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SCOTLAND
Rating Reform
Dr. Reid : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the latest estimates for the cost of collecting the poll tax in Strathclyde region.
Mr. Lang : Strathclyde regional council will have included an estimate of the cost of community charge collection in the budget which it has now set, but the council has not yet provided the Scottish Office with details of that budget.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what guidance he issues on the circumstances in which information used for the maintenance of the community charge registers may be disclosed to (a) other departments of Government, (b) the police and (c) public utilities ;
(2) what guidance he issues on the use of personal data collected by the community charge officer for community charge purposes as a general information resource for the charging authority to use for other purposes, and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : We have made no provision for personal data to be disclosed for the purposes or to the organisations mentioned by the hon. Member. Section 20(2)(b) of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended, provides that the extent to which a local authority shall be entitled to inspect the register shall be an entitlement to inspect such part of the register as relates to premises within their area for the purpose of determining, levying or collecting any community charge. I do not consider that specific guidance is required in relation to either of these issues.
Mr. Buchanan-Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many responsible persons, as so described for the purpose of the community charge, had failed to complete properly the community charge inquiry forms in relation to their date of birth ; on how many the £50 civil penalty had been imposed for this reason ; and if he will give the information also for each regional council on 31 October 1988 and on the most recent convenient date.
Mr. Lang : The processing of community charges inquiry forms and the imposition of civil penalties are matters for individual community charges registration officers and the information requested is not held centrally.
NHS Grading
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff from each of the old grades have been assimilated to each of the new grades in the recent clinical grading structure in each health board.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Gailbraith) on 20 January 1989 at column 338.
Departmental Staff (Child Care)
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what child care provision his Department provides for pre-school age children of the employees ;
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what child care provision for school holidays or after-school care is provided for employee's children aged five years and over ; what plans there are for increasing provision in the next five years ; and how these are to be funded.Mr. Rifkind : My Department does not provide child care facilities and has at present no plans to provide any. It has, however, publicised such facilities provided by others as have come to notice. The provision and funding of facilities for child care are being considered servicewide and my Department will review the situation in the light of developments.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the latest figures for people waiting for hospital treatment in (a) Aberdeen, (b) Dundee, (c) Edinburgh, and (d) Greater Glasgow.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information on waiting lists is collected centrally only for health board areas. The latest available information on hospital in-patient and day case waiting lists is published in statistical bulletin 1/88, "Waiting List Figures for 31 March 1988", copies of which are held in the Library.
Area Conservation
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Caerphilly of 24 January, he will list those schemes under which he makes payments to facilitate the conservation of certain areas.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Under the provisions of the environmentally sensitive area scheme and the agricultural development programme for the Scottish islands my right hon. and learned Friend may make payments to farmers and crofters who are prepared to undertake certain conservation measures.
Ross Hall Hospital (Orthopaedic Operations)
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many orthopaedic operations at National Health Service expense have been carried out at Ross Hall hospital to the latest available date ; when this practice started ; what is the total cost to date for the National Health Service ; and what would be the bed requirement if these operations were carried out within National Health Service hospitals.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The number of patients admitted to Ross Hall hospital for orthopaedic procedures as part of the waiting list initiatives is 52. The first of these patients was admitted in early 1988.
The total cost to the National Health Service has been £154,144. The operations were carried out in order to shorten waiting times for the operations concerned. I visited Ross Hall hospital and learned at first hand how much this initiative by the board was appreciated by the patients concerned.
School Leavers (University Courses)
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of school leavers
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entering full-time degree courses at university in each of the years from 1982-83 to 1987-88, inclusive, and from each local education authority, including 16 subdivisions of Strathclyde ; and if he will express these figures as a proportion of the number of students in s4, s5, and s6 in each authority.Mr. Michael Forsyth : Information in the form requested is not readily available centrally. The table shows the participation of young Scots in full-time university courses.
|Under 21 Scots entrants |Column (1) expressed as a
|to full-time |percentage of 17 year
|undergraduate courses at |olds the previous year
|universities in the
|United Kingdom
|(1) |(2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Session
1982-83 |8,000 |8.5
1983-84 |7,700 |8.4
1984-85 |7,800 |8.7
1985-86 |7,400 |8.4
1986-87 |7,400 |8.5
1987-88 |7,700 |9.2
Labour Statistics
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the total number of people unemployed in each of the travel-to-work areas in September 1988 and September 1984.
