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Column 293
Written Answers to Questions
Friday 21 February 1992
HOME DEPARTMENT
Grendon Prison
Mr. Jopling : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are awaiting admission to Grendon prison.
Mrs. Rumbold : A total of 245 prisoners were on the waiting list for transfer to Grendon prison on 14 February 1992.
Filipino Wives
Mr. Summerson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Filipino wives of British husbands have been refused entry to the United Kingdom since August 1988 ; and how many have been admitted.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information requested is available only in respect of such wives applying in the Philippines for entry clearance for settlement in the years 1990 and 1991. This is given in the table.
Annual figures on admissions of wives or fiancees of Filipino nationality are published in table 1 of Cm 1571, "Control of Immigration : Statistics, United Kingdom 1990", a copy of which is in the Library. These admission figures include Filipino wives and fiancees granted entry clearance other than in the Philippines and any joining non-British husbands settled in the United Kingdom. They do not take account of the year in which the entry clearance was granted.
Estimated number of Filipino wives of British
husbands applying for
a settlement entry clearance in Manila
Entry clearance applications
Year |Granted<1> |Refused
|initially<2>
----------------------------------------------------
1990 |200 |110
1991 |200 |140
<1>Including granted on appeal.
<2>Some may be subsequently granted on appeal.
Unlawful Killings, Lambeth
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unlawful killings took place in Lambeth in 1991.
Mr. John Patten : I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that there were 19 unlawful killings in the borough of Lambeth in 1991.
Getaway"
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the representations made to him by the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill concerning the publication and
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sale of manuals on sale at Soldier of Fortune shops in Liverpool ; what steps he is taking to ban their publication ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. John Patten : I understand that the hon. Member wrote to my right hon. Friend on 18 February about the sale of a book entitled "Getaway" which is alleged to contain information on illegal and dangerous ways of driving.
Ministers do not have the power to ban or censor books or other publications. However, it is an offence to publish a work which is obscene, which incites its readers to crime, or which is otherwise a breach of the criminal law. It is for the police to investigate any allegation of an offence and for the courts to decide whether an offence has been committed in any particular case ; Ministers cannot intervene in either of these processes. I understand that in this particular case the owners of the shops concerned have decided to withdraw the book from sale.
Project Comtram
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to sustain Project Comtram and the community lawyer scheme, funded under section 11, in Bradford ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Rumbold : Decisions on the eligibility of projects for funding under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 have been made in accordance with policy and administrative criteria laid down under new arrangements for the administration of the grant which were announced in October 1990, when local authorities were invited to bid afresh for funding from 1 April 1992. Applicants were required to demonstrate that proposals were within the policy criteria and fulfilled key requirements of a procedure designed to ensure that the available funding is targeted to achieve maximum benefit for members of ethnic minorities. Applications for the projects in question failed in key respects and were not approved.
Criminal Justice Act 1991
Mr. Hague : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to bring the remaining provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 into force.
Mr. Kenneth Baker : I have today made a commencement order which will bring into force from 1 October 1992 most of the remaining provisions of the Act, including the bulk of the new sentencing framework. The order will also bring into force from 1 April 1992 the provisions relating to the inner London probation area (section 75) and court security officers (sections 76 to 79). A consultation paper setting out detailed proposals for implementing the provisions on curfew orders and electronic monitoring (sections 12 to 13) will be issued shortly, and these provisions will be brought into force as soon as possible after consultation. The provision in section 60 which will replace remand to custody for 15 to 16-year-old boys by remand to local authority secure accommodation will be implemented when sufficient local authority secure accommodation is available.
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CHURCH COMMISSIONERS
Sunday Trading
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, what response they have received to their letters as shareholders to public companies allegedly in breach of the Shops Act 1950 ; and what further action they intend to take.
Mr. Alison : Those companies to which the commissioners wrote whose stores had opened on Sundays took the line that the law was unsatisfactory and in need of reform, that they had not particularly wanted to open on Sundays but felt under pressure to do so from competitors. The commissioners will continue to monitor the situation.
EMPLOYMENT
Pay Statistics
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the information on full-time workers' pay for the west midlands and, if available, cities and counties within the region, and for comparison England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as given for Scottish regions in his answer to the hon. Member for Angus, East, (Mr. Welsh) on 6 February Official Report, columns 266-69.
