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Mr. Peter Lloyd : I understand from the Commissioner that the Metropolitan police service uses computer systems for criminal intelligence, financial management, equipment management, word processing, desk top publishing, computer-aided dispatch messages, and management and personnel information. In addition, the service uses the PNC and HOLMES systems.
There are plans to bring into operation within the next few years a crime report and information system (CRIS), a computer-based accounting system (FINESSE) and a system for the police estate (PREMSYS).
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Police National Computer
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will detail which indexes have migrated from the police national computer on to the new facilities of PNC 2, and if he will list, and give the projected size of, the indexes planned for PNC 2.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The following information is now on PNC2 : Criminal names
Fingerprints
Wanted and missing persons
Disqualified drivers
Convictions
Cross references
Vehicle owners
Vehicle reports
Stolen property
Police directories
Further applications are being planned for PNC2 including a national criminal records system and a national criminal intelligence system. The sizes of the databases for these applications have not yet been decided.
Winson Green Prison
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he received a complaints form from Mr. Terry Foster of Winson Green prison ; and on what date an official acknowledgement was sent in reply.
Mrs. Rumbold : Mr. Foster submitted a request/complaint to the governor of Birmingham prison on 30 October. On the following day a member of staff explained matters to Mr. Foster orally and on 4 November he was sent an acknowledgement. A written reply was given on 20 November.
Citizenship Applications
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what were the ages of people applying for citizenship, in each of the last five years, who were born in the United Kingdom but not registered at the time ;
(2) how many applications he has received in each of the last five years for citizenship from people born in the United Kingdom whose birth was not registered at the time.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : This information is not available. Registration of a person's birth is not directly relevant to their entitlement to British citizenship.
Regional Crime Squads
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the establishment and present strength of each regional crime squad in England and Wales ; and whether any decision has been made on the proposals of the executive co-ordinator of regional crime squads for their restructuring made in his report of January 1990 ;
(2) if the Metropolitan police's squads for serious crime are to be integrated into the south-east England regional crime squad.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information requested is as follows :
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|Establishment |Present strength
--------------------------------------------------------------------
No. 1 RCS |239 |233
No. 2 RCS |102 |102
No. 3 RCS |172 |167
No. 4 RCS |181 |176
No. 5 RCS |148 |148
No. 6 RCS |128 |127
No. 7 RCS |117 |115
No. 8 RCS |59 |59
No. 9 RCS |238 |238
The proposals of the executive co-ordinator to restructure the regional crime squads are being considered in consultation with the police authorities. No decision has yet been reached on the geographical boundaries of the proposed new squads or on what functions might be integrated in a south-east England regional crime squad.
Machine-readable Passport
Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to introduce a new machine-readable jumbo passport.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I am pleased to announce that the computerisation of the Passport Agency's regional offices is now complete. We are therefore introducing a new machine-readable jumbo passport, for use by frequent travellers. The Privy Council has approved an Order in Council, the Consular Fees (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 1991, which gives authority for the issue of a machine- readable 48-page jumbo passport at a fee of £22.50, compared with a fee of £15 for a standard 32-page passport. The order will come into effect on 2 December, and the Passport Agency will begin to issue the new passport once stocks of the old blue jumbo passports are exhausted.
Staffordshire Police
Mr. Leadbitter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Staffordshire on how many police officers in his force have been removed from normal duties in the past two years and the reasons for such removals.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : We understand from the chief constable that two police officers were required to resign in 1989 for criminal conduct and neglect of duty and one in 1990 for neglect of duty. We understand that a further nine officers in 1989 and eight in 1990 were charged with offences against the discipline code. The chief constable does not publicly discuss the offences with which the individual officers were charged.
Dangerous Dogs
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has put in place to keep under review the breeds of dog on which he might wish to exercise his powers under section 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Mrs. Rumbold : Home Office officials closely monitor the nature and circumstances of dog attacks brought to their attention by a variety of means. My right hon. Friend and I receive regular reports from them both about specific incidents and more generally about the operation of the existing measures to deal with dangerous dogs.
