Palestinians

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Palestinian Authority about reports that PA TV has broadcast a video calling on Palestinians to raise flags over all Israeli cities and villages. [163423]

Alistair Burt: Recent reports have concluded that both parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict need to do more to promote a positive portrayal of each other, reflecting the principles of co-existence, tolerance, justice and human dignity. The UK regularly condemns incitement and registers our concerns with both sides. The British Consul General in Jerusalem called on the Palestinian Authority to avoid incitement in a speech addressed to the then Prime Minister Hamdallah on 19 June.

While we have raised previous concerns with Palestine TV, we have not raised this specific allegation. Palestine TV is not an official station of the Palestinian Authority (PA). But it is subject to official directives that make

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clear that it must avoid any programme content that endorses or propagates violence. We do not believe that the reports in question bring into question the PA's commitment to a two state solution and its often repeated recognition of the state of Israel.

Social Networking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all Twitter accounts for which officials of his Department (a) have had and (b) currently have responsibility for (i) monitoring and (ii) updating. [163552]

Mr Lidington: The Foreign Office has over 200 official Twitter accounts. This includes accounts such as @foreignoffice, @FCOTravel, @FCOHumanRights and @FCOCareers, policy-specific accounts such as @LondonCyber for the International Cyber Policy Unit and accounts run by ambassadors and other senior diplomats, including the Permanent Under-Secretary, and our missions overseas. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), (@WilliamJHague), the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi), the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) (@HugoSwire), the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), (@AlistairBurtFCO), the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) (@MarkJSimmonds) and I (@DLidington) are on Twitter. These accounts are managed in a variety of ways, with officials monitoring them and contributing to the publication of official Government content. A full list is available on our website at:

http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/digitaldiplomacy/platforms/

South Sudan

Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the upcoming expiry of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan's mandate in that country; and what representations he has made regarding its renewal. [163662]

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary-General issued his latest report on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to the Security Council on 20 June. The report sets out the difficulties South Sudan continues to face two years after independence; the challenging security and financial environment in which the mission has to operate; and recommends that the mission's mandate is extended for another year, from 15 July. We agree that the mandate should be extended. We are at present discussing the mandate renewal in the UN Security Council, where we will be arguing for UNMISS to focus on the highest priority security and peacebuilding challenges, in particular the protection of civilians.

Mr Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of peacekeepers deployed to South Sudan by China. [163998]

Mark Simmonds: We welcome the Chinese contribution to UNMISS. The UN Mission in South Sudan has a contingent of 351 Chinese peacekeepers. 338 of them

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are based in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, where 275 are engineers and 63 support a medical facility. The remaining 13 are military liaison and staff officers in the United Nations Mission in Southern Sudan (UNMISS) headquarters in Juba.

Home Department

Action Fraud

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual operating budget of Action Fraud is. [160923]

James Brokenshire: For the last financial year, 2012-13, Action Fraud had an operating budget of £1,904,000. Additional one-off costs were incurred in 2012-13 as part of the roll-out of the service nationwide. These covered an uplift in staff and associated training and communication products.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial

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behaviour orders were issued

(a)

nationally and

(b)

in Peterborough constituency in each of the last five years; and what the rate of breach of antisocial behaviour orders was (i) nationally and (ii) in Peterborough constituency in each such year. [163580]

Mr Jeremy Browne: The number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued by all courts in England and Wales in each year between 2007 and 2011 (the latest year for which data are currently available) can be viewed in the table. However, information available centrally does not allow a breakdown of orders or breaches by parliamentary constituency area.

Of all the ASBOs issued in England and Wales between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2011, a total of 57.3 % were breached at least once. ASBOs can be breached more than once and in more than one year. As a result, ASBO breach rates are computed by considering the total number of ASBOs issued in a particular geographical area over a period of time and the total number of such orders which have been breached at least once over the same period of time. For this reason it is not possible to accurately calculate the breach rate for the specific years in question.

ASBO data covering 2012 are provisionally planned for publication in October 2013.

