Entry Clearances: Sports Competitors
Sir James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions her Department has had with sporting bodies regarding the use of Tier 5 visas. [156019]
Mr Harper: Officials met the British Horseracing Authority on 2 May 2013 to discuss its endorsement criteria for Tier 5 overseas sports persons working in the horse racing sector. That was the most recent meeting, beyond day to day contact with the various sports governing bodies on routine matters.
G4S
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further discussions she has had with G4S on its suitability as a Government contractor. [156001]
James Brokenshire: The Home Department regularly reviews all contracts with G4S on a quarterly basis at Executive Oversight Board meetings which are attended by senior executives from G4S and senior officials from the Home Department.
It also contributes regular updates on G4S to the Cabinet Office Supplier Relationship programme Crown representative.
Government Procurement Card
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the mean average spend using a Government procurement card was per senior civil servant in (a) her Department, (b) the UK Border Agency and (c) the UK Border Force in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012. [156325]
Mr Harper: The information requested on average Government procurement card spend per senior civil servant, for the Home Department, UK Border Agency and UK Border Force, can be found in the following table:
| GPC spend per senior civil servant | |||
| £ | |||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
Illegal Immigrants
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arrested in each of the last five years were found to be living in the UK illegally. [154960]
Mr Harper [holding answer 14 May 2013]: In terms of arrests made by the police, we do not hold this data; each force would need to be approached separately were we to want accurate figures from a police perspective. We work closely with the police to combat illegal immigration; for example, in London we have established Operation Nexus targeting immigration offenders in London.
The Home Office makes arrests in the course of immigration enforcement visits where an individual is suspected of committing an immigration related offence.
Data on the reason for arrests are only held at the level of co-ordinated paper case files or within the notes section of the Home Office's National Operations Database (NOD).
Such data are not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean this question could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
However, we can confirm that the Home Office arrested 42,340 for immigration related offences between April 2008 and March 2013. This includes arrests made during the course of immigration visits, and those people arrested by police and subsequently transferred to the Home Office.
| Financial year | Arrests for immigration related offences |
All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
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Immigration
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the process is for obtaining a slot at the Public Enquiry Office at Lunar House for indefinite leave to remain applications. [156330]
Mr Harper: A customer can book an appointment for an indefinite leave to remain appointment at the Public Enquiry Office at Lunar House by using our “Apply online” booking system or (in exceptional circumstances) by phone. To book an appointment online a customer must create an account with our “Apply online” booking system by visiting our website:
https://apply.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/secure/secure.portal
Once the user account is activated a customer can then select the category under which they wish to apply and select an available appointment slot. Once their appointment has been booked the customer will receive a confirmation text message or email that details the time and date of their appointment.
A representative who is registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) can also make an appointment on behalf of their customers by emailing
PEOCroydonRepsBio@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
between 09:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). Once an appointment has been booked the representative will receive a confirmation email detailing the time and date of their appointment.
Immigration: Children
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children from each country of origin arrived in the UK unescorted in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; and how many such children have subsequently been returned to their country of origin. [155640]
Mr Harper: We do not collect data on all unescorted children arriving in the UK. We do know the number of non-British citizen children who were subject to further examination at the border, however, determining how many were unescorted and were subsequently returned to their country of origin, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration: Married People
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the damages ordered by the European Court of Human Rights to be paid to Mr Ilyas Elmi Hode and Ms Hawa Aden Adbi in its judgement of 6 November 2012 were paid. [153899]
Mr Harper: Following the European Court of Human Rights judgment of 6 November 2012, which became final on 6 February 2013, payment was made on 16 April 2013.
Ian Austin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2013, Official Report, column 10W, on immigration: married people and in paragraph 18(b), Appendix FM-SE (Family members-specified evidence to the UK
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Border Agency's Immigration Rules), under what circumstances commission-based earnings will be taken into account to meet the financial requirement. [156081]
Mr Harper: Under paragraph 18(b) of Appendix FM-SE to the Immigration Rules commission-based earnings from employment in the six or 12 months prior to the date of application can be counted as income under the minimum income threshold to be met in a spouse visa application, where the requirements of that appendix in relation to that employment are met.
Manchester Airport: Immigration Controls
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1021W, on Manchester Airport: immigration controls, for what reasons no queuing data was collected at Terminal 3 in (a) November and (b) December 2012. [156323]
Mr Harper: The Department's data assurance programme identified weaknesses in the methodology used at Manchester Airport Terminal 3, which meant that the data collected during November-December 2012, was not deemed sufficiently robust. These weaknesses were remedied during November-December 2012 and robust reporting is now in place.
Overseas Students
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she has given to removing international students from the migration statistics. [155543]
Mr Harper: Students will continue to count in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) net migration figures because students who stay for more than 12 months are long-term migrants, according to the UN definition. The ONS has recently changed its methodology so that in future it will be possible to identify students in emigration as well as immigration flows. This will begin to provide a more accurate measure of the contribution of students to overall net migration from August 2013.
