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|c|Table one|c|
Pesticide |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988<1>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mevinphos |12 |12 |20 |10 |10
Alphachloralose |18 |11 |18 |12 |13
Strychnine |4 |4 |3 |3 |4
Endrin |4 |2 |0 |1 |0
Rodenticides |2 |0 |4 |2 |7
Aldrin |1 |0 |0 |0 |0
Demeton-S-methyl |0 |1 |0 |0 |0
Triazophos |0 |0 |1 |0 |0
|------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |41 |30 |43 |27 |33
<1> Data provisional as some incidents still being investigated.
Housing Transfers
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many approvals he has given to date for the transfer of local authority housing stock to another landlord under the tenants' choice provisions of the Housing Act 1988 ; and if he will list the local authority areas where such approvals have been given.
Mr. Trippier : I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Barnsley, East (Mr. Patchett) on 22 March 1989.
Housing Action Trusts
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his answer of 15 February, Official Report, column 280, which of the consultants' reports on the proposed housing action trust areas he has received to date ; and when he intends to publish them and announce his conclusions.
Mr. Trippier : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 16 March 1989 at column 322.
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his answer of 15 February, Official Report, column 280, what is the total aggregate cost of the consultants' reports commissioned by his Department on the six areas proposed for housing action trusts.
Mr. Trippier : The final costs of the reports will not be known until all the contractors' claims have been submitted to the Department. We expect the total cost to be about £900,000 including VAT. This covers the cost of producing copies of reports for local councils, tenants associations and local libraries.
No. 1, Poultry
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to preserve No. 1, Poultry, City of London, in its present form.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No. 1 Poultry and associated buildings are currently the subject of listed buildings and planning appeals, which are before my right hon. Friend for decision.
In the circumstances, it would be inappropriate for any comment to be made at this stage.
Local Labour Clauses
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now reconsider his rejection of the use of local labour clauses in the light of the European Court of Justice's ruling in the case 31/87 Beentyes v. State of Netherlands ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 780
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Discussions are currently taking place in Brussels on the issues raised by the European Court of Justice's judgment in the Beentyes case. The European Commission has expressed the preliminary view that contract clauses requiring a contractor to employ a given number or percentage of persons resident in the area in question appear to be discriminatory and contrary to the treaty of Rome. At this stage, the Government do not see any reason to alter their policy on the use of local labour clauses.
Cabinet War Rooms
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the future of the Cabinet war rooms.
Mr. Chope : Since 1948 the Department has maintained the more important of the Cabinet war rooms as they were used during the war, in accordance with an undertaking given at that time by the then Minister for Works. In 1984 the rooms were opened to the public generally and the trustees of the Imperial War museum agreed to manage them as a museum under a short term agreement on behalf of the Department.
The initial five year term of this management agreement is now approaching its end and officials of the Department and others concerned were asked to review, in consultation with the Imperial War museum, the future arrangements for managing the Cabinet war rooms. On the basis of their report, the Government have concluded that it would be inconsistent with the future commercial development of the Property Services Agency which I announced last May at column 333 for it to retain a direct responsibility for managing the rooms. Furthermore, we feel that my predecessor's commitment as to the preservation of this important historic site will be best discharged by giving full responsibility to those professionally concerned with museum management.
The Government are therefore pleased to accept an offer from the trustees of the Imperial War museum to take on direct responsibility for the Cabinet war rooms and for honouring the commitment given in 1948. A number of the artefacts currently displayed in the rooms are from the museum's collection or are on loan from the Churchill family. We are now transferring ownership of all the rooms' other contents, including all documents, photographs equipment and furniture as well as all fixtures and fittings, to the trustees of the Imperial War museum. The rooms themselves form part of a Government office building and will be leased to the trustees of the Imperial War museum on an agreed basis from 1 April 1989.
Rating Reform
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department will make constituency or local authority assessments of the number of losers and gainers under the poll tax.
As I said in my answer to the hon. Member on 16 March, the Government have no plans to introduce a poll tax. We cannot estimate the numbers of gainers and losers in each local authority or constituency as a result of the introduction of the community charge.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the
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deductions to be made under a community charge attachment of earnings order for (a) weekly earnings, (b) monthly earnings and (c) daily earnings.Mr. Gummer [holding answer 13 March 1989] : Tables showing the deductions to be made under attachment of earnings orders are contained in schedule 4 to the Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989 (SI 1989 No. 438) which were laid before the House on 17 March.
Private Landlords
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the percentage of the housing stock let by private landlords for each year since 1979 ;
(2) what is his estimate of the percentage of the housing stock which is likely to be let by private landlords during 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Mr. Trippier : I will write to the hon. Member.
