Written Answers to Questions

Monday 24 February 2014

Prime Minister

Uganda

Alison McGovern: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with President Yoweri Museveni about Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexuality legislation. [188227]

The Prime Minister: In his statement of today’s date, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), made clear the Government’s deep concern and disappointment that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda has been signed into law. The UK strongly opposes all discrimination on any grounds. We question the Bill’s compatibility with Uganda’s constitution and international treaty obligations. The Government have consistently raised the issue of anti-homosexuality with the Ugandan Government at the most senior levels, and we will continue to press them to defend human rights for all.

Work and Pensions

Employment

20. Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who were in employment between (a) 2005 and 2010 and (b) 2010 and 2013. [902620]

Esther McVey: Between 2005 and 2010 the number of people in work rose by 150,000. Since 2010 the number of people in work has risen by 1.3 million.

Independent Living Fund

21. Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that people in receipt of payments from the independent living fund continue to receive appropriate support. [902621]

Mike Penning: The Independent Living Fund is committed to providing a quality service to all fund users.

Eligibility and levels of support are monitored through a structured programme of regular individual reviews or at any time if a user's circumstances change.

Benefits: EU Migrants

22. Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he plans to make to the availability of benefits to EU migrants. [902622]

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Esther McVey: We have already introduced a number of measures to stop migrants incorrectly accessing our welfare system if they have no intention of working and have not contributed to our economy.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on whether requirements similar to those on landlords under Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 should also apply to the leaseholder market. [187488]

Mike Penning: The duties on landlords under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 already extend to the leaseholder market where the lease is for a term of less than seven years, and does not confer an option for renewal for a term, which if taken with the original term, amounts to more than seven years.

We do not have any current plans to extend this provision to all leasehold properties.

Civil Servants: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many civil servants based in Northern Ireland are employed on social security and child maintenance issues in Great Britain. [188041]

Mike Penning: The Northern Ireland Civil Service is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average annual salary is of civil servants currently employed in Northern Ireland who deal with social security and child maintenance issues in the UK. [188273]

Mike Penning: The Northern Ireland Civil Service is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Employment and Support Allowance

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will monitor the overturn rates of individual employment and support allowance decision makers; [187831]

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that employment and support allowance decision makers are informed about successful appeals against their decisions; [187834]

(3) if he will (a) review the automatic linkage of reassessment periods for employment and support allowance to the original decision and (b) introduce a minimum period between a successful appeal decision and a recall notice; [187836]

(4) what changes he plans to the ESA113 form as a result of the Litchfield Review; [187838]

(5) what changes he plans to the ESA50 form as a result of the Litchfield Review; [187839]

(6) if he will increase the review period for those with severe brain disorders placed in the employment and support allowance review group; [187841]

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(7) if he will allow decision makers to triage employment and support allowance claimants and issue ESA50 forms according to need. [187842]

Mike Penning: The fourth independent review of the Work Capability Assessment, undertaken by Dr Paul Litchfield, was published on 12 December 2013. Dr Litchfield made recommendations relevant to all of these questions in his review.

The Department welcomes Dr Litchfield's review and is currently considering how to respond to each recommendation. The Government intend to publish their response in the first quarter of 2014.

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment and support allowance claimants have (a) entered into and (b) completed mandatory reconsideration periods; and what financial support aside from jobseeker's allowance is available to support such claimants during that period. [188578]

Mike Penning: At present, these data are not sufficiently robust and reliable to make available.

When a decision-maker has decided that a claimant does not have limited capability for work following a work capability assessment, the Department makes a decision assurance call during which the claimant can be advised of alternative benefits that may be available. For those found fit for work the main out of work benefit is jobseeker's allowance. The decision letter issued to the claimant in these circumstances also provides advice on alternative benefits that may be available.

Specialist employment advice is also available from disability employment advisers.

Employment Schemes

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to support those facing the most complex barriers to securing workplace training and employment. [187093]

Mike Penning: The Government are committed to ensuring that people with complex barriers to employment have the opportunities, chances and support that they need to get a job and remain in employment.

Jobcentre Plus offers all claimants, including those with complex barriers, a variety of support based on their individual needs, such as help with job search, careers advice, boosting literacy, numeracy and language skills, other skills training, work experience and setting up a business. Jobcentre Plus advisors can offer flexibility around the job search requirements for people who are undergoing substance abuse treatment, are temporarily homeless or are fleeing domestic violence until they are in a position to seek work.

All claimants who are long-term unemployed can access the tailored, back to work support, on offer from the Work programme, which offers more employment support to people with disability and health conditions, and other hard to help claimants, than previous schemes.

We have set up the ‘Building Best Practice group’ to support Work programme providers in identifying the ways that disabled people, people with health conditions

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and other hard to help claimants can best be helped, and to help them share the best practice they have identified.

On 25 November we launched three pilots testing differing support approaches for employment and support allowance claimants in the Work Related Activity Group with an 18-24 month work capability assessment prognosis. We are also testing out different ways of incentivising providers to work with some of our hardest to help claimants—such as our Recovery Works pilot, which pays an additional outcome for claimants who spend time in drug recovery treatment.

For people whose disability presents a complex barrier to employment, there is a range of provision to help them, including Work Choice, Access to Work and Residential Training. Following extensive discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, including disabled people themselves, the Government published ‘The disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far’ in December 2013, which set out a range of proposals to address the employment rate gap for disabled people and those with health conditions.

