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42. Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will arrange for the full uprating of income support for claimants in receipt of transitional additions.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The income support payable to all but a small number of claimants was uprated last week. We have no plans to change the rules for uprating.
Attendance Allowance
21. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has any plans to increase the level of payment and take-up of constant attendant allowance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 6 March at column 449 and my reply to the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms. Harman) on 10 January at column 574.
Widows' Benefit
28. Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what he is doing in response to the ruling made by the Social Security Commissioner on 28 February in respect of widows' benefit.
Mr. Scott : The women affected by the commissioner's decision have been identified and are being paid. Any widow who thinks she may be affected and has not been contacted should approach her local social security office.
Retirement Pensions
30. Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the weekly state retirement pension for a single person following the recent uprating ; and what was the comparable figure in 1979.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : From 10 April the full weekly rate of state retirement pension is £43.60 for a single pensioner, and £69.80 for a pensioner couple. In November 1979 the full weekly rate was £23.30 for a single pensioner, and £37.30 for a pensioner couple.
National Insurance
31. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received regarding the proposed changes in employees' national insurance contributions.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have received only one representation.
40. Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the effects of the recently announced changes in national insurance contributions.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : The reform of national insurance contributions announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Statement on 14 March builds on the system of reduced rate contributions for lower paid employees which was introduced in 1985. As at present, people earning less than £43 a week will not pay contributions. From October 1989, however, employees earning £43 a week or more will pay a contribution made up of 2 per cent. of the first £43 of earnings and the standard 9 per cent. (7 per cent. for employees contracted out of SERPS) on the balance of earnings up to the upper earnings limit, currently £325 a week.
These changes are a major reform of the way in which employees' contributions are determined. They will remove two of the three steps in the national insurance system which can result in pay increases being more than offset by higher contributions, leaving the employee worse off. And the first step, when people start paying contributions, will be more than halved.
50. Mr. Wilshire : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people will be affected by the reform in the way in which employees' contributions are determined.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Government Actuary's Department estimates that during the second half of the 1989-90 financial year a weekly average of about 19 million people in Great Britain will be affected by the change in the structure of employees' national insurance contributions. Of these, about 15 million will gain £3 a week.
Mr. Norris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the changes to be made in employees' national insurance contributions will take effect.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : From the tax week which begins on Thursday 5 October 1989.
Women's Refuges
32. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received recently on proposed changes to funding for women's refuges.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A number of hon. Members, organisations and members of the public have made representations echoing those made by organisations representing women's refuges mentioned in my reply to the hon. Member on 23 January at columns 417-18.
Benefits
33. Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the average annual expenditure in benefit payment, per capita, in the last financial year for (a) registered disabled people of working age who were unemployed and (b) people with no known disability of working age who were unemployed.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that the information requested is not available.
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many supplementary benefit payments under the urgent cases regulations were awarded in the period
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(a) April 1985 to March 1986 inclusive, (b) April 1986 to March 1987 inclusive, and (c) April 1987 to March 1988 inclusive in respect of each Department of Social Security local office of Redcar, Eston, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Hartlepool ; and what were the amounts awarded from each office.Mr. Peter Lloyd : The number of successful claims made under the urgent cases provisions is in the table. I regret that information on the total amount awarded for each office is not available.
Statistical years
(April to April)
|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88
----------------------------------------------
Redcar |465 |544 |722
Eston |658 |535 |484
Middlesbrough |1,677 |1,486 |1,199
Stockton |948 |915 |1,113
Hartlepool |1,210 |897 |622
Source: Internal Management Information
Statistics.
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many single payments were awarded in the period (a) April 1985 to March 1986 inclusive, (b) April 1986 to March 1987 inclusive, and (c) April 1987 to March 1988 inclusive in respect of each Department of Social Security local office of Redcar, Eston, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Hartlepool ; and what were the amounts awarded from each office.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information on the numbers and total values of supplementary benefit single payments made by all offices of the Department for the periods in question is in the Library.
War Widows
38. Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his Department's future proposals for war widows.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The standard basic rate of tax-free war widow's pension, which is 30 per cent. higher than the taxable national insurance widow's pension, was increased from £53.50 to £56.65 a week from 10 April 1989. On top of that, age allowances are paid of £6.10 at age 65, £12.20 at 70 and £15.30 at 80, and 85 per cent. of war widows receive an age allowance. War widows may also receive a retirement pension if they worked and paid contributions, and it is estimated that about 75 per cent. do. War widows with children receive an addition of £12.60 a week for each child and may also receive a rent allowance of up to £21.55 a week and an education allowance of up to £120 a year. It is proposed to maintain these very preferential provisions for war widows.