Police and Crime Commissioners
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a meeting was held between Ministers of her Department and police and crime commissioners in the week commencing 22 April 2013. [154829]
Damian Green [holding answer 13 May 2013]:Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and others 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 meetings.
Police: Recruitment
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police and community support officers have become police officers in each of the last five years. [156043]
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Damian Green: The Home Office retains information only on the number of police community support officers (headcount) in England and Wales that have left their police force to become a joined regular, by force transfers and voluntary resignations. These figures are provided within the table for the last five years. Recruitment to the police is managed locally, and information is retained on local systems.
Private Finance Initiative
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which private finance initiative projects relating to her Department have been refinanced in each year since May 2010; what the value is of each such project; what the refinancing gain has been in each such case; and how much any such gain the relevant Government body received through a (a) lump sum and (b) reduction in the unitary charge. [156003]
James Brokenshire: The Home Department has not refinanced any private finance initiative projects since May 2010.
Repatriation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals killed in the UK were repatriated in each of the last five years; and at what cost to the public purse in each such year. [154621]
Mr Harper: The Home Department does not hold this information.
Scotland
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last met (a) the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice and (b) any other Scottish Government Minister; and what was discussed at any such meeting. [155673]
James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website.
Staff
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials of her Department are working on the proposed EU police and criminal justice opt-out. [156322]
James Brokenshire: The Department currently has a dedicated project team of four full-time officials working on the proposed EU police and criminal justice opt-out. Another official spends 50% of their time working on this matter. However, the complexity of the decision to be made means that the team is supported by a wide range of policy, finance, and legal experts within the Department, the numbers of which cannot be quantified.
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Telecommunications
Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 119W, on telecommunications, which local authorities provided further information; and if she will make a statement. [156359]
James Brokenshire: The Local Government Association, the National Anti-Fraud Network, the Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers and the London Borough Fraud Investigators' Group submitted the principal responses outlining the continuing requirement for local authorities to have access to communications data.
Training
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible enrolled in publicly funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year. [155431]
James Brokenshire: To provide this response would incur disproportionate cost to the Department.
Travel
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each such year. [155411]
James Brokenshire: The total cost to the Home Department and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) of travel subsistence expenses claims in each of the last five years was:
| Total (£) | |
The figure for 2008-09 does not include NDPB expenditure as the reporting mechanism used does not allow detailed travel subsistence expenses to be extracted.
Information relating to the number of claims and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest claims cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
Written Questions
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many holding answers her Department provided to written parliamentary questions in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) the first quarter of 2013; and what estimate she has made of the cost of providing such answers. [156324]
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Mr Harper: The Home Department provided the following holding answers respectively:
(a) 672
(b) 600
(c) 603
(d) 170
The Home Department does not provide estimates of PQ costs and does not plan to do so.
Parliamentary questions on Government and Equalities are included in the figures up until 4 September 2012 when the Government Equalities Office (GEO) moved to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
This is management information, it is provisional and subject to change.
Deputy Prime Minister
Electoral Register
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of using private credit reference agencies in helping to improve electoral registration rates. [154455]
Miss Chloe Smith: As part of our work on electoral registration data matching pilot schemes over the last two years, we considered the possibility of a pilot that would use credit reference agency data, but we were unable to do so within current legislation. We continue, however, to work with data holding organisations to explore which datasets can best be used to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Birds
Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of changes in the number of ground-nesting birds. [154135]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA has not undertaken a specific assessment of changes in the number of ground-nesting birds. There are many types of bird that nest on the ground; these include wildfowl and waders, gamebirds, many seabirds and some song-birds associated with open habitats, such as skylarks and meadow pipits. These species vary in their habitat requirements, their ecology and the threats to which they are exposed.
The UK Government publish annual statistics on trends in wild bird populations for the UK and England. Combined trends are published for farmland, woodland, wetland and seabirds. Ground nesting species are included in the wetland bird trend and, to a lesser extent, in the seabird and farmland bird trends. These statistics are based on data from a range of sources, including the Breeding Bird Survey, which is undertaken by the British Trust for Ornithology with additional funding from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. These organisations also publish trends for individual species.
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Coastal Erosion
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Coastal Change Pathfinders in helping communities at risk of coastal erosion; and what plans he has to provide further help to such communities. [154939]
Richard Benyon: A high level review of the Coastal Change Pathfinders Project was published in March 2012 together with an evaluation of the five biggest projects, many of which are currently ongoing. One of the key proposals of Pathfinders was 'rollback' or 'rolling back properties at risk'. Various proposals within the pathfinders moved properties or people away from the coast; this is known as 'rollback'. We will be seeking further evidence on the rolling back properties at risk and until this is available, final decisions on the Pathfinders will not be taken.
Environment Protection: Seas and Oceans
Mr Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has taken steps under section 56 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 to publish the Direction issued under section 55 of that Act, and to draw this to the attention of those persons likely to be interested or affected by it. [154221]
Richard Benyon: The UK Marine Policy Statement was published on 18 March 2011. It described the principal marine planning functions for the English inshore and offshore areas that had been delegated to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). I will ensure that the section 55 Direction itself is published, including on the MMO website, as soon as possible.