We are also working with employers, through our Disability Confident campaign and regional events, to highlight the strong business case for employing disabled people and the support available to employers who do so. The campaign aims to combat the attitudes which act as a barrier to employment and the events offer opportunities for employers who are already disability confident to share their experience and offer peer support to those who are not.

For people facing other, often multiple, disadvantages in the labour market we ensure that our policies remove some of those barriers and we offer specialist advice and support.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 3 September 2012, Official Report, column 165W, on employment schemes, how much has been spent on the Work Choice contracts in each contract package area to date. [188064]

Esther McVey: Due to commercial in confidence considerations we are not able to release financial data below the national level at this time.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the job outcome targets are for Work Choice. [188167]

Esther McVey: Job outcome targets for Work Choice are:

Total contracted supported outcomes: 39,041

Total contracted paid unsupported outcomes: 5,687.

Employment Schemes: Disabled

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the spending on Work Choice in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 is accounted for by (i) DEL costs of the programme, (ii) service fees, (iii) placement fees and (iv) 26 week sustainment fees. [188525]

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Esther McVey: The total Work Choice programme expenditure:

All programme spend is DEL expenditure.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the spending on the Work Choice programme in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 is grant-in-aid funding for Remploy. [188526]

Esther McVey: Grant in Aid funding provided to Remploy Employment Services, relating to Work Choice, in the years requested was as follows:

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the projected expenditure for the Work Choice programme is for each year between 2010-11 and 2014-15. [188527]

Esther McVey: The total Work Choice expenditure to 31 December 2013 is £257.6 million:

It is not standard practice to provide forecast or future year budget information as this is usually indicative, for internal management purposes only and subject to change during the financial year. All financial forecasts are reviewed monthly as part of a continuous planning process and subject to change in the light of ongoing reviews of performance and value for money achieved and wider priorities.

Employment: Older Workers

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to increase employment among people aged over 50 years old. [188168]

Esther McVey: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 20 January 2014, Official Report, column 43W.

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Equality

Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) total departmental expenditure, (b) number and (c) cost of people employed for the purpose of promoting equality and diversity was for each of the last five years. [187651]

Mike Penning: The Department has a central diversity and equality team whose role is to ensure compliance with all equality legislation and actively to promote equality and diversity in the development of policies, services, and in the treatment of staff.

Housing Benefit

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the availability of shared accommodation for single people under 35 in receipt of the shared accommodation rate of housing benefit. [188003]

Steve Webb: No assessment has been made of the availability of shared accommodation for single people under 35. However the Department has commissioned a major independent evaluation of the changes to local housing allowance, including the impacts on single people under 35. The interim report was published last year and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitoring-the-impact-of-changes-to-the-local-housing-allowance-system-of-housing-benefit-interim-report-rr-838

The final report from the evaluation is due to be published in the summer.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how his Department identifies single people under 35 who have spent three months in a homeless hostel for an exemption from the shared accommodation rate of housing benefit. [188004]

Steve Webb: Local authorities administer housing benefit and therefore are responsible for identifying which single people aged between 25 and 34 qualify for this exemption, in line with the legislation and guidance issued by DWP.

Industrial Health and Safety

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) with reference to the press release by the Health and Safety Executive entitled HSE announces important legislation changes, what plans he

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has to review the changes made in October 2013 to health and safety regulations; and what consideration he has given to recommendations put forward by small and medium-sized businesses; [188441]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on small and medium-sized businesses of the changes announced in October 2013 by the Health and Safety Executive to health and safety regulations. [188447]

Mike Penning: The changes to the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 and Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations were only implemented on 1 October 2013. Both pieces of legislation were consulted on widely before implementation and small and medium-sized businesses were encouraged to respond to the consultations. All comments were fully considered.

Plans are in place to review the effects of the changes across all industry sectors and in all sizes of business. The review of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations will start in April 2014, and over a three-year period will consider all business sectors, including small and medium-sized businesses. The revised Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations will be reviewed in 2018, five years from their implementation date.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claiming jobseeker's allowance who were sanctioned in 2013 subsequently found full-time employment within (a) one, (b) three, (c) six and (d) 12 months in each local authority in England. [187430]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have disputed a sanction of their benefit in each of the last five years; [187492]

(2) how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK who have disputed a sanction of their benefit in each of the last five years have had their sanction overturned following appeal. [187495]

Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Jarrow (Mr Hepburn) on 25 April 2013, Official Report, columns 1081-82W and to the written answer I gave on 14 October 2013, Official Report, column 492W, for the years 2008 to 2012.

The information requested for (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) Great Britain for the latest data available is shown in the following table.

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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has issued to his Department's decision makers since May 2010 on keeping jobseekers allowance claims live following the application of a sanction. [187859]

Esther McVey: Guidance on sanctions has been issued in a series of Decision Makers Guide (DMG) Memos which are now all incorporated into DMG Chapter 34 - Sanctions. This guidance is available on the https://www.gov.uk/ website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/278266/dmach34.pdf

A sanction is a reduction of benefit for a fixed period. Providing that the claimant retains underlying entitlement to jobseeker's allowance, payment of the benefit will recommence once the period of sanction has run its course. Volume 4 of the DMG provides guidance on the conditions of entitlement for JSA:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/decision-makers-guide-vols-4-5-6-and-7-jobseekers-allowance-and-income-support-staff-guide

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Ministers' Private Offices

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the size, in square metres, of the offices assigned to each of his Department’s Ministers is; and how many officials, at what grade, work in the private offices of each of his Department’s Ministers. [188329]

Esther McVey: Details of the office sizes you requested are shown in the following table.

