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Special Needs
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many children in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) Rotherham are currently diagnosed as suffering from dyslexia ;
(2) how many curriculum support assistants are currently employed for special needs children in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) Rotherham ;
(3) how many people qualified in dealing with dyslexia are currently employed in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster, (c) Rotherham and (d) nationally ;
(4) how many children are currently classed as remedial in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) Rotherham ; and if he will express these figures as a percentage of the national average ; (5) how many children are currently undergoing the statementing process in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) Rotherham expressed as specific numbers and as a percentage of the national average ;
(6) how many children are assessed as having special needs in (a) Barnsley, (b) Rotherham and (c) Doncaster ; and what amount of resources is currently allocated for children with special needs in each of these areas.
Mr. Forth : This information is not collected centrally.
Training Grants
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the local education authorities who have claimed grant for education, support and training at 65 per cent. on the full cost of funding the initial training of an educational psychologist in circumstances where the individual involved in such training has contributed 35 per cent. of the costs.
Mr. Forth : Local education authorities may only claim grant under the grants for education support and training programme in respect of eligible spending which they themselves incur. They may not claim grant in respect of costs met by the individual being trained. The Department has asked local education authorities to confirm that their claims have been prepared on this basis, but has not yet received all replies.
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Psychologists
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many educational psychologists are employed in (a) Barnsley, (b) Doncaster and (c) Rotherham expressed as a specific figure and as a percentage of the national average.
Mr. Forth : The table gives in column 1 full-time equivalent numbers of educational psychologists employed by the local education authorities in question in January 1992. Column 2 expresses these as a percentage of the average number employed per English LEA. The figures are provided in the form requested, but are not weighted to take account of variations between LEAs in the numbers of children of school age for which they are responsible.
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|Number of<1> Educational|Percentage<2>of National
|Psychologists |Average
|(FTE) |Percentage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barnsley |4.5 |32.6
Doncaster |9.0 |65.2
Rotherham |10.3 |74.6
England |1,505.2
School Expenditure
Mrs. Currie : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list in rank order the shire county education authorities' spending per pupil in secondary schools, relative to the proportion of secondary school pupils achieving five GCSEs at grades A to C, and the national averages for the most recent year available.
Mr. Forth : The table shows school-based spending per-secondary pupil in shire counties in financial year 1989-90, and the average percentage of school leavers obtaining five or more grades A, B or C at GCSE in 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90.
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|c|Shire counties 1989-90|c|
|Net institutional |Percentage of leavers|Rank
|expenditure per |with five or more |(passes)
|secondary pupil |GCSE/O/CSE
|1989-90 |grades A to C
|(£)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Derbyshire |1,975 |26.9 |33
Nottinghamshire |1,955 |24.7 |38
Cleveland |1,915 |27.3 |31
Hertfordshire |1,900 |36.1 |6
Leicestershire |1,900 |28.4 |27
Shropshire |1,855 |32.4 |12
Buckinghamshire |1,850 |41.2 |1
Cumbria |1,845 |29.6 |23
Suffolk |1,820 |26.6 |34
Bedfordshire |1,815 |27.3 |31
Lancashire |1,810 |29.4 |25
Oxfordshire |1,810 |29.8 |21
Norfolk |1,810 |27.8 |29
Essex |1,800 |30.9 |17
Avon |1,800 |30.2 |19
Hampshire |1,790 |32.8 |11
Staffordshire |1,790 |26.6 |34
Warwickshire |1,770 |30.9 |17
East Sussex |1,765 |36.5 |5
North Yorkshire |1,760 |37.6 |4
Humberside |1,760 |23.4 |39
West Sussex |1,745 |39.6 |3
Somerset |1,745 |31.4 |16
Gloucestershire |1,735 |34.3 |7
Berkshire |1,735 |32.4 |12
Durham |1,735 |26.3 |37
Cheshire |1,715 |33.3 |10
Devon |1,710 |29.5 |24
Wiltshire |1,700 |30.1 |20
Cornwall including Scilly |1,690 |33.8 |8
Northamptonshire |1,685 |27.8 |29
Surrey |1,675 |40.7 |2
Northumberland |1,645 |33.4 |9
Cambridgeshire |1,640 |29.8 |21
Hereford and Worcester |1,635 |32.1 |14
Dorset |1,635 |31.5 |15
Lincolnshire |1,630 |26.6 |34
Isle of Wight |1,575 |28.1 |28
Kent |1,570 |28.9 |26
England |1,855 |28.6
Note: Per pupil expenditure figures are derived from LEAs returns of their spending to the Department for the
Environment and their pupil numbers to the Department of Education. Figures are for 1989-90, the latest year for
which actual spending information is available. Net institutional expenditure covers spending on salaries and
wages, recurrent premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services. It excludes
spending on LEA administration, home to school transport, school meals and financing costs of capital
expenditure.
