Marginal Tax Rates
Ms Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many and what proportion of tenants will have marginal rates of deduction of (a) 60 per cent and above, (b) 70 per cent or above, (c) 80 per cent or above and (d) 90 per cent or above in each year from 2009-10 to 2014-15; [105169]
(2) how many and what proportion of households of each tenure type were subject to marginal deduction rates of (a) 60 per cent and above, (b) 70 per cent and above, (c) 80 per cent and above and (d) 90 per cent and above in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; and if he will estimate the equivalent figures for (A) 2012-13, (B) 2013-14 and (C) 2014-15. [105171]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 24 April 2012]: The Government is taking action to simplify the complex withdrawal schedules faced by those on low incomes through the introduction of universal credit.
This will unify the complex system of means-tested out of work benefits, tax credits and support for housing, into one single payment. This will be withdrawn at a consistent rate, rather than the numerous withdrawal rates of the current complex benefit system. Estimates of marginal deduction rates for example individuals prior to and following the introduction of universal credit can be found in Table B.2 in Annex B of Budget 2012.
Estimates of marginal deduction rates for tenants, or by tenure type have not been produced and to produce either of these for the ranges and years requested would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
Mortgages
Mr Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of small mortgage brokers who have surrendered their licences and withdrawn from mortgage business in the last year; [105975]
(2) how many small mortgage brokers are licensed to trade. [105976]
Mr Hoban: The authorisation and ongoing regulation of individual mortgage intermediaries is a matter for the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Information on all firms, individuals and other bodies regulated by the FSA can be found in the ‘FSA Register' on their website. The register contains information on all firms that are, or have been:
authorised by the FSA;
registered to conduct regulated activities; or
have provided certain products or services in the UK.
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National Infrastructure Plan
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the National Infrastructure Plan in 2012; and what the outcome was of such discussions. [106118]
Danny Alexander: Treasury Ministers have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
This includes the National Infrastructure Plan which sets out a clear strategy for infrastructure investment, both public and private, across the UK. In Wales this includes the electrification of the Great Western line to Cardiff, super-connected city funding to Cardiff, investment to improve broadband and mobile coverage in rural areas and private sector investment in wind energy.
PAYE
Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to a typical small business of introducing real time reporting of PAYE information. [102494]
Mr Gauke: The introduction of real time reporting of PAYE information (RTI) is intended to reduce the administrative burdens for all employers. The annual saving to all businesses is estimated as £300 million per year from 2014-15.
HMRC estimates that the transitional costs of implementing RTI will be £120 million for all businesses. The costs for individual employers will depend on the number of employees they have and vary with circumstances. HMRC estimates that training and familiarizing staff with the new processes could cost firms an average of £50. It also estimates that amending data held about existing employees could cost up to £20 for a small employer.
HMRC will be working with employers during the pilot year to validate these figures. Small businesses are taking part in the RTI pilot and their experiences will inform the support HMRC offers to small employers migrating to RTI.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers involved in the PAYE real time information pilot use (a) their bank’s internet banking platform and (b) a BACS service user number to pay their employees. [105610]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 26 April 2012]: HMRC currently expect that over 250 of the first 300 pilot employers will pay their employees using a BACS service user number. These employers are expected to pay over 95% of individuals for whom real time information will be filed in the first stage of the pilot. Up to 10% of the first 300 pilot employers are expected to pay their employees by internet banking.
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Public Consultation
Mr Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of his Department's consultations have been externally verified since 2007; for what reason and by whom such verification was carried out; and what the cost to the public purse was of such verification. [104097]
Miss Chloe Smith: Any monitoring of the effectiveness of the consultation process is undertaken internally by the Treasury and is in line with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation. The information we have been able to collect centrally, without incurring disproportionate cost, has not identified any external verification of consultations.
Mr Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department collects the IP addresses of online respondents to its consultations. [104098]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Treasury does not collect the IP addresses of online respondents to its consultations.
Mr Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department accepts anonymous contributions to its consultations. [104099]
Miss Chloe Smith: Both written responses and those responses fed in through other channels such as discussion forums and public meetings are carefully analysed by HM Treasury in line with the Consultation Code of Practice.
Research and Development Tax Credit
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of his proposed above the line research and development tax credit on levels of private sector research and development in low-carbon technologies. [105464]
Mr Gauke: The Government expects that the ‘Above the Line' (ATL) credit will increase the incentive for large companies across all sectors, including low carbon-technology, to invest in Research and Development (R&D) by improving the visibility and certainty of relief.
An initial Tax Impact Assessment, showing the expected impacts of the proposed ATL credit, was published alongside the consultation document which can be found via the following link.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/condoc_above_ line_credit_rd.pdf
Revenue and Customs
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax inspectors HM Revenue and Customs employed in each year since 1982. [103621]
Mr Gauke
[holding answer 18 April 2012]: HMRC was created by the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise in 2005 and “tax inspectors” is no longer a role within the merged organisation. HMRC is unable to answer the question as the role no longer exists and to obtain information back to 1982 would be
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1199W
at disproportionate cost, if the information still exists at all. However there are currently 18,000 tax professionals in HMRC who carry out a range of duties—from answering queries from customers to tackling non-compliance with taxation obligations.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with officials in HM Revenue and Customs on the time taken to answer telephone calls from members of the public; and if he will make a statement. [103929]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 19 April 2012]:The Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), has recently written to Lin Homer, the chief executive of HMRC, setting out the remit for HMRC for 2012-13 and confirming the priorities for the Department for the current year. These priorities include improving the service provided to customers.
For 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 to 48% in the previous year).
HMRC recognises that there are further improvements to be made and aims to achieve 90% of call attempts handled by 2014-15.