Flood Control
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 11 December 2012, Official Report, columns 257-8W, on flood control, what the planned spending on flood and coastal erosion risk management was in each year since 1996; and in each case what the actual spending was as a proportion of the planned spending. [154252]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA does not hold historical records of the difference between planned spending and actual spending going back to 1996. I can confirm that in 2011-12, DEFRA was able to provide an additional £22.3 million to the Environment Agency due to internal reprioritisation of budgets.
The Environment Agency is able to make full use of any funding made available by DEFRA through efficient project management of its flood and coastal erosion risk management programme.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department obtains from (a) the private sector and (b) other sectors for the purposes of flood defence. [154271]
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Richard Benyon: The following table provides details of contributions towards flood defence in England between 2012-13 and 2013-14. For the financial year 2012-13 the actual spend has been provided. For 2013-14 the current best estimate has been provided based on allocations made in February.
At present, contributions are classified into three categories: local levy contributions, which are provided by Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, public sector (contributions provided via local authorities) and private sector (contributions provided by private sector organisations.
DEFRA does not include local levy funding when reporting totals of partnership funding contributions because this funding stream was in place prior to the introduction of the new partnership funding policy. We are on track to bring forward a total of £148 million of contributions over the period from April 2011 to March 2015. This is on top of the £2.3 billion the Government will be spending over the same period.
| £ million | |||
| Financial year | Public | Private | Local levy |
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will ensure that there is a balance between capital and revenue spend on flood defence measures so that any asset created has maintenance funding to ensure that it remains viable for the lifetime of the asset. [154374]
Richard Benyon: Investment in flood risk management requires a balance between maintenance of the asset base and the targeted capital investment to improve or replace assets. Assessment of the capital investment in new assets is based on the whole life cost of the asset including maintenance.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which coastal towns have benefited from flood defences under the Coastal Change Pathfinders Scheme; and how much has been spent on coastal defences in each such community since the termination of that scheme. [154587]
Richard Benyon: The purpose of the pathfinder scheme was to explore new approaches to planning for and managing adaptation to coastal change, rather than defence. The funding supported areas within the selected authorities where flood defences were not sustainable or affordable. The 15 local authority areas chosen as pathfinders, and the amounts spent on coastal defences under the separate Flood and Coastal Risk Management Grant in Aid funding for these authorities since the end of the scheme, are as follows:
| Local Authority | Amount spent (£) |
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| (1) With £15,760,200 expected in 2013-14. (2) With £7,720,000 expected in 2013-14. (3) With £525,000 expected in 2013-14. (4) With £3,100,000 expected in 2013-14. | |
Floods: Insurance
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made towards replacing the Statement of Principles for insurance against flooding. [156285]
Richard Benyon: The Government has made significant progress in discussions with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) on how its flood re-proposal could be made to work. This is a complex issue and no deal has been reached but we aim to conclude negotiations as soon as possible.
ABI members have voluntarily agreed to continue to abide by the statement of principles for a further month, to 31 July, to allow more time to reach agreement. If the ABI's proposal cannot be made to work, other options are also available. The Water Bill is the obvious vehicle to take any powers needed.
Hedgehogs
Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of changes in the hedgehog population in England and Wales in each of the last five years. [154134]
Richard Benyon: The decline in the hedgehog population is well documented. The report ‘The State of Britain's Hedgehogs’, which was published in 2011 by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species, states that there were an estimated 30 million hedgehogs in the 1950s but that this estimate had declined to approximately 1.5 million by 1995. Both organisations have conducted various other hedgehog surveys.
Since the 1990s, the British Trust for Ornithology, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and other organisations have provided evidence of continued decline in hedgehog numbers and that the population may have decreased by approximately 25% over the last 10 years.
Under the work to develop the implementation plan for Biodiversity 2020 (the Government's strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem services), Natural England has commissioned work to review all species listed on Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural
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Communities Act 2006 to identify priorities for action and to determine what those actions should be. The hedgehog is being considered within this context by the Mammal Taxon Group which comprises specialist organisations, led by Natural England.
Inflation
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the purposes for which his Department uses (a) the retail price index measure of inflation, (b) the consumer price index measure of inflation and (c) any alternative measure of inflation. [154977]
Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA uses the consumer price index (CPI) and retail price index (RPI) for indexing rates in contracts and they are widely used for removing the effects of price changes in statistical time series and impact assessments.
The precise index series used will be reviewed, for example when new contracts are negotiated.
Light Bulbs: Waste Disposal
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of public awareness of appropriate disposal of compact fluorescent light bulbs. [154280]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA has made no assessment of public awareness of the appropriate disposal of compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Low-energy light bulbs contain a small dose of mercury and should be disposed of responsibly. Recent legislation, which implements two EC directives on electrical and electronic equipment, limits the amount of mercury which such bulbs may contain and sets up a framework for disposing of them in an environmentally safe manner.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006 enable local authorities to work together with retailers of electrical and electronic equipment in their local areas to let householders know where they can deposit old equipment (including low-energy light bulbs) for treatment and recycling.