Mr. Lang : The total number of unemployed claimants in each of the travel-to-work areas in Scotland in September 1988 and September 1984 was as shown in the table.
Unemployed claimants Travel-to-work area |September 1988 |September 1984 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aberdeen |10,073 |9,518 Alloa |2,767 |3,468 Annan |849 |1,241 Arbroath |1,455 |1,625 Ayr |4,899 |6,787 Badenoch |394 |517 Banff |838 |733 Bathgate |6,639 |10,210 Berwickshire |507 |629 Blairgowrie and Pitlochry |994 |1,272 Brechin and Montrose |1,312 |1,449 Buckie |459 |527 Campbeltown |586 |723 Crieff |345 |386 Cumnock and Sanquhar |3,735 |4,022 Dumbarton |4,799 |6,150 Dumfries |2,037 |2,547 Dundee |13,017 |16,919 Dunfermline |6,510 |7,476 Dunoon and Bute |1,184 |1,309 Edinburgh |28,850 |34,356 Elgin |1,551 |1,655 Falkirk |7,443 |10,959 Forfar |929 |1,018 Forres |599 |574 Fraserburgh |597 |770 Galashiels |851 |1,088 Girvan |640 |804 Glasgow |94,724 |114,805 Greenock |8,607 |9,140 Haddington |1,149 |1,065 Hawick |508 |798 Huntly |288 |313 Invergordon and Dingwall |2,154 |3,057 Inverness |3,972 |3,908 Irvine |8,600 |12,013 Islay-Mid Argyll |515 |532 Keith |475 |576 Kelso and Jedburgh |327 |422 Kilmarnock |5,461 |6,002 Kirkcaldy |9,488 |10,276 Lanarkshire |24,806 |33,936 Lochaber |966 |1,263 Lockerbie |374 |501 Newton Stewart |532 |658 North East Fife |1,544 |1,761 Oban |660 |746 Orkney Islands |729 |707 Peebles |414 |517 Perth |2,677 |3,022 Peterhead |1,271 |1,628 Shetland Islands |626 |638 Skye and Wester Ross |776 |846 Stewartry |792 |957 Stirling |3,557 |4,900 Stranraer |1,135 |1,271 Sutherland |602 |822 Thurso |682 |718 Western Isles |2,105 |1,884 Wick |681 |779 Note: Due to changes in the compilation of the statistics during the period these figures are not directly comparable.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the total number of employees in employment by travel-to-work areas in September 1988.
Mr. Lang : The latest available figures, from the 1984 census of employment, are given on pages 28 and 29 of "Scottish Economic Bulletin" number 36 (December 1987), which is available in the Library of the House.
Job Creation
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the number and categories of jobs which have been created by the Inverclyde initiative since the date of its inception in 1985 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : The Inverclyde initiative does not in itself directly create new jobs. Its aim is to stimulate local economic activity and create opportunities for employment.
The initiative records show that between March 1985, when the initiative was launched, and December 1988, 2,613 new jobs have been created by companies in the area. Of these, 1,034 were in manufacturing and 1,579 in the service sector.
Teachers (Working Hours)
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what systematic information his Department gathers about the average working hours of teachers in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The timetabled working hours in school in a normal working week subdivided by time in contact with pupils and time out of contact with pupils is collected biennially from each teacher in education authority primary and secondary schools. Due to industrial action in schools, the most recent comprehensive data available relate to September 1984.
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Whole Body Monitoring
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now consider extending the programme for whole body monitoring on a systematic basis to the whole of Scotland.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Government have funded a programme of research into whole body monitoring covering Scotland as a whole which has been undertaken by the Scottish universities research and reactor centre at East Kilbride. The final report of that work has been prepared and will be published shortly.