As the number of officials in each grade is less than five, we do not publish figures below this number as this could result in people being identified and therefore breach our data protection obligations. This is in line with standard departmental practice and the practice of previous Administrations.

Pension Service

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are employed in the Pension Service (a) at each location and (b) in each parliamentary constituency; and what the cost of employing those staff was in each of the last three years. [188283]

Steve Webb: The number of staff and their costs working for the Pension Service are shown in the following tables. Staff are located in specific pension centres, therefore data by parliamentary constituency are not available.

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Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what recent discussions he has had with private operators on the potential for outsourcing the Pension Service; [188284]

(2) what assessment he has made of potential savings to the public purse from the privatisation of the Pension Service. [188285]

Steve Webb: No recent discussions of such nature have taken place and no such assessment has been made. We have no plans to outsource the Pension Service.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to help older people claim the benefits to which they are entitled. [902618]

Steve Webb: We are committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. I regularly engage with a wide range of stakeholders and customer representative groups on a range of issues including access to pensioner benefits.

The Department writes to people, at the address held on record, up to four months before they reach State Pension age inviting them to claim their State Pension. An information leaflet about the State Pension is enclosed with the letter. It provides details of how to claim Pension Credit.

Customers can claim Pension Credit by telephone, removing the need to complete lengthy application forms; they can also claim Housing Benefit at the same time, and are advised of Pension Credit when they claim their State Pension.

For the long term, our aim is to reduce complexity in the system. That is why we are reforming the state pension through the current Pensions Bill, setting it above the basic level of means-tested support and giving greater prominence to the contributory pension.

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Pensions Regulator

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful enforcement actions by the Pensions Regulator against foreign-owned companies in connection with allegations of pension abandonment have taken place since the formation of that body. [188506]

Steve Webb: The Pensions Regulator has successfully taken action three times in cases involving overseas companies.

Pensions: Gender Recognition

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 13 May 2013, on pensions: gender recognition, what assessment he made of the representations about pension entitlements for trans people in paragraphs nine to 13 of the paper submitted by Helen Belcher to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Public Bill Committee; and if he will make a statement. [188103]

Steve Webb: During the Bill Committee we undertook to consider this matter based on evidence provided to the Committee. I am pleased to say that a Government amendment was tabled which will provide arrangements to protect the position of those survivors who would otherwise have been affected by their spouse changing gender.

The provision is part of the second phase of implementation of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 which the Government aims to bring in by the end of 2014.

Personal Independence Payment

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the average wait by personal independence payment applicants from initial application to payment; and (a) how many and (b) what proportion of applicants waited longer than (i) three months and (ii) six months in the last period for which figures are available; [187891]

(2) what estimate he has made of the length of time it takes to process a claim for personal independence payment from initial application to monies received by the claimant; and if he will make a statement. [187967]

Mike Penning: We intend to publish official statistics on personal independence payment from spring 2014.

Personal Independence Payment: Isle of Wight

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the face-to-face personal independence payment assessment to be conducted by Atos as referred to in his letter to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight of 15 January 2014 under reference FBH 44237 will take place. [188494]

Mike Penning: I will write to my hon. Friend directly.

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Re-employment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2014, Official Report, column 212W, on re-employment, how much was paid to the staff referred to as part of their retirement package. [188059]

Mike Penning: The total amount paid to the nine staff as part of their retirement package was £298,847.72. The average cost is £33,205 per member of staff.

Social Security Benefits

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the behavioural insights team about improvements to written communications on benefit applications and assessments. [187830]

Esther McVey: Over the past 18 months, the Department has had a number of discussions with the behavioural insights team. These have been on a range of issues.

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the payment systems for delivery of benefits through the Department are able to process payments in a currency other than sterling. [188491]

Mike Penning: The Department for Work and Pensions can make payment in currencies other than sterling via our contracted overseas payment bank (Citibank). The contracted bank converts payments into currency appropriate to the destination country for the payment.

Payments processed through the Department’s Central Payments System (CPS) employ two methods of making payments to customers in currencies other than sterling. Payments from the Pensions Service Computer System or Winter Fuels Payment System can be submitted by CPS to the Department's contracted bank specifying the customer's overseas bank account details and the currency in which payment is to be made.

For other systems it is possible to make a BACS Direct Payment into a UK collection account held at Citibank. Citibank apply the customer's bank account details from their database and transmit the payment to the customer's account in appropriate currency.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount saved on benefits payments by those on zero-hours contracts whose income falls below the minimum jobseeker's allowance qualification for short periods of time but who do not sign on. [188529]

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support is available for those on zero hours contracts whose income falls below jobseeker's allowance minimum for short periods of time. [188532]

Esther McVey: Anyone on a low income who works for less than 16 hours per week may be entitled to jobseeker's allowance, provided that they are available for and actively seeking work.