Mr. Forth : The information available from the "New Earnings Survey", closest to that requested, is given in the tables.
Full time employees on adult rates whose pay was
unaffected by
absence: Percentage with weekly earnings (including
overtime)
below the following specified amounts
April 1991
|£ 130|£ 140|£ 180|£ 190
----------------------------------------------------------
Manual women
West Midlands region |37.6 |46.3 |77.8 |82.6
West Midlands MC |37.3 |44.3 |76.4 |83.0
Hereford and Worcester |35.6 |52.9 |77.9 |81.7
Shropshire |39.4 |50.0 |84.8 |87.9
Staffordshire |39.4 |46.8 |76.9 |79.6
Warwickshire |36.1 |44.4 |83.3 |86.1
England |34.0 |42.7 |71.7 |76.5
Scotland |39.2 |48.1 |75.9 |80.7
Wales |36.6 |48.9 |76.8 |80.6
Northern Ireland |51.1 |61.1 |84.4 |87.0
Non-manual women
West Midlands region |12.4 |18.0 |44.7 |50.5
West Midlands MC |10.6 |15.2 |40.4 |46.7
Hereford and Worcester |12.7 |21.1 |49.5 |55.9
Shropshire |19.7 |28.0 |55.5 |60.1
Staffordshire |15.8 |21.9 |48.2 |53.0
Warwickshire |10.9 |15.3 |50.8 |55.2
England |9.0 |13.1 |34.1 |39.1
Scotland |12.4 |17.7 |42.6 |48.1
Wales |15.4 |20.2 |44.4 |50.8
Northern Ireland |17.9 |22.2 |42.4 |47.1
All women
West Midlands region |18.0 |24.2 |52.0 |57.6
West Midlands MC |15.9 |21.0 |47.6 |53.9
Hereford and Worcester |17.7 |28.1 |55.7 |61.6
Shropshire |24.3 |33.1 |62.3 |66.5
Staffordshire |22.4 |28.8 |56.2 |60.4
Warwickshire |16.6 |21.9 |58.1 |62.2
England |13.5 |18.4 |40.9 |45.9
Scotland |17.9 |23.9 |49.4 |54.7
Wales |20.3 |26.8 |51.8 |57.7
Northern Ireland |25.6 |31.2 |52.1 |56.4
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Full-time employees on adult rates whose pay was
unaffected by
absence: Percentage with weekly earnings (including
overtime)
below the following specified amounts
April 1991
|£ 130|£ 140|£ 180|£ 190
----------------------------------------------------------
Manual men
West Midlands region |4.7 |7.0 |22.5 |27.3
West Midlands MC |4.4 |6.6 |18.8 |23.2
Hereford and Worcester |4.6 |7.7 |30.9 |35.7
Shropshire |3.4 |6.2 |25.5 |32.0
Staffordshire |5.9 |8.2 |27.3 |32.9
Warwickshire |5.1 |6.8 |20.8 |24.7
England |4.6 |6.7 |21.2 |26.1
Scotland |6.8 |9.3 |26.0 |31.4
Wales |6.4 |10.0 |26.8 |32.1
Northern Ireland |13.7 |18.5 |40.5 |46.8
Non-manual men
West Midlands region |3.1 |4.5 |12.5 |14.8
West Midlands MC |3.2 |4.6 |12.1 |14.3
Hereford and Worcester |2.3 |3.3 |10.5 |13.9
Shropshire |2.7 |3.1 |11.9 |15.0
Staffordshire |3.9 |5.3 |15.6 |17.9
Warwickshire |2.4 |4.8 |11.8 |12.4
England |2.3 |3.4 |9.9 |11.9
Scotland |3.1 |4.7 |12.2 |14.7
Wales |3.5 |4.9 |14.1 |16.1
Northern Ireland |7.2 |9.7 |16.4 |19.7
All men
West Midlands region |3.9 |5.8 |17.7 |21.3
West Midlands MC |3.8 |5.6 |15.4 |18.7
Hereford and Worcester |3.5 |5.7 |21.5 |25.7
Shropshire |3.1 |4.9 |19.9 |25.0
Staffordshire |5.0 |6.9 |22.1 |26.2
Warwickshire |3.7 |5.8 |16.3 |18.6
England |3.3 |4.9 |15.1 |18.4
Scotland |4.9 |7.0 |19.2 |23.2
Wales |5.1 |7.7 |21.0 |24.8
Northern Ireland |10.5 |14.1 |28.6 |33.4
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Full time employees on adult rates whose pay was
unaffected by
absence: Percentage with weekly earnings (excluding
overtime)
below the following specified amounts
April 1991
