| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Mortality figures one year after diagnosis for the period 1983-87 are as follows :
Breast Cancer
Health Board |Number of |Percentage of
|registrations|patients who
|1983-87 |died within
|one year of
|diagnosis
----------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |856 |17
Ayrshire and Arran |763 |15
Borders |265 |16
Dumfries and Galloway |331 |14
Fife |768 |13
Forth Valley |597 |14
Grampian |992 |11
Greater Glasgow |2,246 |13
Highland |519 |14
Lanarkshire |1,017 |14
Lothian |1,865 |14
Orkney |40 |5
Shetland |64 |19
Tayside |1,013 |14
Western Isles |89 |12
|------- |-------
Scotland Total |11,425 |14
Breast Cancer
Health Board |Number of |Percentage of
|registrations|patients who
|1983-87 |died within
|one year of
|diagnosis
----------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |856 |17
Ayrshire and Arran |763 |15
Borders |265 |16
Dumfries and Galloway |331 |14
Fife |768 |13
Forth Valley |597 |14
Grampian |992 |11
Greater Glasgow |2,246 |13
Highland |519 |14
Lanarkshire |1,017 |14
Lothian |1,865 |14
Orkney |40 |5
Shetland |64 |19
Tayside |1,013 |14
Western Isles |89 |12
|------- |-------
Scotland Total |11,425 |14
Family Planning
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the centres which offer the kind of comprehensive counselling outlined in Her Majesty's Government's guidelines for unplanned pregnancies in Scotland in the Edinburgh area.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Current guidance from the Scottish Home and Health Department about the provision of family planning services draws health boards' attention to the need for counselling facilities, especially for young people. Such counselling is available within Lothian health board's area through general practitioners ; obstetric and gynaecological in-patient and out-patient services ; the board's community clinics ; family planning clinics in central Edinburgh and peripheral locations ; and at the Brook advisory centre.
More detailed information about individual centres is not held centrally.
Forestry Commission Land
Dr. Woodcock : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of the Forestry Commission land announced for disposal on 16 June 1989 has so far been disposed of ; on how much of this land has public access been protected ; and if he will consider retrospective action to reinstate public access to land sold where access was not protected at the time of the sale.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Just over 7,000 hectares of forest land were sold by the Forestry Commission in the period between April 1989 and June 1990 ; in addition, some 2,900 hectares of other land were sold in that period. These sales were not subject to special conditions relating to public access and retrospective action to impose such conditions would not be practical or appropriate. The Government are concerned, however, that the general public should continue to enjoy access to those
Column 685
forests to be disposed of by the Forestry Commission in a way which is compatible with their management for forestry and other purposes. We are giving careful consideration to ways of achieving this objective. In the meantime, the commission is deferring the sale of woodlands that are particularly sensitive from the point of view of public access, except in those cases where the sale is to an environmental body under the sponsorship arrangements.A68-A697 Junction
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking on proposals for the improvement of the junction between the A68 and the A697.
Mr. Rifkind : Borders regional council, as agent authority, has put forward two sets of proposals for improving the safety of the A68-A697 junction. The first, which involves changes to the side road traffic island and the laying of anti-skid surfacing material has been approved for implementation in this financial year. The second proposal, which was recently submitted, is to substantially alter the geometrical layout of the junction. This is a longer-term solution and will be the subject of further discussions between my Department and Borders regional council.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Ernie Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many deaths in Scotland were as a result of assault with (a) a household axe, (b) a kitchen knife, (c) a Stanley knife and (d) a coal hammer in each year since 1980 ;
(2) how many convictions for grievous bodily harm in Scotland were as a result of assault with (a) a household axe, (b) a kitchen knife, (c) a Stanley knife and (d) a coal hammer in each year since 1980.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Details of the exact type of weapon used in cases of homicide and serious assault are not collected centrally, with the exception of firearms.
Trunk Road Improvements
Sir Hector Monro : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the cost of the trunk road improvements, road by road, since 1979 in Dumfries and Galloway ; and the projected expenditure for the next five years, including reconstructing the A74 into a motorway.
Mr. Rifkind : The total expenditure on new construction and improvements on trunk roads in Dumfries and Galloway region for each year from 1 April 1979 is listed in the table.
Year |Expenditure
|(£ million)
------------------------------------
1979-80 |1.2
1980-81 |1.4
1981-82 |4.0
1982-83 |7.2
1983-84 |5.6
1984-85 |8.1
1985-86 |11.1
1986-87 |8.8
1987-88 |17.9
1988-89 |19.9
1989-90 |24.2
Information from 1979 on individual schemes costing under £1 million is not available. However, the following table lists all major trunk road schemes costing over £1 million completed since May 1979.