Caroline Nokes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether HM Revenue and Customs sets performance targets for answering telephone queries; [105370]
(2) what HM Revenue and Customs performance statistics are available on the Department's response to telephone queries in 2010-11. [105371]
Mr Gauke: 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 to 48% in the previous year).
HMRC recognises that there are further improvements to be made and aims to achieve 90% of call attempts handled by 2014-15.
Smuggling
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs staff were engaged in tackling (a) tobacco and (b) alcohol smuggling in each of the last five years. [102656]
Miss Chloe Smith: HMRC deploy staff flexibly in response to threats to the tax regimes they administer. The full-time equivalents of staff engaged in this work are shown in the following table:
| Number | |||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1200W
These figures represent HMRC’s best estimate of the way resources were used in the year specified, bearing in mind that the work of staff employed on anti-fraud and smuggling activity often covers a number of different taxes and commodities.
The figure for staff engaged in tobacco smuggling in 2010-11 replaces that provided to the hon. Member for Bristol West (Stephen Williams), in an earlier written answer of 20 March 2012, Official Report, column 620W.
From 2009-10 onwards responsibilities, and staff, were transferred to the Border Force in respect of anti-smuggling work at the border.
Social Security Benefits
Ann Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the total household income including working tax credit, child tax credit, child benefit and council tax benefit of a couple with two children working 16 hours a week on the minimum wage living in their own home and paying £1,000 in council tax (a) currently, (b) after the changes to qualifying hours for working tax credit are introduced on 1 April 2012 and (c) including out of work benefits. [102273]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 27 March 2012]: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer to PQ 95428 given by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith) on 29 February 2012, Official Report, column 395W.
Tax Allowances
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the freezing of the personal tax allowance for over-65 year olds on levels of pensioner poverty; [104479]
(2) what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the freezing of the personal tax allowance for over-65 year olds on the income of people who turn 65 after 6 April 2013. [104607]
Alison McGovern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effects on pensioner incomes in each income decile of changes to age-related tax allowances announced in the 2012 Budget. [104717]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The Government remains committed to supporting pensioners and has 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, the biggest cash increase ever. The Government has also protected other key pensioner benefits.
The 2012 Budget announced that from 2013-14, age-related allowances will: (a) be frozen at their 2012-13 levels until they align with the personal allowance; and (b) that they will no longer be available, except to those born on or before 5 April 1948 with the higher age-related allowance available only to those born before 5 April 1938.
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1201W
These changes will simplify the personal allowance system and reduce the number of pensioners in self-assessment.
The ‘Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates’ published alongside Budget 2012 states that, in 2013-14, an estimated 4.41 million individuals will be affected by these changes compared with RPI indexation of age-related allowances and no change to eligibility, though none will see any cash reduction in their personal allowance from April 2013 compared with 2012-13.
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in Tooting constituency who will pay more tax as a consequence of his decision to freeze income tax age-related allowances in each of the next five years. [104969]
Mr Gauke: The Government remains committed to supporting pensioners and has 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, the biggest cash increase ever. The Government has also protected other key pensioner benefits.
The 2012 Budget announced that from 2013-14, age-related allowances will: (a) be frozen at their 2012-13 levels until they align with the personal allowance; and (b) that they will no longer be available, except to those born on or before 5 April 1948 with the higher age-related allowance available only to those born before 5 April 1938.
These changes will simplify the personal allowance system and reduce the number of pensioners in self assessment.
The ‘Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates' published alongside Budget 2012 states that, in 2013-14, an estimated 4.41 million individuals will be affected by these changes compared with RPI indexation of age-related allowances and no change to eligibility, though none will see any cash reduction in their personal allowance from April 2013 compared with 2012-13.
Estimates of numbers affected specifically by the announced freeze in age-related allowances at Government office region level are provided in the following table for 2013-14 to 2016-17. Reliable estimates are not available
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1202W
at the parliamentary constituency level due to greater uncertainties in making projections for small geographical areas.
| Numbers affected by the freeze in age-related allowances from April 2013 | ||||
| (Thousands) | ||||
| Government office region | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
These estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 economic and fiscal outlook.
Tax Allowances: Artworks
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what value of assets he has allowed under the conditional exemption scheme for art works in each of the last 20 years; what the level of (a) inheritance tax and (b) capital gains tax foregone by the Exchequer as a result was in each such year; and how many (i) art works, (ii) art collections, (iii) castles, (iv) stately homes, (v) gardens and (vi) landed estates benefitted from such provisions. [105700]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 26 April 2012]: The number and value of assets allowed under the conditional exemption scheme and the amount of inheritance tax foregone are shown in the following table.
| £ million | Numbers of items | |||
| Total value of assets | Level of inheritance tax foregone (1) | Chattels/artwork | Land | |
| (1) The amount of inheritance tax foregone given are the amounts allowed on claims. Tax will also be received on assets which become liable to inheritance tax or estate duty when they leave conditional exemption. | ||||
The amount of capital gains tax foregone has been less than £1 million in each year since 1997-98.
It is not possible to show the data for individual years as requested due to the risk of disclosure of information about an individual taxpayer. The data have been totalled across three years to prevent this. While assets can be broken down between chattels and land, further breakdowns are not available. Data for earlier years are not available.
Tax Allowances: Charitable Donations
Chris White: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of his proposed cap on tax reliefs on philanthropic behaviour; [102992]
(2) what modelling his Department has undertaken to measure the effect on (a) levels of charitable giving
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1203W
and
(b)
charities of his proposed cap on tax reliefs. [102993]
Mr Gauke: At Budget 2012, the Government announced it 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, including the implications for philanthropic giving, will be published in the summer.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish his forecasts for the effect on charitable giving of the 2012 Budget's introduction of a cap on tax relief on donations to charities; and if he will make a statement. [104180]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 18 April 2012]:At Budget 2012 the Government announced it 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, including the implications for philanthropic giving, will be published in the summer.
