| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mrs. Rumbold : The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were kept in a body belt for over 24 hours in each of the years from 1986 to 1990, and in which prisons.
Mrs. Rumbold : The readily available information is given in the table.
Column 272
Prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales
restrained by means of a body belt for periods over 24 hours:
by establishment, 1988 and 1989
Establishment |1988 |1989
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Local prisons
Birmingham |2 |-
Durham |1 |-
Hull |- |2
Leicester |1 |-
Wandsworth |1 |-
Training prisons
Cookham Wood |- |1
Frankland |1 |-
Full Sutton |1 |-
Young offender institution
Dover |- |1
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were put into segregation in each year between 1986 and 1990 (i) under good order and discipline, (ii) pending adjudication,(iii) on punishment, (iv) for any other reason and (v) on rule 43(a).
Column 273
Mrs. Rumbold : An inmate may be removed from association with other inmates where this appears desirable for the maintenance of good order or discipline or in his own interests, under prison rule 43 or young offender institution rule 46. The readily available information is that the following numbers of prisoners were removed from association under these rules on 30 June :
|1989 |1990
--------------------------------------------
Good order and discipline |238 |302
Own interests |2,213|1,980
Information is not recorded centrally on the number of inmates who, under prison rule 48(2) or young offender institution rule 51(2), are kept apart from other inmates pending adjudication.
Inmates were awarded cellular or room confinement following adjudication or disciplinary offences on the following number of occasions :
Column 274
Year |Number --------------------- 1986 |7,342 1987 |6,904 1988 |6,317 1989 |6,269
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used for deciding which cases involving allegations of assault by prison officers should be settled by ex-gratia payments and which should be contested.
Mrs. Rumbold : There are no standard criteria and the decision about whether to contest a civil claim must reflect all the circumstances of the case. A decision to make an ex-gratia payment will not necessarily reflect doubts about the conduct of the member of staff concerned or a belief that the allegation is true.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions and in which prisons, a body belt was used in Her Majesty's prisons in each year from 1986 to 1990 ; and on how many prisoners was the body belt used in each year from 1986 to 1990.
Mrs. Rumbold : The readily available information is given in the table.
Body belts applied to violent or refractory prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and
Wales: by establishment, 1987 to 1989
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local prisons and remand centres
Ashford |- |- |- |- |1 |1
Bedford |1 |1 |1 |1 |1 |1
Birmingham |- |- |8 |5 |2 |2
Brixton |- |- |- |- |2 |2
Camp Hill |- |- |- |- |5 |5
Canterbury |2 |2 |- |- |- |-
Cardiff |- |- |1 |1 |2 |2
Chelmsford |1 |1 |1 |1 |1 |1
Durham |- |- |1 |1 |- |-
Hull |7 |7 |4 |4 |9 |9
Leeds |1 |1 |1 |1 |- |-
Leicester |6 |6 |14 |11 |2 |1
Lewes |- |- |1 |1 |3 |2
Lincoln |- |- |4 |4 |3 |3
Oxford |1 |1 |1 |1 |- |-
Pentonville |2 |2 |1 |1 |- |-
Reading |1 |1 |1 |1 |2 |2
Rochester |- |- |- |- |1 |1
Wandsworth |6 |5 |10 |8 |6 |6
Wormwood Scrubs |3 |3 |1 |1 |2 |2
Training prisons
Acklington |- |- |- |- |2 |2
Albany |1 |1 |- |- |1 |1
Blundeston |1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Camp Hill |- |- |4 |3 |- |-
Chelmsford |1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Cookham Wood |- |- |- |- |1 |1
Frankland |6 |5 |6 |5 |3 |2
Full Sutton |- |- |7 |6 |9 |8
Garth |- |- |1 |1 |- |-
Haverigg |- |- |- |- |1 |1
Lindholme |1 |1 |3 |3 |2 |2
Long Lartin |4 |3 |2 |1 |- |-
Parkhurst |5 |5 |- |- |8 |8
Preston |- |- |- |- |1 |1
Shepton Mallet |- |- |2 |2 |- |-
Stafford |3 |3 |- |- |1 |1
|Wakefield|2 |2 |- |- |-
Young offender institutions
Aylesbury |- |- |1 |1 |3 |3
Dover |7 |7 |- |- |5 |5
Glen Parva |1 |1 |1 |1 |- |-
Guys Marsh |1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Hollesley Bay |1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Northallerton |1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Onley |1 |1 |- |- |- |-
Rochester |7 |7 |- |- |- |-
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many doubled door cells there are in Her Majesty's prisons ; and how many times double door cells were used in each of the years from 1986 to 1990.