Asylum

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2013, Official Report, columns 595-6W, on asylum, if she will provide the relevant statistics for the cases concluded in six months key performance indicator in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013. [163090]

Mr Harper: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 18 June 2013, Official Report, columns 595-6W. This provided statistics relating to the key performance indicators in financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12.

During 2010-11 there were 9,216 cases concluded in six months, and in 2011-12 there were 9,919. Performance for financial years 2012-13 will be published in August.

Further detail can be found through the following statistical release:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/further-key-data/asylum-performance1.xls?view=Binary

Crime: Large Goods Vehicles

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) thefts and (b) other offences against heavy goods vehicles which were parked or left unattended on public roads were reported to police in the most recent period for which figures are available. [164314]

Damian Green: The information requested is not available from the police recorded crime data collected by the Home Office. Offences against heavy goods vehicles cannot be separately identified from offences committed against other vehicles.

Crime: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many offences of (a) crime related to vehicles, (b) burglary of a dwelling, (c) other burglary, (d) criminal damage, (e) theft, (f) violence and (g) other crimes were committed in York in each year since 2004-05; [163891]

(2) how many crimes were reported to the police in York in each year since 2004-05. [163913]

Damian Green: The available information relates to crimes recorded by the police in the York Community Safety Partnership area and is given in the table.

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Detection Rates: North Yorkshire

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the crime detection rate was for North Yorkshire police force in each year since 2004-05. [163892]

Damian Green: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Drugs: Crime

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the psychoactive substance Benzo Fury or any of its component substances were first identified by her Department's forensic early warning system. [163403]

Mr Jeremy Browne [holding answer 5 July 2013]: “Benzo Fury” is the trade name usually associated with the psychoactive substances 5- and 6-APB. The Home Office forensic early warning system first identified 5- and 6-APB in early 2011.

Together with the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, we kept the health harms of these compounds under review. 5- and 6-APB, and a further four substances from the “benzofuran” family of drugs, including their simple derivatives are controlled under the temporary order approved by both Houses following the Advisory Council's advice that the latest evidence warranted legislative action.

English Language: Overseas Students

Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether UK citizens taking foreign national young people into their homes for the purpose of learning English at the request of a foreign-based agency are liable for the same Disclosure and Barring Service checks as if they were taking the same foreign young people at the request of a UK-based agency. [162438]

James Brokenshire: Legislation provides eligibility for criminal record checks for those working with children, including those hosting children visiting from abroad. Companies abroad are entitled to apply for criminal records checks in the same way as companies in the United Kingdom, provided they apply through an office or agency in this country.

Entry Clearances

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will establish a high-level working group on business visas. [164345]

Mr Harper: The Home Office has regular engagement with business users and has mechanisms in place to receive customer feedback. This feedback is used to refine processes and requirements to improve the business visa customer experience while maintaining immigration controls. I am satisfied that these arrangements are delivering improvements and therefore do not propose to set up a high-level working group specifically for business visas.

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review the content and length of business visa application forms. [164346]

Mr Harper: We are working to improve the online application process for all visa application categories—including business visit visa applications—to make it a more intuitive and customer friendly process. The improved system should be ready for implementation in the autumn. All applications will be made online and system improvements are under way to make the application process easier and more user-friendly.

Financial Services

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department is investigating any unregulated funds similar to the Connaught Income Fund; and what details she can provide on those funds. [164125]

Mr Gauke: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.

Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own.

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The FCA is responsible for undertaking investigations of this nature. We have referred the question to them and they will be writing in due course.

Human Trafficking

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many closure orders restricting access to premises linked to the exploitation or prostitution of trafficked women have been (a) applied for and (b) obtained from the courts by (i) the Metropolitan police and (ii) other police forces in the last three years; how many of these have been enforced; what assessment she has made of the amount of statistical data available; and if she will make a statement. [163626]

Mr Harper: This information is not held centrally, and therefore no assessment has been made.

Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) nail bars and (b) cannabis factories have been investigated by the police in relation to human trafficking in each of the last five years. [163772]

Mr Harper [holding answer 8 July 2013]: These data are not collected centrally. Investigations involving nail bars and cannabis factories may arise as a result of suspicion of a number of different crimes, including human trafficking.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) current and (b) former members of the police service (i) currently serve and (ii) served between 2005 and 2012, on the Independent Police Complaints Commission, by police force area; in what capacity they served; and if she will make a statement. [163564]

Damian Green: The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) does not employ serving members of the police and Commissioners are prohibited by law from ever having served in the police.

The Home Office does not collect data on the numbers of former members of the police who work for the IPCC. However, the IPCC does publish data on the numbers of former members of the police who work for them in their annual reports going back to 2010. These can be found on their website at:

www.ipcc.gov.uk

The most recent data for 2011-12 show that approximately 80% of IPCC staff come from non-policing backgrounds.

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Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research she has commissioned into the level of public confidence in the Independent Police Complaints Commission since May 2010; and if she will make a statement. [163572]

Damian Green: The Home Office has not commissioned research into the level of public confidence in the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) since May 2010.

The IPCC regularly commissions public confidence surveys which can be found on their website at:

www.ipcc.gov.uk

The last survey, in 2011, showed that 69 % of people felt that the IPCC would handle complaints against the police impartially.

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resource funding she plans to allocate to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and if she will make a statement. [163936]

Damian Green: Home Office funding for the Independent Police Complaints Commission totals £39 million in 2013-14.

Budget allocations for 2014-15 have yet to be determined.

Licensed Premises

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much income has been generated by the (a) late night levy and (b) early morning alchohol restriction order to date; and whether she expects the income generated from these two powers to match projections in the Government's impact assessment in the first and second years of operation. [163404]

Mr Jeremy Browne [holding answer 5 July 2013]: No licensing authority has yet introduced the late night levy, therefore no income has been generated. It is likely that the income generated will be less than that set out in the published impact assessment. The early morning alcohol restriction order is not a measure intended to generate income.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to begin consultations on the introduction of full-cost recovery for licence applications under the Licensing Act 2003; and by what date she expects to have implemented full-cost recovery for licence applications. [163513]

Mr Jeremy Browne [holding answer 5 July 2013]: The Government have introduced, through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, a power for the Home Secretary to prescribe in regulations that alcohol licensing fees are set locally on a cost-recovery basis.

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As set out in the Home Office Business Plan 2013-2015, published on 26 June 2013, we intend to introduce regulations in June 2014, after consulting on the proposals.

Members: Correspondence

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Bassetlaw on Enid Taylor-Rusthworth sent on 22 March 2013. [164171]

Mr Harper: The Interim Director General of UK Visas and Immigration replied to the hon. Member on 8 July 2013.

National Ballistics Intelligence Service

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many referrals were made by each police force in England and Wales to the National Ballistics Intelligence Service in each year since 2008. [161362]

Damian Green [holding answer 24 June 2013]: The National Ballistics Intelligence Service has provided the information they hold about the total number of referrals made by police forces since 2009-10. This information is set out in the following table. There are no meaningful data available prior to this date.

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North Yorkshire Police

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much core police funding her Department has allocated to the North Yorkshire Police Authority in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1995-96; [163909]

(2) what the total amount of police grant allocated by her Department to North Yorkshire Police Force was in each year since 2005 in (a) cash terms and (b) real terms. [163910]

Damian Green: The following table shows the amount of core Government revenue funding provided by the Home Office to the North Yorkshire Police Authority (from November 2012 the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire) in 1995-96 and the subsequent years.

Real figures are calculated using the latest GDP deflators. These are updated and published regularly by Her Majesty's Treasury and therefore can change the way that the real figures in the table are represented.

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The figures in the table represent the amount of revenue funding provided by the Home Office to North Yorkshire. However, due to changes in police revenue funding over this time period, which include a move away from Regional Crime Squads (RCS) and a change in the way pensions are funded, it is difficult to compare spending power between years.