Education Reform
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the total spending in his Department on press, public relations and advertising on education in 1986-87 and 1987-88 and the projected expenditure for 1988-89.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 17 January 1989] : Expenditure was £5,000 in 1986-87 and £20,000 in 1987-88, and is estimated to be about £26,500 in 1988-89.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Fund
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the percentage of the annual social fund budget allocated for each month of 1988-89 for grants and loans (a) in the Edinburgh, Leith local office and (b) in each of the other local offices in Lothian region ; and what social fund claims and payments have been made to date, broken down into (i) the number of social fund claims issued and returned for each of grants, budget loans, and for crisis loans, (ii) the number of awards, partial awards and refusals for both grants and loans, (iii) the average payment and (iv) the number of awards successful on review ; and if he will give the loans for claimant group E', A' and pensioners.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Details of the numbers of applications for social fund loans and grants processed and awarded, listed by local office, including information on annual budget allocations and expenditure, are in the Library. Local offices do not, however, have monthly budgets. To assist local office management, there is a national profile of anticipated monthly expenditure which may be adjusted to reflect local demands. Details of the national profile were given in my predecessor's reply to the hon. Member for Derby, South (Mrs. Beckett) on 11 July 1988 at column 61.
No statistics are maintained on the number of application forms issued to potential social fund applicants and their representatives.
Details of the number of awards successful on review and the numbers of loans awarded to each social fund client group in the offices requested for the year to the end of December 1988 are shown in the tables.
C. List of social fund client group codes.
Code |Client Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01 |Aged over 80 with higher pension premium
02 |Aged 60 to 79 disabled with higher pensioner premium
03 |Aged 60 to 79 with ordinary pensioner premium or over 60
| without pensioner premium
|Applicant and partner aged under 60
04 |Lone parent with disability premium
05 |Family with disability premium
06 |Other with disability premium
07 |Lone parent without disability premium
08 |Unemployed with family premium-signing quarterly
09 |Unemployed without family premium-signing quarterly
10 |Unemployed or with training allowance-with family
| premium
11 |Unemployed or with training allowance-without family
| premium
12 |Others with family premium
13 |Others without family premium
15 |Applicants not receiving Income Support
C. List of social fund client group codes.
Code |Client Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01 |Aged over 80 with higher pension premium
02 |Aged 60 to 79 disabled with higher pensioner premium
03 |Aged 60 to 79 with ordinary pensioner premium or over 60
| without pensioner premium
|Applicant and partner aged under 60
04 |Lone parent with disability premium
05 |Family with disability premium
06 |Other with disability premium
07 |Lone parent without disability premium
08 |Unemployed with family premium-signing quarterly
09 |Unemployed without family premium-signing quarterly
10 |Unemployed or with training allowance-with family
| premium
11 |Unemployed or with training allowance-without family
| premium
12 |Others with family premium
13 |Others without family premium
15 |Applicants not receiving Income Support
C. List of social fund client group codes.
Code |Client Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
01 |Aged over 80 with higher pension premium
02 |Aged 60 to 79 disabled with higher pensioner premium
03 |Aged 60 to 79 with ordinary pensioner premium or over 60
| without pensioner premium
|Applicant and partner aged under 60
04 |Lone parent with disability premium
05 |Family with disability premium
06 |Other with disability premium
07 |Lone parent without disability premium
08 |Unemployed with family premium-signing quarterly
09 |Unemployed without family premium-signing quarterly
10 |Unemployed or with training allowance-with family
| premium
11 |Unemployed or with training allowance-without family
| premium
12 |Others with family premium
13 |Others without family premium
15 |Applicants not receiving Income Support
Benefits
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the amount of benefits to which people are entitled but which is not claimed.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : No precise estimates of total unclaimed benefits can be provided and those figures which the Department does publish give no more than the broadest orders of magnitude. I refer the hon. Member to paragraphs 21 to 25 and table 15.17 on pages 272 to 273 of Cm. 288 (the 1988 public expenditure White Paper) for details of the latest available take-up estimates for the main income-related benefits. Take-up estimates for 1985 should be available shortly.
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the levels of statutory sick pay and of sick benefit and invalidity benefit ; whether they are earnings related ; and if there is a minimum and a maximum sum.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Statutory sick pay is payable at one of two rates, depending on an employee's average weekly earnings. The present rates are £49.20 where average weekly earnings are £79.50 or more and £34.25 where they are between £41 and £79.49. SSP is subject to deductions for tax and national insurance contributions, where appropriate.