|£ 130|£ 140|£ 180|£ 190
----------------------------------------------------------
Manual women
West Midlands region |42.2 |52.1 |83.7 |88.1
West Midlands MC |41.1 |50.8 |82.0 |87.3
Hereford and Worcester |41.3 |57.7 |86.5 |90.4
Shropshire |47.0 |60.6 |93.9 |97.0
Staffordshire |44.0 |50.5 |81.0 |84.3
Warwickshire |40.3 |48.6 |88.9 |93.1
England |37.7 |47.4 |77.4 |81.9
Scotland |42.1 |52.8 |83.3 |87.3
Wales |40.9 |53.8 |82.8 |85.7
Northern Ireland |- |- |- |-
Non-manual women
West Midlands region |13.4 |19.6 |47.4 |53.1
West Midlands MC |11.4 |16.8 |43.7 |49.7
Hereford and Worcester |14.1 |23.0 |50.5 |57.0
Shropshire |21.1 |29.8 |58.7 |62.8
Staffordshire |17.1 |23.3 |50.4 |56.0
Warwickshire |11.3 |16.5 |52.8 |56.0
England |9.8 |14.3 |36.1 |41.3
Scotland |14.0 |19.4 |45.5 |50.8
Wales |16.7 |21.4 |46.2 |52.7
Northern Ireland |- |- |- |-
All women
West Midlands region |19.8 |26.8 |55.4 |60.8
West Midlands MC |17.3 |23.6 |51.3 |57.2
Hereford and Worcester |20.0 |30.6 |58.4 |64.3
Shropshire |27.1 |37.0 |66.9 |70.8
Staffordshire |24.6 |30.8 |58.9 |63.9
Warwickshire |17.8 |23.7 |60.9 |64.4
England |14.9 |20.3 |43.6 |48.6
Scotland |19.7 |26.2 |53.2 |58.2
Wales |22.2 |28.8 |54.6 |60.3
Northern Ireland |- |- |- |-
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Note: "-" denotes information not available.
Full time employees on adult rates whose pay was
unaffected by
absence: Percentage with weekly earnings (excluding
overtime)
below the following specified amounts
April 1991
|£ 130|£ 140|£ 180|£ 190
----------------------------------------------------------
Manual men
West Midlands region |7.2 |11.1 |34.1 |40.5
West Midlands MC |6.4 |10.0 |28.4 |35.0
Hereford and Worcester |7.2 |13.3 |47.7 |52.1
Shropshire |6.8 |11.5 |42.2 |50.9
Staffordshire |9.2 |12.8 |41.3 |47.9
Warwickshire |7.7 |10.7 |28.0 |32.7
England |6.7 |10.3 |32.1 |38.5
Scotland |9.2 |13.7 |39.4 |46.6
Wales |8.6 |13.7 |38.1 |45.9
Northern Ireland |- |- |- |-
Non-manual men
West Midlands region |3.8 |5.4 |14.8 |17.3
West Midlands MC |3.9 |5.4 |14.6 |17.1
Hereford and Worcester |2.6 |3.6 |12.3 |15.2
Shropshire |2.7 |4.0 |15.5 |19.5
Staffordshire |5.0 |6.8 |17.5 |19.6
Warwickshire |3.3 |5.1 |13.9 |15.1
England |2.7 |4.1 |11.8 |14.0
Scotland |3.7 |5.7 |14.4 |17.1
Wales |4.4 |6.1 |15.9 |18.4
Northern Ireland |- |- |- |-
All men
West Midlands region |5.6 |8.3 |24.8 |29.3
West Midlands MC |5.1 |7.7 |21.4 |26.0
Hereford and Worcester |5.1 |8.9 |31.4 |35.1
Shropshire |5.1 |8.4 |31.2 |38.0
Staffordshire |7.3 |10.1 |30.6 |35.2
Warwickshire |5.5 |7.9 |21.0 |24.0
England |4.5 |6.9 |21.0 |25.1
Scotland |6.5 |9.8 |27.1 |32.1
Wales |6.7 |10.2 |28.0 |33.4
Northern Ireland |- |- |- |-
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Note: "-" denotes information not available.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Foxes
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what information he has as to the number of foxes living in the larger urban areas of Great Britain ; and how the density of the fox population in urban areas compares with that in rural areas ;
(2) what surveys his Department has carried out into the health hazards associated with the presence of foxes in urban areas.