Scheme |Expenditure
|(£ million)
----------------------------------------------------------------
A7 Canonbie Diversion |5.4
A7 Synton to Mossend |1.3
A74 Johnstone Bridge to Dinwoodie Lodge |1.8
A75 Carsluith Diversion |1.5
A75 Collin Diversion |3.8
A75 Gatehouse of Fleet Bypass |9.0
A75 Creetown Bypass |5.2
A75 Bridge of Dee Diversion |2.6
A75 Castle Douglas Bypass |6.2
A75 Ringlord Bypass |2.5
A75 Annan Bypass |17.0
A75 Glenluce Bypass |6.8
The following table gives the estimated expenditure on major schemes costing over £1 million which started prior to April 1990 but are not yet completed.
Scheme |Cost
|(£ million)
--------------------------------------------
A701 Ae Bridge |1.4
A75 Dumfries Bypass |20.3
Start dates for future schemes currently in preparation are dependent on the satisfactory completion of statutory procedures, the availability of finance and the relative priorities of the individual improvements. It is not therefore practical to determine individual starts and the associated expenditure in detail beyond the year ahead. Starts have been announced for 1990-91 to the £4 million A74 Carrutherstown-Hetland improvement, which is now under construction, and the £35 million upgrading of the A74 between Gretna and Kirkpatrick Fleming, which is due to commence in the near future. In addition schemes for major trunk road improvements in Dumfries and Galloway costing in excess of £250 million are the subject of studies or are being prepared.
NHS Drugs
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the value of national health service drugs administered in Scotland (a) in total and (b) in hospitals in the latest year for which figures are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : In the year ending 31 March 1990, the cost of drugs in Scotland was :
|£ million
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hospitals |43.96
Community Pharmacists and dispensing doctors |215.42
Total |259.38
Greater Glasgow Health Board
Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his reply of 11 July, Official Report, column 233, if he will take steps to ensure that the Greater Glasgow health board writes immediately to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Rutherglen about the weekly cost per bed it will pay to Takare plc under the contract for care of the elderly in Rutherglen.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 11 July.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what changes he is proposing to make to the community charge arrangements following the review of those arrangements.
Mr. Rifkind : I am proposing to make the following changes : Community charge relief (1) with effect from 1 April 1990 the threshold for relief will be reduced from £3 per week to £2 per week.
(2) the scheme will be extended by two years.
(3) relief paid under the scheme to an individual will not reduce until the fourth and fifth years.
Those proposals will take effect from the beginning of the second year of the scheme in Scotland. The lowering of the threshold for relief will give £52 more relief than would otherwise have been the case to each household that qualified for it, provided they have not moved. Pensioners and the disabled who were not former ratepayers and who qualified for extra relief will also receive an increase of £52 of relief. On top of this, postponing the withdrawal of relief will be worth up to £13 in 1990-91 to everybody already entitled to relief in respect of 1989-90. Many couples will be £78 a year better off than they would otherwise have been as a result of these changes. It is estimated also that the number of people benefiting may increase by more than 50 per cent. as a result. The amount of relief paid out is expected to increase by more than this proportion, reflecting the increase in relief that existing recipients of relief will receive as well as relief being paid for the first time to new recipients. The implementation of these changes will be subject to discussion with local authorities before regulations bringing them into effect are made.
Column 688
My proposals to exempt small bed-and- breakfast establishments from non-domestic rating have been widely welcomed in Scotland : in consultations, there was general agreement that a limit of six bed spaces would be appropriate, and that it would not be desirable also to extend the exemption to establishments available for 100 days or less. Accordingly, I intend to lay regulations very shortly to exempt bed- and-breakfast establishments providing accommodation for no more than six people from non-domestic rates, by prescribing that they shall be treated as domestic property.A number of specific classes with maximum multipliers have already been prescribed. These include empty manses, properties empty as a result of a person's death, property whose owner is being cared for elsewhere, empty homes belonging to students, and empty property belonging to prisoners. It is my intention now to prescribe additional classes of premises and the maximum multipliers which will apply to them. I will consult with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and with community charge registration officers with regard to the details before making the appropriate regulations. My intention is to make provisions relating to property owned by people who live in tied accommodation, property which has been repossessed by a mortgage lender and, subject to views which are expressed during consultation, property which forms a self-contained part of either the main residence of a charge payer or of a non-domestic property owned by him.
