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result, 67 claims were referred to the adjudication officer and of these 25 were allowed and 42 disallowed. In addition, a further five claims were referred to the adjudication officer on grounds of refusing employment and of these two were disallowed. Given the difference in administrative arrangements as compared with those in Great Britain, the actively seeking work condition has been introduced in Northern Ireland in a sensible and sensitive manner.Upper Bann
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has any plans to visit the constituency of Upper Bann before 17 May.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 27 April 1990] : It is not the custom to give details of ministerial programmes in advance.
Road Deaths
Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table showing the number of road fatalities since 1 October 1989 and for each year from 1980 to 1990.
Mr. Peter Bottomley [holding answer 30 April 1990] : Royal Ulster Constabulary road traffic accident statistics show the following figures :
Month and year |Fatalities --------------------------------------------- October 1989 |13 November 1989 |12 December 1989 |15 January 1990 |18 February 1990 |21 March 1990 |12<1> April 1990 |8<1> ------- |------- 1980 |229 1981 |223 1982 |216 1983 |173 1984 |189 1985 |177 1986 |236 1987 |214 1988 |178 1989 |181 <1> Provisional.
Since the road casualty reduction campaign started on 1 November, the preliminary provincial number of deaths is 13 per cent. down on the same six months over the previous two years.
Exports
Mr. McNamara : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Industrial Development Board and the Local Enterprise Development unit are taking to monitor the export performance of their client companies.
Mr. Needham [holding answer 1 May 1990] : Companies in receipt of assistance from the Industrial Development Board (IDB) and the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) are required to submit annual accounts as a condition of this assistance. These accounts assist the agencies to monitor the performance of these
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companies including their overall sales performance both domestic and export. Both agencies are currently in the process of introducing new computing systems which will further facilitate the monitoring process.SOCIAL SECURITY
Community Charge Benefit
52. Mr. Doran : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for community charge benefit have been received from individuals qualifying under the new capital limits.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Arrangements have been made for the information to be collected by the housing benefit and community charge benefit management information system. The information will not be available until early 1991.
Benefits (Application Forms)
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to review or alter the provision of application forms for (a) family credit and (b) other Department of Social Services benefits at post offices ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : There are no plans to alter the provision of the family credit application form, FC1, at post offices. FC1 is the only application form available at post offices.
The facilities offered by the Post Office are used to display leaflets which inform about the whole range of benefits available and advise how claims can be made. The eight leaflets currently displayed include FB2, "Which Benefit?", a general guide to benefits, as well as those concerned with community charge benefit, housing benefit and income support. The leaflet about the new capital limits will shortly be on display.
The leaflets and posters displayed are regularly reviewed to ensure best use of the facilities offered to inform the public.
Disability
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in the latest year for which figures are available how many people previously in receipt of severe disablement allowance had their entitlement to that benefit reassessed following the completion of a YTS ;
(2) in the latest year for which figures are available how many people previously in receipt of severe disablement allowance have had their entitlement to that benefit reassessed having left a YTS before completing the course.
Mr. Scott : A record is not kept of the number of previous recipients of severe disablement allowance who claim the benefit again after leaving a YTS.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in the latest year for which figures are available how many people previously in receipt of severe disablement allowance lost their entitlement to that benefit having completed a YTS ; (2) in the latest year for which figures are available how many people previously in receipt of severe disablement allowance lost their entitlement to that benefit having left a YTS before completing the course.
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Mr. Scott : This information is not available. Trainees who were receiving severe disablement allowance immediately before starting YTS can have it reinstated as a linked claim when they leave the course if they are incapable of work and make the fresh claim within eight weeks of leaving the YTS.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in the latest year for which figures are available how many people previously in receipt of severe disablement allowance had their entitlement to that benefit reassessed following a short period of employment ;
(2) in the latest year for which figures are available how many people previously in receipt of severe disablement allowance lost their entitlement to that benefit as a result of a reassessment following a short period of employment.
Mr. Scott : This information is not available. If a break in entitlement to severe disablement allowance lasts no longer than eight weeks, benefit can be reinstated as a linked claim if the person again becomes incapable of work.
EC Pensions
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the value, converted into £ sterling, of the basic pension per age paid in each European Community country, including any relevant major supplements.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to the Department's publication "Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the European Communities (Position at 1 January 1989)," a copy of which is in the Library. These tables set out the level of pension in the national currencies together with the sterling equivalent converted according to the OECD's purchasing power parity figures as explained in the introduction to the tables.
War Widows
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the steps that have been taken by his Department to assist war widows since May 1979.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Government have honoured their pledge to maintain the value of war widows pensions. Since 1979 these pensions have been uprated annually in line with the retail prices index. In 1979 the basic pension was £30.20 a week. It is now £60.95.