These regulations require all distributors (retailers, mail-order companies and internet sellers) of low-energy light bulbs, referred to in the legislation as gas discharge lamps, to provide information to consumers and other users. This includes information on the requirement not to dispose of such bulbs as unsorted municipal waste, and on the return and collection systems available to them. Some retailers discharge this function by providing in-store take back of waste compact fluorescent light bulbs.
The 2006 WEEE Regulations also place a responsibility on producers to mark low-energy light bulbs with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol, and to finance their collection, treatment, recovery and recycling when deposited at designated collection facilities or returned to designated distributors by householders.
As waste is a devolved matter, this response relates only to England.
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Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance has been provided to local authorities regarding the safe disposal of compact fluorescent lightbulbs. [154281]
Richard Benyon: Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), the most common type of energy efficient bulbs, are covered by the UK waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations. All local authorities in England work with producer compliance schemes to provide designated collection facilities for WEEE. Information about which sites take back CFLs and other types of WEEE is available on the recycle-more website at:
www.recycle-more.co.uk
The collection network established under the WEEE regulations allows the householder to return CFLs and other electrical equipment free of charge to designated collection facilities (generally local authority civic amenity sites) or retailers. Separate arrangements exist for business end-users.
Producer compliance schemes, acting on behalf of those that originally placed the product on the market, must finance the collection of bulbs from these facilities and ensure that they are treated and recycled to the treatment standards laid down in the regulations and guidance documents. We would expect producer compliance schemes, retailers and local authorities to work together to ensure the safe collection and recovery of CLFs. This would include compliance with the duty of care for waste, which requires waste producers to use a registered waste carrier for the transport of waste and to ensure that waste is only transferred to a permitted or exempt waste management facility. DEFRA has issued statutory guidance on the duty of care for waste and this is available on the Environment Agency website.
DEFRA has not issued specific guidance to local authorities about the recycling of CFLs. However, such lamps are classified as hazardous waste and DEFRA has issued guidance relating to the management of hazardous waste, including a guide on the rules relating to mixing such waste. This includes advice about local authority collections and the need to keep this type of waste separate, to provide clearly labelled receptacles so that members of the public can put the waste in the right place, and to separate out items placed in the wrong receptacles unless to do so would pose a health and safety risk to civic amenity site staff.
As waste policy is a devolved matter, this response relates only to England.
Marine Management Organisation
Mr Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he issued a Direction to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) under section 55 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, empowering the MMO to carry out marine planning functions; and when the MMO consented to that under section 55. [154222]
Richard Benyon: A Direction to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) under section 55 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 was jointly agreed by DEFRA and the MMO on 18 March 2010.
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Natural England: Staff
Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff are employed by Natural England; and how many such staff are designated as managers. [154229]
Richard Benyon: On 30 April 2013, Natural England had 2,393 staff.
Of these, 216 had responsibility for managing the performance of staff and resources to deliver Government priorities. Managers have people management and front-line delivery responsibilities.
Critical Resources
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contribution his Department is making towards the launch of a new critical resources contribution dashboard. [155547]
Richard Benyon: The development of a pilot critical resources dashboard is being led by the Environment Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network (ESKTN). As outlined in the March 2012 Resource Security Action Plan, DEFRA is working closely with the ESKTN to help steer the development of the dashboard and has contributed funding to support development of the site.
Pay
Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance
20 May 2013 : Column 450W
his Department issues on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of a bonus payment to an official in his Department; what the process is for clawing back such bonuses; and on how many occasions this has happened in each of the last five years. [154997]
Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA has not issued guidance on the actions that would result in the suspension or removal of non-consolidated performance payments to an official or what the process is for clawing back such payments. Any such instances would be considered on an individual basis.
No payments have been suspended, removed or clawed back in each of the last five years.
Publications
Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on subscriptions to academic journals published by (a) Reed-Elsevier, (b) Wiley-Blackwell, (c) Springer and (d) any other academic publisher in each of the last five years. [154494]
Richard Benyon: This information is not held centrally. However, most academic journals are ordered through the core DEFRA library service.
The spend by this service on subscriptions to academic journals published by (a)Reed-Elsevier, (b) Wiley-Blackwell, (c) Springer and (d) any other academic publisher in each of the last five years is as follows:
| £ | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
Risk Assessment
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition of the precautionary principle is used by his Department. [154809]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA uses the definition in the 1992 United Nations Rio Declaration on Environment and Development:
“In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”
Wales
Clothing
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been. [155458]
Stephen Crabb: In the last five years no claims for evening dress allowance have been made by officials in the Wales Office.
Fire Extinguishers
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what recent representations he has received from Members of the Welsh Assembly in support of the introduction of fire sprinklers in new homes; [155623]
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing sprinkler systems into homes in Wales. [155624]
Mr David Jones: I have received representation from Ann Jones AM, expressing support for the Domestic Fire Safety measure. Welsh specific building regulations, including the requirement for all new homes in Wales to be fitted with sprinklers, was also a matter I discussed with the Welsh Government Finance Minister at our bilateral on 29 April 2013.