Column 659
Directorate of Telecommunications
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will privatise the office of the directorate of
telecomunications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : The Government's objective is to achieve better quality and value for money in the delivery of Government services by introducing competition. In line with this objective, the directorate now charges police forces and others for its services in direct competition with the private sector. DTELS, as it is now called, is also implementing a programme of extensive management change aimed at producing a viable commercial operation. Its position in the public sector will then be reviewed.
Small Shops
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures Her Majesty's Government are taking to ensure that in any reform of the Shops Act 1950, the position of small shops is protected.
Mrs. Rumbold : As I indicated in my reply on 26 November to an earlier question from my hon. Friend at columns 446-47, proposals that small shops should be allowed legally to trade longer into the evenings, and in the full range of their goods on Sundays, are being taken fully into account in our consideration of the reform of the Shops Act.
Recording of Information
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will instigate a system of reporting and recording information from the health services, coroners' courts, and the police on the scale of fatalities among the homeless and itinerants.
Sunday Trading
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultations he has had with Outlets Providing for Everyday Needs about the small shops' campaign for Sunday trading.
Mrs. Rumbold : I met representatives of OPEN on 30 May, in my programme of discussions with a wide range of interest groups on possible ways of reforming the law on Sunday trading in England and Wales ; and on 7 August, when at their invitation I visited a typical small convenience store. OPEN have since corresponded with me about their proposals for reform.
Motorcycle Equipment
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will investigate proposed competition with private sector manufacturers on the production of sonic motorcycle repeater equipment by the directorate of telecommunications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : The provision of equipment for police forces is the responsibility of police authorities. Versions of the motorcycle repeater unit, which is available from DTELS, have been in use by forces for some years. It is for police authorities, advised by chief constables, to decide whether to purchase these or any other units.
Column 660
Charities Bill
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received regarding the Charities Bill [Lords].
Mr. John Patten : Since publication of the Bill we have received one letter from an hon. Member forwarding correspondence from his constituent ; about 10 from Peers ; and a dozen letters from charities and professional bodies. The majority of correspondents have expressed general support for the aims of the Bill.
Life Sentences
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the number of life-sentenced prisoners, excluding terrorist cases, held in British prisons for each year since 1979.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information on offences committed by terrorists is recorded centrally only for prisoners sentenced to life for homicide. The readily available information is given in the table.
Population of life sentence prisoners in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 30 June: by year, 1979-90 Year |Number<1> ------------------------------ 1979 |1,431 1980 |1,569 1981 |1,660 1982 |1,773 1983 |1,807 1984 |1,902 1985 |2,032 1986 |2,174 1987 |2,320 1988 |2,484 1989 |2,656 <2>1990 |2,778 <1> Excluding terrorists sentenced for murder or manslaughter. <2> Provisional figures.
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details of the number of mandatory and discretionary life- sentenced prisoners, excluding terrorist cases, that have been released from British prisons for each year since 1979.
Mrs. Rumbold : Information on offences committed by terrorists is recorded centrally only for prisoners sentenced to life for homicide. The readily available information is given in the table.
Persons<1> released from prison service establishments in England and Wales on life licence, 1979-90 Year of |Murder<2> |Manslaughter<2>|Other release |offence<3> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1979 |62 |6 |3 1980 |33 |10 |6 1981 |57 |10 |10 1982 |79 |5 |17 1983 |83 |5 |14 1984 |52 |7 |7 1985 |51 |3 |6 1986 |37 |3 |4 1987 |46 |2 |3 1988 |54 |8 |3 1989 |62 |4 |1 <4>1990 |48 |9 |7 <1>Excluding persons released following a recall. <2>Excluding terrorists. <3>Including terrorists. <4>Provisional figures.
Column 661
PRIME MINISTER
Classless Society
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those measures brought in since December 1990 which are aimed at bringing about a classless society.
The Prime Minister : Government policies are designed to improve society by the removal of barriers to choice and by the provision of opportunity.
A key element in our approach is the citizens charter, which is intended to ensure that everyone, whoever and wherever they are, will have access to the same high-quality public services. This approach is reflected in our legislative programme and other measures that we are taking.
Our education policies will raise standards and improve parental choice. We have introduced legislation to provide parents with more information about the performance of schools ; to improve school inspection ; to widen access to an expanded higher education system ; to abolish the distinction between universities and polytechnics ; and to raise the status of vocational education and of further education colleges.