In 1979 the Government freed war widows pensions from income tax. In 1984 the Government introduced a new tier of age allowance for war widows aged 80 or over. Age allowances are paid in addition to the basic war widows pension. These age allowances were increased by more than the retail prices index in April 1990 ; from £6.10 to £7.00 a week for war widows aged 65-69, from £12.20 to £13.50 a week for those aged 70-79 and from £15.30 to £20.00 a week for those 80 or over.
In 1987 the Government significantly improved the help with funeral costs for war pensioners whose death was due to service.
In 1988 the Government increased from £4 to £5 a week the amount of war widows pension which is disregarded for the assessment of entitlement to income related benefits. From April 1990 the disregard was further
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increased to £10 a week and arrangements were also made to disregard completely the new special payments of £40 a week to pre-1973 war widows.HOME DEPARTMENT
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of cases settled under the criminal injuries compensation scheme in the calendar years 1987, 1988 and 1989 together with the average length of time taken to settle such cases ; if he will provide a separate similar analysis for cases involving police staff and pensioners settled in those years ; and if he will give similar figures for the Northern region.
Mr. John Patten : The number of applications resolved by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board in the calendar years 1987, 1988 and 1989 were 26,619, 38,016 and 38,484 respectively. Information about the average time taken to resolve applications is not available in the form requested, but the percentage of cases submitted to a single member of the board within certain periods from registration is shown in paragraph 6.1 of the board's 25th annual report (Cm. 900), a copy of which is in the Library. The relevant figures are :
Year ended 31 March
|1989 |1988 |1987
|(per cent.)|(per cent.)|(per cent.)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Up to 3 months |1.0 |1.5 |1.5
3 to 6 months |2.1 |2.6 |5.1
6 to 9 months |4.8 |6.7 |16.4
9 to 12 months |19.0 |20.0 |26.8
Over 12 months |73.1 |69.2 |50.2
|------- |------- |-------
|100.0 |100.0 |100.0
The board does not keep separate statistics for applications from police and pensioners ; nor are records maintained for separate regions.
Child Abuse
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what directive he has given to police forces arising from the recommendations of the report of the inquiry into child abuse in Cleveland in 1987.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Two circulars of guidance to the police have been issued to date. Home Office circular 52/1988, which was issued to coincide with the publication of Lord Justice Butler-Sloss's report into child sexual abuse in Cleveland, establishes the principle that the needs of the child should come first and recommends the joint interviewing of alleged child victims by police officers, social workers and, where necessary, doctors ; interviewing in comfortable surroundings ; and the video- recording of interviews with child victims.
Home Office circular 67/1989 gives guidance to chief officers about specialist training for police officers who take part in joint interviews with social workers of alleged child victims.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what training is being made
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available to the police to enable the video taping of first disclosures by allegedly abused children for presentation in court ; (2) what training is being made available to police surgeons in the physical examination of children suspected of being the victims of sexual abuse.Mr. Peter Lloyd : Responsibility for training rests with the chief officer of the force concerned. Home Office circular 67/1989, which gives guidance about the content of joint training courses for police officers and social workers responsible for investigating child sexual abuse, lists training in the video-recording of interviews as one of the essential components of a training course. There is no specific guidance about training for police surgeons.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional funds he has made available to police forces to enable the early implementation of the recommendations of the report of the inquiry into child abuse in Cleveland in 1987.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Chief officers have not sought additional funds specifically to deal with child abuse. It is up to them to decide on operational priorities and to allocate funds accordingly. Total police expenditure since the publication of the Cleveland report has risen from £3,643 million in 1988-89 to a projected £4,384 million in 1990- 91.
Drink Driving
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines on sentencing he gives to magistrates about drink-drive offences ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : Sentencing is a matter for the courts within their overall powers as laid down by legislation and in accordance with the guidance given by the Court of Appeal. I understand that the Magistrates Association is revising the guidelines on road traffic sentencing that it issues to its members.
Council of Europe
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the British Government's response to the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the case involving the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms. Harman) and Ms. Patricia Hewitt.
Mr. Waddington : The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has yet to adopt a resolution in this case. Until it does so, its decision remains confidential and I am unable to comment.
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to publish the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on training ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : The advisory council's report "Problem Drug Use : A Review of Training" was published today. Copies have been placed in the Library. The Government welcome this report and are grateful to the council for its
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comprehensive study of training. If the Government's strategy for tackling drug misuse is to have the most impact, it is clearly important that all those whose work brings them into contact with problem drug users are properly trained. The training needs of teachers and others involved in prevention programmes must also be considered. The threat of the transmission of HIV infection, which gives rise to AIDS, through the sharing of injecting equipment, highlights the importance of ensuring that all who deal with the treatment or prevention of drug misuse have developed the right skills to deal with the problems.The council's recommendations are directed at central and local government, health authorities, academic and professional bodies, the police and probation services and other health agencies including non-statutory drug services. The report will, therefore, be widely distributed. The Government will be responding to the report when it has had an opportunity to consider the recommendations fully.
