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Disabled People (Housing)
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to encourage local housing authorities to provide home improvement agency services to disabled home owners where voluntary sector agencies do not operate.
Mr. Chope : My Department is currently reviewing the best way of using the provisions in section 169 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 relating to the provision and long-term funding of home improvement agency services, including those for the disabled. I hope to be able to make an announcement later this year.
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Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will take steps to place a duty on local housing authorities to replace properties sold to disabled people under the right to buy.Mr. Chope : No. Such properties are not lost to the housing stock, and would in any case not be available for re-letting so long as the secure tenants remained in occupation.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish a table showing the Government's percentage contribution to local expenditure for each year since 1978-79 together with a forecast for (a) the current financial year and (b) 1990-91 based on the budgets which have been agreed by the local authorities to date.
Mr. Chope : The available information is as given in the table :
|c|Aggregate Exchequer grant
as percentage of relevant
expenditure|c|
|Per cent.
-------------------------------
1978-79 |59.8
1979-80 |58.6
1980-81 |57.2
1981-82 |54.9
1982-83 |51.7
1983-84 |50.1
1984-85 |50.0
1985-86 |49.0
1986-87 |45.4
1987-88 |44.4
1988-89 |42.5
<1>1989-90 |40.5
<1> Based on local authority
budgets.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by local authority area the total amount paid in lieu of non-domestic rates by formula-rated properties in 1989-90 and the equivalent contribution being made to the non-domestic pool in 1990-91.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 27 March 1990] : The information that the hon. Member has requested is not held centrally for 1989-90. For 1990-91 the aggregate of the rates bills of those industries appearing on the central rating list for England whose rateable values are set by order is estimated to be £863 million.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish figures showing how the contribution paid in lieu of non -domestic rates by Oxfordshire formula-rated properties is to be redistributed in Oxfordshire in 1990-91.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 27 March 1990] : From 1 April rates paid by the industries whose rateable values are fixed by order will be collected by the Secretary of State and paid into the non-domestic rate pool. Attribution of rateable values to properties occupied by these industries in particular local authority areas will no longer be necessary. The proceeds of the non-domestic rate pool will be distributed to charging authorities in proportion to their population of community charge payers.
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Regional Planning Guidance
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he is next going to issue new regional planning guidance for the period up to the year 2006.
Mr. Moynihan : The current regional planning guidance for the south- east region is contained in planning policy guidance note PPG9. SERPLAN (the London and south-east regional planning conference) is conducting a regional review, and hopes to submit advice to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment after its July 1990 conference. After considering that advice, my right hon. Friend will issue a draft for consultation, before finalising his new regional planning guidance. This will probably occur during 1991.
West Midlands Residuary Body
Mr. Bevan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance he has given to the West Midlands residuary body in relation to the disposal of land at Church lane, West Bromwich, known as the former Johnsons Rolls site ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : In response to a request from the board of the West Midlands residuary body I issued a direction on 20 March 1990, under section 65 of the Local Government Act 1985 requiring the residuary body to dispose of all its interests in the land at Church lane, West Bromwich to the Black Country development corporation on or before 30 April 1990. I have today placed a copy of the direction in the Library of the House.
Building Research Establishment
Mr. Page : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the future status of the Building Research Establishment.
Mr. Chris Patten : I am pleased to announce that on 2 April the Building Research Establishment (BRE) is to become an executive agency in the Department of the Environment under the next steps initiative. This will provide the establishment with new freedoms and will improve its ability to serve the needs of Government, the construction industry and building users. I am placing a copy of the policy and resources framework document for the new agency in the Libraries of both Houses.
The key performance indicators of the agency are set out in the framework document. The principal targets for 1990-91 are : the average overhead rate
the average technical man day rate
the utilisation rate for chargeable staff
non-Exchequer income as a percentage of total income
In addition, the target net vote cost of the agency will be £1.764 million in 1990-91. The agency will be expected to make efficiency savings equivalent to at least 2 per cent. a year.
TRANSPORT
Ro-Ro Ferries
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will introduce regulations to change the layout of roll on/roll off ferries, in order to ease the evacuation procedure in case of emergency.
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Mr. McLoughlin : Evacuation procedures are governed by regulations made under the Merchant Shipping Acts. The Department of Transport has sponsored research into evacuation from roll on/roll off passenger ferries in an emergency. The results andrecommendations of this research have been put to the International Maritime Organisation for consideration by the Maritime Safety Committee later this year.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Local Government Finance
45. Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has had on the poll tax rebate system ; and if he will make a statement.
46. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has had concerning poll tax rebates ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Ministers receive correspondence on a range of issues, both from hon. Members and from their constituents. In the last six months, 1,053 items of correspondence have been received by the Department about the community charge benefit scheme, but it is not possible to identify the number relating particularly to rebates in Scotland.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to extend the period for poll tax rebate.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Mr. Hayward) on 23 March at column 788.
Disabled People
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people will benefit from the new measures to help disabled people who do not qualify for attendance allowance or mobility allowance.
Mr. Scott : We estimate that some 140,000 people will benefit from the new lower rate of the care component of the new disability allowance and some 150,000 from the initial rate of the mobility component.
Ex-Miners (Reduced Earnings Allowance)
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many retired or redundant miners are eligible for an increase in their reduced earnings allowance following the successful appeal to the social security appeal tribunal on 8 March by Gerald Linsdell ; and what steps he is taking to notify potential claimants.
Mr. Scott : The decision of the social security appeal tribunal dealt only with the circumstances of Mr. Linsdell's claim and is not considered to have wider implications.
Community Charge
Sir George Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by how much the community charge of a pensioner couple, living in a district with a community
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charge of £380, will be reduced as a result of the Chancellor's statement, where their only income is the state retirement pension and they have savings of (a) £8,000, (b) £12,000 and (c) £16, 000.Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The information requested is shown in the table.
|c|Pensioner couple aged 60 to 74, receiving state
retirement pension|c|
|c|for a couple of £75.10 a week, with a community
charge of £380|c|
|c|each.|c|
Savings |Community charge
|benefit (per week)
£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------
8,000 |8.72
12,000 |6.32
16,000 |3.92
Pensioner Premium
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will introduce regulations to pay the higher pensioner premium to all persons on income support who were in receipt of invalidity benefit when they reached retirement age ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have no plans to do so.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of the cost of paying higher pensioner premium to all those who fail to be entitled to it solely because they transferred from invalidity pensions to retirement pensions on the advice of his Department ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what is his estimate of the number of people who fail to be entitled to higher pensioner premium solely because they transferred from invalidity pensions to retirement pensions on the advice of his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The formal and informal advice given by the Department reflects the contemporaneous position in law and any known forthcoming changes in it. Information on which to base the requested estimates, of people who are not entitled to the higher pensioner premium because they retired before the introduction of income support, is not available.
Social Fund
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the budgetary totals for (a) DSS offices relating to Leyton residents, (b) Londonwide and (c) nationally for (i) grants and (ii) loans from the social fund in 1988-89 and 1989-90 and his estimate for 1990-91.
Mr. Scott : Information about the social fund grants and loans budget allocations nationally, for each social security region and each local office for 1988-89 and 1989-90 is in the Library. I refer the hon. Member to my statement on Monday 26 March concerning the budget allocations for 1990-91. I have placed that information in the Library.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest figure for the total repayments of social fund loans in the current financial year.
Mr. Scott : Loan repayments in 1989-90 as at 28 February 1990 were provisionally £99 million.
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Independent Living Fund
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the total expenditure for the independent living fund for the year 1989-90 for (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the London borough of Lewisham.
Mr. Scott : The total expenditure for the independent living fund from 1 April 1989 to 28 February 1990 for the United Kingdom is £8.3 million. Information for Lewisham is not available separately.
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Regional Offices
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what functions his Department carries out at the regional level ; where the regional offices are located in each of the regions ; what staff are employed and at what grades ; what proportion of his Department's budget is spent in each of the regions ; and what geographical boundaries determine his Department's regions.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [pursuant to her reply, 21 March 1990, c. 639- 41.] : The information in table 3 was found to be incorrect. Thcorrected information is given in the following table.