Our health policies are designed to achieve a more efficient health service with higher quality of health care for all, underpinned by a new approach of setting targets for the improvement of health in key areas, as proposed in the recent consultative document "The Health of the Nation" and its Scottish and Welsh equivalents. Legislation has been introduced this Session aimed at improving the standards of local government services with increased powers for local authority auditors and provision to extend competition to a wider range of services.
In the housing field we have introduced pilot rent-to-mortgage schemes to extend tenants' present opportunities to buy their own homes. We are preparing a revised tenants charter for local authority tenants and a new right to repair. We have brought in new arrangements to ensure that tenants are actively consulted in local authorities' housing plans.
We are providing more effective training opportunities and better help for the unemployed in obtaining new jobs. Our policies continue to provide strong support for people in the inner cities, and the new initiative of city challenge announced earlier this year gives the whole community an opportunity to bring imaginative and innovative approaches to regenerating their cities.
We attach particular significance to support for families through the provision of increased child benefit, and the establishment of the Child Support Agency, for which legislation was introduced and enacted earlier this year, to improve the enforcement and collection of child maintenance. We are continuing to improve the opportunities for disabled people to play an independent part in society. This year we enacted legislation to introduce two new social security benefits for disabled people.
We have taken steps, through support of Opportunity 2000 and in other ways, to increase opportunities for women and people from the ethnic minorities to play their full part in public and national life.
These policies, and many others, will contribute to the development of a society with fewer divisions, in which talent and initiatives are rewarded.
Column 662
Members' Letters
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Prime Minister what is his normal practice for dealing with mail addressed to him by right hon. and hon. Members ; and if he will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I receive an enormous number of letters every week--currently some 5,000--from Members of Parliament and others. It is not possible for me to deal with all these letters personally and I must accordingly refer most of them to the Minister and the Department with the responsibility for the policy in question.
HEALTH
Community Health Councils
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will amend his Department's guidance to health authorities on appointment to community health councils to remove the advice that appointing bodies should not appoint people over the age of 70 years without special reasons.
Mr. Dorrell : We have no plans to amend the Department's advice on the eligibility and criteria for appointment to community health councils.
Salmonella
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the dangers to public health in the United Kingdom from the sale of creamed coconut contaminated with salmonella.
Mr. Dorrell : Properly produced creamed coconut poses no danger to public health in the United Kingdom. However, there have been a small number of instances recently where either the raw dessicated coconut or the processed product itself has been shown on routine testing to be contaminated with salmonella organisms. The Department has been actively involved in ensuring affected products have been withdrawn from the food chain. No cases of human illness associated with consumption of creamed coconut have been identified.
Manufacturers of this product should purchase raw materials only from reliable sources and take the necessary precautions in accordance with good manufacturing practice.
Dental Statistics
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table showing both the number and the percentage of the potential population of children registered as national health service patients with dentists in each family health service authority.
Mr. Waldegrave : The information is shown in the table. Since the new dental contract was introduced in October last year, almost 6 million children in England have been registered with a dentist.