Teletext
Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters and other representations he has received concerning the continued provision of a teletext service.
Mr. Mellor : We have received a considerable number of representations on this subject. As my hon. Friend will be aware, I announced on 15 March that we intend to amend the Broadcasting Bill to guarantee the continuation of a commercial teletext service.
Green Goddess Vehicles (Maintenance)
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many of his Department's staff are involved in monitoring and checking the quality of servicing and maintenance carried out by TNT on Green Goddess vehicles ;
(2) how many quality assurance and budgetary officers have been recruited to supervise the servicing and maintenance of the Green Goddess fleet by TNT ;
(3) if he is satisfied with the quality and level of servicing and maintenance presently being carried out by TNT on the Green Goddess fleet.
Mr. John Patten : Arrangements are currently in hand for recruiting two quality assurance and budgetary officers. In the meantime, the servicing and maintenance of the Green Goddess fleet by TNT is being overseen by a Home Office official on site to ensure that the work is being carried out to an acceptable level.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is (a) the current cost of the TNT contract for servicing the Green Goddess fire appliances and (b) the original agreed contract price ;
(2) what is the value of contracts entered into by his Department with (a) TNT plc and (b) C. Walton Ltd. of Bruntingthorpe airfield.
Mr. John Patten : Formal contracts are still under negotiation and it is unlikely that they will be signed until planning permission has been received for the construction of a purpose-built storage facility at Bruntingthorpe airfield. In the meantime, interim arrangements entered
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into with TNT plc and C. Walton Ltd. for storing and servicing the Green Goddess fire appliances have been given effect through restricted instructions which are limited in both time and value. The details of these arrangements must, necessarily, remain commercially confidential.Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long he intends to retain the present level of servicing and maintenance of the fleet of emergency fire service vehicles and equipment.
Mr. John Patten : The current level for servicing and maintaining the fleet of emergency fire service vehicles and equipment will continue for as long as is considered necessary. The proposed contract, which will ensure the maintenance of the fleet to current in-house standards, will be for an initial period of five years with an option for a further period of five years to run consecutively.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the in-house tender price for the contract to service the Green Goddess fire appliance fleet.
Mr. John Patten : In accordance with Treasury guidelines the in- house organisation did not tender for the contract to service the Green Goddess fire appliance fleet, but provided estimates of costs and service levels as the base line against which the commercial tenders were to be compared and contrasted.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the extra cost in building, land and plant incurred by his Department as a result of putting the servicing of Green Goddess fire appliances out to private tender ;
(2) what extra facilities his Department is supplying in terms of land, buildings and plant to TNT to enable it to carry out the servicing of the Green Goddess fire appliance fleet.
Mr. John Patten : Under the proposed contracts for servicing the Green Goddess fire appliances all necessary buildings and land are to be supplied by the contractors. Minor items of plant, which formed part of the Green Goddess fleet and were used to service the appliances, have been made available to TNT.
Drugs
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department following the introduction of confiscation of assets following conviction of drug offences, what is the total amount so far confiscated, and what this money has been used for.
Mr. John Patten : The latest figures, which are in respect of confiscation orders made in 1987 and 1988, are given in table 7.25 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales, 1988," a copy of which is in the Library. These show that over £9 million were ordered to be confiscated in those two years. The current estimate by the national drugs intelligence unit of the cumulative total of confiscation orders made since the Drug Trafficking Offences Act came into force in January 1987 is in excess of £16 million.
Under present public accounting arrangements confiscated money is treated in the same way as fine revenue, and paid directly into the Consolidated Fund from which
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Government expenditure generally--including substantial support for drug-related work--is financed. Ministers are considering the detailed arrangements whereby a proportion of the sums confiscated from drug traffickers as a result of international agreements might be used directly to strengthen the United Kingdom's enforcement and other efforts to curb drug misuse.Emergency Planning
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what are the costs of national emergency planning provision in Great Britain ; and what information he has on comparable costs in (a) France, (b) Germany, (c) Italy, (d) Holland, (e) Belgium and (f) Denmark ;
(2) what is the total annual cost of national emergency planning in Great Britain excluding provision for military nuclear disaster ; (3) what is the total annual cost of national emergency planning provision in Great Britain ;
(4) what are the costs per head of population of national emergency planning provision in the United Kingdom ; and what information he has on comparable costs per head of population in other EEC states.
Mr. John Patten : Expenditure on civil preparedness in the United Kingdom in 1990-91 is estimated at £128,837,000. No figure for total expenditure by central and local Government on emergencies in peacetime is available. Nor are comparable figures for other EC countries.
