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Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 20 November 1990] : Child benefit is taken into account in the assessment of income support just as it always was in the
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assessment of supplementary benefit. It is also taken into account in the assessment of housing benefit and community charge benefit. Although it is not treated as income in the assessment of family credit, child benefit is taken into account when the credit levels are set.The net cost of disregarding child benefit in the assessment of income support, housing benefit and community charge benefit is estimated to be around £1.1 billion a year. The cost of ignoring child benefit when setting the credits for family credit would be around £360 million a year, including the knock-on effect of increased family credit on other income-related benefits.
Family Credit
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the particular effect of the Family Credit (General) Amendment Regulations 1990 (S.I., 1990, No. 574) upon families in Scotland due to the earlier conclusion of the school term ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The amendment had no practical effect on families in Scotland or elsewhere since its purpose was merely to clarify the existing legislation and no change in policy or practice was involved.
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Invalid Care Allowance
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment his Department has made of the situation of carers of pensionable age who did not initially qualify for invalid care allowance on age grounds and therefore do not now qualify for the carers premium ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : Invalid care allowance is an income maintenance benefit for those who have to forgo the opportunity of full-time employment because they spend at least 35 hours per week caring for a severely disabled person who receives attendance allowance or constant attendance allowance. Although entitlement to invalid care allowance established before pension age may be carried forward after age 60-65, it would in general be true that those over retirement age are not forgoing full-time employment. We are nevertheless keeping the situation of carers under consideration. We have already announced the increase of the earnings limit for invalid care allowance recipients from £20 to £30 with effect from April 1991 which we expect will help 5,000 carers. We introduced the carer premium from October in the income-related benefits--income support, housing benefit and community charge benefit--which we expect will assist a further 30,000 claimants, many of whom did not qualify for any premium before its introduction. In common with others on income-related benefits, people who start caring after reaching pensionable age have access to one of the three pensioner premiums. We are extending the carer premium from October next year so that it can be paid for up to eight weeks after caring ceases.
SCOTLAND
House Sales
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many sales Scottish Homes completed under (a) right to buy, (b) rent to mortgage, (c) portable discount and (d) vacant possession in each month from April to the latest available date.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is set out in the following table :
Number of sales: 1990
|Right |Rent to |Portable |Portable
|to buy |mortgage |discount |possession
|scheme |sales
------------------------------------------------------------------
1990
April |198 |1 |15 |23
May |82 |0 |1 |8
June |120 |0 |4 |5
July |210 |0 |9 |5
August |234 |3 |6 |10
September |211 |19 |9 |15
October |n/a |59 |n/a |n/a
n/a-Not available.
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what income Scottish Homes received in capital receipts from house sales in the first quarter of 1990-91, and in the second quarter of 1990-91.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The element of Scottish Homes income from capital receipts relative to house sales was £5.744 million in the first quarter of 1990-91 and £9.053 million in the second quarter of 1990-91.
Tenancies
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report any statutory rights that tenants will lose as a result of the ownership of their public sector or former Scottish Special Housing Association tenancies being transferred by the exercise of tenants' rights to voluntary transfer to an alternative public sector landlord.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Tenants who wish to exercise the statutory right under part III of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988 and transfer to a new landlord would give up their secure tenancy and transfer on an assured tenancy basis.
Tenants transferring by this route would lose their statutory right to buy but could enter a contractual agreement with their new landlord to preserve a form of RTB.
Tenants including new town development corporation tenants transferring to Scottish Homes would transfer as secure tenants.
Countryside Commission
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the budget for the Countryside Commission (Scotland) for 1989-90, and what is the proposed budget for 1990-91.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : Grant-in-aid to the Countryside Commission for Scotland for these years is as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1989-90 |5.785
1990-91 |6.358
Families
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will review his policies towards protection of the family unit in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The protection of the family in Scotland is a key feature of Government policy and is kept under constant review. In the field of family law, the Scottish Law Commission is engaged in a major project on the law of children. This includes the scope of parental rights and duties, the custody and guardianship of children, and the legal capacity and responsibility of young people.