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DEFENCE
Gulf Medal
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the metal specification of the Gulf medal ; when it was authorised to be made ; when the first issue to recipients was made and when the issue will be completed ; if he will make a statement about the quality of the production and speed of issue ; and whether he intends to seek competitive tenders for future issues of medals and awards.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Gulf medal is made of cupro-nickel. The Command Paper for the Gulf medal was approved by Her Majesty the Queen on 10 August 1991, and it was published and laid before Parliament on 20 August 1991. The order for the manufacture of the medals was placed later that month ; the first medals were produced by the Royal Mint in October 1991 and the first issues made in November 1991. The initial dispatch rate of 1,000 medals per week has now been more than doubled, and it is expected that the bulk of issues of the medal will be completed by the end of July 1992. The Government have been satisfied with the quality of the medal produced by the Royal Mint. The possibility of seeking competitive tenders for future medal issues is under consideration.
Nuclear Testing
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if a study of cataracts in British nuclear test participants will be undertaken.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The National Radiological Protection Board considers it to be impracticable to undertake a study of cataracts in all 20,000 test participants. It has, however, agreed to carry out an investigation on a small group of volunteers from the test veterans associations.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will commission a study into potential genetic effects of nuclear contamination in the families of British nuclear test participants.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : A study is to be undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board in conjunction with the Childhood Cancer Research Group, and other organisations into cancer in the children of radiation workers included in the National Register for Radiation Workers. In the light of this study MoD will consider whether to commission such a study for British test participants.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many body scans have been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board as part of its follow-on survey dealing with British nuclear test participants.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what period the Blue Books, recording radiation exposure in British nuclear test participants, have been compiled.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Blue Books record radiation exposures of test participants in the United Kingdom nuclear weapons test programme, both atmospheric and underground, for the period 1952-67.
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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what authorisation has been given by individuals, who served as participants in British nuclear tests, for their Blue Book entries to be made available to the National Radiological Protection Board.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efforts have been made to inform British nuclear test participants of their Blue Book entries and of their rights to access these personal records.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As the vast majority of test participants received a zero dose, it would be inappropriate to contact each service man individually. Test participants are entitled under suitable privacy arrangements to receive the information on their dose records, held in the Blue Books.
RAF Tain
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will halt the use of the air weapons range at RAF Tain by USAF F-111E aircraft until such time as he has received and published the findings of the inquiry into the recent inadvertent dropping of five practice bombs.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : United States Air Force F-111E temporarily ceased using RAF Tain range from the afternoon of 11 June, after an incident in which four practice bombs were irregularly released. This followed the irregular release of one practice bomb on 4 June. USAF investigations into the two incidents found that they had been caused by unrelated technical malfunctions. All F-111E aircraft were checked for both types of fault and were cleared to begin using the range again on 17 June.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual salary range applicable to the Head of the Defence Export Services Organisation.
Mr. Aitken : The present Head of Defence Export Services, Mr. Alan Thomas, is on secondment from Raytheon Europe, Ltd., which pays his salary and is reimbursed by the Ministry of Defence. His current salary is £123,220 a year, subject to annual review, and Mr. Thomas is eligible for a performance bonus within an annual maximum of £30, 000.
Budget
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the budget for development of Battlefield IFF for each of the last five years ; and what is the budget for each of the next five years.
Mr. Aitken : We have funded a number of technology programmes within the Defence Research Agency which are applicable to a range of potential equipments, including Battlefield IFF, although the expenditure applicable solely to Battlefield IFF cannot be separately identified. The Defence Research Agency is now undertaking a research programme aimed at assessing short-term solutions as well as options for the longer term for such a system.