Assuming a population of 57 million, the cost per head of the civil preparedness programme in 1990-91 is estimated as £2.26.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the total cost of emergency planning in the Greater London area excluding provision for military nuclear disaster ;
(2) what is the total cost of emergency planning provision in the Greater London area.
Mr. John Patten : Civil Defence approved expenditure for the London fire and civil defence authority in the financial year 1990-91 is £2.45 million. Planning for all emergencies in peacetime may be carried out by London boroughs at their own discretion under section 138 of the Local Government Act 1972.
Ethnic Monitoring
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the percentage of black police officers currently serving in British police forces.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The most recent figures relate to January 1990 when 1,312 officers from ethnic minority communities were serving in police forces in England and Wales. This represents 1.04 per cent. of total strength compared, for example, to 273 officers or 0.24 per cent. of total strength in March 1980.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of probation officers are black.
Mr. John Patten : The results of a survey of probation officers carried out on 31 December 1987 were as follows :
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|Per cent.
-----------------------------------
White |83.7
Afro-Caribbean |1.0
Asian |0.4
Other Black |0.6
Not recorded |14.4
|-------
|100
The proportion of ethnic minority recruits to the service is higher than the proportion in post : 13 per cent. of those sponsored by the Home Office in 1988 and 1989 to train as probation officers were from ethnic minority groups. We propose to introduce routine ethnic monitoring of all probation staff and caseloads shortly.
Equal Opportunities Commission
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Equal Opportunities Commission letter suggesting amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act was received ; and when he intends to reply to it.
Mr. John Patten : The EOC's formal proposals for amending the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 were received in March 1988. The Government are considering the commission's proposals, but we shall not be in a position to reply until we have been able to consider the results of the commission's review of the Equal Pay Act 1970 which we await in due course.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what would the increase in the grant in aid to the Equal Opportunities Commission over the last six years have needed to be to have kept in line with inflation.
Mr. John Patten : The table sets out the information requested for the last six years and also gives details of the grant in aid the Equal Opportunities Commission will receive in 1990-91, subject to approval by Parliament.
Year |Equal |Increase |Increase
|opportunities|in EOC's |needed to
|commission's |grant-in-aid |keep pace
|grain-in-aid |over the |with
|(£) |previous year|inflation<1>
|(£) |(£)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |3,387,000 |219,000 |157,450
1985-86 |3,434,000 |47,000 |181,543
1986-87 |3,538,000 |104,000 |116,756
1987-88 |3,716,000 |178,000 |189,637
1988-89 |3,810,000 |94,000 |264,580
1989-90 |3,894,000 |84,000 |247,650
1990-91<2> |4,579,000 |685,000 |253,110
<1> Calculated using the GDP inflators.
<2> Subject to approval by Parliament.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many lawyers the law and enforcement divisions of the Equal Opportunities Commission have.
Mr. John Patten : The Equal Opportunities Commission has four lawyers who provide a service to the commission as a whole.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers the Equal Opportunities Commission has to take cases to court directly ; and how many they took last year.
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Mr. John Patten : The Equal Opportunities Commission has powers to take cases to court directly under sections 71, 72 and 73 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. In addition the commission is recognised as having locus to seek judicial review through its duty to work towards the elimination of discrimination.In the 12 months from January to December 1989 the commission took proceedings in three cases under section 73 and one under section 72. It also applied for judicial review in one case.
International Crime Survey
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of the telephone survey undertaken by his Department into crime levels in 14 countries ; and if he will make a statement on the benefit which has been obtained from this survey.
Mr. John Patten : The cost to the Home Office of taking part in the international telephone survey in which 14 countries took part was about £33,000, of which one-third was for staff resources from the research and planning unit. Each country paid their own contribution to the survey.
The benefit of the survey is that it gives a comparable measure of the level of a number of offences across different countries--a measure which is independent of offences recorded by the police. It also offers information on other topics such as fear of crime, crime prevention habits, opinions about the police, and attitudes to sentencing.
Cocaine and Crack
Dame Janet Fookes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of seizures of cocaine, in the most recent years for which figures are available, was of cocaine entering the United Kingdom from member states of the European Community.
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of seizures of cocaine, in the most recent years for which figures are available, was of cocaine entering the United Kingdom from member states of the European Community.
Mr. Mellor [pursuant to his reply, 25 January 1990, c. 868-69] : I regret that incorrect information was provided for the percentage of seizures of cocaine by Customs in 1988 which were known to have originated from or arrived in the United Kingdom via other EC countries. The correct figures for that year are 31.5 per cent. by numbers of seizures (35.8 per cent. by weight), corresponding to 102 kg.
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