Personnel Management
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in his Department were employed in human resources functions in each of the last five years; at what grades such staff were employed; and what the total cost of his Department's human resources functions was. [156676]
Norman Baker: The Department for Transport and its executive agencies have taken an active approach to driving efficiencies through an HR Review commenced in 2009. This has developed a group operating model and supported both the Next Generation HR Programme and Shared Service strategy. The information requested is outlined in the following tables and reflects that transition.
| HR FTEs by year | |||||
| Grade | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
| Total HR cost by year | |||||
| £ million | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
Railways
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what level of punctuality for passenger rail services was recorded on the (a) East Coast main line and (b) Essex Thameside route in each year since 1995-96. [157611]
Norman Baker: Punctuality figures are recorded by Network Rail in the form of the Public Punctuality Measure (PPM), and also in the form of Right-Time.
Data are available for the Essex Thameside and East Coast Franchise Operators from 1997/98 and can be found at:
http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/9d66bf3e-f61a-490a-ba7d-1ee3fb9b86a3
Railways: Fares
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average increase in (a) regulated and (b) unregulated passenger rail fares was on the (i) East Coast main line and (ii) Essex Thameside route in each year since 1995-96. [157607]
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Norman Baker: The Department does not hold detailed information prior to 2004.
Regulated rail fares were limited to an average annual increase of no more than inflation from 1995 to 1998, by 1 per cent below inflation from 1999 to 2003 and for most operators by 1 per cent above inflation from 2004.
The average permitted annual increase in all regulated rail fares, including those on c2c and East Coast since 2003 was as follows:
| Average permitted annual increase (percentage) | |
The Department does not hold information about increases in unregulated fares.
The Office of Rail Regulation ('ORR') publishes an index showing the average change in price in all rail fares from 2004, with fares at January 2004 shown as 100. Fares on c2c are included in London and South East and fares on East Coast are included in Long Distance.
| London and South East | Long Distance | |
The real terms change in average price from 2004 to 2012 for London and South East was 13.8% and for Long Distance 21%.
The full table can be found on ORR's website
http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/html/html/7cff3127-a5cc-4173-ac78-016db2339811
Sign Language
Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the equality of access available for deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language in communicating with (a) public transport employees and (b) the agencies and public bodies which support his Department; and if he will make a statement. [157398]
Norman Baker:
The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of the equality of access available for deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language in communicating with the employees of individual transport operators. I am currently looking
4 Jun 2013 : Column 1086W
at a number of ways of improving the accessibility of public transport, as reflected in our Accessibility Action Plan, as published on 13 December 2012.
The Driving Standards Agency has worked closely with a number of external stakeholders over recent months to review delivery of the theory driving test. This showed that we could improve accessibility for deaf or hard of hearing candidates. As a result, we are considering the viability of 'readspeaker' software and altering our use of British Sign Language to improve the consistency of dialects and images.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has undertaken customer insight work with the British Deaf Association, which has resulted in enhancements to the services provided to deaf customers.
South West Trains
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 173W, on Network Rail, whether South West Trains has (a) sought and (b) received consent since 2007 from him or his predecessors to carry out business or other activities in the rail industry that fall outside the terms of an existing franchise agreement for passenger services. [156933]
Mr Simon Burns: South West Trains sought and were granted consent by the Secretary of State on 27 April 2012 to carry out activities other than the provision and operation of the Franchise Services (as defined in the Franchise Agreement) in relation to Alliance Activities as defined in the Alliance Agreement between South West Trains and Network Rail.
Treasury
Banks: Loans
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the increase in net lending to small and medium-sized enterprises by institutions participating in the Funding for Lending scheme. [157863]
Greg Clark: As part of the monitoring of the Funding for Lending scheme, the Bank of England publishes the net lending data of individual banks on a quarterly basis. A sector-level break down is currently unavailable; however, as the extensions announced will provide stronger incentives to lend to SMEs, the Bank of England will publish net lending figures for 2014 by sector.
Capital Gains Tax
Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised by returning to a capital gains tax regime for individual taxpayers which restores indexation, and taxes capital gains at the taxpayer's marginal income tax rate; and if he will make a statement. [157436]
Mr Gauke: A reliable estimate of the revenue that would be raised by returning to such a regime is not currently available because of the complexity of assessing the large behavioural responses which would result from the change.
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Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised by reducing the capital gains tax annual exempt amount for 2015-16 from £10,900 to (a) £8,000, (b) £6,000, (c) £4,000 and (d) £2,000; and if he will make a statement. [157438]
Mr Gauke: An accurate estimate is not possible.
The impact of increasing the annual exempt amount for individuals by £500 and for trusts by £250 is published at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-6.xls
The impact of decreasing the annual exempt amount can be estimated by using the same amounts from the table and interpreting the change as a yield instead of a cost. However, the quality of the estimate obtained will decrease as the value of the reduction to the annual exempt amount increases.
