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Column 375
Mirror Group Newspapers
Mr. Dobson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the companies being covered by the investigation into the flotation of Mirror Group Newspapers.
Mr. Neil Hamilton [holding answer 12 June 1992] : The inspectors have been appointed to investigate the affairs and membership of Mirror Group Newspapers plc.
The powers contained in section 433 of the Companies Act 1985 are available if necessary.
Regional Policy
Mr. McCartney : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he next intends to meet representatives of the European Commission to discuss regional policy ; and if he will ensure that this meeting is held at a venue in the north west of England.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 10 June 1992] : At present my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has no immediate plans to meet Commissioner Millan but I expect to do so in the course of the meetings between the UK presidency and the Commission on 1 July in London.
Generating Plants
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many planning applications are outstanding for gas fired power stations ; and if he will give their locations.
Mr. Eggar : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Edmonton on 8 June Official Report, column 31. My right hon. Friend is also considering an application from Kelt UK Ltd to construct and operate an open cycle gas turbine power station in Ryedale.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Greyhound Racing
Mr. Page : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the payments made by off-course bookmakers to greyhound racing since 1 April following the reduction in general betting duty.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 11 June, at column 234.
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the funds resulting from the quarter per cent. reduction in general betting duty has been set aside as part of the 31st betting levy scheme ; whether the sum made available to greyhound racing will be proportionate to the amount of off-course betting duty attributable to greyhound racing ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The determination of the 31st levy scheme took into account the reduction in general betting duty on horserace bets, estimated to represent about 72 per cent of total off-course betting turnover in 1990-91. The size of any voluntary payments by bookmakers to
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greyhound racing following the reduction in general betting duty is a matter for negotiation between the two parties. We understand that those negotiations are under way and have asked to be informed of the outcome.Asylum Seekers
Ms. Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the asylum decisions made between December 1991 and April 1992 related to applications made before 1 November 1991 ; and how many of these applications were given refugee status, exceptional leave to remain, third country refusals and paragraph 101 refusals.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Information on decisions taken between December 1991 and April 1992 is given in the table. Information on the date of application is not yet available, but it is likely that, during this period, the great majority of substantive grants and refusals of asylum and exceptional leave related to applications made before 1 November 1991. The exception would be in those cases where priority was given because the applicant was detained or had arrived from a safe third country.
Decisions made under paragraph 101 of the Immigration Rules will include both applications made before and after 1 November 1991.
|c|Decisions on asylum applications, excluding dependants,|c|
|c|December 1991 to April 1992|c|
|Number
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Granted asylum |252
Granted exceptional leave |2,284
Refused asylum and exceptional leave |853
Refused on safe third country grounds |274
Refused under paragraph 101 of the immigration rules<1> |5,662
<1> For failure to provide evidence to support the asylum claim
within a reasonable period.
Mental Health Act 1983
Ms. Hoey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were removed from the United Kingdom in 1990 and 1991 under section 86 of the Mental Health Act 1983 ; and to which countries they were removed.
Mr. Jack : In 1990 four people were removed under this provision to Nigeria, two cases, Hong Kong and Saudia Arabia.
In 1991 five people were removed under this provision to Germany, two cases, Ghana, Hungary and the United States of America.
Immigration
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when a request was received from the British High Commission in Zambia for inquiries to be made following an application to enter the United Kingdom as a priest from Mr. Ismail Ebrahim Bhulla (Ref. GV100/13333) ; when the reply was sent to Zambia ; what recommendation has been made on this application ; when a decision is to be considered ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The high commission referred the application on 20 February and the request was received in the Home Office on 3 March. I am sorry that there was a
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delay in dealing with the case. I shall resolve the application as quickly as possible and I will write to the hon. Member when we have done so.Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the current list of outstanding cases in each of the divisions at the immigration and nationality department in Croydon and Liverpool.
Mr. Charles Wardle : At the beginning of June the number of outstanding applications in the caseworking divisions was as follows :
|Number
-------------------------------------------
General immigration casework |22,595
Asylum and related casework |61,891
Nationality |52,811
Crime Statistics
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of crimes committed in the Blyth Valley area in 1989 to 1991.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is not collected centrally for the Blyth Valley area.