|c|Table 3|c|
|c|Staff-in-post in regional offices-1st March 1990|c|
|Mids |LN |LS |Scot |NW |NE |WSW |Totals
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive/Director |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |1.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |1.0
Assistant/Secretary |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |0.0 |1.0 |1.0 |1.0 |6.0
Senior/Principal |5.0 |5.0 |5.0 |4.0 |5.0 |5.0 |5.0 |34.0
Principal |6.0 |6.0 |7.0 |7.0 |8.0 |6.0 |6.0 |46.0
Senior Executive Officer |22.5 |24.5 |25.0 |27.0 |29.0 |24.5 |22.0 |174.5
Higher Executive Officer |78.5 |81.5 |87.5 |81.0 |85.0 |79.5 |71.0 |564
LOI |111.0 |145.0 |139.5 |141.0 |92.0 |154.0 |74.0 |856.5
Executive Officer |116.5 |83.5 |118.0 |117.5 |141.5 |85.5 |111.0 |773.5
LOII |123.0 |139.5 |77.0 |137.0 |26.0 |145.5 |5.0 |653.0
AO |130.0 |44.5 |108.5 |61.5 |192.0 |114.5 |131.0 |782.0
AA |9.0 |60.0 |58.0 |38.0 |49.5 |33.5 |27.5 |275.5
Typ Manager |1.0 |2.0 |3.0 |3.0 |3.0 |2.0 |2.0 |16.0
Typist |13.0 |18.5 |22.5 |19.5 |21.5 |20.5 |19.5 |135.0
PES |8.0 |4.0 |6.0 |7.0 |8.0 |10.0 |4.0 |47.0
MED/Board/Assistant |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |2.0 |0.0 |2.0 |4.0
SM3 |0.0 |0.0 |1.0 |0.0 |1.0 |0.0 |0.0 |2.0
Supp Grade 1 |1.0 |2.0 |2.0 |0.0 |3.0 |6.0 |4.0 |18.0
Supp Grade 2 |2.0 |8.0 |11.0 |0.0 |18.0 |11.0 |16.0 |66.0
Professionals |2.0 |2.5 |2.5 |0.0 |2.0 |3.0 |0.0 |12.0
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Totals |629.5 |627.5 |674.5 |644.5 |687.5 |701.5 |501.0 |4,466.0
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Inspectors' Reports
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 26 February, Official Report, columns 16-17, when he expects to publish the inspectors' reports hitherto not published.
Mr. Redwood : Of the inspectors' reports listed in my reply, the decision whether to publish remains under consideration in respect of 12 reports relating to the following companies :
Alexander Howden Group plc
British Anzani plc
Medway Secondary Metals Limited
Guinness plc (interim)
Aldermanbury Trust plc (interim)
Consolidated Gold Fields plc (two interims)
Graylaw Holdings Limited and
Link Service Stations Limited
Bank Street Securities Limited
Pennine Commercial Holdings plc
The Animal Defence Society Limited
Minet Holdings plc and
WMD Underwriting Agencies Limited (final)
House of Fraser Holdings plc was published on 7 March. The other reports will not be published.
Accountancy Bodies
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make it his policy as a condition of recognition, to require the accountancy
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bodies seeking supervisory recognition under the Companies Act 1989 to hold their meetings in the open, with access for members.Mr. Redwood : No. It is for a supervisory body itself to decide what arrangements are appropriate for informing its members of matters of concern to them.
Inspectors
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who advises him on the appointment of inspectors from accountancy firms.
Mr. Redwood : I select the appropriate person for appointment as an accountant inspector ; in doing so I take into account the views of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Investment Businesses
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications by investment businesses for authorisation under the Financial Services Act have been rejected to date ; and how many of those applications were made to each of the self-regulatory organisations and to the Securities and Investments Board, respectively.
Mr. Redwood : This is a matter for the Securities and Investments Board and the self-regulatory organisations, but I understand that the figures are not available because of difficulties of definition.
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Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many investment businesses are trading with interim authorisation under the Financial Services Act at the latest available date ; and if he will provide an analysis of these showing (a) those subject to the appeals procedure, (b) those awaiting a memorandum of understanding with an overseas country and (c) any others ; and a further analysis showing how many of these applications were made to each of the self-regulatory organisations and to the Securities and Investments Board, respectively.Mr. Redwood : At 21 March, a total of 98 businesses held interim authorisation :
|Interim
|authorisations
---------------------------------------------
AFBD |7
FIMBRA |48
IMRO |7
TSA |34
SIB |2
The number subject to appeal is not available. Of the total, 10 applications to FIMBRA and 22 applicants to TSA are businesses incorporated abroad on which a decision is postponed awaiting entry into satisfactory arrangements with the regulatory authorities in the country of incorporation.
Financial Services Act
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any individuals as opposed to businesses are vetted when applications are made for authorisation under the Financial Services Act.
Mr. Redwood : This is a matter for the particular regulatory body to which a business makes application for authorisation. I understand that all the regulatory bodies vet individuals of significance to the shareholdings or management of the business when they consider application for authorisation of that business. Some self-regulatory organisations have membership requirements that go further.