A lower annual exempt amount will also increase administrative costs for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs as more taxpayers are required to make a return to HMRC.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised by amending the definition of a personal company for entrepreneur relief purposes to a company in which the relevant individual has at least a (a) 10%, (b) 20%, (c) 25% holding of both share capital and voting rights; and if he will make a statement. [157439]
Mr Gauke: Reliable estimates of the additional revenue which would be raised by increasing the share capital and voting rights levels required for entrepreneur’s relief are not currently available. The cost of entrepreneur’s relief under present rules, where individuals must hold at least 5% of the share capital and voting rights, is given at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/expenditures/table1-5.xls
Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the recommendations of the National Audit Office report entitled “Administering the Equitable Life Payment Scheme”, published in April 2013, whether the Government plan to revise their budget for completing payments to Equitable Life policyholders by the target date. [156883]
Sajid Javid: The Government welcome the NAO's report into the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. HM Treasury continues to monitor the budget of the scheme closely and as set out in the recently published progress report the scheme is on track to close in 2014 as planned.
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government have paid to Atos for administration of the Equitable Life Payment Scheme to date. [156926]
Sajid Javid: Atos has been paid £26.67 million (as at 31 March 2013). Atos's forecasted costs are estimated to be £38 million over the life of the scheme.
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The scheme reported in May 2013 that £604 million had been paid out to c.405,000 policyholders. Payments will continue until the scheme closes in 2014.
Financial Ombudsman Service
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the total fees charged to UK businesses by the Financial Ombudsman Service were for processing invalid and fraudulent PPI claims in 2012; and if he will make a statement; [157485]
(2) how many (a) invalid and (b) fraudulent PPI claims have been processed by the Financial Ombudsman Service in each year since 2010. [157486]
Sajid Javid: The matters raised are for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), whose day-to-day operations are independent from Government control and influence. I have asked that the FOS write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested. A copy of the response will be placed in the Library of the House.
Fuels: Prices
Mr Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had on the development of a policy to offer a stable fuel differential between petrol and diesel and road fuel gases; and if he will make a statement. [156814]
Sajid Javid: 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
Gift Aid
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make changes to the Gift Aid scheme to enable charities to access Gift Aid from small donations made in the workplace. [157089]
Sajid Javid: Gift Aid is a successful tax relief and an important source of income for charities, worth over £1 billion a year to the sector.
Gift Aid cannot be reclaimed on a donation without the individual donor making a Gift Aid declaration. The informed consent of the donor and a clear audit trail back to the donor's tax affairs are fundamental. This is because the donor is voluntarily giving their tax relief to the charity, so must have the opportunity to fully consent to the charity claiming Gift Aid. Without this audit trail, Gift Aid could no longer be considered a tax relief.
However, the Government have recognised that it is not always easy to gain Gift Aid declarations on small cash donations. So in April this year the Government introduced the new Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme that enables charities to claim Gift Aid-style payments on small cash donations.
Further, the Government recently consulted on improving and reinvigorating Payroll Giving, which facilitates tax- effective giving in the workplace.
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Income Tax
Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of raising the income tax personal allowance for 2015-16 from £10,000 to £12,300 with the same maximum cash benefit going to basic and higher rate taxpayers but no benefit going to additional rate taxpayers; and if he will make a statement. [157437]
Mr Gauke: The estimated cost of raising the income tax personal allowance to £12,300 in 2015-16 is shown in the table.
A reduction to the basic rate limit has been applied so that basic rate and most higher rate taxpayers will benefit equally from the personal allowance increase.
| Exchequer impact | |
| £ million | |
These estimates exclude any impact on benefit entitlements.
Income Tax: Scotland
Margaret Curran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to ensure that employers and the public are aware of the planned introduction of the Scottish rate of income tax in 2016. [156791]
Mr Gauke: During 2013-14 HMRC will develop an approach to identifying Scottish taxpayers and develop a communication strategy to ensure that individuals and employers receive the information they need. HMRC will contact Scottish taxpayers and employers during 2015-16 so that they understand their responsibilities in time for the introduction of the Scottish rate in April 2016.
Money Laundering
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the role of brass plate companies in circumventing anti-money laundering regulations; and what recent reports he has received from HM Revenue and Customs on its attempts to control money laundering. [156930]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs has not made any specific assessment of the money laundering risks posed by brass plate companies as this is being considered in the context of wider work on offshore tax evasion.
HMRC is developing the intelligence picture on the use of brass plate structures both in the United Kingdom and offshore that are impacting the UK across the regimes HMRC oversees. Specifically, HMRC is working with the Australian Tax Office and the Internal Revenue Service of the USA to tackle tax evasion through the use of offshore structures, some of which include the use of brass plate companies across a range of offshore territories. This multilateral approach is supporting HMRC's strategy for tackling offshore evasion, “No Safe Havens”, published on 20 March 2013. One of the aims of the strategy is that there will be no place for the facilitators of offshore evasion.