Sickness benefit is a flat-rate payment of £31.30 per week for persons under minimum pension age and £39.45 per week for persons over that age. These sums are increased by £19.40 and £23.65 respectively where there is entitlement for an adult dependant. The basic invalidity pension is a flat-rate payment of £41.15 per week with increases of £24.75 for an adult dependant and £8.40 for each dependent child. Two other increases may be payable with invalidity pension. An additional earnings-related pension is payable based on the claimant's earnings since 1978. The maximum increase payable in 1987 was £29.11, but the average amount in payment was £4.30. An invalidity allowance is payable at one of three rates where the claimant's incapacity began more than five years before pension age. The rates are £8.65 per week (under 40) ; £5.50 (40-49) and £2.75 (50-59 (men) ; 50-54 (women)). But where there is entitlement to both increases, invalidity allowance is offset against the additional pension, so in effect the higher of the two sums is payable. Neither sickness benefit nor invalidity benefit is taxable. Where the claimant has been in hospital for six weeks, sickness or invalidity benefit is reduced by £8.25 a week if the claimant has a dependant and £16.50 if not. After a year in hospital there is a further reduction of £8.25 where the patient has a dependant. If he has no dependant the benefit payable is reduced to £8.25 a week.
Cold Weather Payments
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many payments have been made under the cold weather payments scheme for each of the weeks in 1989 in (a) Nottingham and (b) the country as a whole.
Maternity Benefits
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish in the Official Report the most recent available figures showing (a) the number of maternity payments from the social fund made to women on income support and the take-up rate for this benefit, (b) the number of awards of free milk and vitamins made to pregnant women on income support and the take-up rate for this benefit and (c) the number of pregnant women on income support.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is as follows :
(a) 95,700 social fund maternity payments were made to women on income support between 11 April 1988 and 31 November 1988 ; (b) information is not yet available on the number of awards of free milk and vitamins to women on income support. The May 1987 annual statistical inquiry showed 47,000 such awards to women receiving supplementary benefit ;
(c) pregnant women are not separately identified for income support purposes.
It is not therefore possible to provide information about take up for either maternity payments or free milk and vitamins.
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Benefits
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people over pensionable age in Great Britain have had their total social security benefits reduced to less than £1 per week as a result of changes to the housing benefit regulations.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret this information is not available.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of (a) claimants and (b) dependants on supplementary benefits income support for each year since 1979 for Great Britain, England, Wales and Scotland.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is as follows :
Number of partners and dependent children of claimants in receipt of
Supplementary Benefit or Income Support
|Great Britain|England |Wales |Scotland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |1,516,000 |1,256,000 |95,000 |164,000
1980 |1,745,000 |1,465,000 |104,000 |177,000
1981 |2,399,000 |2,013,000 |149,000 |237,000
1982 |2,803,000 |2,348,000 |173,000 |281,000
1983 |2,888,000 |2,438,000 |178,000 |273,000
1984 |3,119,000 |2,618,000 |198,000 |304,000
1986 |3,353,000 |2,821,000 |207,000 |326,000
1987 |3,309,000 |2,789,000 |194,000 |327,000
1988 |3,018,000 |2,510,000 |182,000 |327,000
Source for both tables:
1979-1987 Annual Statistical Enquiry.
1988 May Quarterly Statistical Inquiry.
Notes:
1. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and may not therefore sum.
2. There was no Annual Statistical Inquiry in 1985: the one due in December that
year was deferred until February 1986.
Number of partners and dependent children of claimants in receipt of
Supplementary Benefit or Income Support
|Great Britain|England |Wales |Scotland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |1,516,000 |1,256,000 |95,000 |164,000
1980 |1,745,000 |1,465,000 |104,000 |177,000
1981 |2,399,000 |2,013,000 |149,000 |237,000
1982 |2,803,000 |2,348,000 |173,000 |281,000
1983 |2,888,000 |2,438,000 |178,000 |273,000
1984 |3,119,000 |2,618,000 |198,000 |304,000
1986 |3,353,000 |2,821,000 |207,000 |326,000
1987 |3,309,000 |2,789,000 |194,000 |327,000
1988 |3,018,000 |2,510,000 |182,000 |327,000
Source for both tables:
1979-1987 Annual Statistical Enquiry.
1988 May Quarterly Statistical Inquiry.
Notes:
1. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and may not therefore sum.
2. There was no Annual Statistical Inquiry in 1985: the one due in December that
year was deferred until February 1986.