Column 663
-----------------------------------------------------
Northern
Cleveland |79,471 |59
Cumbria |61,502 |58
Durham |66,256 |50
Northumberland |36,547 |54
Gateshead |22,336 |50
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |29,236 |47
North Tyneside |23,370 |56
South Tyneside |16,542 |48
Sunderland |29,985 |42
Yorkshire
Humberside |108,371|54
North Yorkshire |93,123 |60
Bradford |55,703 |46
Calderdale |25,483 |56
Kirklees |46,794 |52
Leeds |92,137 |57
Wakefield |37,545 |52
Trent
Derbyshire |110,043|53
Leicestershire |115,439|55
Lincolnshire |71,022 |56
Nottinghamshire |130,616|57
Barnsley |24,694 |49
Doncaster |42,071 |60
Rotherham |30,952 |52
Sheffield |62,497 |57
East Anglia
Cambridgeshire |85,971 |55
Norfolk |112,448|71
Suffolk |86,954 |58
North West Thames
Bedfordshire |46,599 |36
Hertfordshire |144,657|64
Barnet |31,394 |45
Brent and Harrow |46,043 |44
Ealing, Hammersmith and
Hounslow |52,113 |36
Hillingdon |23,149 |43
Kensington and Chelsea and
Westminster |15,697 |27
North East Thames
Essex |182,199|53
Barking and Havering |37,229 |44
Camden and Islington |22,807 |31
City and East London |41,170 |28
Enfield and Haringey |47,243 |46
Redbridge and Waltham
Forest |49,613 |50
South East Thames
East Sussex |83,304 |59
Kent |179,773|52
Greenwich and Bexley |48,577 |48
Bromley |32,878 |53
Lambeth, Southwark and
Lewisham |57,035 |36
South West Thames
Surrey |130,779|59
West Sussex |98,767 |68
Croydon |34,780 |48
Kingston and Richmond |33,586 |56
Merton, Sutton and
Wandsworth |51,900 |42
Wessex
Dorset |86,755 |66
Hampshire |200,743|56
Wiltshire |71,492 |54
Isle of Wight |15,162 |58
Oxford
Berkshire |94,082 |52
Buckinghamshire |90,293 |58
Northamptonshire |71,343 |52
Oxfordshire |74,100 |54
South Western
Avon |128,834|61
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly |60,349 |61
Devon |138,019|63
Gloucestershire |71,922 |61
Somerset |64,984 |64
West Midlands
Hereford and Worcester |89,603 |58
Salop |56,510 |60
Staffordshire |129,089|55
Warwickshire |60,355 |56
Birmingham |110,653|45
Coventry |31,285 |43
Dudley |32,436 |49
Sandwell |26,214 |38
Solihull |22,535 |48
Walsall |27,161 |44
Wolverhampton |21,037 |35
Mersey
Cheshire |127,551|57
Liverpool |53,339 |48
St. Helens and Knowsley |40,291 |48
Sefton |38,959 |59
Wirral |40,305 |52
North Western
Lancashire |176,462|55
Bolton |33,957 |53
Bury |22,863 |56
Manchester |55,022 |51
Oldham |29,833 |56
Rochdale |26,463 |50
Salford |38,720 |71
Stockport |43,149 |66
Tameside |28,663 |57
Trafford |33,484 |70
Wigan |42,193 |58
Footnote:
<1>Population estimates for 1991 are not yet
available. Population estimates as at 30 June 1989
have been used to be consistent with the patient
registration data published by the Dental Practice
Board.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Aid and Trade Provision
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to which United Kingdom companies money under the aid and trade provision has already been allocated in the current financial year.
Mrs. Chalker : Aid agreements involving aid and trade provision funds have been concluded with Governments of developing countries in the current financial year for projects for which the following companies are lead United Kingdom contractors.
Column 665
Country |Project |Lead United
|Kingdom
|company
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China |Cotton mill machinery |Platt Saco Lowell
China |Duck processing unit |APV Baker
China |Shanghai telephone equipment |GPT International
China |Xinjiang ethylene plant |Snamprogetti
China |Yue Yang power station training|GEC Alsthom
|Turbine
|Generators
Ghana |Fifth power project |Hawker Siddeley
|Power
|Engineering
Ghana |Kotoka airport |Siemens Plessey
|Radar
Indonesia |Airport security systems |International
|Aeradio
Indonesia |Flight simulator |Aeronautical
|Systems
|Designers
Indonesia |Jambi diesels |Mirrlees
|Blackstone
Indonesia |Steel bridging phase II |Mabey & Johnson
Indonesia |Toll road design study phase II|Trafalgar House
Indonesia |Western universities equipment |Gallenkamp &
|Phillip Harris
Malaysia |Pergau hydro electric |Balfaur Beatty
|Construction
Philippines |Small islands electrification |Dale Electric
|Phases II and III
Turkey |Equipment for Turkish state |Tecquipment
|Universities
UN Aid Target
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the United Kingdom accepted the United Nations official aid target ; and when the Government expect to meet that target.
Mrs. Chalker : We accepted the 0.7 per cent. target in principle in 1974. Successive Governments have declined to set down a timetable for meeting the target. The levels of aid depend upon our economic circumstances and on other calls on public resources. The aid programme has grown by 10 per cent. in real terms since 1987-88 and is planned to continue to do so. It is of high quality, well targeted and effective.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Environment Minister
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what achievements his Department has recorded in the environmental field since the appointment of a
Column 666
Minister with special responsibility for the environment was nominated for the social security team ; and if he will make a statement.Miss Widdecombe : The Department is committed to making the fullest possible contribution to achieving the aims of the Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance".