Compulsory Purchase Orders
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many compulsory purchase orders in each of the last four years were subject to public local inquiry from local authorities, broken down by local authority ;
(2) how many compulsory purchase orders have been confirmed by his officials, broken down by local authority, in each of the last four financial years ;
(3) how many applications for compulsory purchase orders he has received from local authorities broken down by local authority, in each of the last four financial years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 12 July 1990] : The information requested is set out in the table.
Column 687
Local Authority and Financial Year |Number of CPOs |Number of CPOs |Number of CPOs
|received |confirmed |subject to Public
|Local Inquiry
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87
Aberdeen |- |1 |-
Angus |- |- |1
Annandale and Eskdale |- |1 |-
Argyll and Bute |9 |5 |1
Banff and Buchan |3 |3 |-
Clackmannan |1 |1 |-
Cunninghame |2 |1 |-
Dundee |4 |4 |2
Dunfermline |1 |1 |-
East Kilbride |- |1 |-
Edinburgh |6 |5 |-
Glasgow |34 |20 |3
Gordon |3 |- |-
Hamilton |2 |2 |1
Kilmarnock |- |1 |-
Kirkcaldy |1 |1 |-
Kyle and Carrick |1 |1 |-
Moray |- |1 |-
Motherwell |3 |3 |-
North East Fife |4 |2 |-
Perth and Kinross |1 |1 |-
Renfrew |- |1 |-
Stewartry |1 |1 |-
Stirling |1 |1 |-
Strathkelvin |2 |2 |-
Tweeddale |- |- |1
West Lothian |7 |4 |2
Borders Regional Council |1 |- |-
Lothian Regional Council |1 |1 |2
|----- |----- |-----
Totals |88 |65 |13
1987-88
Aberdeen |1 |1 |-
Angus |1 |1 |-
Argyll |2 |4 |-
Banff and Buchan |- |- |1
Bearsden and Milngavie |1 |1 |-
Clydebank |1 |1 |-
Clydesdale |1 |1 |1
Cunninghame |1 |1 |-
Dumbarton |2 |2 |-
Dundee |6 |6 |-
Dunfermline |3 |- |-
Edinburgh |3 |3 |-
Ettrick and Lauderdale |1 |- |-
Glasgow |35 |27 |3
Hamilton |1 |1 |2
Inverclyde |1 |1 |-
Kirkcaldy |5 |2 |-
Monklands |2 |- |-
Moray |2 |1 |-
Motherwell |4 |3 |1
North East Fife |1 |1 |-
Perth and Kinross |1 |1 |-
Renfrew |3 |1 |-
Stirling |1 |- |-
Strathkelvin |2 |2 |-
Tweeddale |- |1 |-
Borders Regional Council |1 |1 |-
Highland Regional Council |1 |1 |-
Lothian Regional Council |1 |- |1
Strathclyde Regional Council |1 |- |-
|----- |----- |-----
Totals |85 |64 |9
1988-89
Aberdeen |4 |4 |-
Angus |1 |1 |-
Annandale and Eskdale |1 |- |-
Argyll and Bute |3 |1 |-
Banff and Buchan |- |1 |-
Bearsden and Milngavie |2 |1 |-
Clackmannan |1 |- |-
Clydebank |1 |1 |-
Cumbernauld |1 |1 |-
Dumbarton |3 |2 |1
Dundee |4 |1 |-
Dunfermline |- |1 |-
Edinburgh |- |1 |-
Ettrick and Lauderdale |- |1 |1
Glasgow |25 |25 |1
Hamilton |4 |3 |-
Inverclyde |1 |1 |-
Inverness |3 |- |-
Kirkcaldy |3 |3 |-
Midlothian |1 |1 |-
Moray |1 |2 |-
North East Fife |- |1 |-
Perth and Kinross |1 |1 |-
Renfrew |5 |3 |1
Stirling |1 |1 |1
Strathkelvin |13 |10 |-
West Lothian |1 |1 |-
Lothian Regional Council |1 |- |-
Strathclyde Regional Council |1 |2 |-
|------- |------- |-------
Totals |82 |70 |5
1989-90
Angus |2 |- |1
Argyll and Bute |1 |2 |1
Clackmannan |1 |1 |-
Clydebank |1 |1 |-
Clydesdale |2 |1 |-
Dundee |- |2 |-
Falkirk |1 |- |-
Glasgow |24 |19 |2
Hamilton |2 |1 |-
Inverclyde |- |1 |-
Inverness |1 |- |-
Kyle and Carrick |1 |- |-
Midlothian |1 |- |-
Moray |2 |- |-
Nithsdale |1 |1 |-
North East Fife |4 |1 |-
Renfrew |5 |4 |-
Stewartry |1 |1 |-
Strathkelvin |3 |1 |1
West Lothian |2 |- |-
Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council |1 |1 |-
Lothian Regional Council |- |1 |-
Strathclyde Regional Council |1 |1 |-
|----- |----- |-----
Totals |57 |39 |5
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the applications for compulsory purchase orders he received in each of the last four financial years were in respect of (a) unfit houses which were occupied, (b) empty private sector housing properties, (c) empty private sector industrial properties, (d) poor management of privately rented housing properties and (e) poor management of privately rented industrial properties ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 12 July 1990] : This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Respite Care
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will release additional funds to enable greater respite care facilities to be offered within Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 18 July 1990] : As regards resources for local authorities, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to his question on 3 July 1990. In addition, my right hon. and learned Friend makes financial assistance directly available to voluntary organisations in the social work field. Grants are currently made to Crossroads (Scotland) and a number of other bodies at national level which promote local respite care services. Support for voluntary organisations providing local caring services is seen as essentially the responsibility of local authorities and in some circumstances, health boards.