Mrs. Rumbold : In England and Wales the current prison design standards provide that a special cell for the temporary confinement of a refractory or violent inmate, or a protective room in a prison hospital for the temporary confinement of an inmate who is disturbed or is otherwise a danger to himself or herself or to others, should have inner and outer doors. Not all special cells and protective rooms at present designated as such are so equipped. Reliable information about the total number of special cells and protective rooms is not available centrally. The readily available information about the total number of occasions on which special cells and protective rooms designated as such have been used is as follows :
Year |Special cells |Protective rooms -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1986 |1,662 |n.a. 1987 |1,491 |507 1988 |1,453 |623 1989 |1,739 |593 n.a.-not available.
Figures for 1990 are not yet available.
Mr. Sheerman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many ex-gratia payments were made to prisoners who claimed to have been attacked in jail by prison officers in each year for 1986 to 1990 ; in which prison the incidents occurred ; how many prison officers were disciplined ; and on what grounds it was decided not to discipline prison officers in these cases.
Mrs. Rumbold : Central records are kept only of allegations made by prisoners of assault by staff when these result in civil litigation. Of the 20 such claims received during this period, six have been concluded, and in one case compensation has been paid. This was for a negotiated settlement relating to an alleged assault which was fully investigated and on which it was decided that no disciplinary action would be taken. The settlement was accepted by the plaintiff without any admission of liability on the part of the Department or individual members of staff.
Electoral Register
Mr. Forman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much is spent by electoral registration officers in each of the London boroughs on
Column 276
compiling the electoral register and keeping it up to date ; and if he will give comparable figures for Birmingham, Cornwall, Kent and Lancashire.Mrs. Rumbold : I regret that the information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Security Service
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish the Security Service Commissioner's annual report for the year ended December 1990.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : As soon as is practicable.
Mr. Allason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints against the Security Service were received, and how many actually investigated by the Security Service Tribunal in the 12 months ending December 1990.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : The Security Service Tribunal operates independently under the provisions of the Security Service Act 1989. I do not propose to make available details of its work. It will be for the Security Service Commissioner to decide in consultation with the tribunal what information might be included about the tribunal in his annual report to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
Traffic Wardens, London
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to devolve recruitment and control of traffic wardens to individual London boroughs ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : We have no plans to devolve the recruitment and control of traffic wardens to the London boroughs. Under the provisions of the Road Traffic Bill, the London boroughs will be able to recruit their own parking attendants to undertake the enforcement of certain breaches of parking controls.
Charities
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the income of charities for the financial year 1989-90.
Mr. John Patten : This information is not available centrally, but statistics compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation suggest that the current annual turnover of the whole charitable sector in England and Wales is in the region of £15 billion.
Column 277
Crime, North Yorkshire
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current level of crime in north Yorkshire ; and what it was at the same time in 1990.
Mr. John Patten : North Yorkshire police recorded a total of 44,590 offences during 1990, compared with 35,774 in 1989. The number of offences detected in 1990 was 17,726 compared with 12,092 in 1989. These are the most recent figures on which a comparison can be made.
Mr. Joseph Barker
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the treatment of Joseph Arthur Lewis Barker, prisoner CJ0124 in Her Majesty's prison, Liverpool stating why he has been moved to the hospital prison, what injuries he has and what treatment he is being given.
Mrs. Rumbold : For reasons of medical confidentiality it is not our practice to disclose publicly information about the medical condition or treatment of individual prisoners. I shall be writing to my hon. Friend.
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to release prisoner CJ0124, Joseph Arthur Lewis Barker from prison ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Mr. Barker's earliest date of release from prison is 16 February 1993. He will be eligible to be considered for parole from 19 October 1991.
SCOTLAND
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of officers in each grade (1 to 7) and overall in the Scottish Office are (a) women and (b) from ethnic minorities, respectively.