Mr. Maclean : The average fox population density in cities varies between 1 : 2.24 fox families per square kilometre. However higher densities are found in some cities up to 8.5 adult foxes per square kilometre. In rural areas fox densities vary widely, depending on habitat, between one fox per 30 hectares in rich habitats to one pair
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per 4,000 hectares in poor habitats. This Department has not carried out any surveys into health hazards associated with urban foxes, but they can become infected with a variety of parasites and diseases, including rabies.Common Agricultural Policy Fraud
Mr. Gill : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the prospects of eliminating fraud in European Community matters, in particular that associated with the common agricultural policy.
Mr. Curry : The United Kingdom remains at the forefront of the fight against fraud in the European Community. In particular, the United Kingdom continues to press the European Commission for further action to implement, and update, measures included in the 45-point anti-fraud programme adopted in 1989 with our strong support. Substantial progress has already been made ; measures in connection with the common agricultural policy include :
mandatory minimum levels of physical checks on export refunds strengthened requirements for annual stocktaking of intervention stocks
improved procedures for reporting irregularities
improved procedures for auditing payments
the inclusion of improved control arrangements in regulations implementing common agricultural policy schemes
ENERGY
Advertising
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how much money was spent on media advertising in February and March 1990 concerning energy efficiency and global warming ; and how many coupons requesting booklets were subsequently received as a result of the advertising campaign.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The cost of the March 1990 advertising campaign was £405,959.15 ; 9,034 information packs were subsequently dispatched.
EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Assisted Places Scheme
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the expenditure incurred on (a) the assisted places scheme and (b) city technology colleges in each year of the programmes so far, together with the proposed expenditure in future years.
Mr. Eggar : The assisted places scheme was launched in 1981. The city technology colleges programme was launched in 1986. Actual Government expenditure to 1990-91 and estimated and planned expenditure for future years on the APS and the CTC programme are shown in the table. In addition, private sponsors have pledged well over £30 million to the CTC programme.
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Table
|(a) |(b)
Financial Year |Assisted Places|City Technology
|Scheme |Colleges
|£ million |£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 (outturn) |3 |-
1982-83 (outturn) |9 |-
1983-84 (outturn) |15 |-
1984-85 (outturn) |22 |-
1985-86 (outturn) |30 |-
1986-87 (outturn) |38 |-
1987-88 (outturn) |46 |1
1988-89 (outturn) |51 |14
1989-90 (outturn) |57 |30
1990-91 (outturn) |63 |58
1991-92 (estimated outturn) |65 |51
1992-93 (plans) |78 |54
1993-94 (plans) |84 |55
1994-95 (plans) |89 |56
Notes: The figures are cash plans rounded to the nearest £ million.
Research (Diseases)
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will state the overall figure spent by the Medical Research Council into research into diseases affecting older people in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Most diseases affect people of all ages and become more critical in old age. Total expenditure by the MRC over the last five years on all research, including training awards and fellowships, has been :
------------------------------------------
1986-87 |125,188
1987-88 |135,195
1988-89 |149,779
1989-90 |172,346
1990-91 |181,077
By far the greater part of all that research is potentially relevant to improving the health of any age group, including older people.
Books and Equipment
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the most recent figure for annual expenditure on books and equipment in schools, excluding provision for 16 to 19-year-olds.
Mr. Fallon : In 1989-90, the latest year for which actual spending information is available, expenditure in England on books and equipment in nursery, primary, secondary and special schools was some £390 million. Expenditure on provision for 16 to 19-year-olds is not separately identified and is included within this total.