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Wales's largest independent house builder Redrow has estimated that Welsh specific building regulations, including the requirement for all new homes to be fitted with a sprinkler, is estimated to impose an additional £13,000 to the unit building cost in Wales. I have written to the Welsh Government urging them to give further consideration to the impacts of those regulations on the construction industry in Wales.
ICT
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other pieces of IT equipment were lost or stolen from his Department in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [156437]
Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office had no reported losses of computers, BlackBerrys or other pieces of IT equipment in financial years 2010-11 to 2012-13. One mobile phone was reported lost in 2011-12; no mobile phones were reported lost in the other two years.
Regulation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department. [155805]
Mr David Jones:
Due to the nature of its role, the Wales Office rarely introduces, amends or revokes regulations. Most of the Statutory Instruments that the
20 May 2013 : Column 452W
Department introduces relate to elections to the National Assembly for Wales. These are either amended or revoked before each Assembly election, following discussion with the Welsh Government, Electoral Commission, political parties and electoral administrators in Wales.
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended; [155828]
(2) if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were. [155971]
Mr David Jones: The Wales Office has not introduced, amended or revoked any regulations since May 2010.
Training
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year. [155438]
Stephen Crabb: The following table sets out how many officials in the Wales Office enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year:
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13(1) | |
|
Number of officials enrolled in publically funded training courses | |||||
| (1) In 2012-13, one course attended by two officials. | |||||
Travel
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each such year. [155418]
Stephen Crabb: The following table sets out Wales Office expenditure on travel and subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each year:
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20 May 2013 : Column 454W
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
UK Trade and Investment
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to encourage UK Trade and Investment to co-ordinate its trade promotion activities with the Welsh Government. [156090]
Mr David Jones: The UK Government has extended the secondments of two UKTI officials into the Welsh Government to ensure that trade promotion activities are coordinated in Wales. I am delighted that preliminary figures from UKTI show that foreign investment created 2,605 new jobs in Wales and helped to safeguard a further 4,857 in 2012-13. The total number of jobs secured through foreign investment increased by 61.5% on the previous year.
Northern Ireland
Clothing
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been. [155454]
Mike Penning: Following the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Since April 2010, no officials in my department have made a claim for evening dress; there is no provision or allowance for this.
My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters—contact details are set out in the following table:
| ALB | Status | Contact details |
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Public Appointments
Keith Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the (a) Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland, (b) Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and (c) Parades Commission for
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Northern Ireland were on 1 January 2013; and what the (i) ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member. [156253]
Mike Penning: The information requested as at 1 January 2013 is shown in the following table:
| Public body | Name | Start date of current term | End date of current term | Remuneration (£) |
Statistically information on the public bodies sponsored by my Department, including ethnicity, is published annually by the Cabinet Office and is available at:
http://resources.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/PB12.pdf
Regulation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what processes her Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by her Department; [155801]
(2) what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by her Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended; [155823]
(3) if she will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by her Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were. [155967]
Mike Penning: The Northern Ireland Office has responsibilities chiefly on constitutional, electoral and national security matters. Due to the nature of its role, my Department rarely introduces, amends or revokes regulations.
Of the small number of regulations concerned, many relate to making minor amendments to existing elections and security legislation. Since May 2010, my Department has introduced/revoked the following regulations:
The Electoral Law (Polling Station Scheme) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/1532);
The Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (No SR number);
Identification and Traceability of Explosives (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2012 (SR 2012/123);
Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (SR 2012/429);
Identification and Traceability of Explosives (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2013 {SR 2013/48) (note: these regulations revoked the 2012 regulations cited above and earlier 2010 regulations).
Training
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible enrolled in publicly funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year. [155434]
Mike Penning:
Following the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent
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reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
For the three years since devolution the figures are as follows:
| Number of staff attending | Total cost (£) | |
| (1) Not held. | ||
The 10 highest training course fees for each year were:
1. £16,584—Departmental contribution to National School for Government Core Learning programme
2. £1,025—Open University degree course
3. £1,000—Introduction to Information Assurance
4. £440—Custodian course
5. £400—Management coaching and mentoring course.
It is not possible to provide other individual course costs for 2010-11 as these were covered by our contribution to the Core Learning Programme which meant that courses provided by NSG were free.
1. £1,989—Records and Information Management
2. £1,775—Information Assurance
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3. £1,760—Prince2 Practitioners
4. £1,350—Prince2 Foundation
5. £1,350—Prince2 Practitioner
6. £1,210—Parliamentary Government and the Civil Service
7. £1,020—Personal Effectiveness
8. £894—Financial Training
9. £740—Finance for Non-Finance Managers
10. £480—Public Accountability and Governance for the Senior Civil Service.