4 Jun 2013 : Column 1090W
In its role as a supervisor under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, HMRC provides quarterly reports to Ministers on its supervisory activity.
PAYE: Football
John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many professional football clubs in England are in arrears to HM Revenue and Customs in respect of their pay as you earn contributions. [156802]
Mr Gauke: On the 22 May 2013 there were 10 professional football clubs in England with arrears of pay as you earn.
Renewable Energy: Scotland
Mike Crockart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of how much revenue will be generated from Crown Estate lease agreements with offshore renewable developers by category of (a) offshore wind, (b) wave and (c) tidal sited in Scotland in each year between 2013 and 2030. [156815]
Sajid Javid: The Crown Estate is obliged by law to pay its net annual surplus to the Exchequer. In 2011-12 the surplus paid over was £240 million, of which rents from offshore renewable activity contributed £7.8 million.
The Crown Estate's financial target for 2012-13 is to generate a return of some £250 million. Since the Crown Estate operates commercially, it does not publish annual targets and forecasts of its net surpluses.
Sign Language
Sir Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the equality of access available for deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language in terms of communicating with (a) HM Revenue and Customs officials and (b) his Department's executive agencies and the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [157391]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs offers a range of contact channels for deaf people. Those whose first language is British Sign can ask HM Revenue and Customs officials to provide a sign language interpreter to help deal with their tax and benefits issues. An interpreter can also make a telephone call to HM Revenue and Customs help lines on their behalf.
Text-based communication is also possible, through written letters and textphone services including text relay. Along with all our customers, deaf people can also appoint an agent to act on their behalf.
The UK Debt Management Office, an executive agency of HM Treasury, provides post and e-mail contact details on the ‘contact us' page of its website, and would consider on a case-by-case basis any request for information to be provided in an alternative format in order to ensure equality of access.
Other non-departmental public bodies for which HMT is responsible will consider access requests as required.
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Tax Avoidance: Multinational Companies
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he plans to put forward at the G8 Leaders' Summit meeting in Northern Ireland on 17-18 June 2013 in respect of reforming the international regime to curtail tax avoidance by multinational corporations. [156961]
Mr Gauke: Tax avoidance is an international problem that requires coordinated international action. The UK is committed to multilateral action through the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to tackle the issue of base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals.
In February the OECD presented its initial report on addressing these issues to the G20, recommending further work on international solutions. The OECD will present its proposed comprehensive action plan to the G20 in July.
The Prime Minister has made clear his intention to use the G8 to drive a more serious debate on tax. We are seeking strong endorsement from G8 leaders by using the UK's presidency of the G8 to highlight the importance of collective actions to tackle base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has to bring in mechanisms to minimise tax loss to the Exchequer from tax avoidance schemes operated by multinational companies trading in the UK; and what estimate he has made of the annual losses to the public purse arising from corporate tax avoidance in the latest period for which figures are available. [157029]
Mr Gauke: The estimated loss to the Exchequer due to corporation tax avoidance is around £1.3 billion.
Whenever new avoidance schemes are identified, the Government take swift and robust action to address them, regardless of who is using them. This was demonstrated at Budget, where we closed down 10 newly identified loopholes, protecting almost £1 billion in revenue over the next five years, and yielding over £600 million as a result.
Alongside domestic action to close down avoidance schemes, the UK is taking a leading role on international efforts through the G20 and the OECD to address base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals. The OECD will present a comprehensive action plan to address these issues to the G20 in July.
Taxation: Business
Mr Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2013, Official Report, column 29W, on taxation: business, how many large businesses contributed to HM Revenue and Customs' total additional revenue of £6.9 billion gained via compliance activity in 2011-12. [156966]
Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) deals with around 10,400 large businesses. The largest 800 businesses are managed within HMRC's Large Business Service and 381 of those businesses contributed £5 billion additional revenue in 2011-12 as a result of HMRC's compliance activities.
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The remaining large businesses are managed within HMRC's Local Compliance (Large and Complex Unit) and from these HMRC secured £1.9 billion additional compliance revenue in 2011-12. The information to show how many businesses were involved in the inquiries that produced this additional revenue could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Taxation: Domicil
Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised by increasing the remittance basis charge from £30,000 to £50,000 per year and making it payable once a taxpayer wishing to retain the remittance basis of taxation has been resident in the UK for (a) four of the preceding six years or (b) five of the preceding seven years; and if he will make a statement. [157441]
Mr Gauke: A reliable estimate of the revenue impact is not currently available because of the complexity of assessing the behavioural responses which would result from the change.