Teachers' Pay
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the most recent figure for the annual cost of teacher salaries.
Mr. Fallon : In 1989-90, the latest year for which actual spending information is available, expenditure in England on teaching staff in nursery, primary, secondary and special schools was some £7,339 million. This includes gross pay and employers' contributions to national insurance and superannuation.
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Student Loans
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the cost of student loans in each of the next 10 years.
Mr. Alan Howarth : Student loans are available for all eligible students who apply for them. Levels of expenditure on loans depend on the level of demand and the rates and conditions of loans prescribed in the statutory regulations for each year.
Table 1 in the departmental report of the Department of Education and Science (Cm 1911) sets out planned net public expenditure provision for England and Wales of £137 million for 1992-93, £204 million for 1993-94 and £286 million for 1994-95. We shall review the expenditure plans for future years--and the underlying planning assumptions--in successive public expenditure surveys.
Nursery Education
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's estimate of the extra revenue costs of extending nursery places to 80 per cent. of three and four-year-olds.
Mr. Eggar : The extra revenue costs are difficult to estimate since they would depend on the types of provision and on the precise balance between full-time and part-time attendance. Assuming the current mix of types of provision and modes of attendance, a broad extrapolation from the estimated cost per pupil for all forms of provision made by local education authorities for the under-fives suggests an extra annual recurrent cost of approximately £530 million at 1991-92 prices. In addition there would be capital costs ; and costs would also be incurred in training or retaining the additional teaching and ancillary staff who would be needed.
Table 2 of DES departmental report "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1992 -93 to 1994-95", Cm 1911.
Further Education
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the average hourly cost of a part-time place in a further education college.
Mr. Eggar : The average hourly cost for students in all modes of attendance in a further education college was £2.80 in 1988-89 (the latest year available). There are no figures available for part-time students separately.
Student Fees
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his Department's estimate of the cost of extending an entitlement to student fees to part-time students on higher education courses.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The cost would depend on what decisions were taken about eligible courses, their duration, the maximum fee entitlement and the account to be taken of the personal circumstances of potentially eligible students.
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Special Needs Education
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the most recent figure for annual expenditure on services for children with special needs.
Mr. Fallon : In 1989-90, the latest year for which actual spending information is available, school-based expenditure in special schools in England was some £688 million. Expenditure in primary and secondary schools on services for children with special needs attending such schools is not collected separately. The figure for special schools does not include costs of services such as child guidance and educational psychology provided centrally by local education authorities, nor of LEAs' central administration to support special education, as these costs were not apportioned between services in LEAs' expenditure returns.
Student Grants
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his estimate of the cost of uprating the student grant to allow for inflation since it was last uprated.
Mr. Alan Howarth : The cost of increasing the main rates of grant payable under the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1991 in line with with the Government's current estimate of inflation since those rates were last increased in 1990 would be £66.4 million. This figure assumes student numbers to be consistent with the autumn statement and that no other provisions of the regulations are changed.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Egypt
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to contribute to the social fund project in Egypt to mitigate the social impact of economic reform ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker : We are participating substantially in the social fund project through our share of International Development Association and European Community contributions. Our bilateral aid programme for Egypt is fully allocated to other priority development areas agreed with the Egyptian Government.
CIS
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what additional staff have been recruited to deal with aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States by (a) the Overseas Development Administration and (b) the EC.
Mrs. Chalker : (a) At present we have 34 staff from the Overseas Development Administration dealing with aid to the Commonwealth of Indpependent States and other eastern European countries. Precise disaggregation would not be realistic. Individuals have not been recruited specifically for these positions, but additional staff have been recruited generally to the ODA to permit the expansion in our activities.
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(b) An additional 40 mecu has now been agreed to reinforce the Commission's external activities. We understand that its intention is to establish at least 140 now posts in DGI and convert a further 150 from expert to statutory posts. Many of these additional posts will support the Community aid programmes in the Commonwealth of Independent States.United Nations Funding
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will review the decision no to fund the second phase of the United Nations international fund for agricultural development.
Mrs. Chalker : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden) on 12 February at column 528.
PRIME MINISTER
London School of Economics
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Prime Minister if he will set out the action necessary by the relevant Government Departments for the London School of Economics to be successful in its bid to move to the old London county council building on the south bank.