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Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate his Department has made of the likely number of appeals against decisions on entitlement to (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment in the next two years; [187469]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for changes in the number of appeals against decisions on entitlement to (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payment (i) over the last three years and (ii) as predicted to occur over the next two years. [187470]

Mike Penning: There are two primary reasons for the increases in the number of employment and support allowance (ESA) appeals in the last three years: (i) the reassessment of recipients of existing incapacity benefits to see if they are eligible for ESA; and (ii) the introduction of time limiting of contributory ESA for those in the work related activity group from 1 May 2012.

Since April 2011 more decisions have been made on ESA as the Department processed new claims, converted more claimants from old style incapacity benefits to ESA and reassessed existing awards. From October 2013 claimants who wish to dispute a decision must request a Mandatory Reconsideration process before they can appeal. This allows the opportunity to provide any additional evidence, and for the Department to establish if the decision is right. While the Department is confident that this process will be effective in changing decisions, it is nevertheless anticipated that there will still be a rise in the number of appeals overall. The Ministry of Justice regularly publishes statistics on the numbers of social security appeals, including those against ESA and PIP decisions, which have been received and processed.

Personal independence payment (PIP) was introduced in April 2013 to new claimants only and to date the numbers of appeals received on such claims have been low. Reassessment of existing disability living allowance (DLA) claimants for entitlement to PIP began from 28 October 2013 in a limited geographic area, with further extensions to that geographic coverage from 13 January and 3 February:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pip-postcode-map-uk

As for all DWP administered benefits, claimants who wish to dispute a decision must ask the Department for a Mandatory Reconsideration, before deciding if they wish to appeal.

The Department does not routinely publish its appeal forecasts.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward plans to increase the £85 disregard in occupational pensions taken into account for incapacity-related benefits; and if he will make a statement. [188265]

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Esther McVey: The Secretary of State reviews the value of the occupational pension threshold in incapacity-related benefits as part of the annual uprating arrangements. Having taken into account competing priorities it has been decided to leave the value of the threshold unchanged.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many sanctions were initiated as a result of reports from Work Programme providers in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) 2013; and how many such sanctions were rescinded on appeal. [188218]

Esther McVey: The specific information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2014, Official Report, column 167W, on social security benefits: fraud, what proportion of people required to pay back a fraud overpayment of benefits and not prosecuted in court (a) have repaid the underlying overpayment in full, (b) are actively making repayments, (c) are in arrears with their repayments and (d) have been prosecuted for breaching their agreement to pay. [187920]

Esther McVey: The information detailed in the following table relates only to the underlying overpayments where an administrative penalty was applied in lieu of prosecution and the overall position regarding repayment of those overpayments. It is not possible to separately identify cases where the debtor has only received a caution.

There is no recourse to prosecution for those who fail to pay but civil recovery would instead be appropriate.

A proportion of underlying overpayments will not yet be in recovery as the associated administrative penalty is still to be recovered in full. This accounts for the 6.6% discrepancy.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to tackle benefit fraud in relation to (a) disability living allowance and (b) personal independence payments. [187968]

Mike Penning: The Department believes that any fraud is unacceptable and is taking steps to reduce this as much as possible. In February 2012, DWP published a strategy refresh with HMRC and the Cabinet Office outlining plans to tackle fraud and error in the benefit system.

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The 2012 strategy refresh can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62522/HMG-Fraud-and-Error-Report-Feb-2011-v35.pdf

The strategy includes introducing measures both to prevent fraud from entering the system in the first place, and to detect and punish those who are caught abusing the system.

The Fraud and Error Service, part of the DWP, is responsible for the investigation of fraud against all benefits administered by DWP, including disability living allowance and personal independence payment. Each reported allegation is subjected to rigorous analysis and background checks against records held within the Department. The investigators work within the requirements of a broad range of legislation including Criminal Procedure 1996 and Investigation Act 1984, Police and Criminal Evidence Act and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which assists uncovering the true extent of all benefit fraud.

The Department has not yet published any statistics on the level of fraud in personal independence payment as this benefit was only introduced from April 2013.

Training

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training at what cost has been provided for Ministers in his Department since May 2010. [187982]

Esther McVey: Civil Service Learning no longer has any responsibility for ministerial training. This has been passed to the Institute for Government.

Based on this Department’s own records, I can confirm that none of its Ministers have undertaken any recent training.

Unemployed People: Basic Skills

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2014, Official Report, column 421W, on unemployed people: basic skills, how much his Department spent on Skills Conditionality activities between August 2011 and August 2013. [187958]

Esther McVey: For the Department, staff resource has been the main spend on skills conditionality. We do not break down staff time to show how much is spent on making these types of referrals.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the oral evidence given by the Minister of State for Employment to the Work and Pensions Committee on 20 November 2013, Question 569, what progress has been made in commissioning the secondary piece of work referred to in that Answer. [187957]

Esther McVey: I made a commitment to on-going evaluation of the sanctions regime.

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We monitor all our policies as a matter of course and as part of this we will be sharing further evidence on sanctions within the forthcoming Work programme Evaluation and the Claimant Commitment research which will provide insight into the impact of sanctions on claimant behaviour.

Vacancies: Internet

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job advertisements were removed from Universal Jobmatch in 2013 following complaints; and if he will make a statement. [188169]

Esther McVey: 576 job advertisements were removed as a result of complaints from members of the public in 2013. In addition a further 1,913 job advertisements were removed as a result of internal processes designed to identify inappropriate cases. Complaints are robustly investigated in order to maintain the integrity and quality of the service to employers and jobseekers.