Taxation: Plastic Bags
Stephen Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential additional revenue that would be raised by introducing a carrier bag levy of (a) 5p per bag similar to the measure in operation in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [157440]
Sajid Javid: Receipts of the carrier bag charge in Wales are retained by the retailer or voluntarily donated to charitable and environmental causes. As such, the introduction of a 5p carrier bag levy in England, similar to the measure operating in Wales, would provide no additional revenue to the Exchequer.
Taxation: Rangers Football Club
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the internal governance division of HM Revenue and Customs has investigated breaches of unauthorised disclosures of private tax details of Murray International Holdings and Rangers FC during the recent administration period of Rangers FC; [157090]
(2) whether any member of staff in HM Revenue and Customs has been questioned about unauthorised disclosures of private tax details of Murray International Holdings and Rangers FC during the recent administration period of Rangers FC. [157091]
Mr Gauke: These matters are being investigated by the Police Service of Scotland and the Procurator Fiscal, West of Scotland. At this stage it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will carry out an internal investigation within HM Revenue and Customs into alleged leaks of confidential information relating to Glasgow Rangers FC's tax details. [157321]
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Mr Gauke: These matters are being investigated by the Police Service of Scotland and the Procurator Fiscal, West of Scotland. At this stage it would be inappropriate to comment further.
VAT: Sunscreens
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the legislative barriers to reducing the rate of VAT on sun care products. [156766]
Mr Gauke: Although EU VAT law allows member states to have a reduced rate of VAT for certain types of pharmaceutical products, no assessment has been made of the extent to which this could apply to sun care products.
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue has been raised from VAT on sun care products in each of the last five years. [156806]
Mr Gauke: There is no information available on the revenue raised from VAT on sun care products.
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will remove VAT on sun care products. [157276]
Mr Gauke: Sun care products are already provided VAT-free when prescribed by a health professional for certain conditions and dispensed by a pharmacist to these patients. We do not currently have any plans to change this, but all aspects of the tax system are kept under review.
Education
Academies
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what statutory functions local authorities in England have in respect of academy schools. [157033]
Mr Timpson: Local authorities have a range of statutory duties relating to the education and well-being of all children in their area, whichever category of school they attend. Information on local authority duties relating to education and children’s services, including in respect of academy schools, is available on the departmental website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/strategy/a00198443/statutory-duties-of-local-authorities
Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what statutory duties academy schools have in respect of local authorities in England. [157034]
Mr Timpson: Academies are bound by their funding agreement and articles which require them to comply with a number of legislative requirements, including the ‘School Admissions Code’.
Like all schools, academies are under a statutory duty to co-operate with their local authority in the making of arrangements to improve the well-being of children in their area.
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In addition, part 4 of the School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (England) Regulations 2012, places statutory requirements directly on academies in relation to exclusions.
Schools
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to launch a consultation on changes to the school day and school calendar. [155225]
Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State has encouraged all schools to consider making changes to the school day and calendar. Schools and, where relevant, local authorities have the freedom to make changes to the school day and calendar as they see fit.
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent research he has commissioned on the effect of changes to the school day and school term on educational outcomes. [155226]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education recently conducted a survey of schools and a literature review of domestic and international evidence on the impact of extended school hours.
Schools: Academic Year
Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has initiated with the teaching unions to discuss changes to the schools calendar. [155227]
Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State and his Ministers meet representatives of the teaching unions on a regular basis. These meetings cover a wide range of issues.
Vocational Training
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education further to the answer of 15 May 2013, Official Report, column 256W, on traineeships, what figures his Department currently holds regarding the projected number of eligible traineeship providers for the academic year 2013-14; and if he will list the areas which will not have access to any eligible traineeship providers in 2013-14. [156732]
Matthew Hancock: In the first year of national roll-out, the delivery of traineeships will be limited to those providers who have achieved an Ofsted inspection grade of outstanding or good.
Our initial analysis indicates that there are currently just over 1,000 education and training providers that meet the Ofsted grade criteria and are eligible to deliver traineeships in 2013/14.
We are in the process of writing to all eligible providers to assess the number of places they can offer in the 2013/14 academic year. We need to confirm delivery arrangements with providers and discuss the geographical extent of each provider’s offer.
The Education Funding Agency and the Skills Funding Agency will work with providers to meet demand wherever possible.
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Attorney-General
Child Abuse
Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Attorney-General what steps he plans to take to improve arrangements for children giving evidence in child sex abuse cases. [157223]
The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) works closely with the police and voluntary sector agencies, which provide support directed at the particular needs of child victims. A range of special measures are available and offered to children giving evidence in sexual abuse cases. New guidelines on prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse are being drafted by the CPS, which are intended to bring about a change in approach.