Ms Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will place in the Library all representations he has received on the proposed cap on tax relief for philanthropic donations announced in his Budget 2012; [105396]
(2) how many representations he has received in respect of the proposed cap on tax relief for philanthropic donations announced in his Budget 2012; and what proportion of such representations were in favour of the proposal. [105397]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 25 April 2012]: The Budget last month announced the introduction from April 2013 of a limit on currently uncapped income tax reliefs. It also set out the Government's intention to explore with philanthropists ways to ensure that this measure will not impact significantly on charities that depend on large donations. This process is already under way—Ministers and officials have already begun this engagement with stakeholders. These discussions will inform a formal consultation in the summer.
Tax Allowances: Charities
Mr Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to restrict tax relief for overseas charities. [103862]
Mr Gauke:
The Government set out proposals in Budget 2012 to introduce a limit on all uncapped income tax reliefs, including charitable reliefs. This limit would apply to UK charitable organisations and overseas organisations that are recognised by HMRC as charitable
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1204W
organisations for tax purposes. The Government is exploring with philanthropists ways to ensure that this measure will not significantly impact on charities that depend on large donations.
Tax Allowances: Pensioners
Jessica Morden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioners in (a) Newport East constituency and (b) Wales will be affected by the freeze in the age-related tax allowance. [102348]
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged 65 years and over will have their age-related allowance frozen in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each parliamentary constituency in the UK as a result of Budget 2012. [102461]
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of individuals who will be affected by his decision to (a) freeze age-related allowances and (b) restrict age-related allowances to existing recipients from April 2013 in each (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency in (A) 2013-14, (B) 2014-15 and (C) 2015-16. [102476]
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) Scotland, (b) each parliamentary constituency in Scotland and (c) each local authority area in Scotland aged (i) between 65 and 74 years and (ii) 75 years and over, will be in receipt of the age-related personal allowance (A) and (B) each of the following two financial years; and if he will estimate what the average difference in pensioner income would be had the thresholds been uprated in line with inflation. [102757]
Mr Gauke [holding answers 16 April 2012]:The information is as follows:
(1)-(3) The Government remains committed to supporting pensioners and has 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, the biggest cash increase ever. The Government has also protected other key pensioner benefits. The triple guarantee means that a full basic state pension will be over £120 per year higher than under the previous Government's uprating policy.
The 2012 Budget announced that from 2013-14, age-related allowances will: (a) be frozen at their 2012-13 levels until they align with the personal allowance; and (b) that they will no longer be available, except to those born on or before 5 April 1948 with the higher age-related allowance available only to those born before 5 April 1938.
These changes will simplify the personal allowance system and reduce the number of pensioners in self-assessment.
The “Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates” published alongside Budget 2012 states that, in 2013-14, an estimated 4.41 million individuals will be affected by these changes compared with RPI indexation of age-related allowances and no change to eligibility, though none will see any cash reduction in their personal allowance from April 2013 compared with 2012-13.
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1205W
Estimates of numbers affected and average impacts on income tax paid at Government office region level are provided in the following table for 2013-14. Reliable estimates are not available at the local authority and parliamentary constituency levels due to greater uncertainties in making projections for small geographical areas.
| Estimated impacts in 2013-14 | ||||
| Number s affected (thousand) | Average change in tax paid (£) | |||
| Government office region | Freeze age-related allowance | Restrict eligibility | Combined changes | Combined changes |
Available information for tax years 2014-15 and 2015-16 is provided in the following table. Estimated impacts arising from the announced changes to eligibility for age-related allowances cannot be provided for tax years after 2013-14, as these will depend on the level of the personal allowance for under 65s.
The Government is committed to supporting lower and middle income earners by raising the personal allowance to £10,000, and removing the lowest income individuals out of income tax. Decisions on changes in the personal allowance from 2014-15 will be taken as part of the annual Budget process in the context of the wider public finances.
| Number s affected by the freeze in age-related allowances from April 2013 in 2014-15 and 2015-16 | ||
| Thousand | ||
| Government office region | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1206W
(4) A projected 471,000 income taxpayers in Scotland are expected to benefit from age-related allowances in 2012-13, ie would pay more income tax if age-related allowances were not available in 2012-13. Within the total, 266,000 are aged 65-74 and 205,000 are aged 75 and over. Reliable estimates are not available at the local authority and parliamentary constituency levels due to greater uncertainties in making projections for small geographical areas.
All estimates are based on the 2009-10 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2012 Economic and fiscal outlook.
Mark Menzies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of continuing to pay the age-related allowance frozen at current levels to all new retirees until the personal allowances catch up. [103246]
Mr Gauke: The 2012 Budget announced that from 2013-14, age-related allowances will be frozen at their 2012-13 levels until they align with the personal allowance, and that they will be restricted to existing recipients.
Relative to this position, the estimated cost of continuing to pay the age-related allowances frozen at current levels to all who would become eligible under current arrangements by virtue of age is shown in the following table.
| £ million | |
Taxation: Gambling
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is his policy that remote or offshore gambling companies with UK customers will be required to pay the same rate of tax as companies which are based in the UK offering land-based gambling. [106324]
Miss Chloe Smith: It is proposed that a 15% rate will be applied to the reformed remote gambling taxation regime. This is the same as the rate that currently applies for remote gaming duty, pool betting duty and general betting duty. The rate will be kept under review following the consultation on design characteristics of the reform published on 5 April 2012.