Strip Searches
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the number of strip searches made on women inmates in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last three years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Prison establishments are not required to maintain records of all strip searches made on women prisoners. However, they do maintain records of strip searches of female inmates in category A. There were 103 such searches in 1989, 136 in 1990 and 189 in 1991.
Arson
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the Arson Prevention Bureau ; and what success has been achieved in the improved protection of premises, especially school buildings, countering fraudulent arson and improvements in the methods of fire investigations.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Arson Prevention Bureau, which is jointly funded by the Home Office and the Association of British Insurers, was officially launched in February 1991. The bureau provides the first concerted approach to combating the crime of arson. A research project has been completed on the protection of property against arson and further projects on arson for insurance fraud purposes, and arson in schools are under way. It is hoped as a result of the latter project to be able to recommend a package of measures which will lead to a reduction in the heavy incidence of school arson.
The Arson Prevention Bureau has recently published its first annual review, and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Police Cells
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of (a) men and (b) women being held in police cells at police stations in England and Wales on 8 June.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : On Monday 8 June there were 1,242 men and 18 women being held in police cells in England and Wales who should otherwise have been in prison.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of police stations in Northumbria that are holding prisoners on remand ; and how many are being held at each station.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The table shows police stations in Northumbria where prisoners who should otherwise have been in prison were being held on Wednesday 10 June.
Police station |Number of
|prisoners
---------------------------------------------
Alnwick |2
Byker |7
Whitley Bay |4
Forest Hall |1
Cramlington |5
Gateshead |8
Jarrow |3
Sunderland |12
|-------
Total |42
Caravans (Theft)
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many thefts (a) of caravans and (b) from caravans were reported to the police in each year from 1974 to date in (i) England and (ii) north Yorkshire.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is not collected centrally.
Murder
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to set up a royal commission on the issue of provocation as it applies to women using it as a defence against murder charges.
Mr. Jack : There are no such plans, but this branch of the criminal law is kept under careful review.
EC Proposals
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the experts his Department consults on European Community proposals relating to security and immigration matters.
Mr. Charles Wardle : Co-operation among the Twelve on these matters generally takes place outside the framework of the treaty of Rome. In considering proposals, the Home Office consults closely with other interested Departments and with the police service as well as relying on its own expertise.
North Wales Police
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to make his decision concerning the application by the North Wales police for 58 police posts for 1993-94 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The North Wales application, together with applications from 40 other police
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authorities, is being considered in the light of advice from Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary. The announcement of approved increases for individual forces is usually made in the autumn.Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to visit the headquarters of the North Wales police.
Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to do so at present.
Departmental Environment Policies
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who is the Minister responsible for considering the environmental implications of all of his Department's policies ; when that person was appointed ; what actions his Department has taken since the appointment of a responsible Minister ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The Government are appointing a Minister within each Department to take particular responsibility for environmental aspects of the Department's policies and programmes. A list of nominated Ministers will be announced shortly.
Blakenhurst Prison
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government are yet in a position to make a statement about the standard of service which will be expected of a private sector company contracted to run Blakenhurst prison.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Work has now been completed on the specification for the operation of Blakenhurst prison under private sector management and for the selection and training requirements for prisoner custody officers. This forms part of the invitation to tender issued to the potential contractors and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. A draft order to extend contracting-out to prisons holding sentenced prisoners has been laid and the House will shortly have an opportunity to debate the matter. Subject to parliamentary approval, and the receipt of satisfactory tenders which offer value for money, we would aim to award a contract in the autumn with a view to Blakenhurst becoming operational next spring.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Cardiac Surgery
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will indicate the number of patients each health and social services board in Northern Ireland intends to send to (a) Great Britain and (b) elsewhere for cardiac surgery during the current year ; what is the average cost per patient from each board area ; and what is the average cost per patient in the present year for such surgery in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Hanley : The number of patients for whom boards have already negotiated contracts for treatment in Great Britain for cardiac surgery in 1992-93 is as follows :
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Board |Number ----------------------- Northern |30 Southern |26 Eastern |20 Western |30
Further patients may be sent to Great Britain later in the year, but details are not yet available. They are not likely to send any patients outside the United Kingdom for cardiac surgery this year. It is not possible to provide a meaningful average cost for each patient since the cost is influenced by a number of factors which vary from patient to patient. These factors include the severity and type of cardiac disease, the amount of clinical re-assessment which may be necessary before the operation, and the volume of patients for whom a particular contract is being negotiated. On this basis, average costs vary from £3,500 to £5,000 per patient.