Work Capability Assessment: Isle of Wight

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many face to face work capability assessments on the Isle of Wight have been outstanding for longer than (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months and (d) four months; [188493]

(2) what the average time taken by Atos Healthcare was to undertake face-to-face assessments for benefit claimants on (a) the Isle of Wight and (b) nationally since it began to deliver that service. [188579]

Mike Penning: It is not possible to provide the data for benefit claimants on the Isle of Wight. Information on this specific geographical area is not routinely reported by Atos Healthcare to DWP.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the hon. Member for York Central will receive an answer to the question tabled on 24 April 2013 on whether he will place in the Library a copy of the code of practice agreed by his Department, the National Association of Pension Funds and the Association of British Insurers on entitlement to survivor pensions for spouses and former spouses of transsexual people after the passage of the Gender Recognition Act 2004. [188087]

Steve Webb: The hon. Member's question tabled on 24 April 2013, UIN 153826, was a named day question for answer on 29 April 2013. As Parliament prorogued on 25 April 2014 the rules of the House did not permit the question to be answered. A memorandum stating that questions tabled for answer on a named day after prorogation would not be answered was published in the House's summary agenda on 22 April 2013:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmagenda/sa130422.htm

A copy of the code of practice will be placed in the Library.

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House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology Service

Ian Austin: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission what the average wait time is for callers to the PICT helpdesk. [187524]

John Thurso: Each call to the PICT Service Desk starts with a standard pre-recorded greeting “Welcome to the Parliamentary ICT Service Desk, etc.” This lasts approximately 12 seconds. The following table shows by month the average time (in seconds) to answer a call, excluding the message, for the past 13 months:

Higher call volumes due to the rollout of new systems and a number of major incidents accounted for the longer waiting time in January. Staff turnover also contributed to longer waiting times in January.

Electoral Commission Committee

Absent Voting

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the likely effect on the (a) numbers of postal ballots forms issued after the updating of its Code of Conduct in May 2014 and (b) effect of such a change on voter turnout. [187127]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not proposed changing the Code of Conduct for Campaigners to restrict the ability of campaigners to encourage electors to apply to vote by post and to issue application forms. The commission has recommended that campaigners should not be involved in the process of completing or collecting postal vote application forms or handling postal ballot packs.

The commission has not yet made any assessment of the likely effect on changes to voter turnout as a result of its proposal. The commission expects to consider any evidence about possible changes to turnout as part of its discussions on changes to its Code of Conduct for Campaigners with political parties, returning officers and electoral registration officers. This will include discussing additional steps that returning officers and electoral registration officers could take to help electors complete and return application forms and postal ballot packs.

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Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what discussions the Electoral Commission has had with Citizens Advice on making registration and postal ballot forms available for all Citizens Advice clients and paying the Citizens Advice for this service. [187128]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not yet had any such discussions with the Citizens Advice Bureau but that it plans to approach them as part of its work to promote awareness of individual electoral registration.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what input and output measures are used to assess specific aspects of the success or otherwise of electoral registration campaigns. [187130]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that specific input and output measures are considered for each electoral registration campaign. These are set in line with Government Communications Network best practice advice.

The main input measures are typically the cost of the campaign and how many people will see it through the different media channels that are used.

The main output measure for voter registration campaigns is typically the number of people who actually see the campaign. This is measured by quantitative tracking research undertaken with the members of the public before and after the campaign.

The commission uses the number of registration forms downloaded from its aboutmyvote.co.uk website as the main measure of the success of its registration campaigns.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if he will place in the Library a copy of the 2011 research into the accuracy of the electoral registers. [187131]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has placed a copy in the Library.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if the Electoral Commission will repeat its 2008 request to the Office for National Statistics to match census data against electoral registration data. [187132]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has been working with the Office for National Statistics, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the National Records of Scotland in order to match 2011 census data against the electoral registers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The findings of these studies will be published during 2014.

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Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, columns 208-9W, on electoral register, what the average cost per download is of electoral registration forms in each of the three campaigns listed in the answer. [187231]

Mr Streeter: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his question (PQ 185198) on 3 February 2014, Official Report, columns 60-62W, containing the cost per download of previous Commission campaigns.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2013, Official Report, columns 611-2W, on electoral registration officers, how effective the Electoral Commission's interventions against each ERO who repeatedly failed to implement performance standard 3 were. [187299]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that where the returns and other available information from individual EROs indicates that they may not be meeting performance standard 3, the Commission works with them to identify and recommend improvements that could be made, with a view to ensuring that they take the necessary steps to be able to meet the standard.