1. £3,858—Leading with Purpose
2. £3,858—Leading with Purpose
3. £1,518—Centre for Applied Learning, courses attended November 2012
4. £1,086—Centre for Applied Learning, courses attended December 2012
5. £1,074—Prince2 Training Course
6. £416—Bill Team Training
7. £395—Centre for Applied Learning, courses attended June 2012
8. £256—Developing your Leadership Style
9. £252—Achieving More with Less
10. £236—Briefings and Submissions.
My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters. Contact details are set out in the following table:
| ALB | Status | Contact details |
Travel
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each such year. [155414]
Mike Penning: Following the devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010, and subsequent reconfiguration of the Northern Ireland Office, my Department does not hold figures for the periods prior to 2010; attempting to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
The information requested by my hon. Friend for the period since the devolution of policing and justice functions is not held in a form which would allow us to respond without considerable manual review of electronic and physical files. This would incur disproportionate cost.
My Department has two non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, my hon. Friend may wish to write to the Commissions direct on these matters. Contact details are set out in the following table:
| ALB | Status | Contact details |
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Leader of the House
Scotland
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Leader of the House if he will list the legislation his Office has sponsored which has devolved powers to the Scottish Parliament and powers within such legislation since 1998. [156234]
Treasury
Banks
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to make the operation of banks more transparent; and if he has considered requiring banks to make public details of (a) the source from which they take savings and (b) the postcodes in which they lend. [156008]
Greg Clark: The Government are already taking forward a number of measures to make the operations of banks more transparent.
Specifically, the Government are working with the industry—through the British Bankers Association (BBA) and other interested parties—to secure a commitment from the banks that they will publish postcode level lending data broken down by institution. If it is not possible to reach a satisfactory industry-led agreement the Government will introduce amendments to the Banking Reform Bill to ensure that the data is published.
Banks: Wales
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government about the creation of a public bank of Wales. [156082]
Danny Alexander: I have had no discussions with the Welsh Government about the creation of a public bank of Wales.
Bridges: River Thames
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment Infrastructure UK has made of the need for additional crossings of the Thames in East London; [155938]
(2) what economic analysis has been undertaken by his Department on the need to improve road transport infrastructure in East London to support economic growth. [155939]
Danny Alexander: The Department for Transport is the lead Department on road transport infrastructure and Transport for London has a specific role leading on improving local road infrastructure in London. No additional economic analysis or assessment has been undertaken by the Treasury or IUK on the need to improve road transport infrastructure in east London including the need for additional crossings.
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Clothing
Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been. [155457]
Sajid Javid: Information relating to the evening dress allowance is not separately identified within our accounting system. This is a taxable benefit and is paid through staff salary; to attempt to extract this information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
All staff must refer to the Department’s travel and subsistence policy when making a claim for evening dress allowance and must obtain pre-approval from a director for the expenditure.
Conditions of Employment
Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in his Department are employed on zero hours contracts. [156095]
Sajid Javid: HM Treasury does not employ any staff on zero-hour contracts.
Economic Situation
Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of whether the UK National Reform Programme is a submission the basis of which falls within the scope of section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993. [154851]
Greg Clark: The Government do not consider that the National Reform Programme falls within the scope of section 5 of the European Communities 1993 (Amendment) Act. The National Reform Programme does not include any material that has not previously been published.
Enterprise Investment Scheme
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the merits of providing incentives through the Enterprise Investment Scheme for energy service companies to invest in projects delivering permanent and verifiable savings on electricity consumption. [155630]
Mr Gauke: The Enterprise investment scheme (EIS) currently covers a very wide range of industries. Energy service companies, are able to benefit from EIS provided that they are not benefiting from the Feed-in Tariff, conducting trading activities that involve leasing or letting assets on hire, or conducting trading activities that involve various forms of financing. These restrictions exist to ensure that EIS meets its aim to incentivise investment in risky, smaller companies that have difficulties accessing finance.
The Government keeps all aspects of tax policy under review.
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Financial Services
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what other avenues are available to address losses caused by the actions of financial services companies, where allegations are made in the public domain regarding financial irregularities by such companies and an individual is reluctant to submit a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. [156258]
Greg Clark: Individuals with complaints about financial service companies who are reluctant to submit a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to pursue compensation through the courts.
Where there has been a breach of relevant requirements, the Financial Conduct Authority has powers to intervene in certain circumstances and may be able to require firms to take remedial action. For example, it has powers to impose industry or single firm redress schemes. However, it is not within its remit to resolve individual cases.
Financial Services: EU Law
Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in hearing the UK's case regarding Regulation (EU) No 236/2012; when he expects judgment on that case to be given by the CJEU; and if he will place in the Library the written legal submissions made by the Government to the CJEU in that case. [154852]
Greg Clark: On 31 May 2012, the UK launched a legal challenge to the CJEU regarding article 28 of regulation (EU) No. 236/2012. The case is ongoing and, in accordance with its usual procedure, the court is not able to disclose when a judgment can be expected.
As is the usual case, legal submissions made by the Government to the CJEU in the case regarding regulation (EU) No 236/2012 will not be placed in the Library of Official Documents.
Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in hearing the UK's case regarding the European Central Bank's proposed location policy for central counterparties dealing in euro-denominated financial products; when he expects judgment on that case to be given by the CJEU; and if he will place in the Library the written legal submissions made by the Government to the CJEU in that case. [154853]
Greg Clark: On 15 September 2011, the UK launched its legal challenge, regarding the location policy of the European Central Bank for central counterparties dealing in euro-denominated financial products. The case is ongoing at the General Court of the European Union and, in accordance with usual procedure, the court is not able to disclose when a judgment can be expected.
As is the usual case, legal submissions made by the Government to the CJEU in the case regarding regulation (EU) No 236/2012 will not be placed in the Library of Official Documents.
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Financial Services: Taxation
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with his European counterpart on the financial transaction tax. [154760]
Greg Clark: The European Commission’s proposal for a financial transaction tax under the enhanced co-operation procedure continues to be frequently raised in discussions between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his European counterparts.
Fraud
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if HM Revenue and Customs use (a) Atos or (b) any other company for the provision of counter-fraud activities and related services. [156471]
Mr Gauke: HMRC do not use Atos for counter-fraud and related services although they are available to HMRC on the Government Procurement Service’s Data Access, Processing and Analytics (DAPA) framework. HMRC use other companies to provide counter-fraud activities and related services.
Green Investment Bank
Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has paid into the Green Investment Bank to date. [156027]
Sajid Javid: The Government are committed to providing £3 billion funding for the Green Investment Bank.
Income Tax: Scotland
Margaret Curran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the membership of the three technical groups set up by HM Revenue and Customs to examine consequential issues arising as a result of the introduction of the Scottish rate of income tax, referred to in the First Annual Report on the Implementation and Operation of Part 3 (Financial Provisions) of the Scotland Act 2012. [156357]
Mr Gauke: The following organisations were represented on the three technical groups set up by HM Revenue and Customs to examine consequential issues arising as a result of the introduction of the Scottish rate of income tax:
Association of British Insurers, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Association of Member-directed Pension Schemes, British Computer Society, Confederation of British Industry, Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals, Charities Aid Foundation, Charity Finance Directors Group (now known as Charity Finance Group), Charity Tax Group, Chartered Institute of Taxation, Chartered Institute of Taxation (Scotland), Church of Scotland, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Institute of Directors, Institute of Fundraising, Law Society, Law Society of Scotland, Low Income Tax Reform Group, National Association of Pension Funds, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, National Employment Savings Trusts, Scottish Charity Finance Directors Group, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Scottish Government, Scottish Widows, Small Charities Coalition, Society of Pensions Consultants, Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners, Standard Life, Stewardship.
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Margaret Curran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to First Annual Report on the Implementation and Operation of Part 3 (Financial Provisions) of the Scotland Act 2012, what costs have been incurred in respect of the project to implement the Scottish rate of income tax; and what proportion of such costs will be borne by the Scottish Government. [156358]
Mr Gauke: As set out in paragraph 12 of the Annual Report, HMRC invoiced the Scottish Government for £165,141; this is the total cost of the implementation project for the Scottish rate of income tax in 2012-13. The full amount was paid by the Scottish Government on 19 April.
Investment
Richard Graham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much in foreign bond holdings has been held by the Government in each of the last five years; and how much in UK bonds has been purchased by foreign governments in each such year. [155383]
Sajid Javid: The Government's foreign bond holdings are held in the Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA). The exact composition of the reserves assets is market sensitive information; however, information about debt securities held in the EEA can be found in the EEA Annual Accounts. The Government held £32 billion in foreign currency debt securities in the year ended March 2012.
Data produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that overseas investors have been net purchasers of gilts over each of the last five years, with net purchases totalling £203 billion between 2008 and 2012, of which around £27 billion can be attributed to purchases by foreign central banks.
Personal Savings
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average proportion of individuals' after-tax incomes that were put towards savings in each decile of the working population was in each of the last 30 years. [155764]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2013:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, asking what the average proportion of individuals' after-tax incomes that were put towards savings in each decile of the working population was in each of the last 30 years (155764).
ONS does not have the data required to answer your question. ONS's annual publication, ‘The Effects of Taxes & Benefits on Household Income’
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/household-income/the-effects-of-taxes-and-benefits-on-household-income/2010-11/index.html
does contain information on after-tax income by decile for non-retired households, going back to 1977. This publication is based on the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF), which is a sample survey covering approximately 5,000 households in the UK. However,
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although the LCF also collects information on household expenditure, it is not possible to produce from this a reliable estimate of the proportion of income put towards savings.
ONS also publish within the Quarterly National Accounts, the households' savings ratio
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa2/quarterly-national-accounts/q4-2012/stb-quarterly-national-accounts-q4-2012.html
This is calculated from total-UK aggregates and for many of these (e.g. household final consumption expenditure) a breakdown by income decile is not available.