Community Care
41. Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what aspects of entitlement to community care grants he has under review.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : None at present, but we are continuing to monitor closely the operation of the social fund and have recently commissioned independent research into the extent to which it is meeting its objectives. We have taken a number of steps to improve local awareness and understanding of community care grants and are currently considering what additional measures
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might be taken to improve national information on the scheme. We shall also shortly be issuing revised guidance to social fund officers in the social fund manual.Unemployment Benefits
43. Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of social security benefit expenditure in 1988-89 was devoted to unemployed people ; and what were the comparable figures for the previous two years.
Mr. Scott : The latest estimate is that benefits for unemployed people were about 12 per cent. of total social security benefit expenditure in 1988-89, compared with over 16 per cent. in 1986-87 and about 14 per cent. in 1987-88.
Carers
44. Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his future plans for the welfare of people looking after relations.
Mr. Scott : We shall look at invalid care allowance in the light of the results of the OPCS surveys of disability, together with benefits for disabled people themselves.
Pensioners (Incomes)
46. Mr. Patnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of pensioners were in the lowest fifth of the national income distribution in the last year for which figures are available ; and what was the comparable figure for 1979.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : In 1979, 38 per cent. of pensioners tax units were in the lowest fifth of the national income distribution. By 1986 this figure had fallen to 24 per cent.
Source : Family Expenditure Survey.
A pensioner tax unit is a single person of pensionable age or a couple where the man is of pensionable age.
Child Maintenance
48. Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information he has as to the percentage of divorced and separated men who do not contribute towards the maintenance of their children ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This Department does not hold information in the form requested. The information we have relates only to maintenance paid for lone parent families receiving income support (formerly supplementary benefit), of whom 95 per cent. are lone mothers. The most recent figures available are for May 1987 and show that fathers were not paying maintenance for children in about 60 per cent. of the cases involving divorced mothers and about 70 per cent. of cases involving separated mothers. The Government are naturally concerned by these figures.
Source : Supplementary Benefit Annual Statistical Enquiry 1987.
Attendance Allowance
49. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to extend the availability of attendance allowance to the carers of children under the age of two years who suffer severe disability.
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Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 22 February at column 682.
Young People
51. Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what he is doing to help young people who are experiencing particular difficulty in living independently.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer my hon. Friend to my hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Mr. Lester) on 13 March, at columns 27-8.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to ensure that no young person in Stoke on Trent North will be evicted as a direct result of the benefit changes on 10 April.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The principal aim of the reform of income support for people living in board and lodging accommodation is to put this group on a par with the majority of households who look to the housing benefit scheme for help with accommodation costs and income support for help with other necessities. The new arrangements therefore take a substantial step towards making the social security system neutral as to accommodation type, thereby removing perverse incentives for both claimants and landlords towards particular kinds of housing. Help with any reasonable lodging charge is available through housing benefit. For the majority of boarders, transitional arrangements are in place to make good any shortfall between the new and old levels of
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benefit for up to three months. The Government believe that these arrangements give sufficient time for both claimants and landlords to adapt to the new benefit rules.Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish tables, similar to those in his Department's tax/benefit model table, showing the calculation of net weekly spending power of each of the following (i) a 16-year-old person on first year YTS, (ii) a 17-year-old person on second year YTS and (iii) a 17-year-old person leaving care and not on a YTS scheme, both under the existing system for paying board and lodging and under the proposed system from April, and in all tables working on the following assumptions : that the persons have no parents and must live independently in the Redcar Department of Social Security ILO area (a) in full board accommodation, occupying one room costing £55 per week, (b) in bed, breakfast and evening meal accommodation, occupying one room costing £44 per week and (c) in