The Prime Minister : The London School of Economics has as yet made no formal bid to the London Residuary Body, which is responsible to the local taxpayers of London for the disposal of county hall, for the acquisition of the site. Should it do so my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science would then be in a position to consider the matter in consultation with the residuary body.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Appeals, North East Region
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of appeals heard and decided by tribunals concerning (a) mobility allowances, (b) attendance allowances, (c) invalidity benefit, (d) injury and disablement benefit and (e) non- income related benefit in the North East region in the last two years.
Mr. Scott : The latest available annual statistics for social security appeal tribunals and medical appeal tribunals are for the year ending December 1990. The relevant information for the north-east region is given in the tables.
Social security appeal tribunaHeard and decided appeals
|Year ending |Year ending
|December 1989|December 1990
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mobility allowance |214 |223
Attendance allowance |23 |28
Invalidity benefit |1,418 |1,354
Disablement benefit |459 |637
Child benefit |233 |271
Invalid care allowance |73 |57
Maternity allowance |16 |16
Retirement pension |167 |168
Severe disablement allowance |26 |23
Unemployment benefit |2,787 |2,194
Widows benefit |115 |82
Medical appeal tribunals Heard and decided appeals
|Year ending |Year ending
|December 1989|December 1990
Mobility allowance |178 |1,206
Severe disablement allowance |36 |224
Disablement benefit |150 |1,900
<1> Medical appeal tribunal statistics were collected from 1 July
1989.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his Department's estimate of the cost of restoring student entitlement to housing benefit.
Miss Widdecombe : Based on information available when the new arrangements for student benefit entitlement were introduced, the estimated cost of restoring housing benefit entitlement to those students who are not currently eligible is estimated to be around £70 million at current prices.
Income Support
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out his Department's management statistics for the total number of claimants on income support, plus separately their partners and dependants, for each month since January 1990.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is not available. Liveload figures based on May 1990 annual statistical enquiry, the latest date for which information is available, are as follows.
|Number
--------------------------------------------------------
Total number of claimants: |4,180,000
Total number of partners: |691,000
Total number of dependent children: |2,045,000
Source: Annual Statistical Enquiry 1990.
Pensions
Mr. Clelland : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security why the increase promised by the Secretary of State, in his statement on 21 October 1991, to pensioners over the age of 80 years, and which is to be effective from 1 April 1992, does not appear in newly issued pension books.
Miss Widdecombe : The administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and Public Information Office.
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Income Support
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his Department's estimate of the cost of restoring student entitlement to income support during the summer ; and what was the cost in the last year before it was removed.
Miss Widdecombe : The estimated expenditure on income support for students during the 1990 summer vacation was about £27 million. The estimated cost of restoring student entitlement to income support during the summer vacations, based on information available when the present arrangements were introduced, would be around £30 million at current prices.
WALES
Dispensing Pharmacists
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many prescription items were dispensed by retail pharmacists in W‡ales in each year from 1977 onwards ; and if he will publish the figures according to age categories of the consumers.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Information on the number of prescription items dispensed is given in the table.
|Prescription
|items
|dispensed
|(thousands)
---------------------------------------
1977 |22,801
1978 |23,853
1979 |23,600
1980 |23,676
1981 |23,430
1982 |24,033
1983 |24,594
1984 |24,966
1985 |24,738
1986 |25,083
1987 |26,047
1988 |27,072
1989 |27,761
1990 |28,299
It is not possible to give numbers of prescription items dispensed according to the age of the consumer. However, the following table gives, for the years for which data are available, an estimate of the percentage of prescriptions which were exempt from charges by reason of age.
Category of exemption
|Under 16<1>|Retirement
|age<2>
------------------------------------------------
1983 |14 |42
1984 |14 |47
1985 |14 |45
1986 |13 |45
1987 |<3>N/A |<3>N/A
1988 |13 |50
1989 |12 |50
1990 |12 |52
<1> Children aged under 16 and children aged
under 19 in full-time
education.
<2> Women aged 60 or over and men aged 65 or
over.
<3> Not available.