EROs have demonstrated a marked improvement in meeting performance standard 3; the numbers not meeting this standard reduced from 58 EROs in 2011 to 30 EROs in 2012.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 621W, on electoral register, whether the Electoral Commission proactively seeks partnership working with groups in civic society for the specific purpose of increasing voter registration. [187325]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that as part of its campaign to raise the public's awareness of Individual Electoral Registration, it is proactively seeking partnerships with a broad range of national civic society organisations, businesses and others who have been assessed as having effective access to those who are least likely to be on the electoral register.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer given by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Cities and Constitution) of 27 January 2014, Official Report, columns 386-7W, on electoral register, if he will discuss with the Department for Work and Pensions making electoral registration forms available at all Jobcentre Plus offices and ATOS test centres. [187331]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it supports any measure to increase registration, including making registration forms available at Jobcentre Plus and any other public facing offices. The Commission will hold discussions with the Cabinet Office regarding

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any meetings that have taken place between themselves and the Department for Work and Pensions already with a view to encouraging the hon. Member's suggestion.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2014, Official Report, columns 209-10W, on electoral register, whether the Electoral Commission has made a comparative assessment of cost effectiveness of Electoral Commission electoral registration companies and those organised by groups in civic society; and whether the Electoral Commission has considered outsourcing such campaigns on the grounds of efficiency. [187333]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it takes an interest in campaigns run by civil society and seeks where possible to understand how effective these have been.

Prior to 2010, the Commission provided grants to civil society organisations to assist them in promoting understanding of the democratic process, particularly among under-represented groups. The Commission undertook an evaluation of the grants it awarded prior to closure of the programme in 2010. The Commission will place a copy of its final evaluation of the programme in the Library.

The Commission currently uses specialist organisations to help deliver specific elements of its campaigns including creative development, media planning and buying.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 620W, on electoral register, what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of how well its advice and guidance to electoral registration officers (EROs) on increasing registration of attainers is being implemented; and which EROs are the best performing in this respect. [187340]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that guidance issued to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) on targeting under-registered groups includes advice and tactics on how to engage with attainers as part of their local public engagement work.

The Commission monitors the performance of EROs through its performance standards framework. The objective of the Commission's new performance standard 1 is to ensure that all EROs understand the particular challenges in their registration area and develop a plan for engaging with residents which responds to those challenges.

All EROs were required to submit copies of their local public engagement strategy in October 2013, and in March 2014 the Commission will make an assessment of EROs' performance against the first of the new performance standards, and will report on its conclusions.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, column 620W, on electoral register, how the Electoral Commission gathered examples of best practice on increased registration of attainers; and if the Commission will disseminate that best practice information to hon. Members. [187341]

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Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its knowledge of how to reach attainers comes from various sources, including the results of tracking research conducted before and after campaigns, message testing with the general public, the expertise and prior research of media planning agencies, and responses received from campaigns (and aspects of campaigns) undertaken specifically to target attainers—including the use of Facebook advertising.

This work has informed the guidance issued to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) on targeting under-registered groups which includes advice and tactics on how to engage with attainers as part of their local public engagement work. A copy of this guidance will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Additionally, the Commission monitors the performance of EROs through its performance standards framework. The objective of the Commission's new performance standard 1 is to ensure that all EROs understand the particular challenges in their registration area and develop a plan for engaging with residents which responds to those challenges.

As part of this, all EROs were required to submit copies of their local public engagement strategy in October 2013. In reviewing these strategies, the Commission has identified a number of good practice examples which are being shared in both its targeted work with individual EROs and, where applicable, more widely through its weekly Bulletin to electoral administrators.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2014, Official Report, columns 619-20W, on electoral register, what funding the Electoral Commission has spent on making the public aware of the transition to individual electoral registration; and what assessment the Commission has made of the effectiveness of that awareness campaign. [187346]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its budget for Individual Electoral Registration activity is £8.765 million over the period 2013-14 to 2015-16.

The Commission's campaign activity has not yet started, and will commence in July to coincide with the write-out to electors in England and Wales from their respective Electoral Registration Officers.

All of the main materials and messages for the campaign have been independently tested with the public to ensure they encourage the right response.

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Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2013, Official Report, column 457W, on electoral register, if he will place a copy of the letter sent to hon. Members concerning non-compliance with Electoral Commission regulations and performance indicators on electoral registration in the Library. [187349]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that an example of such a letter will be placed in the Library.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2014, Official Report, column 510W, on electoral register, whether the Electoral Commission has itself initiated voter registration days, weeks or months; how much was spent on this; and how effective these campaigns were. [187372]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has initiated voter registration days targeted at specific groups.

This includes the overseas voter registration day on 26 February 2014, supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as specific voter registration days with the armed forces, working with the Ministry of Defence.

These voter registration days are conducted at no cost, as they rely on media and stakeholder interest generated by the commission and other organisations.

Electoral Register: Fraud

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2014, Official Report, columns 622-23W, on electoral register: fraud, what monitoring of public perception of electoral registration fraud the Electoral Commission undertook prior to 2010. [187342]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it carries out regular public opinion research on concerns about electoral fraud but it did not ask whether people specifically think that registering to vote is safe from fraud prior to its 2010 tracker survey.

The Commission has asked a broader question on the percentage of the public that think electoral fraud is a problem in an annual survey since 2003. The results are set out in the following table:

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Findings from this research are available on the Commission's website at:

http://www-electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/our-research/public-opinion-survey

Electorate

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2014, Official Report, columns 468-70W, on electorate, if he will publish in full the minutes in annex B of the Electoral Commission’s letter, extracts from minutes of meetings held with hon. Members. [187378]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that there are no minutes of the meeting but that the extracts disclosed in annex B were taken from informal notes written for the commission’s internal use. The meetings concerned were not minuted and as such there is no agreed record of the relevant meetings with hon. Members to publish.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what assessment the Electoral Commission has made of the potential effect the introduction of photo ID as a prerequisite for voting would have on turnout in each (a) socio-economic group, (b) ethnic group and (c) 10-year cohort from 18-years-old. [187412]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission intends to carry out further consultation and analysis during 2014 to identify a proportionate and accessible scheme for

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verifying identity at polling stations in Great Britain. This will include consideration of the acceptable forms of photographic ID to be included in the scheme and the likely impact on different groups of electors, including people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and different age groups.