In addition, the police also receive central Government grant from other sources including the Department from Communities and Local Government and the Welsh Government in Wales. They also receive funding from the police precept component of council tax and a small amount of income from charging for additional services.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police officers of each rank and grade were employed by North Yorkshire police on 31 March and 30 September in each year since 2004; [163911]

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(2) how many full-time equivalent (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers and (c) police civilian staff were employed by North Yorkshire police on 31 March and 30 September in each year since 2004. [163912]

Damian Green: The number of police officers (by rank), police community support officers (PCSOs) and police staff (full-time equivalent) employed by North Yorkshire police on 31 March and 30 September in each year from 2004 to 2012 have been provided in the tables.

Figures for total numbers of officers, PCSOs and staff are published twice a year within the ‘Police Service Strength, England and Wales' bulletins (to be retitled ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales' from the 31 March 2013 statistical release, to be published on 18 July 2013). However, figures for police officers by rank are published only for 31 March, and those relating to 30 September should be treated as provisional.

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Police: Complaints

Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much the Independent Police Complaints Commission spent on investigating complaints into the actions of each police force in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement; [163841]

(2) what the average cost of Independent Police Complaints Commission investigations is; and if she will make a statement; [163861]

(3) how many police officers of each (a) rank and (b) police force have been reprimanded as a result of Independent Police Complaints Commission investigations prompted by complaints in each of the last three years for which information is available; [163862]

(4) how many full-time equivalent staff are expected to be employed in each Directorate of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2013-14; and if she will make a statement; [163937]

(5) how many staff the Independent Police Complaints Commission employed at each (a) grade and (b) location in each year since 2004-05; [164054]

(6) how many cases were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the Independent Police Complaints Commission by police force area in each year since 2005. [164052]

Damian Green: This information is not held centrally. The Independent Police Complaints Commission will write to my hon. Friend about the information requested.

Police: Northamptonshire

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) police community support officers there were in

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Northamptonshire police force area in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013. [163757]

Damian Green: The number of police officers and police community support officers (full-time equivalent) in Northamptonshire police force area on 31 March and 30 September, 2010 to 2012, have been provided in the table. Figures for 2013 are not yet available.

These figures are published twice a year within the ‘Police Service Strength, England and Wales' bulletins (to be retitled ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales' from the 31 March 2013 statistical release, to be published on 18 July 2013).

Social Networking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will list all Twitter accounts for which officials of her Department (a) have had and (b) currently have responsibility for (i) monitoring and (ii) updating. [163554]

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has one Twitter account that it has responsibility for monitoring and updating:

@ukhomeoffice

Vending Machines

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vending machines in her Department's premises contain snack foods that are high in calories and low in nutritional value. [163853]

James Brokenshire [holding answer 8 July 2013]: Vending machines provided in Home Office buildings offer a variety of drinks and sweets that have varying relative degrees of nutritional value and calorific content. Their procurement is carried out locally either directly by calling off from central contracts or indirectly within contracts for other accommodation services. Records of each vending machine are not held centrally.

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Vetting

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure that organisations are able to carry out Disclosure and Barring Service checks for staff and volunteers working with vulnerable adults who are not in sheltered housing or receiving health care. [163188]

James Brokenshire: Disclosure and barring checks are available for a range of activities which involve working with adults. The eligibility for standard checks is set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and the eligibility for enhanced checks is set out in regulations made under the Police Act 1997 which have recently been amended by the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (SI. 1194/2013). The range of activities eligible for checks includes work with people receiving healthcare, social care and work in other settings, for example in prisons. It also includes driving adults in certain circumstances, formal assistance with the conduct of an adult's own affairs and assistance with cash, bills or shopping if the adult requires that assistance because of their age, illness or disability.