Director General of Water Services
Mr. Bevan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment where the office of the Director General of Water Services will be located.
Mr. Howard : After considering the nature of the work and the number of posts involved, it has been decided that, subject to parliamentary approval of the Water Bill, the headquarters of the Water Services Offices should be located in Birmingham.
This location reflects the Government's policy of locating civil service work in areas offering advantages in
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terms of accommodation costs and labour supply conditions, including where appropriate areas which are the focus of regional and urban policies.This new, non-ministerial Government Department is expected to employ some 80 civil servants, including the secretariats of the ten regionally based customer services committees proposed in the Water Bill.
County Hall, London
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, how much money either through his Department or through the London residuary body has been or is expected to be spent on (a) the High Court hearing in relation to the previous planning application for development of the former Greater London council headquarters and (b) the taking of the same case to the court of appeal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 22 March 1989] : The information is not available.
Local Government Expenditure
Mr. Clay : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table showing local authority current expenditure for each year since 1975-76 to 1990-91 on (a) housing, (b) personal social services and (c) education and science ; and what proportion each makes up of (i) central Government current expenditure on the same areas of expenditure and (ii) total local authority current expenditure.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 22 March 1989] : The information requested for the years 1983-84 to 1990-91 is given in the table. Corresponding information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Column 781
|c|Local authority current expenditure<1> on housing, personal social services and education and
science.|c|
|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91
|outturn|outturn|outturn|outturn|outturn|outturn|plans |plans
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local authority current
expenditure (£ million)
on:
Housing |787 |737 |728 |697 |758 |684 |657 |680
Personal social services |2,535 |2,694 |2,817 |3,112 |3,502 |3,828 |3,969 |4,100
Education and Science |13,113 |13,618 |14,044 |15,388 |16,842 |18,087 |18,122 |18,720
Local authority spending on
each service as a
percentage of total local
authority current expenditure
Housing |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |2 |1 |1
Personal social services |8 |8 |8 |8 |9 |9 |9 |9
Education and science |40 |39 |40 |41 |41 |42 |41 |41
Local authority spending on
each service as a
percentage of general
Government expenditure<2>
on each service
Housing |66 |61 |57 |51 |55 |50 |50 |50
Personal social services |96 |96 |96 |96 |96 |96 |96 |96
Education and science<3> |84 |84 |84 |85 |85 |84 |80 |80
<1> The figures given are consistent with those published in "The Government's Expenditure Plans,
1989-90 to 1991-92" (Cm 601-621). They exclude central Government and local authority finance for
public corporations.
<2> ie Central Government plus local authority expenditure.
<3> The fall in this percentage between 1988-89 and 1989-90 reflects the transfer of responsibility
for funding polytechnics and colleges from local authorities to central Government.
Column 783
Water Quality
Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer of 13 March, he will provide technical details of the more stringent basis upon which designated British bathing waters were evaluated in 1988 in relation to that upon which they were evaluated in 1987.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 22 March 1989] : The results of the 1988 survey have been reported on the basis of the strict requirements for 95 per cent. compliance specified by the directive. On this basis, a water is assessed as complying with the directive providing that no more than one sample in 20 exceeds the mandatory coliform standards. Previously, with our relatively short bathing season and the minimum sampling frequency specified in the directive, authorities generally took about 12 samples and we allowed one failure before a water was assessed as failing. The European Commission indicated that the strict interpretation of 95 per cent. compliance should be adopted. To this end, the Department asked that authorities increase their sampling frequency to ensure that a water did not fail merely because of a single high sample.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Low-income Families
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, further to paragraphs 2.23 and 3.17 of Cmnd. 9756, if he will publish in the Official Report details showing how the undertaking to give substantial and well targeted extra help for low income families in work has been implemented ; and at what cost to the Exchequer.
Column 784
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Family credit was introduced in April 1988 as part of the reform of social security. In 1988/89 it will provide about double previous expenditure on family income supplement and free school meals and free milk. Estimated expenditure for 1988/89 is £422 million and the estimated caseload is 285,000. Average awards are at present around £25 per week. About 60 per cent of present recipients get £20 a week or more and over 35 per cent. get £30 or more. A major advertising campaign will begin in April to encourage claims from those who may not realise that they are eligible. Over and above the prices uprating, the income support and housing benefit applicable amounts for children and the family credit child credit rates have been increased by an additional 50 pence from this April. In the case of family credit, the extra provision is over and above what is required to compensate for the standstill in child benefit. The reformed structure of benefits helps alleviate the unemployment trap by aligning the assessment rules for income-related benefits. Generally, people on the same income levels are now treated equally whether they are fully employed or out or work. Furthermore, under this new system, net income increases when gross earnings increase. This eliminates the possibility that less income-related benefit can mean a lower net income when gross earnings rise.