Column 692
Police National Computer
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to the number of accesses made to the police national computer by each constabulary over the last year ; and what was the proportion of access requests made to the vehicle indexes of the police national computer.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I have been asked to reply.
The information is as follows :
Force |Numbers of |Proportion of
|transactions for|transactions
|the year up to |made to
|June 1990 |vehicle indices
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Somerset |928,045 |60.5
Bedfordshire |376,446 |66.9
British Transport Police |141,988 |42.1
Cambridgeshire |375,627 |60.7
Central |141,178 |51.6
Cheshire |436,687 |62.1
City of London |101,987 |58.8
Cleveland |331,288 |55.8
Cumbria |366,151 |62.9
Derbyshire |448,074 |61.1
Devon and Cornwall |730,000 |55.6
Dorset |457,665 |59.6
Dumfries and Galloway |106,837 |59.0
Durham |350,553 |53.1
Dyfed-Powys |241,976 |48.3
Essex |892,740 |60.1
Fife |137,425 |56.4
Gloucestershire |359,446 |68.0
Grampian |265,928 |49.4
Greater Manchester |2,271,199 |57.3
Guernsey |19,249 |10.5
Gwent |187,118 |46.3
Hampshire |877,175 |59.4
Hertfordshire |463,569 |46.5
Humberside |529,245 |60.2
Isle of Man |20,547 |52.9
Jersey |33,476 |10.1
Kent |1,198,384 |60.7
Lancashire |1,126,272 |58.4
Leicestershire |397,810 |55.4
Lincolnshire |267,208 |61.3
Lothian and Borders |610,533 |59.4
Merseyside |932,268 |55.6
Metropolitan |7,597,182 |48.4
Norfolk |392,549 |63.5
North Wales |309,407 |51.3
North Yorkshire |440,309 |65.6
Northamptonshire |319,903 |67.8
Northern |103,454 |52.0
Northumberland |990,490 |66.7
Nottinghamshire |650,988 |71.8
South Wales |842,909 |59.2
South Yorkshire |684,321 |70.4
Staffordshire |398,871 |58.4
Strathclyde |1,289,244 |33.8
Suffolk |288,693 |58.7
Surrey |370,132 |61.8
Sussex |791,593 |51.8
Tayside |318,767 |50.7
Thames Valley |1,232,066 |57.4
Warwickshire |312,924 |68.7
West Mercia |498,609 |57.5
West Midlands |2,240,914 |62.8
West Yorkshire |1,407,148 |54.6
Wiltshire |286,988 |64.0
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many accesses were made to each index of the police national computer over the last year ; and how many of the access requests could search more than one index.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I have been asked to reply.
The total number of accesses to each of the indices of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1990 was as follows :
|Number of
|Index |accesses
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Stolen and Suspect Vehicles |}
2. Vehicle Owners |} |21,370,168
3. Chassis/Engine Numbers |508,710
4. Fingerprints |200,917
5. Fingerprints (Scene of Crime) |13,658
6. Criminal Names |1,094,072
7. Wanted/Missing Persons |2,134,554
8. Disqualified Drivers |765,081
9. Convictions |902,277
10. Major Investigations |5,921
11. Crime Pattern Analysis |279,711
There have also been the following joint accesses:
To indices 6 and 9<1> |1,996,349
To indices 6, 7 and 9 |1,687,245
To indices 6, 7, 8 and 9 |8,265,989
To indices 4,6 and 9 |652,426
<1> All accesses to the criminal names index will in addition automatically
generate information from the convictions application.