Treasury

Air Passenger Duty

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what comparative assessment his Department has made of the amount of air passenger duty paid by (a) British companies, (b) French companies, (c) German companies, (d) companies in the Netherlands and (e) companies in the Republic of Ireland; [163996]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, The economic impact of air passenger duty, published February 2013; and if he will make a statement; [164041]

(3) if he will publish his Department's assessment of the effects of current levels of air passenger duty on UK businesses' use of air transport and their ability to export; [164042]

(4) how many representations he has received from overseas residents regarding air passenger duty in 2012. [164043]

Mr Gauke: Air passenger duty (APD) is paid by airlines rather than passengers, although airlines usually pass the cost of the tax on in ticket prices. For the purposes of administering the tax, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not require and does not collect information on the final purchasers of tickets, and so it is not possible to identify the amount of APD paid by companies resident in different countries. While HMRC does hold data on the amount of APD paid by airlines, it is not possible to provide breakdowns of this information by country due to taxpayer confidentiality.

The Government believe that APD is a relatively efficient and non-regressive tax, and that abolishing it would have a small impact on GDP and cause a net loss of overall tax receipts.

The Government have limited the rise in APD to inflation over the period from 2010-11 to 2013-14. Furthermore, Budget 2013 set out rates from April

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2014, which will also only rise in line with inflation, ensuring that the level of APD will remain constant in real terms. However, the Chancellor keeps all taxes under review and considers their effects in the round.

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and receive representations from a wide variety of individuals and authorities as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Our records are not broken down to allow the number of communications specifically from overseas residents to be determined.

Apprentices

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many apprentices are currently employed by his Department; and how many such apprentices are aged (a) under 19, (b) 19 to 25, (c) 26 to 30, (d) 31 to 59 and (e) more than 60 years old. [164238]

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury is actively supporting the Government apprentice scheme, and currently has seven apprentices. All seven apprentices are aged 19 to 25. HM Treasury has no apprentices in the other age ranges.

Business Travel: Aviation

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate his Department has made of the effects on economic activity of an increase in business use of air travel; [163995]

(2) what assessment he has made of the link between increased business air travel and increased exports by UK businesses. [164044]

Mr Gauke: The Government's strategy of deficit reduction, monetary activism and supply-side reform is designed to protect the economy and lay the foundations for stronger, more balanced growth. There are encouraging signs that the economy is healing. GDP grew by 0.3% in the first quarter.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. The OBR's forecasts take account of the effect of Government policy and predict the economy will grow by 0.6 in 2013 and continue to grow in every year of the forecast.

European Investment Bank

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement of 2 July 2013, Official Report, column 753, on EU, in which ways the additional funding coming to the UK as a result of the decision to increase the EU Investment Bank's lending will be used to reduce youth unemployment; and what the timescale is for doing so. [164269]

Greg Clark: The additional lending the European Investment Bank will be undertaking in 2013-15, financed by increasing its capital, is being channelled through a "Growth and Employment Facility". This focuses on the following areas: Innovation and Skills; EU Resource Efficiency; EU Access to Finance and EU Strategic Infrastructure. Individual projects impacting on youth unemployment will be assessed on their merits.

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Financial Services Compensation Scheme

John Hemming: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether savings covered by the terms and limits of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme are protected against (a) ad hoc restrictions of access, (b) bank bail-ins and (c) other forms of expropriation or forced conversion. [163688]

Greg Clark: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) provides protection for deposits up to £85,000 per depositor, per authorised institution.

Revenue and Customs: Rhyl

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are employed at Rhyl Tax Office. [164159]

Mr Gauke: HMRC has an enquiry centre in Rhyl which employs three staff.

SITA Trust

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the Sita Trust report, Sita Trust's Funds Held, submitted in response to his Department's Funds Held challenge. [163602]

Sajid Javid: The Government welcome the efforts of SITA Trust in addressing the challenge of reducing ‘unspent’ funds within the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF).

At Budget 2011 and Budget 2012, the Government set a challenge to environmental bodies to reduce the accumulation of unspent funds by 25% to ensure funds benefit local communities more rapidly. The time frame for achieving this target was extended at Budget 2013 to March 2014.