bed-and-breakfast accommodation, occupying one room costing £33 per week that in all cases the young person incurs a travelling cost to and from YTS, of £2.50 per week and that the rent and rates element of the charge consists of £23 rent, £4 general rates, £1 water rates and charges of £1 for laundry and £1 for cleaning ; and in each case, if he will indicate the items and services which remain to be met by the individual out of their net weekly income.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 4 April 1989] : The information requested is as follows :
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|c|Full board: charge £55 a week|c|
Claimant type<1> |Basic income support|Income support |Other income |Income support |Housing benefit |Total income |Disposable income<4>
|transitional |entitlement |entitlement<3>
|protection<2>
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 1989
16-year-old on YTS |65.30 |- |29.50 |35.80 |- |65.30 |7.80
17-year-old on YTS |65.30 |- |35.00 |30.30 |- |65.30 |7.80
17-year-old not on YTS<5> |65.30 |- |- |65.30 |- |65.30 |10.30
April 1989
16-year-old on YTS |20.80 |18.30 |29.50 |9.60 |26.20 |65.30 |7.80
17-year-old on YTS |20.80 |18.30 |35.00 |4.10 |26.20 |65.30 |7.80
17-year-old not on YTS |20.80 |18.30 |- |39.10 |26.20 |65.30 |10.30
|c|Bed, Breakfast and Evening Meal: charge £44 a week|c|
Claimant type<1> |Basic income support|Income support |Other income |Income support |Housing benefit |Total income |Disposable income<4>
|transitional |entitlement |entitlement<3>
|protection<2>
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 1989
16-year-old on YTS |65.15 |- |29.50 |35.65 |- |65.15 |18.65
17-year-old on YTS |65.15 |- |35.00 |30.15 |- |65.15 |18.65
17-year-old not on YTS<5> |65.15 |- |- |65.15 |- |65.15 |21.15
April 1989
16-year-old on YTS |20.80 |18.15 |29.50 |9.45 |26.20 |65.15 |18.65
17-year-old on YTS |20.80 |18.15 |35.00 |3.95 |26.20 |65.15 |18.65
17-year-old not on YTS |20.80 |18.15 |- |38.95 |26.20 |65.15 |21.15
|c|Bed and Breakfast: charge £33 a week|c|
Claimant type<1> |Basic income support|Income support |Other income |Income support |Housing benefit |Total income |Disposable income<4>
|transitional |entitlement |entitlement<3>
|protection<2>
|£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 1989
16-year-old on YTS |65.00 |- |29.50 |35.50 |- |65.00 |29.50
17-year-old on YTS |65.00 |- |35.00 |30.00 |- |65.00 |29.50
17-year-old not on YTS<5> |65.00 |- |- |65.00 |- |65.00 |32.00
April 1989
16-year-old on YTS |20.80 |18.00 |29.50 |9.30 |26.20 |65.00 |29.50
17-year-old on YTS |20.80 |18.00 |35.00 |3.80 |26.20 |65.00 |29.50
17-year-old not on YTS |20.80 |18.00 |- |38.80 |26.20 |65.00 |32.00
Footnotes:
<1> The tables show figures calculated on the basis that the same individual is claiming benefit in both March and April 1989.
<2> To protect people who would receive less benefit overall as a result of the change in benefit rules, transitional protection is provided as follows:
Long-term protection: for people in supported lodgings who receive care and support from the landlord.
Up to 52 weeks: for families in hotels who are not sponsored by a local authority.
Up to 13 weeks: for any other person on YTS or ET, or aged 25 or over, or a vulnerable person aged under 25.
No protection: for fit, unemployed people aged under 25 who were previously subject to time limits.
<3> Actual housing benefit entitlement would be calculated by the local authority by deducting from the overall changes given, of £55, £44 or £33, the appropriate amounts in respect of meals,
fuel and other ineligible items to arrive at the eligible rent, which they may then restrict if they consider it to be unreasonably high. The actual eligible rent could accordingly be higher
than the £23 suggested resulting in a higher level of housing benefit payable.
For the purposes of these tables, housing benefit entitlement has however been calculated on the basis of the suggested rent of £23 (which it is assumed does not include the charges for water,
laundry, cleaning, or any other ineligible items), and eligible rates of £3.20 (£4 less 20 per cent.).
<4> Disposable income has been calculated by deducting the following expenses from the gross income of income support, housing benefit and YTS allowance (as appropriate):
- Overall charge of £55, £44 or £33 respectively;
- Travel expenses of £2.50 (for YTS participants).
<5> It has been assumed that the individual
a. is eligible for income support under regulation 13A of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987; and
b. was exempt from board and lodging time limits by virtue of paragraph 16(4) of schedule 5 of the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987, which was in force immediately prior to 10
April 1989.
Conductive Education
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what date the Minister of State for Social Security visited the Peto Institute for conductive education in Hungary.