Column 694
EMPLOYMENT
Disabled People
Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the ministerial review of employment services for disabled people.
Mr. Eggar : The results of the review were published on 29 June in a consultative document, "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities". The document sets out our intentions for the development of services in the 1990s, taking forward the themes established in the 1980s of integration into the work force and the active commitment of employers to good practice in creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The document has been widely distributed and the period of consultation lasts until 31 December.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to outlaw discrimination against disabled people ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The consultative document "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities" was published on 29 June. It invites comments on the merits and demerits of various legislative approaches to securing good practice in the employment of people with disabilities. Anti-discrimination legislation is one of the approaches discussed. Decisions on the best way forward will be taken when we have considered the comments that are received.
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the consultation paper "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The consultative document was published on 29 June and only a few comments have so far been received. It is too soon to expect interested parties to make considered responses. The consultative period ends on 31 December 1990.
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) on what basis he made his estimate of the savings in the cost of administration staff if the Neasden Health and Safety Executive office were to close ;
(2) if he will give details of estimates of (a) the number and (b) the cost of extra inspector hours used in travelling if the Neasden Health and Safety Executive office were to close and of the number of inspections forgone.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not available as the Health and Safety Executive has no current plans to close the Neasden office.
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the number of inspections performed by Health and Safety Executive offices in (a) Neasden, (b) Barking and (c) Southwark.
Mr. Nicholls : The information requested is not available in the form requested. The total number of visits made by Health and Safety Executive inspectors operating from the three locations between 1 April 1989 and 31 March 1990 is as follows :
Column 695
|Number
------------------------
Neasden |5,235
Barking |3,085
Southwark |10,558
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the policy of the Health and Safety Executive with respect to advertising job vacancies internally in the London region.
Mr. Nicholls : Jobs are filled by seeking the most suitable people in the most economical way, taking account of the requirements of the post, the capacities and career aspirations of available people, and the possibilities of finding suitable candidates by normal postings action or by promotion. In general, posts are advertised where the HSE has difficulty --or expects to have difficulty--in securing sufficient suitable candidates : not as a matter of course.
Hazardous Substances Regulations
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.
Mr. Nicholls : The responsibility for the implementation of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 rests with industry.
The Health and Safety Executive has committed substantial resources to promoting awareness and understanding of the regulations through the preparation of a wide range of guidance material, national and trade advertising and extensive use of local TV, radio and press. The HSE has worked closely with employers' organisations and others to encourage them to develop guidance for their members. The HSE and local authority inspectors have given advice and, where appropriate, initiated enforcement action during the course of their visits to employers' premises.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Local Government Finance
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much it would cost to increase the maximum poll tax rebate from 80 to 100 per cent. for everyone in Scotland receiving the maximum 80 per cent. rebate in 1990-91, assuming that others in receipt of less than the maximum rebate were not affected by this change.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The estimated cost of increasing the maximum community charge benefit from 80 to 100 per cent. of the community charge set by the local authority, only for those already in receipt of maximum benefit, would be about £35 million in Scotland in 1990-91.
( Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1985-86-87 Family Expenditure Survey).
Data Protection
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many subject access requests under the terms of the Data Protection Act his Department has received ; what was his estimate of the number of requests that
Column 696
would be received ; what consideration he is giving to the subject access fee charged by his Department as a result ; and whether he will make a statement.Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The total number of subject access requests from the Department's records from October 1987 to 13 July 1990 is 1, 420. This includes those made of the then DHSS up to July 1988. The original estimate in 1987 of the number of such requests in DHSS was based on a 0.3 per cent. take-up of requests by data subjects, or 210,000 per annum. No subject access fee is charged by the Department.
Independent Living Fund
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how the new criteria for eligibility for independent living fund grants were drawn up.
Mr. Scott : In order to make effective use of the fund's resources and to enable the fund to respond positively to the majority of new applications, as well as continuing to provide assistance to those already being helped, the fund's trustees have decided to give priority, for the time being, to those applicants between 16 and 74 years of age and who are also in receipt of the higher rate of attendance allowance.
Social Fund
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many, and what percentage, of income support claimants under 60 years of age are repaying social fund loans by deductions from their benefit payments.