Taxation: India
Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what representations he has received from Vodafone on proposed retrospective taxation legislation on cross-border agreements in India; [105999]
(2) what representations he has made to the government of India on their retrospective taxation legislation on cross-border agreements; [106002]
(3) what representations he has received from companies and organisations other than Vodafone in relation to the government of India's proposed retrospective taxation legislation on cross-border agreements. [106003]
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1207W
Miss Chloe Smith: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
HMRC: Telephone Services
Stella Creasy:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the average waiting time
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1208W
for a response from HM Revenue and Customs for calls to 0845 numbers for public helplines in each month of the last three years. [106183]
Mr Gauke: The information for the period requested is provided in the following table:
| Average waiting time (1) | ||||||||||||
| Minutes:Seconds | ||||||||||||
| Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | |
| (1) Average waiting time is defined as the time taken for a call to be answered by an adviser once a customer has selected an option from the call steering menu. | ||||||||||||
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 to 48% in the previous year.
HMRC recognises that there are further improvements to be made and aims to achieve 90% of call attempts handled by 2014-15.
Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish details of the revenue generated by HM Revenue and Customs' use of 0845 numbers for public help lines in each month of the last three years. [106184]
Mr Gauke: I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 July 2010, Official Report, column 185W.
HMRC has responded to the recommendation contained in the Treasury Select Committee report published on 26 October 2011 by introducing a non-0845 number for tax credits claimants. HMRC will continue to investigate alternatives to 0845 numbers as part of the process of agreeing its next telephony contract.
Departmental Costs Travel
Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many journeys (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department made by (i) train, (ii) coach and (iii) Government car in an official capacity in each of the last six months. [103637]
Miss Chloe Smith: All ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
The Department has committed to publish details of all Ministers’ meetings, hospitality and overseas travel, including those of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne). The data can be found online at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm
The number of train journeys by Ministers and officials since October 2011, booked through the Department's travel management company, are shown in the following table:
| Number | ||
| Ministers | Officials | |
There were no ministerial coach journeys booked by the Department in the period. The number of journeys made by officials by coach and the number of journeys by Ministers and officials in Government cars are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
UK Financial Investments
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with UK Financial Investments Ltd on implications for the public purse of LIBOR investigations. [105934]
Mr Hoban: 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 meetings.
UKFI is responsible for managing the Government's shareholdings in financial institutions. Its overarching objective is to dispose of the Government's investments in an orderly and active manner, within the context of protecting and creating value for the taxpayer, paying due regard to financial stability and to acting in a way that promotes competition.
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1209W
Unsecured Pensions
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioners have drawdown pensions; and how many such pensioners have received a new three yearly valuation from the Government Actuary's Department. [106128]
Mr Hoban: The information requested is not available as pension administrators and pensioners are not required to report this information to HMRC.
VAT
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes on VAT on hot foods on average monthly household food costs. [102247]
Mr Gauke: Treasury analysis suggests that the changes on hot foods will lead to an average cost of around 9 pence a week across households. However, the cost to consumers will depend on the extent to which businesses pass on the increased VAT rate.
Clarifying the VAT rules on hot foods will ensure that all food sold hot is taxed consistently. It removes, for example, the anomaly that hot chickens are currently taxable when sold in a take-away shop but are zero rated by many supermarkets.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the revenue which will accrue to the Exchequer as a consequence of the removal of the zero VAT rate for alterations to listed buildings; [103795]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on listed places of worship of the removal of the zero VAT rate for alterations to listed buildings. [103796]
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.
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he expects to raise from VAT charged on approved alterations to (a) listed buildings that are places of worship and (b) listed buildings that are not places of worship, following the changes to VAT charged on approved alterations announced in Budget 2012. [103971]
Mr Gauke
[holding answer 19 April 2012]: Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures in HM Revenue & Customs consultation document “VAT: Addressing
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1210W
Borderline Anomalies”, published at Budget 2012, sets out estimates for VAT which will be raised from approved alterations to listed buildings.
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.
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he expects to raise from VAT charged on approved alterations to listed buildings in (a) London, (b) English regions outside London and (c) Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, following the changes to VAT charged on approved alterations announced in Budget 2012. [103972]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 19 April 2012]: Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures in HM Revenue & 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.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Dr Phillip Lee: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the financial effect on those responsible for the upkeep of listed buildings of his decision to remove VAT relief on work on such buildings; and if he will make a statement; [104380]
(2) what estimate he has made of the likely revenue gain by removing VAT relief on the maintenance of listed church, abbey and cathedral buildings in each of the next three years; [104381]
(3) whether the removal of VAT on works to listed buildings includes work on those scheduled as ancient monuments. [104382]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 24 April 2012]: Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures in HM Revenue & 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. Paragraph 42 of that document defines the types of scheduled monuments which could be affected.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
There are no changes to the VAT rules for the maintenance of listed places of worship. The Government has committed to expand the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to address the impact of applying VAT to alterations made to listed places of worship.
Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the introduction of a reduced rate of VAT for passenger transportation in cable-based transport systems in the last two years. [104604]
Mr Gauke
[holding answer 23 April 2012]: The Government recognises the importance of engaging fully with individuals, practitioners, businesses and other organisations in the development of tax policy.