Mr. Lang : The number and percentage of women officers in grades 1 to 7 and overall in the Scottish Office and associated Departments at 1 April 1990 are shown in the table :
Grade (and |Women |Percentage equivalents) ---------------------------------------------------- 1 |- |- 2 |- |- 3 |2 |6.5 4 |- |- 5 |17 |11.3 6 |36 |16.2 7 |64 |13.2 Overall |2,967 |39.6
None of the staff in grades 1 to 7 at 1 April 1990 described themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the Scottish Office last conducted a survey of the ethnic origins of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang : My Department conducted a voluntary survey of the ethnic origins of staff in 1987, a reminder
Column 278
exercise in 1989, and thereafter all new entrants have been invited to complete questionnaires. I have no plans to conduct a further survey.We achieved an 87 per cent. response from the exercise, and 0.3 per cent. of staff have described themselves as belonging to an ethnic minority.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at the Scottish Office.
Mr. Lang : My Department does not conduct recruitment for top grades.
Recycling
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to introduce a scheme for local authorities in Scotland comparable to that announced by the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry) on 2 January.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : We have no plans to introduce in Scotland a system of supplementary credit approvals for local authority investment in recycling projects. The arrangements for handling recycling investment through local authority capital expenditure allocations are given in my reply of 24 January 1991 to my honourable Friend the Member for Erewash (Mr. Rost), at columns 306-7.
Employment Training
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many employment training places in Scotland in 1990-91 were taken up by trainees in the categories of(i) all 18 to 24-year-olds unemployed for at least six months and (ii) those between 18 and 50 years unemployed for two years or more.
Mr. Allan Stewart : Precise information about numbers of trainees is not available in the form requested. Information about people who take up employment training places is obtained from returns submitted by training managers and is incomplete. However, from these returns it is estimated that, in Scotland, from 1 April 1990 to 4 January 1991, 14.7 per cent. of all starts were aged 18 to 24 years and unemployed for at least six months and 24.4 per cent. were aged between 18 and 50 years and unemployed for two years or more.
Forestry Commission
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list all land which was owned by the Forestry Commission and has been sold, for which local authorities have been able to enter into an access agreement ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The arrangements for access agreements which my right hon. and learned Friend, the then Secretary of State for Scotland, announced on 21November 1990, Official Report, columns 164-66, have not yet been introduced.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will place in the Library a list of all land currently owned by the Forestry Commission on a county by county basis, giving the area of the land and stating the type of woodland or other type of countryside.
Column 279
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The Forestry Commission is organised administratively into seven conservancies and 57 forest districts ; information cannot therefore be given by counties except at disproportionate cost. A summary of the land currently managed by the Forestry Commission is given by forest districts in tables 15, 16 and 17 of appendix XI to the commission's 1989-90 annual report, a copy of which is in the Library.Lothian Health Board
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much of the 1991-92 revenue allocation to Lothian health board is allotted to (a) hospital services, (b) community units, (c) special projects, (d) general practitioners and (e) projected efficiency savings in (i) cash and (ii) percentage terms ; (2) if he will list the special projects funded by the 1991-92 Lothian health board revenue allocation and the money allotted to each of them from the allocation.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Lothian health board has been allocated £346.505 million for hospital and community health revenue expenditure for 1991-92. Within this total, specific sums of £7.706 million--2.2 per cent.--and £2.124 million--0.6 per cent.--were made available for AIDS-related services and Project 2000 respectively and a general allocation of £2.457 million--0.7 per cent.--was given for other services such as drug misuse and breast cancer screening. The board will set its own priorities in regard to expenditure on hospital services and community units. The board has been asked to find an additional 1 per cent. of its HCH revenue allocation, or £3.465 million, from cash releasing efficiency saving which will be available to improve patient care.
In addition to the hospital and community health allocation, Lothian was allocated £5.923 million for general practice team staff and £2.3 million for general practice premises.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money was allotted to general practitioners from the 1989-90 revenue allocation to Lothian health board ; and what was Lothian health board's revenue expenditure on general practitioners in that year.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : In 1989-90, funds for general medical services were not cash limited and therefore no specific allocations were made to health boards. In that year, expenditure by Lothian health board on general medical services was £27.748 million.