Mr. Scott : At June 1990, the latest date for which data are available, 399,421 social fund loans were being recovered from income support recipients under the age of 60, representing 14.4 per cent. of all such recipients.
Single Parents
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to increase the earnings disregard and slacken the earnings taper for single parents in receipt of benefit.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have already announced that the earnings disregard in housing benefit and community charge benefit for lone parents is to be increased in October of this year from £15 to £25 per week. We have no plans to alter the benefit tapers.
Attendance Allowance
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many appeals have been lodged against local adjudication officers who have refused claims for attendance allowance in each of the last five years ; and what proportion of those appeals have been successful during the same period.
Mr. Scott : The information is in the table.
Attendance allowance appeals lodged with and
percentage success rates
at Social Security appeal tribunals 1985-89
|1985|1986|1987|1988|1989
----------------------------------------------------
Appeals lodged |237 |204 |163 |402 |457
Percentage successful |11.8|13.7|19.6|14.4|14.7
Requests for reviews of the decisions on attendance
needs are for the Attendance Allowance Board.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what guidelines have been issued in the last two years to local officers to determine eligibility for attendance allowance.
Mr. Scott : The main adjudicating authority for attendance allowance is the attendance allowance board. The board published its handbook for delegated medical practitioners--the doctors who make decisions on its behalf--in 1988. Amendments to the guidance in the handbook are included in the board's published annual reports. A copy of the last report, which was issued in June 1990, has been put in the Library. I understand that a further three amendments to this guidance--dealing with children under two years of age, children with deafness and blindness, and relevant changes in circumstances--are to be issued shortly.
Staff Shortages, Bootle
Mr. Carr : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has for dealing with staff shortages at his Department's Bootle office.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The current staffing level at the Bootle office is 119.5 including nine fixed-term contract staff. This is above the level assessed as necessary to meet the operational needs of the office from 1 August 1990.
State Pension
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the Government's intentions on a common state pension age for men and women, in the light of the recent European Court of Justice ruling in the Barber v . Guardian Royal Exchange group case.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Barber judgment dealt with pensions paid under a contracted-out scheme. It distinguished these from benefits awarded under statutory social security schemes. The Government's position on a common state pension age was set out in our response in April to the report of the Select Committee in another place.
Residential Care
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what evidence he has of payments of income support to claimants in residential care whose total additional weekly income from retirement pension, attendance allowance and housing or other benefits exceeds the care fees being charged when the weekly personal allowance is taken into account.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We have no evidence of such payments.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is his estimate of the number of persons in residential care now eligible to claim housing benefit following the widening of the difference between the capital thresholds for eligibility for income support and housing benefit ;
(2) what is his estimate of the annual cost to his Department of additional claims for housing benefit from
Column 698
persons in residential care arising from the widening of the difference between the capital thresholds for income support and housing benefit.Mrs. Gillian Shephard : This information is not available.
Community Care
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any information about the results of applications for community care grants for furniture and household goods by pregnant women or women with babies who have been homeless but have been allocated accommodation.
Mr. Scott : This information is not available.
Benefit Subsidy
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he intends to make any change to the benefit subsidy arrangements for housing benefit and community charge benefit.
Mr. Scott : We are today consulting the local authority associations on a proposal to change the basic rate of direct benefit subsidy from 97 to 95 per cent. from April 1991, as an improved incentive to economy. This change would affect all community charge benefit and housing benefit expenditure other than rent rebates in England and Wales covered by the housing revenue account arrangements, which are taken into account at 100 per cent. in calculating subsidy.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland are taking the proposed change into account in drawing up their proposed local authority expenditure settlements for the next financial year.
Income Support
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much he estimates it would cost his Department to extend the full rate of income support to cover all adults, including 16 and 17-year-olds.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 5 June 1990] : The estimated cost for income-related benefits would be around £400 million, based on existing benefit rates and youth training allowances. The actual cost would also depend on the number of people on youth training at the time.
Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1985-86-87 family expenditure surveys.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the answer given on 21 June, Official Report, column 714, how many people on income support receiving a transitional addition lost entitlement to maximum housing benefit in a similar way in April.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 16 July 1990] : The estimated number of claimants so affected is 7,500. But an estimated 96 per cent. of all those floated off maximum housing benefit, some 187,500, gained or were no worse off.
Column 699
Dependants
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the latest figures for the numbers of children aged 16 to 18 years claimed for as dependants by parents (a) on income support and (b) on family credit.
| Next Section
| Home Page |