Local Offices
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the live load figures of supplementary benefit for (a) unemployed claimants, (b) claimants not required to register for work and (c) pensioners, for each of the two local offices in Doncaster and the local office in Wath-on-Dearne that covers Mexborough, for each of the years April 1980 to April 1988.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is as follows :
Column 783
Supplementary Benefit |<1>E.A.P. |1980 |1981 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987
Live Load
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doncaster East |E |2,410 |3,782 |4,640 |4,814 |5,204 |5,285 |5,261 |4,854
|A |1,471 |1,713 |2,024 |2,598 |3,000 |3,296 |3,552 |3,726
|P |2,724 |2,789 |2,882 |2,857 |2,877 |2,917 |2,993 |3,132
Doncaster West |E |2,895 |4,874 |5,808 |5,945 |6,671 |6,711 |6,969 |6,257
|A |1,965 |2,268 |2,821 |3,073 |3,922 |4,019 |4,511 |4,731
|P |3,511 |3,588 |3,757 |3,615 |3,600 |3,458 |3,651 |3,571
Wath-On-Dearne |E |1,807 |2,806 |3,020 |3,174 |3,479 |3,747 |3,666 |3,194
|A |1,232 |1,358 |1,613 |1,957 |2,398 |2,368 |2,554 |2,639
|P |1,892 |1,924 |2,005 |2,041 |2,014 |1,958 |2,011 |2,046
<1>E=unemployed claimants.
A=Claimants not required to register for work.
P=pensioners.
Source: 100 per cent. count of cases in action, which include a number of cases where benefit payment has ceased but other action is continuing.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each of the years 1980 to 1988 the number of claimants and the number of dependants and the percentage take-up of family income support for each of the two local offices in Doncaster and the local office in Wath-on-Dearne that covers Mexborough.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that this information is not available on a local basis for either family income supplement (family credit since April 1988) or income support (supplementary benefit prior to April 1988).
Column 784
Benefit Take-up
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give an estimate of the number of people who would qualify for invalid care allowance or severe disablement allowance but who have not claimed those benefits in (a) Great Britain, (b) Scotland and (c) Lothian region.
Mr. Scott : I regret that it is not possible to provide this information. The OPCS surveys of disabled people have collected data about the incidence of different types and degrees of disability and also about receipt of benefits. They do not, however, provide enough information about
Column 785
the circumstances of carers to identify with sufficient certainty the total number who would qualify for invalid care allowance if they made a claim. It should also be remembered that there has been a tenfold increase in the number of recipients of the allowance since the survey data were collected in 1985.The main difficulty with severe disablement allowance is in identifying clearly the number who would satisfy the primary qualifying condition of being incapable of work.
Housing Benefit
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were in receipt of housing benefit in 1978-79, 1979-80 and 1987 -88.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The available information is in the table. Figures are not held for 1978-79.
|c|Estimated
numbers receiving
assistance with
housing costs|c|
|(000)
--------------------
1979-80 |3,065
1987-88 |6,875
Notes:
1. Assistance with
housing costs in
1979-80 was through
the supplementary
benefit scheme
administered by the
Department and the
rent and rate
rebate and rent
allowance scheme
run by the
Department of
Environment. The
figure of 3.065
million represents
the estimated
number of people
receiving
assistance through
the Department of
Environment scheme
only. Information
about the numbers
also receiving help
through
supplementary
benefit is not
available.
2. The information
for 1987-88
represents the
estimated number of
people receiving
assistance with
housing costs
through the unified
housing benefit
scheme introduced
in November 1982.
3. Source: 1979-80
Local authority
returns to
Department of
Environment.
1987-88 Housing
benefit subsidy
claims from local
authorities
Children
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the number of Scottish children (a) in total and (b) as a percentage dependent on supplementary benefit and income support in each year from 1978-79.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The latest information is in the table.
|c|Children in Scotland|c|
Date |Total<1> |Dependent on |Percentage
|Supplementary Benefit<2>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1978 |1,285,600 |120,000 |9.30
November 1979 |1,254,400 |109,000 |8.71
December 1980 |1,222,200 |119,000 |9.76
December 1981 |1,188,400 |154,000 |12.97
December 1982 |1,151,400 |183,000 |15.75
December 1983 |1,132,700 |177,000 |15.52
December 1984 |1,106,100 |195,000 |17.66
February 1986 |1,062,200 |212,000 |20.00
May 1987 |1,042,900 |216,000 |20.71
<1>Total number of children in Scotland supplied by OPCS from mid-year population estimates.
<2>Number of children in Scotland dependent on supplementary benefit, from annual statistical inquiries.