Child Poverty
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Institute for Fiscal Studies' report on the projected increase in childhood poverty in the UK up to 2020. [155511]
Sajid Javid: The Institute for Fiscal Studies' projections are based on a narrow measure of child poverty. The focus on this measure has resulted in policies that use benefits and tax credits to change income at the margin; it does not capture the full impact of government spending on low to middle income households, including the value of education and health services which have a real positive impact on children's life chances.
The Government have sought a wide range of views as part of a consultation on better measures of child poverty, which include income but also wider measures to tackle the root causes of poverty including worklessness, educational failure and family breakdown. The consultation has now closed and the Government will respond in the summer.
Public Appointments
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the members of the (a) Office for Budget Responsibility and (b) Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the design of coins, medals, seals and decorations were on 1 January 2013; and what the (i) ethnicity, (ii) term of office and (iii) remuneration is of each such member. [155843]
Sajid Javid: The OBR is led by the three members of the Budget Responsibility Committee (BRC): Robert Chote (chair), Stephen Nickell CBE and Graham Parker CBE. Details of the terms of office and remuneration of the BRC, including original letters of appointment, are all published on the OBR's website. All OBR BRC members have declared their ethnicity as “white British”.
As of 1 January 2013, the members of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee were: Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, Professor Sir David Cannadine, Mr John Maine RA, Mr Stephen Raw, The right hon. The Earl Peel GCVO DL, Mrs Jana Khayat, Mr Tim Knox, Mr Edmund de Waal, the Garter Principal King of Arms (currently Mr Thomas Woodcock CVO DL).
All committee posts are unpaid and all members of the committee declared their ethnicity as white. All members of the committee are on five-year terms of office, with the exception of Mr Thomas Woodcock CVO DL, who was there in his role of the Garter Principal King of Arms.
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Public Sector: Staff
Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Note 7.3 of the Whole of Government Accounts: year ended 31 March 2011, if he will provide an update on the latest figures providing the average number of full-time equivalent persons employed in (a) the public sector and (b) central government and associated agencies; and if he will provide an updated estimate of annual consolidated staff costs. [155981]
Danny Alexander: The Whole of Government Accounts for year ended 31 March 2011 was published on 31 October 2012. The Treasury are working towards publishing the Whole of Government Accounts for year ended 31 March 2012 before summer recess 2013. This will include the latest figures for full-time equivalent persons employed in the public sector with a split to show central Government separately. It will also provide the latest actual consolidated staff costs.
Renewable Energy
Sir James Paice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the total cost to the (a) public purse and (b) consumer of supporting renewable energy at the target of 20% of total energy generation. [156015]
Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
The target of 20% of total energy generation is an EU-wide target, and is not specific to the UK.
The EU Commission published an impact assessment alongside the RED that assessed the potential costs of meeting this target.
Revenue and Customs
Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many telephone enquiries were received by the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle in each month since January 2012; how many cases were resolved by the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle in each month since January 2012; what the standard response time for case resolution is; and if he will make a statement. [155235]
Mr Gauke: Since January 2012, the Statutory Payments Dispute team in Newcastle has received an average of 140 incoming calls per day. This equates to an average of 2,800 calls each month over the year in question.
In the same period the Statutory Payments Dispute team resolved the following number of cases:
| Month | Clearances |
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There is no link between the number of calls and the number of cases, as many of the calls are related to progress updates.
The response time for each case depends on individual employers agreeing to pay the outstanding statutory payments to their employees.
This can range from immediate clearance by phone following a discussion with the employer to over three months if an employer has ceased to trade. Employers who dispute can take an indefinite period of time to resolve, often being issued with a penalty for non-compliance. As the case progresses, the individual is updated on a regular basis.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed at the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle to (a) answer telephone enquiries in relation to the payment of statutory maternity pay and (b) process cases; and if he will make a statement. [155236]
Mr Gauke: There are currently 19 staff in the Statutory Payments Dispute processing team. All staff in the team respond to telephone calls and process casework for the various types of statutory payments.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed at the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle in each month since January 2012; and if he will make a statement. [155237]
Mr Gauke: Staff employed since January 2012 are shown in the following table:
| Staff | |
These totals include staff who answer telephone inquiries and process cases, as well as administrative support.
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Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff employed at the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle were absent from work in each month since January 2012; and if he will make a statement. [155238]
Mr Gauke: The attendance policy ensures that HM Revenue and Customs are able to deliver business priorities by allowing only 20% of staff to be absent on leave at any one time. There have been no significant absence trends in the year in question.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make available an MP hotline to facilitate casework enquiries with the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle; and if he will make a statement. [155239]
Mr Gauke: HMRC National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office (NIC & EO) currently has no plans to introduce a dedicated hotline to enable MPs to contact the Statutory Payments Dispute Team. The team can be contacted on the number published on the internet.
Mrs Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances staff at the Statutory Payment Dispute Team in Newcastle can prioritise cases for resolution; and if he will make a statement. [155240]
Mr Gauke: Given the nature of statutory payment dispute work and in recognition of the needs of this customer group, all statutory payments dispute cases are treated as high priority. The Statutory Payments Dispute Team operates a standard policy of dealing with all cases in date order, 'first in first out', to provide the fairest customer service to all.