Nurses
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses are registered with the bank nursing scheme in each of the health board regions (a) at each grade and (b) in total.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : This information is not held centrally.
Mortgage Repossessions
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many mortgage repossession orders have been made in (a) Inverclyde, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole in each of the last five years, and for each of the last 12 months.
Column 280
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton [holding answer 6 March 1991] : This information is not available.
Revenue Support Grant
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the amount of revenue support grant allocated to each Scottish district council on a per capita basis ; if he will explain the formulae applied in calculation of these grants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Allan Stewart : The figures are set out in the table. A full explanation of the methodology applied in determining the revenue support grant for all authorities, including district councils, for 1991-92 is set out in the report on the Revenue Support Grant (Scotland) Order 1991, which was laid before the House of Commons on 30 January and approved on 13 February.
The principles used in distributing RSG are agreed between the Scottish Office and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities through the distribution committee of the working party on local government finance.
RSG forms only part of aggregate external finance, the other components of which are specific grants and non-domestic rate income. Meaningful comparison between districts is only possible in terms of AEF as a whole.
Revenue Support Grant 1991-92 per head of population District Councils |£ ------------------------------------------------------------ Berwickshire |56.83 Ettrick and Lauderdale |48.42 Roxburgh |61.42 Tweeddale |58.81 Clackmannan |45.98 Falkirk |26.51 Stirling |30.88 Annandale and Eskdale |40.09 Nithsdale |37.54 Stewartry |47.79 Wigtown |64.38 Dunfermline |23.31 Kirkcaldy |22.43 North East Fife |57.08 Aberdeen City |38.84 Banff and Buchan |35.89 Gordon |61.39 Kincardine and Deeside |53.21 Moray |48.63 Badenoch and Strathspey |44.85 Caithness |54.41 Inverness |27.18 Lochaber |50.29 Nairn |60.06 Ross and Cromarty |69.10 Skye and Lochalsh |116.48 Sutherland |91.20 East Lothian |36.50 Edinburgh City |52.68 Midlothian |56.68 West Lothian |46.40 Argyll and Bute |93.85 Bearsden and Milngavie |63.63 Clydebank |82.24 Clydesdale |61.82 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |37.50 Cumnock and Doon Valley |64.01 Cunninghame |16.32 Dumbarton |33.83 East Kilbride |21.34 Eastwood |55.87 Glasgow City |73.37 Hamilton |53.29 Inverclyde |72.33 Kilmarnock and Loudoun |46.11 Kyle and Carrick |39.51 Monklands |78.13 Motherwell |59.49 Renfrew |53.07 Strathkelvin |69.66 Angus |52.31 Dundee City |65.69 Perth and Kinross |50.24
SOCIAL SECURITY
Family Credit
Mr. Andy Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what his Department is doing to improve the publicity for family credit.
Mr. Jack : Since 1989 a series of advertising campaigns and other publicity has led to a high level of awareness of family credit. But there is a high turnover of families within the eligible population, as people move into and out of eligibility as their family circumstances change. It is necessary therefore to ensure that those who become newly eligible are aware of the benefit and that they may qualify.
So that all families with children are made aware of family credit and are able to see whether they might be entitled, a personalised message about family credit now appears in child benefit order books, and on the appropriate award notices where child benefit is paid direct into a bank or building society. This tells the family that they may be able to get family credit if their income is less than the figure quoted in the message, which is individual to that family. A new advertising campaign, using television commercials to draw attention to the message in child benefit order books, began on 11 February. A poster has also been produced for display in post offices.
Other publicity measures which have been undertaken recently include a mailing, last August, of specially prepared material to some 80,000 advisers, including citizens advice bureaux, ministers of religion and others, and the inclusion of a leaflet about family credit in "Bounty Bags" which mothers of new-born babies receive in hospital.
Cold Weather Payments
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his reply of 25 February, Official Report, column 402, regarding cold weather payments, if he will inform the hon. Member for Oldham, West when the information is placed in the Library.
Mr. Scott : Yes, I will inform the hon. Member when information for February is placed in the Library. However, a full and accurate picture of cold weather payments claims and expenditure will not emerge until later because claims can be made up to three months after the period of cold weather.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 21 February, Official Report, column 265, whether immediate payments of cold weather claims can be approved on the telephone by local offices without personal attendance or written application by the claimant.