Social Fund
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken by social fund officers to reach a decision on crisis or budgeting
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loans or community care grants (a) nationally, (b) in the northern region, (c) in south Tyneside, (d) in Gateshead, (e) in Newcastle, (f) in Sunderland and (g) in north Tyneside, respectively.Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information available is shown in the table.
|c|Average clearance time (in whole working days)|c|
|Crisis Loans |Budgeting Loans |Community Care Grants
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National |1 |7 |7
North Eastern Region |1 |6 |7
North Tyneside
Gateshead |1 |5 |3
Newcastle St. James |1 |2 |3
Newcastle East |1 |2 |5
Newcastle West |1 |2 |3
Wallsend |1 |5 |5
South Tyneside
Houghton le Spring |1 |2 |3
Jarrow |1 |6 |7
North Shields |1 |13 |2
South Shields |1 |11 |11
Sunderland North |1 |8 |10
Sunderland South |2 |11 |10
All figures are provisional and subject to amendment.
Teenage Pregnancies
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will include in his Department's leaflet FB23, "Young People's Guide to Social Security", information about eligibility for income support in the last 11 weeks of pregnancy among 16 to 17-year-olds.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Arrangements will be made to include this information in the leaflet.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pregnant 16 to 17-year-olds are in receipt of income support.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that the information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Attendance Allowance
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects his Department to conclude its consideration of the application for attendance allowance submitted on 25 October 1988 by Mr. Andrew Purves of 21 Park road, Ormiston, East Lothian.
Mr. Scott : The application for attendance allowance made in October 1988 was disallowed on 10 November 1988 and Mr. Purves notified accordingly. An application for a review of that decision was received on 23 November 1988. The attendance allowance board has now completed its review and its decision will be sent within the next few days. I am writing to the hon. Member.
Pensions, Benefits and Allowances
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will state the value in real terms, both in
Column 787
absolute figures and as a percentage, of retirement and other state pensions and all other welfare and national insurance benefits and allowances paid in November 1979 in relation to those to be paid from April 1989 ; and if he will indicate the actual figure for each benefit in each year.Mr. Scott : I regret that it will only be possible to carry out the comparisons requested once the April 1989 retail prices index figure is available.
Income Support
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what income support is provided for a single dependent young person, the only child of a one-parent family, in full-time study for forthcoming A- level examinations who becomes 19 during his final months at school ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Income support is provided for a dependent young person in full-time non-advanced education until he or she reaches age 19. As a full-time student the young person is not eligible for income support but local education authorities have discretionary powers to award educational maintenance allowances to help such young people complete their education.
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total cost to his Department of income support for maintaining persons aged 65 years and over in private residential homes in the latest year for which statistics are available ; and what was the average cost per person.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information is not available in the precise form requested.
However, in August 1988, the annual income support expenditure on people in independent residential care and nursing homes as a whole in Great Britain was estimated to be £890 million, based on an average payment of £115 per week.
Lone Parents (Benefit)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what conclusion was arrived at by the lone parents receiving benefit pilot study carried out at Leicester and Sittingbourne benefit offices which ended on 24 February ; if he will list the location of the 44 benefit offices that will be involved in the national study due to commence in April 1989 ; and when this will be completed.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The pilot study carried out at Leicester and Sittingbourne was intended to test the effectiveness of the sampling method and questionnaire proposed for the main study. As a result of the experience of the pilot the researchers are considering some minor alterations to the questionnaire. The social security offices participating in the main study are listed as follows. The final report is due in May 1990.
North West Region
Bury ILO
Chester ILO
Liverpool (Huyton) ILO
Manchester (Failsworth) ILO
Sale ILO
Warrington ILO
Scotland
Bellshill ILO
Column 788
Clydebank ILOEdinburgh East ILO
Galashiels ILO
Glasgow (Anniesland) ILO
Greenock ILO
Midlands
Birmingham (South Yardley) ILO
Boston ILO
Derby (London Road) ILO
Nottingham (Station Street) ILO
Nuneaton ILO
Worcester ILO
London North
High Wycombe ILO
London (Hackney)ILO
(Leytonstone) ILO
(Wood Green) ILO
Norwich (Mountergate) ILO
Oxford AO
Wales and South West
Bath ILO
Barnstaple ILO
Cwmbran ILO
Llanelli ILO
Torbay ILO
Wrexham
London South
Basingstoke ILO
Brighton ILO
Canterbury AO
Crawley ILO
London (Bloomsbury) ILO
(Camberwell) ILO
(Wandsworth) ILO
North East
Eston ILO
Northallerton ILO
Leeds North West ILO
Peterlee ILO
Rotherham South ILO
Scarborough ILO
Sheffield South East ILO
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