Cardiac surgery performed in Northern Ireland, is only carried out at the Royal Victoria hospital, Belfast and the average costs per patient this year are likely to be around £6,800.
Lignite Reserves
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the private sector will be given the opportunity to develop Ballymoney lignite reserves.
Mr. Atkins : A prospecting licence for the Ballymoney lignite field is held by Meekatharra (NI) Ltd. Any development of the field would require a mining licence and planning permission. No application for either has been received.
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assurances have been given to the owners of power stations in Northern Ireland with regard to the future utilisation of lignite reserves at Ballymoney for generating electricity.
Council Tenants
Mr. A. Cecil Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he intends to introduce into Northern Ireland the cash incentive scheme to provide grants for council tenants to buy homes.
Mr. Atkins : I have no plans to do so.
Caravans
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will give urgent consideration to introducing legislation which will give (a) greater tenancy security for caravan owners or leaseholders on licensed caravan sites and (b) greater protection against financial exploitation arising from rental increases by site owners or managers.
Mr. Atkins : I have no plans to do so.
Road Schemes
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show the major capital road schemes programmed in the year 1988
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for the years (a) 1988-89, (b) 1989-90, (c) 1990-91, (d) 1991-92 and (e) 1992-93 ; how many of those schemes were dropped in each subsequent year ; and which ones have been (i) started and (ii) completed up to the latest available date.Mr. Atkins : The information requested is as follows :
Financial year and proposed scheme Started
|Completed |Start date
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1988-89
A26 Antrim/Ballymena dualling: |Completed |-
stage 1
A57/B101 Oldstone road |Completed |-
Eastlink Dundonald |Completed |-
Longwood road, Newtonabbey |Completed |-
Castlecourt, Belfast |Completed |-
Buncrana road, Londonderry |Dropped |-
Banbridge bypass dualling |Completed |-
Newry 8A (Canal street/Downshire |Completed |-
road link)
Balloo road, Bangor: stage 2 |Completed |-
Omagh through-pass: stage 1 |Completed |-
1989-90
Federick street, Belfast |Completed |-
Greenmount link, roundabout, |Completed |-
Coleraine
Crossnadonnell, Limavady |Completed |-
Strand road, Londonderry |Completed |-
Culmore road, Londonderry |Completed |-
Bridge street/Tavanagh avenue, |Completed |-
Portadown
Dunmurry bypass: stage 2C |Completed |-
A48 Donaghdee road, Vewtownards |Completed |-
T4 Hillsborough bypass junction |Completed |-
Strabane bypass: stage 1 |- |1989-90
Church street/Scotch street, |- |1993-94
Downpatrick
1990-91
Castledawson bypass |Completed |-
Belfast schemes arising from Belfast |- |1994-95
urban area plan
Greenmount link, Coleraine: stages 3 |- |1995-96
and 4
Bushmills road, Coleraine |Completed |-
T4 Mullan's Corner dualling |Completed |-
Dunmurry bypass: stage 2D |Completed |-
Enniskillen through-pass: stage 3B |Completed |-
High street/Hamilton road, Bangor |- |1991-92
1991-92
Killead Bypass |- |1995-96
A26 Antrim/Ballymena dualling: |- |1995-96
stage 2
Belfast schemes arising from Belfast |- |1994-95
urban plan
Strand road, Londonderry: stage 2 |- |1995-96
Newry bypass: stage 2 |- |1993-94
North road/Talbot street, |Dropped |-
Newtownards
Comber bypass: stage 2 |- |1995-96
1992-93
Northern distributor Ballymena |- |1995-96
Belfast schemes arising from Belfast |- |1994-95
urban area plan
Queens Quay, Londonderry |- |1991-92
Newry bypass: stage 3 |- |1993-94
Pond park, Lisburn |- |<1>-
Omagh through-pass: stage 2 |- |1994-95
A29 Carland Bridge |- |1996-97
<1>Not in current 5-year programme.