Tenancies
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report those sections of housing statutes which determine the power and procedures whereby alternative private sector landlords may acquire a heritable title to former public sector or Scottish Special Housing Association properties.
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Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The provision whereby private sector landlords are able to acqure a title to public sector housing stock are contained primarily in part III of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988.Local authorities also have a general power of disposal in section 12 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and Scottish Homes have a similar power in section 2(2)(h) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. New town development corporations have a general power of disposal under section 3(2) as read with sections 18-18C of the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968.
Divorce
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the cost of legal aid for actions of divorce in each of the last five years.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is as follows :
Year |Sheriff court|Court |Total
|of session
|Cost £ |Cost £ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1985-86 |2,297,092 |6,254,678 |8,551,770
1986-87 |3,901,527 |5,402,408 |9,303,935
1987-88 |5,367,722 |3,931,564 |9,299,286
1988-89 |5,330,902 |2,223,971 |7,554,873
1989-90 |5,271,029 |1,309,665 |6,580,694
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what quantity of (a) low and (b) intermediate level nuclear waste has been generated by Scottish nuclear power stations annually since 1985.
Mr. Lang : Questions about operational aspects of nuclear power stations in Scotland are a matter for the operators concerned.
Government Researchers
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide to all Government-commissioned researchers a written undertaking of their right to publish completed work after three months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Rifkind : My Department strongly supports the principle of disseminating research findings. Every opportunity is taken to encourage the communication of these findings to those who might benefit. Practice varies according to the needs and circumstances applying in individual cases. For instance, it may be necessary to take steps to safeguard the confidentiality of information relating to identifiable individuals or institutions which may be obtained in the course of a research project. It is my intention that this policy should continue.
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list research projects commissioned by his Department which remain unpublished one year or more after completion ; and if he will make a statement in respect of each.
Mr. Rifkind : The publication of the reports of research projects is governed by contracts between researchers and my Department. The general policy of the Scottish Office
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is to encourage the dissemination of research findings by publication of reports or by other means. In no case is my Department standing in the way of publication of the finding of research projects which have been completed for more than one year.Local Enterprise Companies
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the representation of (a) women, (b) representatives of service industries and (c) persons representative of the wider community on steering groups preparing business plans for local enterprise companies.
Mr. Lang : Local enterprise companies are private organisations and individual appointments are a matter for the companies themselves, subject only to the requirement that at least two-thirds of the members of the board of each company are to be drawn from the private sector.
Local Government Finance
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will print in the Official Report the criteria used to determine the revenue grants for the next financial year for each of the regional councils in Scotland, including the population levels used in determining the grant-aided expenditure figure.
Mr. Rifkind : There are basically two stages in the procedure for distributing aggregate external finance to local authorities. First, an amount is distributed among authorities to equalise differences in their grant aided expenditure (GAE). The GAE of each authority is determined by the client group assessment approach which is agreed with COSLA and kept under regular review by the distribution committee of the working party on local government finance. Secondly, the rest of the support is distributed on a per capita basis. Details of the population estimates used in the calculation of the 1991-92 GAE figures are contained in the booklet "Grant Aided Expenditure 1991-92" (the so-called green book) published by my Department. A copy of this publication is in the House Library.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the latest available information, for each local authority in Scotland, as to the numbers of people for 1989-90 and 1990-91 who (a) have or (b) have not begun paying the poll tax and the percentage of the number of liable adults that represents.
Mr. Lang : The information requested is not held centrally. It is understood however that most levying authorities have already collected or expect to collect over 90 per cent. of the total community charges due to them for 1989-90 and that their collection rates for 1990-91 are at present following broadly the same pattern as last year.
Access Funds
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what principles he allocated the access funds to each of the colleges under his control.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 22 November 1990] : The access fund were allocated on the basis of the
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number of eligible students in attendance at the Scottish colleges of education and central institutions during session 1989-90.Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money he has allocated in access funds to each of the colleges under his control.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 22 November 1990] : The information requested is set out below and relates to Session 1990-91.