Incomes
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the average growth in incomes in each of the last 10 years of (a) households in the sixth decile group and (b) pensioners' households in the sixth decile group of pensioner households ;
(2) what was the average growth in incomes in each of the last 10 years of (a) households in the seventh decile group and (b) pensioners' households in the seventh decile group of pensioner households.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to him on 23 January at column 414.
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Family Credit
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the latest figures for family credit take-up in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) the United Kingdom and (e) Greater Glasgow.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : For the figures for Great Britain as a whole, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Cook) on 13 January 1989 at columns 781-82. No breakdown of this figure between countries or areas is available. The family credit scheme in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Disabled People
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will immediately undertake an in-depth study of the high extra costs of disability, as advocated by the Disablement Income Group in its recent report entitled, "Being Disabled Costs More Than They Said", in order to supplement the information on extra costs derived recently from the survey of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
Mr. Scott : In view of the differences in size, scope and method between the OPCS and Disablement Income Group surveys, we are not persuaded that further research is needed to explain the apparent discrepancy in findings. However I can assure the right hon. Member that we shall take careful account of the DIG report in our consideration of the OPCS findings.
Benzodiazepines
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are at present receiving sick or invalidity benefit as a result of withdrawing from benzodiazepines.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that this information is not held.
Income Support
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow can expect a reply to his letter, dated 30 December 1988, regarding income support for unemployed young people.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I wrote to the hon. Member on 27 January.
Social Fund
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been made to date for social fund (a) community care grants, (b) budgeting loans and (c) crisis loans ; and how many have been refused in each category.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information for the period to 30 November, the latest date for which firm figures are available, is in the national summary tables in the Library.
AIDS
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated average annual benefit
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cost and total eventual benefit cost of (a) each AIDS patient from the time of being identified as HIV positive and (b) each drug addict seeking treatment.Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Department does not collect statistical information about benefit claims by AIDS patients and drug addicts. It is therefore not possible to make such estimates.
EMPLOYMENT
Retail Prices Index
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current weight in the retail prices index for (a) mortgage interest payments, (b) rents, (c) rates and (d) other housing costs ; and what information he has to the equivalent weights in the consumer price indices for other European Community countries.
Mr. Lee : The weights (per thousand) for the components of housing used in the retail prices index are : mortgage interest payments 42, rent 33, rates 43 and other housing costs 42 (water and sewerage charges, repairs and maintenance charges, do-it-yourself materials, dwelling insurance and ground rent).
Housing costs are not similarly defined in other countries, and detailed comparisons are not possible. The weights assigned to the shelter element of housing costs in the consumer price indices of EC countries involve different coverage and concepts, and comparisons should be treated with caution. The figures are as follows :
Countries including
rents only
|Weights
------------------------
France |69
Italy |40
Belgium |64
Greece |54
Countries including
rents only
|Weights
------------------------
France |69
Italy |40
Belgium |64
Greece |54
Channel Tunnel (Death)
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will call for a report from the Health and Safety Executive on the circumstances in which a teenager was killed in an industrial accident in the Channel tunnel ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : No. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive are carrying out an investigation into the circumstances of the accident in the Channel tunnel on 23 January 1989.
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Mines (Safety)
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those people and organisations he consulted before making the regulations regarding the safety of exit from mines.
Mr. Nicholls : Consultations on proposed regulations to govern health and safety at work are undertaken by the Health and Safety Commission before proposals are made to my right hon. Friend for approval.
The organisations listed were formally consulted by the Health and Safety Commission before the proposed regulations on safety of exit from mines were submitted to my right hon. Friend :
Confederation of British Industry
British Coal
Cornish Chamber of Mines
Federation of Small Mines of Great Britain
Gypsum Mining Association
Mining Association of the United Kingdom
British Ball Clay Producers Association
Other Miscellaneous Mines interests via relevant Mines andQuarries Inspectors in charge of districts
Trades Union Congress
National Union of Mineworkers
British Association of Colliery Management
National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies andShot-firers Transport and General Workers Union
General Municipal and Boilermakers' Union
Department of Employment
Department of Energy
Department of the Environment
Department of Trade and Industry
Scottish Office
Welsh Office
Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Department of Economic Development
Health and Safety Agency for Northern Ireland
Institution of Mining Engineers
Institution of Mining Electrical and Mining MechanicalEngineers Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
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