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Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to include financial incentives for investment in energy efficiency in the proposed electricity privatisation in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Atkins : The transmission and public electricity supply licence published on 31 March 1992, contains a number of financial incentives to encourage NIE plc to promote energy efficiency. The most significant of these is the imposition of a total revenue cap on NIE plc's transmission and distribution business. Copies of the licence are available in the Library.
Schools
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many pupils are at each of (a) the primary and (b) the secondary schools in the constituency of Strangford in (i) the maintained, (ii) the controlled and (iii) the integrated sectors of education.
Mr. Hanley : The information requested is as follows :
|Numbers
-----------------------------------------------
Primary Schools
Maintained
St. Anne's Donaghadee |36
St. Finian's Newtownards |218
St. Mary's Ballygowan |61
St. Mary's Comber |33
St. Mary's Kircubbin |217
St. Mary's Portaferry |334
St. Patrick's Portaferry |76
Controlled
Abbey, Newtownards |395
Alexander Dickson, Newtownards |181
Andrews Memorial, Comber |500
Ballykeigle, Comber |62
Ballyvester, Donaghadee |82
Ballywalter, Newtownards |138
Belvoir, Belfast |319
Braniel, Belfast |353
Cairnshall, Newtownbreda |383
Carrickmannon, Ballygowan |78
Carrowdore, Newtownards |131
Castle Gardens, Newtownards |489
Comber, Newtownards |411
Cottown, Bangor |35
Donaghadee, Donaghadee |405
Greyabbey, Newtownards |67
Killinchy, Comber |232
Kircubbin, Newtownards |54
Kirkistown, Cloughey |41
Leadhill, Belfast |172
Londonderry Model, Newtownards |278
Loughries, Newtownards |81
Millisle, Newtownards |187
Moneyrea, Newtownards |136
Newtownards Model, Newtownards |361
Newtownbreda, Belfast |212
O'Neill Memorial, Belfast |44
Portaferry, Newtownards |48
Portavogie, Newtownards |172
Victoria, Newtownards |584
Victoria, Ballyhalbert |98
West Winds, Newtownards |215
Secondary Schools
Maintained
St. Columba's Portaferry |380
Controlled
Comber, Newtownards |523
Donaghadee, Donaghadee |515
Movilla, Newtownards |645
Scrabo, Newtownards |396
Grammar School
Controlled
Regent House, Newtownards |1,587
Grant-maintained Integrated
Lagan College, Belfast |730
Notes:
1. Enrolment figures are taken from the annual
school census, completed at January 1992.
2. Pupils enrolled in nursery classes in the
primary schools are included in the enrolment
figures.
Widgery Tribunal
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations the Government have received in 1992 concerning the 1972 Widgery tribunal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mates : The Prime Minister has received one letter from the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East (Mr. Barnes) calling for the Widgery tribunal's findings to be re-examined. The previous and present Secretary of State for Northern Ireland received two similar letters. In addition, a number of letters on the general subject of "Bloody Sunday" have been received.
Departmental Environment Policies
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who is the Minister responsible for considering the environmental implications of all of his Department's policies ; when that person was appointed ; what actions his Department has taken since the appointment of a responsible Minister ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : I have recently been appointed as the Minister for these policies within Northern Ireland. I am now taking forward the policies outlined in the White Paper on "This Common Inheritance" and the first-year report on that White Paper, as they relate to Northern Ireland.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Disability Benefits
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the current number of applications still outstanding for disabled living allowance on 1 April, 1 May and 1 June, together with the weekly average for that period of (a) applications submitted and (b) applications cleared.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance 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 the Public Information Office.