Community Orders
Diana Johnson: To ask the Attorney-General what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the use of community resolution orders to reduce offending. [157230]
The Solicitor-General: I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to the oral question from the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) today.
Disability: Crime
Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Attorney-General what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking to ensure that disability hate crimes are more effectively prosecuted. [157224]
The Solicitor-General: The number of convictions for disability hate crime rose from 141 in 2007-08 to 480 in 2011-12. The conviction rate has remained at around 77% of concluded cases. The CPS is determined to further improve the way it prosecutes disability hate crimes, in partnership with the police. A disability hate crime action plan is being prepared to implement the CPS's response to the findings of the 2011 Equality and Human Rights Commission's inquiry into disability-related harassment and the 2013 Criminal Justice Joint Inspection report on disability hate crime.
Human Trafficking: Prosecutions
Pauline Latham: To ask the Attorney-General what steps the Director of Public Prosecutions is taking to raise awareness amongst prosecutors of how to recognise cases of forced labour and human trafficking; and what assessment he has made of whether current legislation is adequate to enable such cases to be effectively prosecuted. [157231]
The Solicitor-General: The Director of Public Prosecutions has issued legal guidance and a training programme for prosecutors on Human Trafficking and Slavery, Servitude and Forced or Compulsory Labour.
The Inter Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking (of which I am a member) keeps the Government's response to human trafficking under regular review.
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Cabinet Office
Personnel Management
Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many officials in his Department were employed in human resources functions in each of the last five years; at what grades such staff were employed; and what the total cost of his Department's human resources functions was. [156663]
Mr Maude: The following table sets out details about the staff (full-time equivalent) working in human resources for my Department for each of the last five years.
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
The ratio of Cabinet Office staff to HR staff has increased over this five year period from 44:1 in March 2009 to 67:1 in March 2013.
Deputy Prime Minister
Returning Officers
7. Andrew Selous: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on charges for services by returning officers. [157199]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Electoral Commission monitors and reports on levels of electoral fraud. Its latest report, compiled in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers, found that instances of proven electoral fraud remain very low.
The Government are committed to ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and tackling fraud wherever it arises. We are always willing to consider ways to ensure the voting process remains secure. In particular, we are bringing forward the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration to ensure that vulnerabilities in the electoral registration process are addressed.
Postal and Proxy Vote Fraud
8. Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the extent of postal and proxy vote fraud. [157200]
Miss Chloe Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to him at topical questions earlier today.
Social Mobility
9. Damian Hinds: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent progress he has made on the Government's social mobility strategy. [157201]
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The Deputy Prime Minister: The Government remain committed to improving social mobility; having established this as the principal goal of this Government's social policy we are introducing policies such as early education for two year olds from lower income families from this September and the pupil premium which will be worth £2.5 billion by 2014-15.
Voter Registration and Turnout
10. Mr Sheerman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase voter registration and turnout in local and general elections. [157202]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government are committed to engaging the electorate in elections and wider democratic activity. We have published detailed research, which has informed our targeted engagement with under-registered groups and are now looking at further measures, such as data mining, to maximise registration levels.
We are introducing online registration to modernise the system to make it as convenient as possible for people to register to vote.
It is important for all of us to encourage voter turnout—that includes the Electoral Commission, political parties and candidates.
Heseltine Review
12. Ian Swales: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made on the implementation of the Heseltine Review. [157205]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to questions 4 and 6 at oral questions earlier today.
Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress he has made on the implementation of the Heseltine Review. [157203]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to questions 4 and 6 at oral questions earlier today.
British Nationals Abroad: Electoral Register
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to (a) enable and (b) encourage UK citizens resident overseas to register and vote in UK elections; and what recent discussions he has had with interested parties about this matter. [156528]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Government are committed to doing all they can to maximise voter registration, including among British citizens living overseas. As part of the move to Individual Electoral Registration, to help simplify the registration process we plan to remove the requirement for a person's initial application as an overseas elector to be attested by another British citizen resident abroad.
We are also extending the electoral timetable for UK parliamentary elections from 17 to 25 working days, which will allow postal votes to be issued sooner and so make it easier for postal voters living overseas to return their ballot papers.
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The Electoral Commission promotes awareness of UK electoral systems and electoral registration procedures including how to vote, and the Government understand that the Commission will target British citizens living overseas as part of its online advertising campaigns ahead of the next planned elections.
We will continue to explore ways to encourage registration among overseas electors in discussions with the Electoral Commission and other interested parties.
Work and Pensions
Atos Healthcare
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department has given to Atos with regard to assessments of patients addicted to prescribed medication; how many claimants have been assessed as disabled or unavailable for work as a result of addiction to prescribed medication; and how many Atos medical reports have been lost, mislaid or otherwise unavailable for consideration by his Department's tribunals, since May 2010. [157306]
Mr Hoban: The medical services provider can identify claimants with mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use and these can be broken down further by the type of substance, but addiction to prescribed medication is not included as a “type” for the purpose of a medical assessment. Therefore, the guidance the DWP has given to Atos Healthcare does not include addiction to prescribed medication.