It is ENTRUST, the fund regulator, that monitors environmental bodies’ efforts to meet the challenge and update the Government on its progress. The Government will provide a response to environmental bodies’ efforts to address the challenge at Budget 2014.

Tax Allowances: Pensions

Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the distributional consequences were of payments of pension tax relief in respect of persons on (a) the basic rate of income tax, (b) the higher rate of income tax and (c) the supplementary rate of income tax, by income decile of the population, in each of the last four financial years; [163640]

(2) what the payments were of pension tax relief in respect of persons on (a) the basic rate of income tax, (b) the higher rate of income tax and (c) the supplementary rate of income tax in each of the last four financial years; and what levels of those payments accrued to individuals as categorised by income decile of the population. [163641]

Mr Gauke: Estimates of the number of people receiving income tax deductions for their pension contributions and the value of deductions by different income bands in 2010-11 can be found in Table 3.8 on the HMRC website at the following link:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/income-by-year/table3-8.pdf

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Estimates for previous years can be found in the national archives:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121102223513/http://hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_distribution/menu-by-year.htm

Estimates for future years will be published at scheduled release dates.

Tiuta

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2013, Official Report, column 406W, on Financial Services, which activities of Tiuta plc fell under the supervision of the Financial Services Authority. [163605]

Mr Gauke: Tiuta plc’s specific permissions are listed at the following link on the Financial Services Register. These permissions relate to the arranging/administering of regulated mortgage contracts since 7 April 2006.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmPermissions.do?sid=150520

Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs undertakes regular assessments to ensure that the tonnage tax scheme is not used to avoid tax. [163978]

Mr Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs is committed to tackling tax avoidance. Officials undertake an annual risk assessment of tonnage tax companies to identify any tax risks or attempted avoidance and actively monitor the regime throughout the tax year. It is a condition of remaining within tonnage tax that a company is not a party to any transaction or arrangement that is an abuse of the regime and tonnage tax will be subject to the forthcoming General Anti-Abuse Rule.

Youth Work

Mr Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much funding his Department allocated for youth work in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement. [164087]

Mr Gauke: The Department has not allocated any funding for youth work in any of the financial years in your request.

Although the Treasury has not directly allocated any amount in relation to youth work, other Government Departments may have allocated funds as part of their settlements set by HM Treasury in the spending review 2010.

Business, Innovation and Skills

Business: Government Assistance

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the reasons are for the abolition of the UK Advisory Network; and whether he has any plans to offer a replacement or alternative to the businesses that used it. [163655]

Michael Fallon: The UK Advisory Network (UKAN) has not been abolished. UKAN was initially conceived to support inward investment, then broadened to include

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a trade offer. In October 2012, the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, my noble Friend Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, launched ‘Open to Export’, an online business community designed to bring best-practice knowledge and bespoke advice to UK exporters:

www.OpenToExport.com

On this basis UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) decided to close the Trade and Overseas Support Directories of UKAN and return it to a solely inward investor support facility. UKTI notified UKAN members in advance of the closure and suggested they consider ‘Open to Export’ as a means to offer their trade support services.

Construction

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to Annex B of his Department's publication, Construction 2025, published on 2 July 2013, what steps he plans to take to fully commit to the existing Building Information Modelling programme to create a critical mass; and what criteria he will use to recognise a critical mass. [164069]

Michael Fallon: The Government have fully committed to mandating the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on all centrally funded projects by 2016. The collaborative Government/industry BIM Task Group, co-ordinated by the Construction Industry Council, is leading the implementation strategy. The BIM Task Group has established a number of work streams to support the roll-out of BIM across the industry sector and further information on these activities can be found at:

www.bimtaskgroup.org

This approach will ensure the programme achieves critical mass.

It is our expectation that the savings and other benefits materialising from the BIM Task Group ‘Early Adopter Programme’ will encourage a significant number of private sector clients to make use of the freely shared processes and documents to add to this critical mass. Recently, the Government and industry jointly won the international Fiatech ‘James B. Porter, Jr. Award for Technology Leadership’ award for their collaboration and achievements in the BIM programme.