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Ms. Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what measures his Department are considering to simplify the application procedures for the disability working allowance, disability living allowance and attendance allowance ;
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on the take-up of benefits of the design of the application forms for disability living allowance and disability working allowances.
Mr. Scott : The introduction of the new claims process for disability living allowance, attendance allowance and disability working allowance has been widely welcomed by both disabled people and their organisations as better meeting the needs of disabled people and putting greater reliance on what they have to say about their own disabilities. Nevertheless, we are monitoring closely the effectiveness of the claim packs and process.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many appeals have been heard by the disability appeal tribunals to date ; what percentage of these have concerned (a) disability living allowance care component and (b) disability living allowance mobility component ; and how many more are listed for hearing.
Mr. Scott : I have been informed by the office of the president of the Independent Tribunal Service that up to 10 June 1,436 appeals have been heard by disability appeal tribunals. These were all mobility allowance appeals.
On 8 June there were 317 cases listed for hearing.
Social Fund
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants of income support were repaying social fund loans during March ; and how many of these were (a) under 60 years, (b) over 60 years and (c) in receipt of a disability premium.
Mr. Scott : The information available is in the table. It is not possible to isolate the figures for income support recipients alone.
|Number
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total loans being repaid |589,758
Loans being repaid by people under 60 (including)
people in receipt of Disability Premium) |571,911
Loans being repaid by people over 60 |17,847
Loans being repaid by people in receipt of
Disability Premium |33,857
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Moray of 8 June, Official Report, column 6, what was the 1992-93 social fund allocation ; what was the total of social fund payments made in 1991-92, adjusted for inflation ; and what is the difference between the estimated monthly social fund expenditures for 1992-93 and those of March 1992 expenditures.
Mr. Scott : Information about 1991-92 was contained in my reply to the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) on 2 June at column 481. Details of social fund discretionary budget allocations and discretionary monthly expenditure are in the Library. Monthly expenditure for 1992-93 will not be known until the end of the financial year.
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Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish figures showing (a) the gross and (b) the net social fund budget on a per capita basis of the number of income support claimants in (i) cash and (ii) real terms for the years 1988 -89, 1989-90, 1991-92 and 1992-93.Mr. Scott : Information on social fund expenditure in relation to income support caseload is in the table, except for 1992-93 for which information will not be available until the end of the year. Any comparison between net expenditure in 1988-89 and subsequent years should take into account the substantial additional expenditure made possible by the recycling of money received from loan repayments since 1988-89, as reflected within the higher gross amounts.
|c|Social Fund Expenditure Per Capita of Income Support Caseload|c|
|1988-89 |1989-90 |<1>1991-92
|£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross |46.64 |57.76 |70.12
Gross 1992-93 Prices<1> |60.14 |69.87 |73.28
Net |35.27 |31.53 |39.97
Net 1992-93 Prices<1> |45.47 |38.14 |40.97
<1>Provisional
Real terms figures have been calculated using the current GDP
deflator and may alter.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the administrative cost is as a proportion of expenditure on the social fund for each year since its inception, including a forecast for 1992-93.
Mr. Scott : Information on social fund expenditure and administration costs for 1988-89 to 1990-91 is in the Library. Details of administration costs for 1991-92 are not yet available. No forecast has been made for 1992-93.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish the study into the social fund commissioned from the University of York's social policy research unit.
Mr. Scott : We expect the report to be published before the summer recess.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many disability living allowance claims have been refused as a result of the application not being made within the three-month qualifying period ; and what information is sent to people whose claims are unsuccessful for this reason.
Mr. Scott : There have been no such cases. An application for disability living allowance may be made at any time. If the three-month qualifying period has not been completed at the date of application, provided the adjudication officer is satisfied that the customer meets the conditions of entitlement, an award may be made from the earliest date that it is completed.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reviews for attendance allowance are outstanding as a result of the introduction of disability living allowance ; and what is the target time for the processing of these reviews.
Mr. Scott : The administration of attendance allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of
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the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether the target of clearing 60 per cent. of disability living allowance claims within 30 days is now being met.
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