The commission has also recommended that any scheme should provide for electors to obtain an alternative form of identification for the purpose of voting if they do not have access to any other specified form of identification.

The commission intends to publish its detailed proposals by the end of 2014.

Electorate: Denbighshire

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, which council ward in Denbighshire had the biggest decrease in electorate from 1997 to 2013; and what the electorate in that ward was for each year for which data are available. [187380]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it collects ward electorates following local elections and has information for the Welsh council elections in 2008 and 2012. The commission did not collect data for local elections prior to 2006.

These figures show that the council ward in Denbighshire with the biggest decrease in electorate between 2008 and 2012 was Denbigh Upper/Henllan (a decrease of 148 electors). The following table shows electorate figures for all Denbighshire wards at the 2008 and 2012 county council elections.

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Further election data, including electorate sizes for other elections, can be found on Denbighshire county council website at the following link:

https://moderngov.denbighshire.gov.uk/mgManageElectionResults.aspx?bcr=1&LLL=0

Meetings

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Commission held at 9.00am on 18 September 2013. [187381]

Mr Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that minutes of its meetings are published on its website here:

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Treasury

Assets

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in his Department are working on the sale of (a) the Government's shareholding in Eurostar International Ltd and (b) London and Continental Railways property assets. [187783]

Danny Alexander: The sale of the Government's shareholding in Eurostar-International Ltd and London and Continental Railways property assets is the responsibility of the Department for Transport.

Bitcoin

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the use and regulation of Bitcoins. [186699]

Sajid Javid: Bitcoin may be used as a medium of exchange or as a speculative investment. Bitcoin is currently unregulated, and the Government currently have no plans to regulate virtual currencies or virtual currency exchanges.

Business: Government Assistance

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the hospitality sector. [188540]

Sajid Javid: The Government have committed to making the UK one of the best places in Europe to start, finance and grow a business across all sectors. The Government have taken a number of steps to achieve this objective including: cutting the main rate of corporation tax from 28% in 2010 to 23%—the lowest of any major western economy; providing help with the level of business rates by extending the doubling of small business rates relief (SBRR) for a further year, reducing the cost by an average of £800 per annum for over 500,000 businesses; and at autumn statement 2013, announcing a business rates discount of up to £1,000 for retail premises (including pubs, cafes, restaurants) with rateable values of below £50,000.

Access to finance is being improved through the creation of the British Business bank. In addition, the autumn statement announced a doubling of funding to the start-up loans scheme which has funded a number of start ups in the hospitality sector.

Business: Loans

Derek Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the level of bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises. [187910]

Sajid Javid: The Government are committed to supporting British businesses and recognises the importance that businesses have in the economy. Since 2010, the Government have introduced several measures aimed at improving lending to small and medium-sized businesses, notably the Business bank and the funding for lending scheme. The funding for lending scheme was extended in April 2013. Subsequently, in November 2013, the Government announced that the scheme will be refocused on business lending, SMEs in particular. Recent evidence shows that credit conditions have improved for small businesses.

Capital Gains Tax

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the future income to the Exchequer resulting from the changes to capital gains tax on overseas owners of UK property announced in the Autumn Statement 2013. [187549]

Mr Gauke: Estimates of the future income to the Exchequer resulting from charging capital gains tax on overseas owners of UK residential property were published in the Autumn Statement document at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-statement-2013-documents

These estimates will be updated at Budget 2014 to reflect changes in economic determinants and any more recent relevant data.

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to ring-fence the money raised by the changes to capital gains tax on overseas owners of UK property announced in the Autumn Statement 2013 for any particular purpose. [187598]

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Mr Gauke: The introduction of a capital gains tax charge on non-residents disposing of UK residential property from April 2015 is primarily intended to result in fairer taxation of residential property. Along with other CGT receipts, the money raised by this charge will go into the Exchequer consolidated fund.

Child Benefit

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to the public purse has been of registering people for self-assessment tax who now qualify because of changes to child benefit. [182787]

Mr Gauke: As of 31 January 2014, 224,000 new registrations for self-assessment had been received from those affected by the introduction of the high income child benefit charge. Over 90% of the people affected by the changes took the action needed. The changes to child benefit will save £1.5 billion a year.

The administrative costs of the high income child benefit charge remain as set out in answers to 128154 on 3 December 2012, Official Report, column 593W, and 136528 on 15 January 2013, Official Report, columns 662-63W.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2013, Official Report, columns 289-90W, on children: day care, how many (a) basic, (b) higher and (c) additional rate taxpayers were in receipt of employer supported child care vouchers in each of the last three years. [179832]

Nicky Morgan: Since April 2011 tax relief for higher and additional rate taxpayers joining a child care voucher scheme is restricted to the maximum available to basic rate taxpayers.