There is no information available in relation to the number of claimants who have been assessed as disabled or unavailable for work as a result of addiction to prescribed medication.
There is no data gathered about the number of Atos medical reports which may have been lost, mislaid or otherwise unavailable. Atos Healthcare does not provide medical reports, the Department provides the relevant evidence to the Tribunal Service, and there is no information available held as requested from May 2010.
Clothing
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 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. [155459]
Mr Hoban: The Department is reviewing current policy on the hire of evening wear. The Department's Regularity and Propriety Framework provides for the reimbursement of receipted expenses relating to evening wear hire where the expense is incurred by staff who, in the course of their official duties, are required to attend official functions external to the Department. It also provides for the hire of academic gowns for staff who are attending graduation ceremonies for qualifications awarded as part of their professional development. For example, five of the 10 claims in 2012-13 related to academic gown hire; the remainder related to external events such as formal dinners and award ceremonies.
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Claims for the last five financial years are set out in the following table. Currently there are over 100,000 staff in the Department.
| Number of claims | Total costs (£) | |
Health and Safety Executive claims for the last five financial years are set out in the following table.
| Number of officials | Total costs (£) | |
Remploy does not have a specific evening dress allowance. Occasional claims for evening dress hire can be made under general expenses. However this specific information cannot readily be extracted.
None of the other non-departmental public bodies have made claims for hire of evening wear in the last five financial years.
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance has been issued to local authorities by his Department about the implementation of the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2013. [158023]
Steve Webb: Guidance on the implementation of the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2013 was issued in Adjudication and Operations Circular HB/CTB A10/2013.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/a10-2013.pdf
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter of 13 March 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman) with regard to Ms Winn Walsh, forwarded to him from the Attorney-General. [155632]
Mr Hoban: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith) replied to the right hon. Gentleman on 21 May 2013.
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New Enterprise Allowance: Northumberland
Guy Opperman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of how the new enterprise allowance will affect employment in Northumberland. [156530]
Mr Hoban: We have published data on the number of NEA mentor starts and weekly allowance starts by local authority. These can be found at:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/nea_by_la_jcp_district_parl_c.xls
The table shows that in Northumberland there were 170 NEA mentor starts and 70 NEA weekly allowance starts for the period April 2011 up to and including November 2012.
We are in the process of conducting a cohort analysis of NEA which will track participants who have started to trade and will show what proportion remain off- benefit after a year. We aim to publish this analysis soon.
Note:
The numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Pension Credit: Birmingham
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency who are eligible to receive pension credit but do not claim it. [157686]
Steve Webb: The “Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-Up” report covers Great Britain for the financial year 2009-10. It provides caseload and expenditure estimates of take-up for income support and employment and support allowance (income-related), pension credit, housing benefit (including local housing allowance), council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (income-based). The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 10 June 2010. The figures are available online and can be found here:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=irb
Estimates of take-up are not available for 2010-11 or 2011-12, nor are they sufficiently robust to present at geographies below Great Britain. As such, estimates are not available for Birmingham, Hall Green constituency.
Personal Pensions
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to taking steps to ensure that self-invested personal pensions consist of investments in a single pot rather than separate tranches. [155599]
Sajid Javid: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.
The pension tax rules place no restrictions on the number of arrangements or pots an individual may have in a self-invested personal pension. It is for scheme providers or trustees to explicitly set out any restrictions in the scheme rules.
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Social Security Benefits
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit claimants in each parliamentary constituency have been paid benefits at a level above the benefit cap maximum in 2013 to date. [155643]
Mr Hoban: This information is not available.
However, the following link provides our latest estimates of the number of benefit claimants affected by the cap:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/Ben_Cap_Updated_Estimate.pdf
The number affected by the cap will differ from the number of benefit claimants paid benefits above the benefit cap maximum, as a number of groups will be exempt, such as those in receipt of DLA.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the public's assessment of (a) the proportion of the welfare budget that supports the unemployed and (b) the proportion of the welfare budget that is fraudulently applied for; and what the actual levels are for (A) and (B). [156512]
Mr Hoban: The proportion of the 2012-13 welfare budget that supports the unemployed is estimated to be 5.6%. Preliminary estimates for 2012-13 show that 0.7% (£1.2 billion) of the welfare budget was claimed fraudulently.
We do not routinely collect data on the public's assessment of the proportion of the welfare budget that supports various groups, or the proportion of the welfare budget that is fraudulently applied for.