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1211W
Treasury Ministers and officials have held meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultation he carried out with representatives of the food industry in advance of his announcement on the levying of VAT on hot food. [104608]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The Government recognises the importance of engaging fully with individuals, practitioners, businesses and other organisations in the development of tax policy. Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
HMRC are consulting on draft legislation which will give effect to the proposed changes. If businesses wish to raise any particular technical implementation difficulties, they have an opportunity to do so before 18 May.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what basis officials in his Department calculated a total cost of £40 per business as the effect of his decision to impose VAT on sports nutrition products. [104627]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The cost to affected businesses to comply with the VAT changes to sports nutrition drinks is set out in Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures—of the HM Revenue and Customs consultation document ‘VAT: Addressing borderline anomalies’, published in Budget 2012:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the impact assessment of his decision to impose value-added tax on sports nutrition products, whether the predicted £10 million per annum increase in revenues takes into account the potential for reduced tax revenues from (a) consumers switching to offshore personal imports and (b) reduction in profitability of onshore businesses. [104630]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The post-behavioural exchequer impact and economic impact of the VAT changes to sports nutrition drinks is set out in Annex B—Table of Impact for Individual Measures—of the HM Revenue and Customs consultation document ‘VAT: Addressing borderline anomalies’, published in Budget 2012:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has undertaken an impact assessment of the effect on listed buildings in (a) London, (b) English regions outside London and (c) Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales of the changes to VAT charged on approved alterations announced in the Budget 2012. [104700]
Mr Gauke
[holding answer 23 April 2012]: Annex B—Tables of Impact for Individual Measures in HM Revenue and Customs consultation document “VAT:
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Addressing Borderline Anomalies”, published at Budget 2012, sets out impacts of the VAT change to approved alterations to listed buildings upon which comments are welcomed.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the period allocated for his consultation on his plan to introduce 20 per cent VAT on sports nutrition products does not comply with the 12 week minimum recommended by the Government code of practice on consultations. [104709]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The code of practice acknowledges that there will be occasions when the Government deviates from the normal practice under the code when running a formal, written consultation. The consultation, ‘VAT: Addressing borderline anomalies’ sets out on page 34 the reasons for the shorter duration and alternative means of providing feedback.
In recognition of the wide interest in these proposals, on 18 April 2012, Official Report, columns 441-42, I announced to Parliament that the consultation period will be extended and will now end on 18 May 2012.
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) with which sports nutrition manufacturers and distributors his Department consulted on the effect of his proposals to introduce 20 per cent VAT for sports nutrition products prior to producing the Department's impact assessment; [104710]
(2) what consideration his Department gave to the potential move to internet purchasing from offshore sources when preparing the impact assessment on his plan to introduce 20 per cent VAT on sports nutrition products. [104711]
Mr Gauke [holding answer 23 April 2012]: The Government recognises the importance of engaging fully with individuals, practitioners, businesses and other organisations in the development of tax policy. Treasury Ministers and officials have held meetings with a variety of organisations in the public and private sector as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
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 impacts of the VAT change to sports drinks upon which comments are welcomed:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the changes to VAT for caravans on (a) Humberside and (b) other sub-regional economies. [105235]
Mr Gauke: Table 5 of ‘VAT: Addressing borderline anomalies’, published alongside the Budget, and which can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf
sets out an assessment of the impact of the measure.
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the effect of the imposition of VAT on alterations to listed buildings on churches in Denton and Reddish constituency. [105480]
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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.
Ian Paisley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what consultations he has had with trade bodies or organisations representing static caravan motor homes on the imposition of 20 per cent VAT on the price of new static caravans announced in the Budget; [105584]
(2) what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the imposition of 20 per cent VAT on the price of new static caravan motor homes on future sales of such homes; [105585]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the imposition of 20 per cent VAT on new static caravan motor homes on tourism within the UK; [105586]
(4) what consultations he held prior to the decision to impose 20 per cent VAT on the price of new static caravan motor homes. [105587]
Mr Gauke: The Budget 2012 measure proposed that from 1 October all holiday caravans would be subject to VAT, while preserving the zero rate for residential caravans. HMRC's assessment of the potential impact of this change can be found in the Tax Information and Impact Note which is available from their website.
HMRC are consulting on draft legislation which will give effect to the proposed changes. The consultation runs until 18 May.
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from (a) English Heritage and (b) the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings on VAT. [R] [105969]
Mr Gauke: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Vodafone
Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what meetings he has had with representatives of Vodafone regarding proposed retrospective taxation legislation on cross-border agreements in India; [106000]
(2) how often he has met representatives of Vodafone since May 2010; [106001]
(3) what meetings he has had with representatives of companies and organisations other than Vodafone on
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the Government of India's proposed retrospective taxation legislation on cross-border agreements. [106004]
Miss Chloe Smith: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors 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
Welfare Tax Credits
Ann Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households claimed working tax credit in each constituency with (a) the basic element only, (b) the basic element and the couples and lone parent element and (c) the basic element, the couples and lone parent element and the 30 hour element in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12. [102733]
Mr Gauke: The information requested in (a) and (b) is available in the HMRC publication ‘Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised Annual Awards 2009-10 Geographical Analysis', available at the following link:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-final-awards-may11.pdf
2009-10 is the latest year for which information is currently available. 2010-11 data will be published in May 2012 and 2011-12 will be available in May 2013. The information for each parliamentary constituency can be found in table 3.
The number of households benefiting from the basic element of working tax credit only (a) is the number of in-work families with no children. The number of households benefiting from the basic element, and couples and lone parents element (b) is the total of in-work families with children receiving WTC and CTC or receiving CTC only, either more than the family element or at or below the family element.
The number of households with the basic element of working tax credit, the couples and lone parents element and the 30 hour element for each Westminster parliamentary constituency has been deposited in the Libraries of the House. Again, the latest information available is for 2009-10.
Welfare Tax Credits: Rutherglen
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency are currently in receipt of (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit. [99534]
Mr Gauke: The number of families in Rutherglen and Hamilton West in receipt of working tax credit and child tax credit is as follows:
| Rutherglen and Hamilton West | |
| Number (thousand) | |
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This information is compiled using the December 2011 National Statistics dataset. The HMRC snapshot publication ‘Personal Tax Credits: Provisional Statistics—Geographical Statistics’ contains data on the number of families in receipt of tax credits and the December 2011 publication can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-dec2011.pdf
Table 4 has this information by Westminster parliamentary constituency.