Institution |£ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Craigie college of education |9,551 Duncan of Jordanstone college of art |46,871 Dundee institute of technology |78,147 Edinburgh college of art |50,229 Glasgow college of technology |107,359 Glasgow school of art |42,421 Jordanhill college of education |46,097 Moray House college of education |43,419 Napier polytechnic |201,953 Northern college of education |35,063 Paisley college of technology |107,770 Queen Margaret college |49,826 Queens college, Glasgow |37,014 Robert Gordons institute of technology |135,745 Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama |21,897 St. Andrew's college of education |19,283 Scottish agricultural colleges |17,628 Scottish College of Textiles |23,291
Dounreay
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what evidence his Department has received of nuclear-related dangers in the Dounreay area.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 23 November 1990] : My right hon. and learned Friend has recieve no evidence of any nuclear-related dangers in the Dounreay area. All activities at nuclear establishments have to meet the requirements of the regulatory authorities. Permitted levels of radioactive discharges are very low and well within internationally agreed limits. Regular monitoring reveals no evidence of harm to the surrounding environment as a result of these discharges.
While there is no evidence of a causal link between the incidence of childhood leukaemia and nuclear installations, the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment has prompted a number of medical studies and these will be published as they become available.
Development Corporation Houses
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are his most recent proposals for the handover of development corporation houses to other housing authorities prior to the wind-up of the Scottish new towns ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang [holding answer 23 November 1990] : The Government's proposals on the transfer of development corporation houses remain unchanged from those set out in the White Paper "The Scottish New Towns : The Way Ahead" (Cm. 711). That states :
"The position in each town will be carefully considered once an order for dissolution has been made, and formal consultations will be held with development corporations, district councils and representative tenant groups to review
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the position and to determine to what extent transfers might take place, be it to housing associations, co-operatives, district councils, private or other landlords. Those tenants who have not transferred to other landlords will be transferred to Scottish Homes at wind-up, with a view to pursuing further diversification with the small residual number of houses".AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Mink
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether Pentobarbitone is authorised for the killing of farmed mink.
Mr. Maclean : Pentobarbitone is an approved drug for use in the euthanasia of all species of farm livestock.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the environmental needs of farmed mink ; and if he will make the amendments necessary to the existing orders to make provision for such needs.
Mr. Maclean : I have received a statement on fur farming from the Farm Animal Welfare Council, and the Council of Europe has recently agreed a recommendation concerning the welfare of fur-bearing animals under the convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes.
Contracting parties must implement this recommendation and for member states of the European Community it is likely that the Commission will propose Community legislation. Existing legislation in this country relates to security on mink farms and would not be a suitable vehicle for welfare matters.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he takes to ensure the proper qualifications of those involved in the killing of farmed mink ; and what records he keeps of such personnel.
Mr. Maclean : There is no requirement for any farmers to receive training in the methods of killing their own livestock. Nevertheless, when this is done it must be undertaken with due care and humanity.
Mr. Maclean : The minimum specifications for the guard fence of a mink enclosure are laid down in Schedule 2 paragraph 2 of the Mink (Keeping) Regulations, 1975 (as amended). This states "enclosures shall be bounded by a guard fence consisting of wire netting of not less than 19 gauge with a mesh size not greater than 26mm or, alternatively, welded mesh of not less than 15 gauge with a mesh size not greater than 26mm 40mm. The fence shall be not less than 1.20m high above ground level. The base of the fence shall be buried in the ground to a depth of at least 300mm and turned outwards at the bottom at right angles for at least 150mm or shall be embedded in a trench of the same depth the bottom of which shall be provided with a foundation at least 150mm wide on each side and at least 150mm deep of either concrete or of consolidated hard core of brick or concrete rubble or of similar or solid and durable material. At the top of the fence there shall be flat sheet metal at least 300mm deep securely attached to the inside of the wire netting and to any fence post inside the enclosure so as to form a continuos baffle leaving no gap between the wire and the sheet metal."
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Agricultural Support
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the total level of expenditure on agricultural support in each of the last 10 years ; and what level is forecast for each of the next three years.