Degrees

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make an assessment of the London Economics report entitled the outcomes associated with the BTEC route of degree level acquisition. [163569]

Matthew Hancock: I note this report, which highlights the value of qualifications for getting people into university and then their future employment prospects. We will evaluate the report's findings in the context of our commitment to develop high quality technical education.

EU Grants and Loans: Liverpool

Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has held with the European Commission on the allocation of transitional funding for Liverpool for the period from 2014 to 2020. [164275]

9 July 2013 : Column 163W

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has not held discussions with the European Commission on the allocation of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. Officials have met with the European Commission to discuss the overall methodology for distributing these funds across the UK prior to the 27 June 2013 announcement.

Galileo System

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the cost (a) in total and (b) to the UK of the EU's Galileo satellite programme; and if he will make a statement. [164350]

Mr Willetts: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 629W, regarding the cost of the Galileo and EGNOS satellite navigation programmes.

The European Council agreement reached in February reduced the budget for the programmes from the €7 billion proposed by the European Commission to €6.3 billion (2011 prices). The Commission is now working to align the programme to this reduced budget and they have confirmed that the objectives set out in the new EU regulation for the programmes for 2014-20 can still be delivered.

The European Parliament still needs to give its consent to the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

Post Offices: Rhyl

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people are employed at Rhyl Crown Post Office. [163976]

Jo Swinson: Post Office Ltd is responsible for operational matters concerning the Post Office network, which includes the information requested. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the chief executive of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Regional Growth Fund: Yorkshire and the Humber

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Regional Growth Fund has spent in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) city of York in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each year since that fund was created. [163885]

Michael Fallon: The following table shows how much the Regional Growth Fund has spent in the Yorkshire and the Humber region in each financial year and the value of the payments in 2011-12 at current prices (adjusted for inflation).

The figures for 2013-14 are to end June 2013.

9 July 2013 : Column 164W

There are currently no projects solely aimed at providing funding within the city of York. However companies in the city of York and the Yorkshire and Humber area are able to benefit from a number of Regional Growth Fund programmes that operate nationally.

Royal Mail

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what guarantees and safeguards he has put in place to protect the pensions scheme of (a) past workers and (b) present workers at Royal Mail. [163755]

Michael Fallon: On 1 April 2012 the Government relieved Royal Mail of its historic pension deficit of approximately £12 billion by transferring pension benefits accrued up to that date to a new Government pension scheme. This new Government pension scheme was established under Part 2 of the Postal Services Act 2011 and is known as the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme (RMSPS).

The Act included a number of protections in relation to the RMSPS. This included a protection relating to the transfer of benefits from the Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP) to the RMSPS and restricting any future changes to benefits which were transferred to the RMSPS (designed to mirror the protections members’ accrued benefits enjoyed in the RMPP). For the avoidance of doubt none of the recent reforms to public sector pensions applied to the RMSPS.

Any decision on future pensions provision for present Royal Mail employees is a matter for Royal Mail in consultation with the trustees and its employees. Royal Mail is currently consulting with employees on a proposal which would address the significant recent increase in the cost of providing defined benefit pensions to employees (which is a market wide issue). This proposal would result in a commitment by Royal Mail, subject to certain terms and conditions, to keep the RMPP open to future accrual.