Mr. Scott : I visited the Peto Institute for conductive education in Budapest on 19 September 1988 and on 20 September 1988 I visited the institute's outstation at Kiskunhalas.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the Minister of State for Social Security and the Disabled has associated the Government with the appeal for the launch of an international foundation for conductive education ; and what funds have been allocated so far.
Mr. Scott : I sent a message to the Hungarian Government on the occasion of the launch of the appeal for the international foundation for conductive education on 14 March expressing support for the appeal and the hope that the United Kingdom would be able to be involved in the development of the international foundation. Discussions are still in progress about possible funding, and no sum has yet been offered.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the occasions on which the Minister of State for Social Security and the Disabled has had meetings with Ministers in other countries to discuss the appeal for the launch of an international foundation for conductive education ; and what was the outcome of those discussions.
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Mr. Scott : During a visit to Hungary from 18 to 21 September 1988, I learned of plans for an international foundation for conductive education, in the course of discussions with Hungarian Ministers. Conductive education was also discussed at the visit to the United Kingdom of the Hungarian Minister of Health in October 1988. A formal invitation to participate in developing an international foundation for conductive education was not, however, received until December 1988. I have not discussed this matter with overseas Ministers in person since then, but I met an official delegation from the Hungarian Government on 17 January to discuss the plan in greater detail, and I sent a message to the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister at the launch of the international appeal for funds for the new institute.
Vehicles
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many vehicles, and of what value, were purchased by (a) his Department and (b) other public sector agencies for which he is responsible in 1988 ; and how many of these vehicles were British made within the definition of British as set out by the Department of Trade and Industry in its arrangement on content with the European Community.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : A total of 182 vehicles were purchased in 1988 at a cost of £1.3 million, for use on matters connected with social security.
Of these vehicles 173 were United Kingdom-produced, on the definition employed by the Department of Trade and Industry for statistical purposes under which a vehicle
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is classified as United Kingdom-produced if the United Kingdom content exceeds 50 per cent. of the ex-works value.Elderly People (Residential Care)
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what arrangements he is making to accommodate those former elderly residents of private residential homes displaced as a result of the failure to uprate the maximum level of support to cover the cost of keeping such elderly people in private homes ;
(2) what is the estimate of the number of elderly people with little or no savings who will be unable to continue to live in private residential homes as a result of the failure to uprate the maximum level of support to cover the cost of keeping such elderly people in private homes.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We have no evidence to show that people are being displaced from homes. The Department continues to provide significant cash help to people who choose to go into residential care, to help them meet their fees. We aim to assist people to pay reasonable charges.
From this month we are providing extra help to nearly nine out of ten people who claim income support in residential care and nursing homes.
Benefit Deductions
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish in the Official Report the contents of his recent circular to his Department's offices on the amount to be left to the claimant after deducting unpaid poll tax ; and on what authority this instruction was given.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. Sillars) on 14 April at column 743.
Boundary Changes
Mr. Martin : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will reconsider the effects of recent boundary changes on the social fund allocations for Havant and Portsmouth South local offices.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The effects of an earlier boundary change have been reassessed and as a consequence the budgets for both Havant and Portsmouth South local offices have been revised from 1 April 1989. The revised figures are :
|Loans |Grants |Per head of caseload
|£ |£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Havant |188,253 |77,732 |40.40
Portsmouth South |184,749 |79,454 |30.60
Transitional Payments
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how long, on average, claimants wait after submitting a claim for a transitional payment to the transitional payment unit.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 13 April at column 685.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Healthy Food
63. Ms. Walley : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will review his policy on the case of low cholesterol and healthy food to be served in all canteens at the House of Commons ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Wakeham : I have no plans to do so at present. The Refreshment Department is aware of the need to promote the use of low cholesterol and healthy foods as far as is compatible with meeting the overal demands of Members and staff.
Ten-Minute Bills
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will bring forward proposals to end the current procedure of queuing for ten- minute Bills, and to institute a sytem of ballots which limits hon. Members to one Bill per Parliament.
Mr. Wakeham : Discussions have been taking place through the usual channels about possible changes in the arrangements for giving notice of ten-minute Bills. I have also asked the Select Committee on Procedure for its opinion, but I am not yet in a position to bring forward any proposals.
Refreshment Department Staff (Facilities)
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the hon. Member for Berwick upon Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission has any plans to improve rest room and changing facilities for Refreshment Department staff.