Mr. Curry : Details of agricultural support in the United Kingdom for the 1985-86 to 1989-90 (forecast) are set out in the publication "Agriculture in the United Kingdom 1989". Figures for preceding years are contained in the Annual Review of Agriculture White Papers. These publications are available in the Library of the House.
The final outturn for 1989-90 and forecasts for the next three years (rounded to the nearest £10 million) are as follows :
------------------------------- 1989-90 (outturn) |1,260 1990-91 (forecast) |1,960 1991-92 (plans) |1,910 1992-93 (plans) |2,030
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how he intends to compensate farmers for income lost as a result of the 30 per cent. cut in farm support agreed at the recent meeting of European Community Agriculture Ministers.
Mr. Curry : The EC Commission has undertaken to make proposals for Community measures to accompany any agreement reached in the current GATT negotiations to reduce levels of agricultural support worldwide. The Council of Ministers will discuss the Commission's proposals under its normal procedures.
Drainage Authorities
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the grant earning ceiling determined for internal drainage boards in England and Wales for 1990-91.
Mr. Curry : Grant earning ceilings, which determine the amount of flood defence expenditure in a financial year on which grant will be paid, are allocated to the National Rivers Authority, who undertake each year a substantial number of schemes. For internal drainage boards, of whom only a proportion will promote schemes in a single financial year, grant expenditure is constrained within an overall provision for all boards, and grant is paid when schemes have been approved by my Department. In 1990-91 in England grant provision to IDBs is £1.7 million.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales can provide information on the position in Wales.
Livestock Payments
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the total level of livestock payments in the United Kingdom for each of the last five years ; if he will list the payments made under each scheme ; and what proportion of each scheme is financed by the European Community.
Mr. Curry : Information on payments under the various measures that benefit the United Kingdom livestock sector
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is contained at table 9.1 of "Agriculture in the United Kingdom 1989" a copy of which is in the Library of the House.The market support measures generally attract 100 per cent. funding by the European Community, except that the suckler cow premium scheme payments include an element of national funding that does not attract an EC contribution ; and the Community contribute only 25 per cent. of eligible expenditure in Great Britain (30 per cent. in Northern Ireland from 1990) under the hill livestock compensatory allowance scheme.
Flood Defences
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what criteria are used in determining the eligibility of a proposed coastal protection, fluvial flood and sea defence scheme for grant aid.
Mr. Curry : For coast protection and flood, including sea, defence schemes to qualify for grant aid, they must be technically sound, economically worthwhile (i.e. provide sufficient benefit to justify the cost), and environmentally sympathetic. To satisfy the last of these criteria, in general, proposals must be acceptable to the Nature Conservancy Council, and have satisfied the requirements of either S.I. 1217 The Land Drainage Improvement Works (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 or S.I. 1199 The Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988, whichever is applicable.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the reasons for the grant available to individual regions or local districts of the National Rivers Authority for fluvial flood and sea defence schemes being lowest in primarily urban regions and highest in primarily agricultural regions.
Mr. Curry : The amount of grant available to an individual region or local district of the National Rivers Authority depends on the size of its programme of priority work, and its financial resources. These factors are taken into account in setting the grant earning ceiling and the basic grant rate.
In the past three years, the number of schemes approved for grant is about 270, and their total estimated cost is around £110 million. Of these schemes, less than 40 will afford protection to agricultural land alone, and their estimated cost is just over £7 million. The majority, in both number and value, are schemes providing urban benefits alone.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, since his reply to the hon. Member for Caerphilly of 18 December 1987, Official Report, column 878, he has become aware of any environmentally damaging land drainage or sea defence scheme going ahead in the face of objections from conservation bodies.
Mr. Curry : The environmental implications of land drainage and sea defence schemes submitted for grant aid are examined carefully and confirmation is sought that the Nature Conservancy Council are content with the proposals and that the requirements of either S.I. 1217 The Land Drainage Improvement Works (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988, or of S.I. 1199
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The Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 as appropriate, have been satisfied. In respect of all land drainage or sea defence schemes, grant- aided or not, drainage authorities have a duty under the Water Act 1989 to further conservation, and they are also obliged to fulfil the requirements of S.I. 1217 or S.I. 1199 for, respectively, improvement works and new works.These statutory requirements are intended to ensure that consultation takes place prior to works being undertaken, and that environmentally damaging works are avoided. I am not aware that any environmentally damaging land drainage or sea defence scheme has gone ahead in the face of objections from conservation bodies.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what levels of service drainage authorities are expected to provide when assessing the need for or designing new schemes to protect urban areas and agricultural land from fluvial and sea flooding.