Travel
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's budget for ministerial travel for (a) the Government Car Service, (b) private hire vehicles, (c) taxis, (d) rail, (e) aviation and (f) other is for (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16. [157537]
Mr Hoban: We do not disclose future year budgets. However, these are set in line with the Departments efficiency targets on discretionary spend for the remainder of the current Spending Review period and into 2015-16.
Unemployed People: Internet
Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of jobseekers who lack skills to use the internet in (a) Corby constituency and (b) the UK. [156657]
Mr Hoban: There is currently no evidence which records the number of jobseekers who lack skills to use the internet in Corby.
The Department for Work and Pensions conducted research between June and August 2011 which examined current use of the internet and other technologies in everyday life. The survey was conducted with households receiving working-age benefits and tax credits.
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A link to the published research report is provided. Table 7.5 reports on need for support to use an online service by individual benefits.
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep800.pdf
Unemployment: Clwyd
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) job vacancies and (b) jobseekers there were in Clwyd South constituency on (i) 1 February 2011, (ii) 1 February 2012 and (iii) 1 February 2013. [156881]
Mr Hoban: The available information is shown in the following table. Comparisons of the number of unemployed people and the number of vacancies need to be interpreted carefully. Any snapshot of unfilled vacancies at a point in time misses the regular turnover of new vacancies notified as existing opportunities that are filled. Both unfilled and notified vacancies miss jobs available in the wider labour market, including those outside the local constituency and those coming up through other recruitment channels or filled by direct approaches to employers or word of mouth.
| Clwyd South: Notified and unfilled Jobcentre Plus vacancies | |||
| JSA claimants(1) | Live unfilled vacancies(2) | Notified vacancies(3) | |
| (1) The claimant count is a count of the number of JSA claimants on the second Thursday of the relevant month. (2) Live unfilled vacancies are a snap-shot of vacancies available on the preceding Friday. (3) Notified vacancies are the new vacancies reported between the current and previous vacancy count date. The figures in the table are standardised to cover a period of 4 1/3 weeks. Source: http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/ | |||
Universal Jobmatch has now replaced the previous Jobcentre Plus system of taking vacancies. Information on vacancies reported through the new service is not currently available for parliamentary constituencies. Some information, including notified vacancies at local authority level, is available via a Universal Jobmatch management information (MI) tool:
https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/Reports/Reports.aspx
Data drawn from Universal Jobmatch should not be compared directly with the previous Jobcentre Plus data.
DWP is working with Monster Worldwide Limited, the Universal Jobmatch supplier, on a timetable for prioritising and implementing improvements to the available MI, including breakdowns by parliamentary constituency. Further details will be released as soon as they are available.
Vacancies: Thirsk
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies there are in Thirsk and Malton constituency travel-to-work areas; and if he will make a statement. [157248]
Mr Hoban:
Based on the jobs advertised on Universal Jobmatch, the number of live job vacancies as at 22 May 2013 in Thirsk and Malton parliamentary constituency is 72. Information regarding job vacancies in the travel- to-work area for this parliamentary constituency is not
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available from the Universal Jobmatch management information system from which job vacancy data are taken.
Winter Fuel Payments: Birmingham
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households were in receipt of winter fuel allowance in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency in the latest period for which figures are available. [157680]
Steve Webb: The information is available at
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?paqe=wfp
Work Capability Assessment
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have submitted an appeal against a work capability assessment carried out by Atos Origin in each year since the inception of that assessment; [156821]
(2) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have attended a work capability assessment have been deemed fit for work following assessment in each year since the inception of that assessment; [156822]
(3) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have attended a work capability assessment carried out by Atos Origin in each year since the inception of that assessment; [156823]
(4) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have attended a work capability assessment have been deemed unfit for work following assessment in each year since the inception of that assessment; [156824]
(5) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have submitted an appeal against a work capability assessment carried out by Atos Origin were successful in each year since the inception of that assessment. [156825]
Mr Hoban: Constituency level data are not available.
For South Tyneside local authority the following table shows the number and outcomes of initial work capability assessments.
| Table 1. New Claims: Outcomes of initial functional assessment that were completed by month of assessment, South Tyneside | |||
| Calendar year | Initial work capability assessments in South Tyneside | ||
| All assessments completed | Claims with Fit for Work outcome | Claims awarded ESA | |
| Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Data in 2008 are incomplete and include October to December only. 2012 includes January to November only. 3. Recommendations are usually made following a face to face assessment, but health care professionals can also make recommendations using paper-based evidence only. | |||
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For Great Britain and the north-east, the Department regularly publishes official statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) and the work capability assessment (WCA). Table 1a of the Department’s official statistics includes WCAs undertaken, Fit for Work decisions and ESA awards for Great Britain and a further breakdown is available in the dropdown box for the north-east of England. The latest report was published in April 2013 and can be found on the internet at:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_wca/esa_wca_20130430.xls
Note that the official statistics cover GB only.