Rover Sale
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the dates in 1988 and those present when the tax arrangements governing the sale of Rover were discussed.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 12 March 1990] : I understand that tax aspects of the sale of the Government shareholding in the Rover Group to British Aerospace were the principal subject discussed at the following meetings held in 1988 :
Date |Organisations represented
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 February |DTI and Inland Revenue
8 March |DTI, Inland Revenue, Baring Brothers and
| Slaughter & May
10 March |Inland Revenue, Baring Brothers and Slaughter &
| May
24 March |DTI, Inland Revenue, British Aerospace,
| Slaughter & May, Peat Marwick McLintock
| and Linklaters & Paines
28 March |Inland Revenue, British Aerospace, Rover Group,
| Slaughter & May, Peat Marwick McLintock,
| Linklaters & Paines and Ashurst Morris Crisp
28 April |Inland Revenue and Slaughter & May
29 June |DTI, Inland Revenue, Her Majesty's Treasury,
| Rover Group, British Aerospace, Slaughter &
| May, Peat Marwick McLintock and Linklaters
| & Paines
6 July |DTI, Inland Revenue, British Aerospace,
| Slaughter & May, Linklaters & Paines, Peat
| Marwick McLintock
Footwear and Leather Goods
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is the value of footwear and leather imports under the GSP scheme from Thailand into the United Kingdom since 1 January ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what steps the Government are taking to restore full duties where imports of shoes and leather goods have already exceeded the European Economic Community ceilings ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 26 March 1990] : Footwear and leather goods enter the United Kingdom under a number of tariff headings and different categories are monitored differently, according to their treatment under the GSP. My Department has asked the European Commission to reimpose duty on footwear under tariff headings 6401 and 6402 from Thailand and Indonesia. The total value of imports from Thailand for tariff headings 6401 and 6402 from 1 January--14 March 1990 was 2,506,331 ecu. If the hon. Member requires figures for any other tariff headings, I should be happy to write to him.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Debt
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had concerning repealing the Payment of Debt (Northern Ireland) Act.
Mr. Cope : The Government keep the working of the Act under review. We also receive representations about the Act from time to time, including a recent letter from the hon. Gentleman.
Strangford Lough
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside met to give him advice about the proposed Strangford Lough (ASSI) (Part 3) declaration ; and whether such advice given is in written form.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland was advised on nature conservation matters by the Committee for Nature Conservation (CNC) until 16 May 1989 when that committee (and the Ulster Countryside Committee) was replaced by the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside (CNCC). On 20 November 1986 the CNC endorsed the Department's proposals for an area of special scientific interest (ASSI) at Strangford Lough. A revision to the proposed boundary was agreed by CNC at a meeting on 12
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October 1987. The ASSI was declared in three parts, the third part, the Strangford Lough (Part 3) ASSI, being declared on 21 April 1989. At a meeting on 7 July 1989 the CNCC endorsed the views of the CNC about the declaration of the ASSI. The views of the CNC and the CNCC were conveyed to the Department by means of copies of the minutes of their meetings.Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he received prior advice from the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside before he confirmed the Strangford Lough (ASSI) (Part 3) declaration ; and whether he made available to the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside information about objections from private individuals and public bodies to the proposed ASSI.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : At a meeting on 3 November 1989 the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside was informed by officials of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland about the representations and objections to the declaration of the Strangford Lough (Part 3) area of special scientific interest (ASSI). The CNCC advised the officials of its support for the confirmation of the ASSI. The ASSI was confirmed on 16 November 1989.
Social Security Benefits
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for how long records of social security benefits paid to claimants are retained ; and whether it is possible to obtain details of the period March 1985 to August 1987 relating to someone who qualified for and was in receipt of family income supplement in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Needham : The length of time records of social security benefits paid to claimants are retained varies with the benefit and with certain other circumstances (for example, the death of a claimant). Records of family income supplement are normally retained for two years after the last date of payment and it is therefore unlikely that details of a claim relating to the period from March 1985 to August 1987 are available. However, if the hon. Gentleman has a particular case in mind my noble Friend--Lord Skelmersdale--will be pleased to look into it.
Electricity Prices
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish details of the criteria used to reach the decision to increase electricity charges in Northern Ireland by 8 per cent. from 1 April.
Mr. Needham : The main criterion was that electricity charges should reflect the economic price of supply in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the estimated level of profit likely to be produced by Northern Ireland Electricity in the period 1990-91 by the increase in charges to consumers from 1 April.
Mr. Needham : It is not practice to publish estimates by boards of public undertakings of their forecast performance.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether Her Majesty's Government and Northern
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Ireland Electricity have proposals to reduce electricity prices in Northern Ireland and to reduce the energy burden on industry and domestic consumers.
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