Column 282
Mr. Scott : No. Claims for social fund cold weather payments, in common with other social security benefits, must be made in writing. A telephone call can alert the office to the likelihood of a claim, but payment will depend on written confirmation made either in person or through the post.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his most up-to-date estimate of the numbers of (a) applicants and (b) recipients of the special cold weather payments for the first two weeks of February.
Mr. Scott : Estimates of cold weather payment claims and payments for the first two weeks of February could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. When details of actual claims and payments become available, they will be placed in the Library.
Young People (Benefits)
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the total numbers of those in receipt of (a) supplementary benefit and (b) income support aged (i) 16 years, (ii) 17 years and (iii) 18 years in each year between 1978 and 1980 in Wales.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested for supplementary benefit is in the table. Income support was introduced in April 1988.
Supplementary benefit r
|1978 |1979 |1980
--------------------------------
Aged 16 |4,000|4,000|5,000
Aged 17 |4,000|3,000|5,000
Aged 18 |3,000|3,000|5,000
Source: Annual Statistical
Enquiries 1978-80.
Residential and Nursing Homes
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what account he took of the increase in the number of residents of residential and nursing homes claiming housing benefit in deciding to reduce the scope of the entitlement of such residents to housing benefit.
Miss Widdecombe : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Sir G. Finsberg) on 29 October 1990 at columns 368-70.
Disabled Workers
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the lifting of Crown immunity from Government Departments in respect of the 3 per cent. quota of jobs for disabled people.
Miss Widdecombe : We have always aimed to meet the quota of 3 per cent.
Water Charges
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has any proposals to uprate social security benefits to take account of the increases in water charges that will be implemented as a consequence of the Water Act 1989.
Miss Widdecombe : Income-related benefits are considered for uprating each year and we seek to take account of all relevant factors.
Column 283
Income Support
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the reasons for the adoption by benefit offices in the Isle of Wight and Somerset of differing policies in relation to the payment of income support to residents transferred from local authority care to independent homes.
Miss Widdecombe : Eligibility for income support is defined by regulations and is available in respect of fees, up to certain limits, to residents of registered residential care homes and in certain other types of homes. Adjudication officers receive guidance on their interpretation of the regulations by the chief adjudication officer in the adjudication officers' guide, a copy of which is available in the Library. It is for individual adjudication officers to make decisions in any given case.
Disablement Allowances
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each of the last three years the number and percentage of people awarded mobility allowance whose terms of award was insufficient for them to take advantage of the motability scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : People whose awards of mobility allowance are for two years or less are not eligible for any of the motability schemes. The precise information requested is not available, but the numbers of such people receiving mobility allowance on specified dates are in the table.
|Awards of |Total live|Percentage
|two years |load
|or less
----------------------------------------------------------------
On 30 December 1988 |46,101 |555,975 |8.3
On 28 December 1989 |50,774 |599,268 |8.5
On 27 December 1990 |51,013 |640,658 |8.0
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all the statutory instruments which will be superseded by regulations made under the disability living allowance and Disability Working Allowance Bill.
Mr. Scott : A number of sets of regulations will be made under the Disability Living Allowance and Disability Working Allowance Bill. The introduction of disability living allowance will, for example, require amendments to be made to all the regulations relating to attendance allowance and mobility allowance and to a range of other sets of regulations covering general matters such as claims and payments and the inter-relationship between benefits. Work is continuing on the drafting of the regulations and it is not yet clear how many sets of regulations will need to be amended.
Single Payments
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost of administering single payments for each year of the scheme from 1980 to 1988 expressed (a) in money terms, (b) as a proportion of the total value of single payment expenditure that year and (c) at 1991 prices.
Column 284
Mr. Scott : Single payments were part of the supplementary benefit scheme and administration costs were not separately identified.
Severe Hardship Payments
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish the research commissioned by his Department on severe hardship payments for 16 and 17-year-olds.
Mr. Jack : We expect to publish the research on such payments in the near future.
Pension Book
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will review the layout and terminology of the current pension book to make it more user-friendly.
Miss Widdecombe : A number of options for a redesigned benefit order book are currently under consideration.
| Next Section
| Home Page |