Table 2 shows the number of people who started their claim in South Tyneside and the north-east who have had a successful appeal against a Fit for Work decision following an initial work capability assessment. Table 3 of the Department’s official statistics publication linked above includes appeals data for Great Britain.
Note that the Department only holds information on appeals once they have been heard by HM Courts and Tribunal Service.
| Table 2: Outcomes of appeals heard on Fit for Work decisions in initial functional assessment by month of claim start, South Tyneside and the north-east | ||||
| Outcomes of appeals heard on Fit for Work decisions in the initial functional assessment | ||||
| South Tyneside | North-east | |||
| Initial decision overturned | Initial decision upheld | Initial decision overturned | Initial decision upheld | |
| Notes: 1. Local and regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Appeals against repeat assessment, incapacity benefit reassessment and WRAG decisions are not included. 3. The volume of appeals heard and inferred to be on Fit for Work decision in each cohort are likely to alter over time and change is likely to be most marked in more recent cohorts. This is because of the length of time it takes to submit an appeal and have it heard by the Tribunal Service. 4. Data in 2008 are incomplete and only include October to December. 2012 data only include January to February. | ||||
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 6 March 2012, Official Report, column 714W, what assessment he has made of the take-up of benefit claimants' right to request audio recordings of their work capacity assessment in 2012. [157588]
Mr Hoban: Claimants can request that their assessment is recorded, either by using the service offered by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)/Atos Healthcare or by using their own recording equipment so long as they fulfil certain conditions. However, there is no legal right to a recorded assessment and it should be noted that DWP has no legal obligation to provide an audio-recording service or equipment.
The current policy for audio-recording of face-to-face assessments is to offer a limited service whereby DWP has asked Atos Healthcare to accommodate requests for audio-recorded assessments where possible when they are made in advance of the assessment.
We are evaluating the costs and benefits of the current approach and will await the results of this evaluation before making a decision on the future of this service.
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Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Forests
Mr Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will publish the Implementation Plan for his Department's Forestry and Woodland Policy statement. [155905]
Mr Heath: Work is underway on implementing all 36 commitments set out in the Forestry and Woodlands Policy statement, including designing the new Public Forest Estate management body, reviewing the delivery arrangements for the Government's remaining forestry responsibilities and supporting the sector-led Grown in Britain initiative.
Personnel Management
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in his Department were employed in human resources functions in each of the last five years; at what grades such staff were employed; and what the total cost of his Department's human resources functions was. [156669]
Richard Benyon: The number of staff (in full-time equivalents) employed in core DEFRA and its executive agencies' human resources function for the last five financial years is as follows:
| Date | Number of HR staff |
A breakdown of staff numbers by grade could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost.
The total cost of core DEFRA and its executive agencies' human resources function in each of the last five financial years was as follows:
| Financial year | Cost of HR (£000) |
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Information for the last quarter of 2012-13 is not yet available.
Temporary Employment
Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on agency staff in each year since 2010. [155223]
Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA has spent the following on agency staff in financial years 2010-11 to 2012-13:
| £ | |
Data collected under the heading agency staff cover clerical and secretarial temporary staff.
Travel
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he 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. [155408]
Richard Benyon: The tables set out the data requested, where available, together with explanatory notes where the provision of data has not been possible. It has not been possible to remove some non-subsistence data from the figures as this would incur disproportionate cost, but where non-subsistence amounts have been included, these are not considered to be material.
The rows headed ‘Officials’ indicate how many officials claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each year, where ‘the last five years' have been interpreted as financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13.
The rows headed ‘Total Cost’ indicate the total amount paid as subsistence in each year.
The rows headed ‘20 Highest’ indicate the value of the 20 highest single payments in respect of subsistence claims in each year, where available.
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
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(b) Non-Departmental Public Bodies
| Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board is unable to provide information for 2008-09 or the highest 20 claims per annum without incurring disproportionate cost.
| Commission for Rural Communities | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
The Commission for Rural Communities was abolished on 31 March 2013. This table sets out the only information available. Providing the remaining information would incur disproportionate cost.
The Consumer Council for Water does not record subsistence costs separately from costs incurred on Government Procurement Cards. To separate out individual subsistence payments would incur disproportionate cost.
| Environment Agency | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
The Environment Agency is unable to provide detail of the highest 20 claims per annum without incurring disproportionate cost.
| Gangmasters Licensing Authority | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
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The Gangmasters Licensing Authority is only able to provide data for 2012-13. Providing the remaining information would incur disproportionate cost.
| Joint Nature Conversation Committee | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is only able to provide figures covering three years, as subsistence was not itemised separately prior to the introduction of a new financial management system. Providing details of the 20 highest claims would incur disproportionate cost.
| Marine Management Organisation | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
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