Ian Pearson: I do not think that the number of meetings should be seen as a reflection of progress. I have met the Moderator and representatives of the PMS and I have had discussions with officials. As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, the working group is chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. I sit on the group, and other members include the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Northern...
Ian Pearson: I do not want to get into the detail in responding to that point. We have had a helpful debate and we have said that, rather than getting involved in a blame game, we want to find a solution that works for those who put money into the PMS, particularly those savers-whether they are savers or investors is a point that we can debate-who put in less than £20,000. We need to continue to focus on...
Ian Pearson: During the period January to December 2009 there were 141,693 Government procurement cards in circulation. For the same period £995,872,758 was spent on these cards.
Ian Pearson: In the period January-December 2009 no incidents of card misuse were reported by card issuers on the Government procurement card (GPC) framework agreement. Each Department or organisation using GPC is responsible for controlling and monitoring its own card programme and is not required to report incidents centrally.
Ian Pearson: During the period January to December 2009 there were a total of 6,565,825 transactions made on Government procurement cards.
Ian Pearson: The current numbers of officials within the HM Treasury family using a Government procurement card are as follows: HM Treasury: 620 Treasury Solicitors: 46 OGC: 367 Buying Solutions: 340 Debt Management Office: 0 Each organisation has its own rigorous approval mechanism to authorise expenditure on such cards.
Ian Pearson: This information is not available and in any event would vary by Department or organisation dependant on their internal processes.
Ian Pearson: There are currently 1,649 UK public sector organisations utilising the Government procurement card service. A full list has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Ian Pearson: The requirement for legal services was competed under the Office of Government Commerce buying solutions "Legal Services - major projects (including complex, innovative PFI/PPP)" framework ref RM373/L8. The requirement was "advertised" via a collaborative Framework Agreement. The following evaluation criteria were used: Demonstrable capability of the team in the relevant areas, particularly...
Ian Pearson: The performance of the Valuation Office Agency has been considered in a Framework Review, conducted by an HMRC Director reporting to the Minister then responsible for the Agency, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury. It was also dealt with in the Government's response to the Treasury Select Committee's (TSC) First Report of Session 2008-09, Administration and expenditure of the...
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 16 December 2009, Official Report, column 1303W, in respect of the 1997 data. Information for the draft 2010 Rating Lists was first published by the Valuation Office Agency on its website on 18 December 2009. http://www.voa.gov.uk/publications/statistical_releases/Tabl e3-England_RV_by_scat_code.xls Information for Public Houses can be found...
Ian Pearson: This contract has not yet been awarded.
Ian Pearson: Costs in relation to Experian in 2008-09, which related to mapping materials for non-domestic property valuations, were £57,055.
Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) spent £776,250 with Rightmove in relation to acquiring property sales data, £271 for publications with Bodens, £9,055 for training staff with Blue Starfish, £1,954 for catering and refreshments with Bocadillos, £2,673 for catering and refreshments with Browns, £293 for training with Conflict Management Plus Ltd., £23,634 for graduate surveyor...
Ian Pearson: This contract has not yet been awarded.
Ian Pearson: Where caravans are sole or main residences and the use of the site is not merely transitory, then either the land as a whole or the individual caravan pitches are liable to be banded for council tax, according to the facts of each case. Where land is used for caravans which are not sole or main residences, and the occupation is not merely transitory it will be non-domestic and subject to a...
Ian Pearson: The Government recognise the importance of small businesses to the UK economy. The lending commitments agreed with RBS and Lloyds over the 12 months from March 2009 have made significant amounts of lending available to creditworthy businesses. To help provide continued confidence to the business sector, these commitments will remain in place until March 2011. The Government are also exploring...
Ian Pearson: General Government Procurement Card (GPC) guidance is provided by Buying Solutions to Departments in the form of an electronic toolkit which is available in both CD ROM format or as a download from the OGC website at www.ogc.gov.uk/procurement_documents_eprocurement.asp
Ian Pearson: Organisations currently authorised to arrange and manage OGC Gateway reviews are: OGC (on behalf of central Government) Ministry of Defence Department of Health/NHS Local Partnerships (on behalf of local government) Scottish Executive Northern Ireland Civil Service Dutch Government State of Victoria (Australia) Organisations currently piloting the Gateway review process with the objective of...
Ian Pearson: The Valuation Office Agency's Automated Valuation Model technology is used to support of a range of activities associated with domestic property valuation. Some 50 per cent. of expenditure has been incurred since 1 October 2005.