offset by any increases in the funding of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; and if he will make it his policy to exclude listed places of worship from the imposition of VAT on alteration work. [105322]
Mr Gauke: Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures in HM Revenue and Customs consultation document “VAT: Addressing Borderline Anomalies”, published at Budget 2012, sets out estimates for VAT which will be raised from approved alterations to listed buildings and a summary of impacts upon which comments are invited.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Our original estimate, based on a church report produced in 2000, was that £5 million a year additional funding for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme would be adequate compensation for listed places of worship for the impact of the VAT change. We are talking to churches and will increase this amount if there is evidence that the impact is greater.
Justice
Crime: Victims
Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department holds on the number of victims of crime in Wales in 2011 who had learning difficulties. [105034]
Nick Herbert: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
The police recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office do not hold any information on victims of crime with learning difficulties.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales, formerly the British Crime Survey, collects information on crimes and the victims of crimes. While the survey does ask
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respondents whether they have a disability, including learning difficulties, the size of the sample in Wales since the question was added to the survey is too small to provide a robust estimate of the proportion of victims with learning difficulties.
Electronic Tagging
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) if he will estimate the effect on rates of failure to comply or other breaches of increasing the electronic tag sentence maximum from eight to 16 hours; [104631]
(2) if he will estimate the effect on rates of failure to comply or other breaches of increasing the electronic tag sentence maximum from six to 12 months. [104632]
Mr Blunt: Provisions in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will raise the maximum hours for a curfew requirement as part of a sentence from 12 to 16 hours per day and the maximum duration from six to 12 months. The Impact Assessment for the Bill, published on the Ministry of Justice website, recognises that there may be a minimal additional cost as a result of changes to curfew requirements. We will however monitor the use of, and compliance with, electronically monitored curfew requirements when the provisions are implemented.
Prisons: Construction
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many new prison places have been created; and how many such places are shared by (a) two and (b) three prisoners in each year since 1997. [102148]
Mr Blunt: The following table shows the number of new places delivered in new prisons or through large scale/significant expansions at existing prisons in each financial year since 1997-98. This totals 26,386 places.
| Places delivered | |
The number of these new places that are shared by two and three prisoners in each year since 1997 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Probation
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what have been the savings from the merger of Surrey and Sussex probation trusts in 2011-12. [104635]
Mr Blunt: The Audit Commission noted in its annual audit letter for 2010-11 that efficiencies of £1.7 million were identified as part of the Surrey and Sussex Probation Trust merger project and that significant reductions in cost were achieved during the year through combining Board and Executive Teams and the merger of Support Services teams.
The reduced level of resources needed to support the running of back-office functions allowed a higher proportion of allocated funding to be utilised on the delivery of front-line services to offenders, victims and the courts.
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Women and Equalities
Sexual Harassment
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of the effect of sexual harassment of women in male-dominated professions on their professional advancement. [105174]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 24 April 2012]:I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Home Department.
Under the Equality Act 2010, which this Government brought into force, sexual harassment in the workplace is unlawful. We have made no assessment of the effect of sexual harassment of women in male-dominated professions on their professional advancement.