Social Networking

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will list all Twitter accounts for which officials of his Department (a) have had and (b)currently have responsibility for (i) monitoring and (ii) updating. [163543]

Jo Swinson: The Department is responsible for three corporate Twitter accounts:

@bisgovuk

@businesslinkgov

@bispressoffice

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has a network of 70 Twitter channels. UKTI's main corporate Twitter channel is @UKTI. UKTI also has responsibility for the following Twitter accounts:

@UKTI_ATF

@UK_ICT

@UK_AE

@UKTI_BizRisk

@ UKTI Springboard

@UKTItechworld

@UKTI_Energy

@UKTI_Manufacturing

9 July 2013 : Column 165W

@UKTI_Education

@UKTI_Cleantech

@UKTI_FoodDrink

@UKTIatSXSWi

@BritishBusinessClub

@UKTI_SW

@UKTIYorkshire

@UKTILondonSE

@UKTIEast

@UKTITIEM

@UKTINW

@wm_ukti

@UKTINorthEast

@cwcc_export

@UKTI_Brazil

@UKTI_Canada

@UKTIMexico

@MiamiUKTI

@UKTITechNY

@UKTIfinservices

@UKTIHouston

@UKTI_CreativeLA

@UKaeroLA

@UKTIBoston

@UKTI_Chicago_EE

@UKTIUSEnergy

@UKTIUSA

@UKTIDC

@UKTISFCRE8V

@UKTINewYork

@UKTIAtlanta

@UKTIUS_AutoAero

@UKTI_Chongqing

@UKTIHongKong

@UKTI_India

@UKTIIndonesia

@UKTIJapan

@UKTI_Malaysia

@UKTI_Singapore

@UKTIAustralia

@UKTINewZealand

@UKTI_Prague

@UKTI_Denmark

@UKTI_de

@UKTIEuropeanHub

@UKTIFrance

@UKTI_Germany

@UKTl_Greece

@UKTIItaly

@UKTIIitalia

@UKTILatvia

@UKTI_NL

@UKTI_Poland

@UKTI_Turkey

@UKTI_Nordics

@UKTI_Barcelona

@UKTIJordan

9 July 2013 : Column 166W

@UKTINigeria

@UKTIBeirut

@uktilebanon

@UKTI_UAEFinance

Staff are encouraged to use Twitter where it is useful to their work, but responsibility for personal Twitter accounts rests with the individual. This is in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

Student Loans Company

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many overpayments were made by the Student Loans Company in error in the 2012-13 financial year. [R] [163412]

Mr Willetts: Data on grant and loan overpayments are held by the Student Loans Company (SLC), but are not sub-divided by the reason for each overpayment.

Grants are paid up front to students based upon the latest information provided to SLC about individual students' circumstances. Overpayment generally occurs when the SLC receives information from a student or their higher education institution that the student's financial circumstances have changed, or that they are no longer attending their course of study, which leads to the grant amount being re-assessed. Figures on overpayment are reported by academic year, and the most recently completed academic year for which figures are available is 2011/12. They show that 49,300 customers were overpaid grants amounting to £69.1 million. These figures are subject to change as SLC receives new information and re-assesses overpayment amounts in the light of this.

It is not possible to provide a complete assessment of loan overpayments. This is because overpayments of loan are only recorded as such until such time as the person becomes liable to begin making repayments. After that point, the overpaid amount is recorded as part of the loan balance, which is generally recovered via the tax system. Figures for borrowers who have received an overpayment of loan and who are not yet in repayment were published in the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) on 18 April 2012, Official Report, columns 385-6W.

International Development

Afghanistan

Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans her Department has to fund women's shelters in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement. [163943]

Justine Greening: I have made eliminating violence against women and girls a strategic priority in the Afghanistan country plan.

DFID's work has centred on helping the prevention of violence against women, including supporting the legal framework and enforcement measures that protect against violence. We will continue to review our plans for effectiveness.

9 July 2013 : Column 167W

Developing Countries: Conditions of Employment

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what commitments UK retailers made to improve labour standards and working conditions in the developing countries they operate in following the recent meeting hosted by her Department; [164194]

(2) what steps to improve labour standards in developing countries were agreed upon by her Department following her meeting with UK retailers. [164180]

Justine Greening: In July, my Department brought together, for the first time ever, major UK retailers, the Ethical Trading Initiative and DFID Ministers to discuss how business and government can work more effectively together to drive up safety and improve working conditions in developing countries. This was a constructive meeting that identified opportunities for joint action around transparency, knowledge sharing and capacity building.