Working Tax Credit
Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the (a) average number of weekly hours worked by recipients of working tax credits and (b) number of recipients who worked (i) 16 hours exactly, (ii) 17 to 20 hours, (iii) 21 to 24 hours, (iv) 24 to 30 hours, (v) 30 to 35 hours and (vi) over 35 hours in the latest period for which figures are available. [101811]
Mr Gauke: Hours worked by the main-worker(1) for households eligible for working tax credit and receiving a positive tax credit award as of December 2011.
| Hours | Households (thousands) |
Caution is needed with these estimates as there is little incentive to report to HMRC changes in hours worked if it does not affect the tax credit award.
(1) Main worker defined as adults in the household with the highest number of reported hours worked.
Karen Lumley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Redditch constituency who claim working tax credits will be affected by the increase in the working hours requirement. [105474]
Mr Gauke: We have made no such estimate.
The measure to restrict eligibility to working tax credit to 24 hours for couples with children is part of a range of reforms to the tax credits system announced at the spending review.
Estimating the effect on families from an individual measure does not give a clear indication of the full monetary impact on an individual household.
The Government published estimates of the distributional impact of the packages of announced tax and benefit measures which can be found at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/junebudget_annexa.pdf
http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sr2010_annexb.pdf
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Simon Hart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on parents of children with autism of changes to the disability care component of the working tax credit. [106137]
Miss Chloe Smith: The working tax credit does not include a disability care component. It has a disabled worker element and a severely disabled worker element. The child tax credit has a disabled child element and a severely disabled child element. All of these elements were up-rated by CPI in April 2012.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Ann Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to answer (a) questions 102273, 102272, 102276 tabled on 22 March 2012 for answer on 27 March 2012 on tax thresholds and (b) question 102733 tabled on 27 March 2012 for answer on 16 April 2012 on working tax credit. [106171]
Mr Gauke: Questions 102272 and 102276 were answered on 25 April 2012, Official Report, column 897W. 102273 and 102733 were answered today.
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer Question (a) 104962, (b) 104963, (c) 104964, (d) 105003 and (e) 104961 on child benefit fraud, tabled on 18 April 2012, for answer on 23 April 2012. [106348]
Mr Gauke: I have done so today.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the written answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 612W, on carbon emissions, how the Carbon Saving Communities Obligation will be different from (a) the Community Energy Saving Programme and (b) the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target. [106051]
Gregory Barker: We are designing the new Carbon Saving Communities obligation by building on the lessons we have learned from the current CERT and CESP schemes. We conducted a full evaluation(1) of these two programmes last year and have considered carefully some the obstacles to current delivery that were identified by that review. As an example, the Carbon Saving Communities Obligation will focus on all forms of insulation and will deliver on an area basis but include more communities than CESP—the bottom 15% most deprived communities in England and similar communities in Scotland and Wales will be eligible, which will allow for more flexible delivery on the ground.
Full details of the Carbon Saving Communities Obligation will be published in due course as part of the Government's response to the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation consultation.
(1) http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/funding-support/3340-evaluation-synthesis-of-energy-supplier-obligation.pdf
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1217W
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the written answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 612W, on carbon emissions, when he expects to publish his response to the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation consultation. [106052]
Gregory Barker: We expect to publish the Government's response to the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation consultations in June 2012, ahead of the Green Deal launch this autumn.
Combined Heat and Power
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy that for combined heat and power installations, the proportion of electricity and heat used for consumption by the generator of such electricity and heat is exempt from carbon price support for energy intensive industries at risk of carbon leakage; and if he will make a statement. [106247]
Gregory Barker: The package of measures announced in the autumn statement last year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), will compensate those electro-intensive industries most at risk of carbon leakage for the indirect costs of the carbon price floor and the EU emission trading scheme where these place them at a competitive disadvantage internationally.
The Chancellor also announced in the Budget that the fuel used for the generation of heat in good quality combined heat and power (CHP) plants would be exempt from carbon price support rates. Furthermore, plants with an electrical capacity of less than two megawatts are fully exempt from carbon price support.
Government will continue to exempt good quality CHP electricity that is generated for use onsite from the climate change levy.
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1218W
Electricity Generation
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost per megawatt hour of electricity generated by (a) coal, (b) coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS), (c) gas, (d) gas with CCS, (e) nuclear, (f) onshore wind, (g) offshore wind, (h) solar photovoltaic, (i) hydro and (j) biomass. [105691]
Charles Hendry: In recent years Government has commissioned several studies of the costs of different generation technologies to inform policy decisions. The most recent information about generation costs can be found in the three reports highlighted as follows which are available on the DECC website:
A report by Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) (2011) which focuses on non-renewables technologies can be found at
www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about-us/economics-social-research/2127-electricity-generation-cost-model-2011.pdf
A report by Arup/Ernst & Young (2011) which focuses on renewable technologies can to be found at
www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/ro-banding/3237-cons-ro-banding-arup-report.pdf
An update of solar PV costs by PB (January 2012) which is available at
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/meeting-energy-demand/renewable-energy/4290-solar-pv-cost-update-report--3-feb-2012-.pdf
The following table replicates information that can be found in Appendix A and D(1) of these respective reports, and shows central estimates for projects starting in 2011(2) and 2017 using a 10% discount rate.
(1) Please note that while the update of solar PV report did not include levelised cost calculations, the underlying published data have been used to calculated a solar PV levelised cost presented in the following table. An update to this report will be published alongside the response to the Phase 2A Solar PV costs consultation.