My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State was appointed the Department's environmental Minister in September 1990 and has established an environment steering group within the Department to undertake a comprehensive review of the environmental implications of all areas of departmental business and
administration. This steering group is now being taken forward by the Benefits Agency.
The Department is participating in the Government's campaign to reduce its energy consumption by 15 per cent. by April 1996. Additional staff have been appointed and trained to offer specialist advice on energy savings and over £0.5 million has been made available for investing in energy efficient measures. This has enabled offices to introduce water saving devices, high-frequency, low-energy fluorescent lighting and more effective lighting controls.
To raise energy awareness issues among departmental staff, the April 1991 edition of the staff magazine featured a centre page spread on the environment. A further article covering environmental issues will appear in the February 1992 edition of the DSS quarterly journal.
Since January 1991 officially acquired vehicles have either been propelled by diesel fuel or petrol engines with catalytic converters fitted. The number of vehicles operating on leaded fuel has been reduced to 4.8 per cent. of the fleet and replacement policy aims to reduce this figure to zero by mid-1992.
In March an "unleaded petrol" only card was introduced for the purchases of fuel for appropriate cars.
Families (Income Levels)
Sir Ian Gilmour : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update to 1988 his reply to the right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, Official Report, 1 February 1990, column 348-50, showing the numbers of working and out-of-work families with children at different levels of income, according to the family size, distinguishing between one- parent and two-parent families and between one-earner and two-earner families ; and showing the benefits on which the out-of-work families depended.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is set out in the following tables.
These tables should be used only as free-standing income analyses and not for any time series or trend analyses.
Some of the sample sizes in the tables are too small to be statistically reliable and robust conclusions cannot be drawn.
Column 667
Table 1
Number of working families with children at various income levels: Great Britain 1988
thousands
Gross weekly income excluding state benefits Number of dependent children
£ |Total |One |Two |One |Two |1 |2 |3 |<3>4
|parent |parentwagewage
|family |family |family |family
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under 80 |120 |30 |90 |90 |30 |60 |40 |10 |10
80-89 |40 |10 |30 |20 |10 |20 |10 |<2> |10
90-99 |30 |<2> |20 |30 |<1> |10 |20 |<2> |<1>
100-109 |50 |10 |40 |40 |10 |30 |10 |<2> |10
110-119 |70 |10 |60 |30 |40 |30 |30 |<2> |<2>
120-129 |60 |10 |50 |50 |10 |40 |20 |10 |<2>
130-139 |90 |10 |70 |70 |20 |50 |30 |10 |<2>
140-149 |90 |20 |70 |60 |20 |40 |30 |10 |<2>
150-159 |100 |10 |90 |80 |30 |50 |30 |20 |10
160-169 |130 |10 |120 |80 |50 |70 |60 |10 |<1>
170-179 |140 |10 |130 |70 |70 |60 |60 |20 |10
180-189 |130 |10 |120 |70 |60 |40 |50 |30 |10
190-199 |160 |10 |150 |90 |70 |70 |60 |20 |10
199-219 |330 |10 |320 |200 |130 |130 |130 |40 |30
220-239 |400 |10 |380 |160 |230 |190 |170 |30 |10
240-259 |340 |10 |330 |160 |180 |120 |160 |50 |10
260-279 |260 |10 |250 |120 |140 |90 |110 |50 |10
280-299 |320 |20 |300 |100 |220 |120 |150 |40 |10
300 and over |2,430 |40 |2,390 |640 |1,800 |970 |1,090 |320 |50
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Total |5,280 |250 |5,020 |2,150 |3,120 |2,180 |2,240 |670 |190
<1> Denotes nil cases in sample.
<2> Denotes less than 5,000 cases.
<3> Or more.
Notes:
1. The figures are derived from the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey and are subject to sampling error. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and so
rows and columns may not sum exactly to the totals shown.
2. Gross weekly income is the income reported in 1988 without any updating.
3. A "working family" is defined as one where at least one parent is in full-time (30 hours or more) employment or self-employment.