Mr. Beith : Action has already been taken by the Services Committee to improve rest and changing facilities for Refreshment Department staff and a contingency plan exists for making additional accommodation available should a further need be identified by the General Manager of the Refreshment Department, whose responsibility it is in the first instance to determine the precise nature of his Department's requirements.
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SCOTLAND
Food Poisoning (Prisons)
Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received any recent representations from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about food poisoning in prisons and remand centres ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities wrote to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland on 9 March. In its letter, COSLA referred to two outbreaks of food poisoning at Longriggend remand centre and urged that steps be taken to remove Crown immunity. A number of right hon. and hon. Members have since written to colleagues and myself on the matter. The subject of Crown immunity in the area of food hygiene is one which is being considered in the current review of food legislation. Meanwhile, the Government take very seriously any matter of health and hygiene within penal establishments in general and kitchen areas in particular.
In the two cases referred to by COSLA, the environmental health officers from Monklands district council were immediately invited to help trace the source of the infection. In the light of the advice given by them, improvements in the kitchen have been carried out.
Scottish Community Education Council
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to further develop the Scottish Community Education Council.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : In January 1989, we approved the council's corporate plan setting out its major priorities for the next three years as adult basic education ; work with young people ; adult and continuing education ; and training for community education providers. It is open to the Council to propose changes to its priorities. Further development will depend to a large extent on the council's ability to generate income from its activities.
Constituency Boundaries
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for the redistribution of constituencies in Scotland ; what is the average electorate of constituencies in Scotland ; and when the Constituency Boundary Commission will next report upon constituencies in Scotland.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : My right hon. and learned Friend has no proposals for the redistribution of constituencies in Scotland. It is the statutory duty of the Boundary Commission for Scotland to submit proposals to him every 10 to 15 years. The commission's next report must be submitted between February 1993 and February 1998. The average electorate of constituencies in Scotland is 54,624.
Registers
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he holds about the use made of electoral registers in the compiling of the community charge registers currently operating in Scotland.
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Mr. Lang : Section 17(2) of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended by the Local Government Finance Act 1988, provides that community charges registration officers shall, for the purpose of discharging their functions, have access to and the use of any information which electoral registration officers for their areas may have acquired in connection with any of their functions. In Scotland the community charges registration officers are also the electoral registration officers. I have no information about the uses made of electoral registers by individual community charges registration officers.
Vehicles
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many vehicles and at what value were purchased by (a) his Department, (b) the Highlands and Islands Development Board, (c) the Scottish Development Agency, (d) the Forestry Commission, (e) the police and fire services, (f) local authorities and (g) other public sector agencies for which he is responsible, in 1988 ; and how many of these vehicles were British-made within the definition of British as set out by the Department of Trade and Industry in its arrangement on content with the European Community.
Mr. Rifkind : The number and value of vehicles purchased by the Scottish Office, the Highlands and Islands Development Board, the Scottish Development Agency, the Forestry Commission and other public sector agencies for which I am responsible, is set out in the table.
Department |Number |Value (£)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Scottish Office |119 |932,532
Highlands and Islands Development Board |1 |18,537
Scottish Development Agency |7 |63,708
Forestry Commission<1> |68 |448,642
Other Public Sector Agencies |50 |406,899
|--- |---
|245
<1> The Forestry Commission figures show purchases of vehicles for use
throughout Great Britain.
Of these vehicles, 226 were United Kingdom-produced on the definition employed by the Department of Trade and Industry for statistical purposes, under which a vehicle is classified as United Kingdom-produced if the United Kingdom context exceeds 50 per cent. of the ex-works value.
Information on the number and value of vehicles purchased for the police/fire services and local authorities is not held centrally and cannot be obtained without disproportionate costs.
Artificial Limbs
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the implications of the intended closure in June of the Dundee operation of the artificial limb manufacturers Robert Kellie and Son Ltd. on the services provided by the limb-fitting centre in Broughty Ferry, Dundee ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Although Robert Kellie and Son Ltd. formerly supplied all artificial lower limbs provided by the limb fitting centre in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, the firm declined to tender for the contract which started on 1
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January 1989 and now supplies only conventional metal limbs (on sub-contract to the main supplier of lower limbs to the centre). These metal limbs are no longer prescribed for new amputees, who are fitted with modular limbs of a more modern design. Many other amputees are changing to modular limbs. But it is important that conventional metal limbs should be available for the diminishing number of patients who need them. Arrangements will therefore be made, before the intended closure of Robert Kellie and Son Ltd., to find another source of suitable limbs.
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