(2) Please note ‘project start’ indicates the start of pre-development work (including consent) for the project prior to final investment decision and commissioning.
| Table 1: Central levelised cost estimates for selected electricity generation technologies | ||
| £/MWh | ||
| Projects starting in 2011 | Projects starting in 2017 | |
| (1 )The Solar PV figure is for projects starting in 2012. Source: PB (2011), Arup/EY (2011), PB (2012). Please note all data are in 2010 prices (£). Where a technology is listed as FOAK/NOAK the first estimate for projects starting in 2011 is based on ‘first of a kind’ estimate, while for projects starting in 2017 it is based on a ‘nth of a kind' estimate. | ||
It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, discount rate and other drivers and this means that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates. It is perhaps more appropriate to consider a range of cost estimates as pipeline projects show a large range around these central values (set out in more detail in the above reports).
Energy
Martin Horwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the written
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1219W
ministerial statement of 18 October 2010,
Official Report
, columns 42-4WS, on national policy statements, whether it is his policy that contract for difference feed-in tariffs would have a single technology-neutral strike price and standard technology-neutral terms and conditions. [105900]
Gregory Barker: The CfD is a market based mechanism that aims to support all sources of low carbon generation. The Department is currently developing policy on how the strike prices will be determined and on contract terms. Further detail will be set out in the draft operational framework to be published later this spring.
Energy: Co-operatives
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assistance his Department is providing for the development of energy co-operatives. [105792]
Charles Hendry: The Department is providing a range of support for community energy, including support for energy co-operatives, as recently set out in the answer given by the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), to the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) on 26 April 2012, Official Report, columns 981-2W.
In particular, the guidance for applicants to the £10 million Local Action Assessment Fund (LEAF) stated that LEAF funding could be used for community capacity building, such as establishing community energy enterprises.
On the Department's “Community Energy Online” portal, there is also advice for communities about the Department for Business/UK Cooperatives joint competition for community buying groups closing on 15 May 2012. Further information is available at:
http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/buying
Environmental Protection
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2012, Official Report, column 484W, on environmental protection, how much of the £60 million allocated to developing manufacturing infrastructure at port sites has been (a) allocated to projects and (b) spent. [105617]
Gregory Barker: Bids for support under this scheme, and grant offers, are made on a confidential basis. Under the Grant for Business Investment scheme, information on grant offers for sums greater than £75,000 is normally published following the payment of the first instalment of the grant, including the name and location of the recipient of the grant and the size of the grant offered. At this point, projects have not yet reached the stage where details of the first grant instalment would be published.
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2012, Official Report, column 484W, on environment protection, how much of the £20 million allocated to carbon capture and storage costs reduction
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innovation has been
(a)
allocated to projects and
(b)
spent. [105622]
Charles Hendry: On 13 March, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), launched the competition to fund up to £20 million towards the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) innovation technologies. The competition opens for applications on 30 April and closes on 29 June 2012. Once the competition has closed and projects have been assessed, we expect to select and allocate funding to projects in the early autumn.
Feed-in Tariffs
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the contract for difference feed-in tariffs taking account of risk allocation and financeability in the (a) strike price and (b) terms of the contract. [105848]
Gregory Barker: The CfD is a market based mechanism that aims to support all sources of low carbon generation. The Department is currently developing policy on issues around risk allocation and financeability. Further detail will be set out in the draft operational framework to be published later this spring.
Gas and Electricity Markets Authority
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the written answer of 23 April 2012, Official Report, column 618W, on Ofgem, how many staff received bonuses in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011 in excess of (i) £1,489, (ii) £2,267, (iii) £5,000, (iv) £10,000, (v) £20,000 and (vi) £50,000. [106031]
Charles Hendry: Ofgem has provided the following information in this table.
| In excess of | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Green Deal Scheme
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to including smart metering in the Green Deal scheme. [105053]
Gregory Barker: The current list of qualifying measures under the Green Deal includes a range of measures which can improve the energy performance of the building in their own right, such as loft insulation.
As the cost of smart meters will be shared between all consumers (as is currently the way for existing meters) they do not require financing through the Green Deal. In addition, they are not an energy efficient measure in
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themselves. They are, however, a helpful tool providing consumers control and transparency over energy consumption.
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2012, Official Report, column 486W, on the Green Deal scheme, if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of unpublished research on consumer attitudes to the Green Deal. [105616]
Gregory Barker: Completed research is publicly available and a copy has already been placed in the Libraries of the House.
The remaining items of currently unpublished research are still being finalised. When complete, they will be published on the DECC website or in the final Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation Impact Assessment, and copies placed in the Library of the House.
Dr Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of arrangements for access to the (a) feed-in tariff and (b) Renewable Heat Incentive schemes that customers will have to provide a proportion of money to fund a microgeneration installation within the Green Deal. [105830]
Gregory Barker: There are a number of potential links between Green Deal measures, and the renewable heat incentive and feed-in tariffs. For example, many microgeneration and renewable heat technologies are already eligible for Green Deal finance. Improving energy efficiency in a property is an essential first step to ensuring the effectiveness of many renewable heat technologies, such as air and ground source heat pumps.
For this reason we are keen to encourage greater integration in the marketing of FITs/RHI and the Green Deal, leading to more informed consumer choices. However, there are a number of significant obstacles to further integration of the financial mechanisms that mean combining them is not currently possible.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in his Department were working on the (a) Green Deal and (b) Energy Company Obligation on (i) 1 May 2010, (ii) 1 November 2010, (iii) 1 May 2011, (iv) 1 November 2011 and (v) 1 April 2012. [106040] [Official Report, 10 May 2012, Vol. 545, c. 4MC.]