4. The figures exclude any families not living in private households.
Table Two
Number of non-working families of working age with children at various income levels: Great Britain 1988\#\
Thousands
Gross weekly income |Under |50-59 |60-69 |70-79 |80-89 |90-99 |100-109 |110-119 |120-129 |130-139 |140-149 |150 and |Total
including state benefits |50 |over
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total |80 |60 |70 |140 |180 |190 |200 |110 |70 |80 |50 |180 |1,410
One parent family |60 |50 |60 |120 |150 |120 |90 |40 |40 |40 |10 |50 |830
Two parent family |30 |10 |10 |20 |30 |70 |110 |70 |30 |40 |30 |130 |580
Number of dependent children:
One |60 |40 |60 |100 |100 |60 |60 |30 |20 |20 |10 |60 |640
Two |20 |20 |10 |30 |80 |100 |100 |40 |20 |40 |10 |80 |540
Three |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |10 |10 |30 |30 |30 |20 |10 |10 |20 |160
Four or more |-<2> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |10 |10 |10 |10 |20 |70
National Insurance benefits being received:
None(a) |50 |20 |10 |10 |20 |20 |20 |20 |10 |20 |10 |80 |270
(b) |20 |40 |50 |120 |140 |150 |140 |80 |30 |30 |20 |50 |880
UB(a) |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |-<2> |-<1> |10 |20 |-<2> |- |-<2> |10 |10 |50
(b) |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |-<1> |10 |-<1> |10 |10 |10 |-<2> |-<1> |-<2> |40
SB/SSP(a) |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |- |-<2> |-<1> |-<1> |10 |10
(b) |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<2>
IVB(a) |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |-<2> |10 |10 |-<2> |10 |10 |10 |10 |60
(b) |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |-<1> |-<1> |-<1> |10 |-<1> |-<2> |10
Other (a) |10 |-<1> |-<2> |10 |10 |-<2> |-<1> |10 |10 |10 |-<2> |10 |60
(b) |-<1> |-<1> |-<2> |-<1> |10 |-<1> |10 |-<2> |-<2> |-<2> |-<1> |10 |30
(a) Without supplementary benefit.
(b) With supplementary benefit.
<1> Denotes nil cases in sample.
<2> Denotes less than 5,000 cases.
Notes:
1. The figures are derived from the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey and are subject to sampling error. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 and so rows and columns may not sum exactly to the totals shown.
2. Gross weekly income is the income reported in 1988 without any updating.
3. A "non-working family" is defined as one where neither is in full-time (30 hours of more) employment or self-employment.
4. The figures exclude any families not living in private households.
5. "Other" National Insurance Benefits include industrial disablement and widows benefit.
Residential Care Homes
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each local authority the number of residents (a) in part III homes and (b) transferred from local authority homes to trust status homes and therefore in receipt of income support.
Miss Widdecombe : Information on the number of residents in part III homes (for England only) by local authority is contained in "Residential Accommodation for Elderly and Younger Physically Handicapped People : Local Authority Supported Residents Year Ending 31 March 1990 England" (RA/90/1), a copy of which is available in the Library. Information on the number of residents affected by the transfer of local authority part III homes to the private or voluntary sector is not collected centrally. Entitlement to income support for residents of such homes is a matter for the local adjudication officer, but since 12 August 1991 has been restricted to the part III rate for those people resident at the time of transfer.
State Pensions
Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from (a) the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association or (b) community organisations about the level of state pensions ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : A letter has been received from the Scottish Old- Age Pensioners Association which covered all aspects of provision for elderly people. We have also received a number of representations from community organisations.
Social Fund
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many social fund inspectors were employed on 1 July ; (2) how many applications for review by a social fund inspector were outstanding for more than one month on 31 July.
Mr. Scott : I am informed by the Social Fund Commissioner that on 31 July 1991 there were 54 social fund inspectors employed and 1,941 review applications outstanding for more than one month.
Cold Weather Payments
Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received from (a) the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association or (b) community organisations about cold weather payments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : On 29 October I wrote to the right hon. and learned Member for Monklands, East (Mr. Smith) about representations from the Airdrie branch of the Scottish Old-Age Pensioners Association. Other organisations have also made representations on this subject.
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