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Archaeological Excavations
Mr. Edwards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the instances in the past 12 months in which Monmouth borough council has (a) imposed a watching brief condition on the advice of Glamorgan and Gwent archaeological trust or (b) required preservation in situ or archaeological excavation in advance of development.
Sir Wyn Roberts : This information is not held centrally.
Council Houses
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many council houses were built in Wales in the years 1979, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Sir Wyn Roberts : The information is given in the table :
Local authority
completions
|Number
---------------------
1979 |3,010
1987 |810
1988 |793
1989 |566
1990 |551
1991 |<1>388
<1> Provisional.
Source: Welsh Office
local authority
returns.
Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the annual amount spent on council house maintenance in Wales in the years, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.
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Sir Wyn Roberts : The information is available only by financial year. Figures for the financial years 1987-88 to 1990-91 are given in the following table. They have been derived from local authorities housing revenue account subsidy claim forms. Expenditure in 1990-91 is the sum of maintenance expenditure charged either to the housing revenue account or the housing repairs account.
Council house maintenance
expenditure in Wales
|£ million
------------------------------------
1987-88 |<1>91.8
1988-89 |94.6
1989-90 |106.5
1990-91 |<2>110.1
<1> Includes an estimate for those
authorities who did not submit
subsidy claim forms.
<2> Provisional.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the current (a) male and (b) total employment percentage in (i) Wales and (ii) the area covered by the valleys initiative in each month of 1987 and 1991.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Estimated percentages of the work force in employment, including those on work-related government training programmes, are given in the following table :
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1987 1991 1992
(i) Wales |Male |Total |Male |Total |Male |Total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January |83.0 |85.7 |89.6 |92.2 |86.7 |90.1
February |83.4 |86.2 |89.2 |91.9 |- |-
March |83.9 |86.6 |88.9 |91.7 |- |-
April |84.1 |86.8 |88.6 |91.5 |- |-
May |84.7 |87.3 |88.6 |91.5 |- |-
June |85.3 |87.8 |88.6 |91.5 |- |-
July |85.3 |87.7 |88.1 |91.1 |- |-
August |85.5 |87.9 |88.0 |90.9 |- |-
September |85.1 |87.5 |87.8 |90.8 |- |-
October |85.7 |88.0 |87.9 |91.0 |- |-
November |85.8 |88.3 |87.6 |90.8 |- |-
December |85.8 |88.2 |87.2 |90.5 |- |-
1987 1991 1992
(ii) Valleys |Male |Total |Male |Total |Male |Total
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January |77.9 |81.8 |84.2 |88.6 |80.6 |86.0
February |78.3 |82.3 |83.8 |88.4 |- |-
March |78.9 |82.9 |83.0 |87.8 |- |-
April |78.9 |82.9 |82.4 |87.3 |- |-
May |79.3 |83.2 |82.3 |87.3 |- |-
June |80.0 |83.8 |82.4 |87.4 |- |-
July |80.1 |83.8 |81.7 |86.8 |- |-
August |80.4 |84.1 |81.7 |86.7 |- |-
September |79.9 |83.6 |81.5 |86.7 |- |-
October |80.8 |84.5 |81.9 |87.1 |- |-
November |81.2 |85.0 |81.7 |86.9 |- |-
December |81.2 |84.9 |81.3 |86.6 |- |-
TRANSPORT
Shipping North Sea
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vessels operating in support of the North sea oil industry, United Kingdom sector, are under (a) the British flag and (b) foreign flags, by country.
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Mr. McLoughlin : On 31 January 1992, there were 147 vessels operating as supply, anchor handling and other support vessels and, in addition, 176 standby vessels in the United Kingdom sector of the North sea in support of the oil industry. The countries of registration and the numbers involved were :
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Support Vessels |Number ------------------------------------------------ United Kingdom |86 Norway |22 Denmark |10 Netherlands |8 Germany |3 Others |18
9 Standby Vessels |Number --------------------------------------------------------- United Kingdom |149 Isle of man |9 Bermuda |2 Norway |2 Netherlands |1 Cayman Islands |4 Bahamas |4 United States of America |5
Rail Privatisation
Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will delay publication of the White Paper on railway privatisation until after the general election.
Mr. Freeman : We will publish our White Paper as soon as we are ready.
Flight Safety
Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the future of co-ordination of research effort in matters of flight safety.
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