Gregory Barker: In May 2010 the focus was on Household Energy Efficiency when approximately 49 officials worked on the policy. After the election that policy was re-focused on a new longer term programme, the Green Deal.
From November 2010 to present day the figures are in the following table, broken down in the two areas:
| Household Energy Efficiency | ECO | Green Deal | |
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The Green Deal and ECO policy teams also draw in support from officials across the Department, for example from DECC lawyers, economists, scientists and statisticians.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if his Department plans to cap the number of Green Deal packages allowed to be taken out during the controlled launch period of the Green Deal; and what any such cap will be. [106041]
Gregory Barker: We have been in discussion with energy suppliers over proposals to ensure a successful launch and roll out of the domestic Green Deal and are currently in discussion over proposals for the successful launch of the Green Deal for the non domestic sector.
The results of these discussions will be announced in the Government's response to the Green Deal consultation in due course.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of Green Deal packages that will be taken out between 1 October 2012 and 31 December 2022. [106043]
Gregory Barker: Following public consultation, a revised impact assessment (IA) will be published shortly. The draft IA published last year estimated 3.6 million Green Deal packages would be taken out between January 2013 and December 2020. This was a preliminary scenario based on the best then available quantitative evidence. Draft plans by potential Green Deal providers already demonstrate innovative approaches to customer acquisition and sales which are not accounted for in either IA. This and other factors suggest that there should be a significant upside.
Heating: Radioactive Materials
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to repatriate the radioactive contamination removed from the heat exchangers from the Berkeley Magnox nuclear power plant shipped to Studsvik Nuclear AB at Nykoping in Sweden for treatment. [106320]
Charles Hendry: Radioactive wastes arising from the treatment of these heat exchangers will be returned to the UK.
Hydroelectric Power
Mel Stride: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of the EU water framework directive on the hydropower industry and of the implications of the Environment Agency's interpretation of that directive on future restrictions on hydropower schemes in England and Wales. [106063]
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Gregory Barker: DECC and DEFRA officials are part of the Environment Agency's Hydropower Working Group (HWG), which is considering revised hydropower good practice guidelines (GPG), including implementing relevant aspects of the EU water framework directive. The HWG includes representatives of the hydro industry and other stakeholders, and is gathering evidence of the impact of different flow regimes on a sample of existing hydropower schemes. The EA aim to publish the revised GPG later this year.
Nuclear Power
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what additional resources he has allocated to fund the Franco-British high-level group on nuclear energy; if he will publish in advance the agenda for each meeting of the group; and if he will publish the minutes of each meeting on his departmental website. [106191]
Charles Hendry: The plans for a Franco-British high-level group on nuclear energy are currently being developed in cooperation with our French colleagues, and no decisions have yet been made to publish any documents related to the meeting. The group will be funded from within existing resources.
Oil: Refineries
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on future support for the oil refining industry; and what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on improving UK competitiveness in that industry. [106244]
Charles Hendry: The Government recognises the important role that the UK's refining sector plays in the economic life of the country. The Government seeks to ensure that the right conditions exist to attract and retain investment in the UK's refining sector. We work closely with the downstream oil industry and its representatives to understand the impact of policy on the sector and to ensure this understanding is shared across a range of Government Departments. DECC regularly meets BIS and other Government Departments to discuss shared policy interests.
Power Stations
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of Germany's decision to build new coal and gas-fired power stations. [105805]
Charles Hendry: Under the Lisbon treaty each EU member state has the right to choose its own energy mix consistent with it being able to meet its EU obligations such as targets for emissions and use of renewable energy.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether any new power station commencing construction before the first allocation of capacity contracts for the British electricity market will be treated as a new plant for the purposes of the capacity market. [105824]
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Charles Hendry: The Government is considering this, and whether there will be any differentiation between new and existing plants, as part of the detailed design of the capacity market. More information on the developing design of the capacity market will be published later in the spring.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether electricity market reform will mean new and existing plants are treated differently in the capacity market; and if he will make a statement. [105825]
Charles Hendry: The Government is considering this as part of the detailed design of the capacity market. More information on the developing design of the capacity market will be published later in the spring.
Renewable Energy: Heating
Dr Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the renewable heat premium payment scheme on the viability of bioliquids as a fuel for households without mains gas supply. [105273]
Gregory Barker: While we are considering the use of bioliquids in renewable heat incentives prior to any consultation on the long-term support for renewable heat in the domestic sector, bioliquids are not part of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment as this scheme provides grants towards the installation of renewable heating systems certified under the Microgeneration Certification scheme (MCS); there are no bioliquid fuelled renewable heating systems certified under the MCS.
Secondment
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in his Department took up secondments to outside organisations in the latest period for which information is available; what the length of each secondment was; what the cost to the Department of each secondment was; and what the name of the organisation and the location of each secondment was. [106042]
Gregory Barker: As of 31 March 2011, the following table outlines officials currently on secondment, the duration, cost, name of organisation and location.
| Organisation | Duration of secondment | Location of secondment | Cost of secondment (£) |
| (1) Based on average salary for grade. | |||
30 Apr 2012 : Column 1225W
Travel
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many journeys (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department made by (i) train, (ii) coach and (iii) Government car in an official capacity in each of the last six months. [103635]
Gregory Barker: The information requested is as follows.
Between October 2011 and March 2012:
(a) DECC Ministers made (i) 39 journeys by train and (iii) 105 journeys using Government cars;
(b) Departmental officials made (i) 151 journeys by train and (iii) 116 journeys using Government cars.
We do not hold any information on coach travel.
DECC Ministers’ use of Government cars has reduced by 28% (down from 276 journeys in 2009-10 to 200 journeys in 2011-12)
DECC officials’ use of Government cars has fallen by 48% from 383 in 2009-10 to 199 in 2011-12.