Mr. Curry : Drainage authorities are aware that their proposals for flood defence schemes must satisfy Ministry criteria, namely be technically sound, economically worthwhile and environmentally sympathetic ; the Ministry's consideration involves a judgment of the appropriate level of service as well as priority and need for works. The Ministry does not prescribe levels of service, nor is a national prescription considered appropriate. However we are encouraging further work to establish the methodology for setting levels of service, which are expected to be a more prominent feature of judgments about the timing and nature of works, and hence to play a greater part in planning programmes. We are aware, for instance, that the National Rivers Authority are addressing the question as part of the corporate planning process.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will review the rates of grant for fluvial flood and sea defence schemes available to individual regions or local districts of the National Rivers Authority.
Mr. Curry : In undertaking fluvial flood defence schemes individual regions or local districts of the National Rivers Authority may attract grant at one of four rates : 15 per cent., 35 per cent., 45 per cent., 55 per cent. Allocation of these rates takes account of a region's or district's facility to raise finance and the programme of grant aided works being undertaken. If one or both of these factors change, a region or district may qualify for a higher or lower grant rate.
Additionally, sea and tidal defence schemes attract a supplement which, in April of this year, was increased from 15 per cent. to 20 per cent. I have no current plans for a further review of the present rates of grant, which offer support up to 75 per cent. of the cost of a scheme.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the continued viability of farm businesses in the light of the subsidy cuts agreed by the European Community's submission to the GATT round.
Mr. Curry : The Community offer on agricultural reform remains under negotiation in the GATT Round. It is premature to forecast the final agreement or its impact.
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The Commission has given an undertaking to make proposals for changes in agricultural support, consistent with a GATT agreement, aimed at ensuring a viable future for Community farmers.Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will indicate the priority given in the allocation of grant aid to drainage authorities between the classes of (a) urban sea defence, (b) rural sea defence, (c) urban flood relief, (d) the preservation of existing rural drainage schemes, (e) new rural drainage schemes and (f) flood warning schemes.
Mr. Curry : In the main the order of priority given in the allocation of grant provision to the National Rivers Authority (and their predecessors, the Water Authorities) is : flood warning schemes ; urban sea defence ; urban flood relief ; rural sea defence ; the preservation of existing rural drainage schemes ; new rural drainage schemes. This order of priorities is also kept in mind in allocating grant to schemes undertaken by local authorities and internal drainage boards, but no scheme would be rejected for grant solely because of its position in the above order of priorities.
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on how many occasions over the last six-year period an application for a licence for a mink farm has been refused ; and if he will give for each case the relevant reason.
Mr. Maclean : No licences for mink farms have been refused over the last six years in Great Britain.
Quarantine (Dogs)
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether there are any special provisions made by his Department, in the context of the six-month mandatory quarantine provision for dogs entering the United Kingdom, in order to enable guide dogs for blind people to enter accompanying a blind person, and not to be restricted by quarantine.
Mr. Maclean : There are no special provisions for the import of guide dogs. Having considered all the evidence, including that from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, the Waterhouse committee recommended that no exemptions to general rabies quarantine requirements should be permitted.
Bananas
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards trade preferences for Caribbean bananas after 1992.
Mr. Curry : The European Commission is currently considering the arrangements to apply to bananas post-1992 but has not yet come forward with proposals. We are encouraging the Commission and other member states to ensure that any new arrangements fulfil our commitments to Commonwealth Caribbean suppliers and that they take account of consumer interests, trade policy considerations and the competition and efficiency objectives of the single market initiative.
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Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the minimum acceptable specifications for the perimeter guard fences of mink farms.
Foxes
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what actual expenditure is incurred by his Department in controlling the numbers of the wild fox population.
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