We estimate the average number of recipients of child care vouchers in recent years to be:

The estimated breakdown into basic rate taxpayers and higher/additional rate taxpayers in the last three years is as follows:

Reliable separate figures for additional rate taxpayers are not available.

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Credit Reference Agencies

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the credit reporting agencies on the introduction of real time credit data sharing. [188030]

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 Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking at real-time market-wide data sharing as a priority, including as part of its work to design a payday cap.

The FCA has already made clear to payday lenders and credit reference agencies that they must identify and remove any data sharing blockages involving payday lenders as a matter of urgency. The FCA has said that if the industry cannot overcome the obstacles, and if the FCA is best placed to bring about data-sharing, it will not hesitate to act. The Government strongly endorse this message and the FCA's commitment to act if the market does not respond quickly enough.

Debts: Scotland

Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of levels of personal debt people resident in Scotland held in unsecured personal loans, secured personal loans, credit cards, store cards, hire purchase agreements and other unsecured personal borrowings in each of the last four financial years; [187433]

(2) if he will estimate the average annual cost to consumers in Scotland of servicing personal debt held in the form of unsecured personal loans, secured personal loans, credit card debt, store card debt, hire purchase agreements and other unsecured personal borrowing; and if he will estimate the effect on such costs of lenders increasing their rates by (a) one per cent, (b) two per cent and (c) three per cent above present levels. [187434]

Sajid Javid: The Government do not hold such data at the Scottish level. However, the Bank of England regularly publishes information on UK consumer credit levels and interest rates.

First Time Buyers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to help first-time buyers find affordable mortgages. [187691]

Sajid Javid: The Government are committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. The Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme was set up to support households who cannot get a mortgage because of the very large deposits required by lenders following the financial crisis, but who can afford the mortgage repayments.

The Help to Buy: equity loan is available to all those who aspire to own a new build home, but struggle to access or afford the repayments on a low deposit mortgage. Under this part of the scheme the Government provides an equity loan worth up to 20% of the value of a new build home, interest free for the first five years. This

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percentage of the home's value must be paid back to the Government when the property is sold or when the mortgage is repaid.

Action by this Government to put the public finances on a sustainable footing has also supported low and stable interest rates. A one percentage point rise in mortgage interest rates today could add around £10 billion to the mortgage payments for families.

Food Banks

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which food banks each of the Ministers in his Department has visited since May 2010. [180016]

Nicky Morgan: The Department does not hold information on the visits each Minister undertakes as part of their constituency business.

Gold: Prices

Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the US regulatory authorities' interventions in the market on the price of gold; and what assessment he has made of the effect such interventions have had in the UK on investments by members of the public in (a) gold-related securities and (b) ISAs and related schemes. [187611]

Sajid Javid: The price of gold is influenced by a range of global factors. The Government have made no assessment on the effects of US regulatory interventions in relation to gold related securities or ISAs and related schemes.

Income Tax

Mr Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers made use of the provisions of Regulation 5 of the Income Tax (Exemption of Minor Benefits) Regulations 2002 in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13. [188330]

Mr Gauke: This information is not collected as there is no requirement for employers to report use of these benefits in kind to HM Revenue and Customs.

Individual Savings Accounts

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to (a) enable peer-to-peer lending platforms to be included in individual savings accounts (ISAs) and (b) introduce more flexibility in the rules governing ISAs. [188271]

Sajid Javid: The Government are considering a request to allow peer-to-peer loans into ISAs. The issues involved are complex and work on this is ongoing: officials have set up a working group with industry to explore the technical issues involved.

With regard to the ISA rules more generally, these provide important protections for savers and investors. As with other areas of tax policy they are kept under review and are modified when the Government consider this to be in the best interests of savers and investors—for

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example when the rules were changed recently to enable shares traded on stock markets for small and medium-sized enterprises to be held directly in ISAs.

Landfill Tax

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what revenue accrued to the Exchequer from landfill tax receipt in the last financial year; [R] [186951]

(2) what monitoring is undertaken by HM Revenue and Customs to ensure operators are paying the correct landfill charge; [R] [186952]

(3) what the budget of HM Revenue and Customs for landfill tax fraud investigation is; [R] [186948]

(4) how many successful prosecutions for landfill tax fraud have been brought in the last three years; [R] [186969]

(5) how many HM Revenue and Customs investigations into landfill tax fraud are currently under way. [R] [186950]

Nicky Morgan: Latest landfill tax receipts are published by HM Revenue and Customs at:

https://www.uktradeinfo.com/statistics/pages/taxandduty bulletins.aspx

HMRC carries out risk-based compliance checks in a number of ways, from visits to landfill sites, audits of records, inquiries by correspondence or phone calls in order to assess the accuracy of landfill tax declarations.

HMRC also analyses landfill operators' returns to monitor whether companies are paying on time and accurately. Where tax has not been paid or HMRC believes there is a serious risk of not being paid, HMRC can require payment of a security as a tool to enforce compliance. Where the use of securities action does not produce the required behavioural change then the company involved may be referred to Criminal Investigations with a view to prosecution.

HMRC take the timely payment of landfill tax very seriously. In the last year alone, there have been 18 landfill tax cases that required securities action, resulting in a total tax saving of approximately £120 million.

In the last three years there have been a total of 42 landfill tax cases that have required securities action.

There have been no criminal prosecutions for landfill tax fraud in the last three years.