We have not commenced the development of a Battlefield IFF because it has not yet been possible to
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identify a secure and effective solution which would match the complexities of the modern battlefield. As far as our budget for the next five years is concerned, it is not our practice to reveal the details of our forward programme.ENVIRONMENT
Housing Finance, Harrogate
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total debt in the housing account of the Harrogate borough council and the servicing costs for the 1991-92 financial year.
Mr. Baldry : No information is held centrally on a split of total authority debt which relates to housing, nor of the split of servicing costs. Local housing authorities are however required to maintain a housing revenue account where debt servicing costs are charged for housing. These costs are based upon debt figures calculated by formula.
The estimated average debt used in the formula for charging servicing costs to the housing revenue account of Harrogate borough council for 1991-92 is about £18.1 million. The provisional debt servicing costs for the same year are £2.46 million.
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Cumbria
Mr. Hutton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 12 June, Official Report, column 342, whether he will publish the recommendations of the report by Cambridge Economic Consultants into the south and west Cumbrian economies.
City Action
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table of expenditure showing the running costs of each city action team, excluding the funding programmes, for each year from 1987 -88 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Robin Squire : The running costs for city action teams are shared by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Employment and the Department of the Environment. These are estimated as follows :
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CAT |1987-1988|1988-1989|1989-1990|1990-1991|1991-1992
|(£000's) |(£000's) |(£000's) |(£000's) |(£000's)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nottingham/Leicester/Derby |n/a<1> |119 |119 |119 |186
Liverpool |140 |140 |140 |140 |150
London |125 |171 |150 |150 |198
Tyne and Wear |90 |90 |113 |166 |166
Leeds/Bradford |n/a<1> |83 |100 |121 |147
Birmingham |27 |73 |87 |87 |121
Manchester/Salford |87 |85 |81 |106 |131
Cleveland |27 |26 |43 |48 |60
<1>Leeds/Bradford and Nottingham/Leicester/Derby CATs were launched in March 1998.
Lodging allowance Subsistence classification
(paid after 30 nights)
(with effect from 1 August 1991) |1 and 2 |3
|£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Married officer:
Inner London |31.80 |25.60
Elsewhere |29.90 |23.80
Single officer:
Inner London |22.80 |22.80
Elsewhere |21.00 |21.00
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table of expenditure on each city action team by his Department for each year from 1987-88 (a) at current prices and (b) 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Robin Squire : Responsibility for city action teams transferred from the Department of Trade and Industry to the Department of the Environment in December 1989. City action teams expenditure from 1989 has been as follows :
|c|Table B|c|
|c|1987-88 prices|c|
City action team |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92
|£000s |£000s |£000s
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nottingham/Leicester/Derby |629 |647 |642
Liverpool |981 |809 |893
London |765 |890 |816
Tyne and Wear |992 |809 |939
Leeds/Bradford |578 |728 |612
Birmingham |499 |647 |711
Manchester/Salford |414 |728 |657
Cleveland |567 |971 |1,043
Totals |<1>5,425 |6,229 |6,313
<1>A total of 63 per cent. was spent after the transfer from the Department of Trade and
Industry to the Department of the Environment (from 19 December 1989 to 31 March 1990).
|c|Table B|c|
|c|1987-88 prices|c|
City action team |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92
|£000s |£000s |£000s
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nottingham/Leicester/Derby |629 |647 |642
Liverpool |981 |809 |893
London |765 |890 |816
Tyne and Wear |992 |809 |939
Leeds/Bradford |578 |728 |612
Birmingham |499 |647 |711
Manchester/Salford |414 |728 |657
Cleveland |567 |971 |1,043
Totals |<1>5,425 |6,229 |6,313
<1>A total of 63 per cent. was spent after the transfer from the Department of Trade and
Industry to the Department of the Environment (from 19 December 1989 to 31 March 1990).
Newsletter
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many copies of his Department's environmental protection group research newsletter, issued in March, were printed ; to which organisations or individuals it is circulated ; what assessment he has made of its effectiveness based on experience gained from the 1991 newsletter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : More than 400 of the 1992 environmental protection research newsletters have been printed to date. It is circulated to private industry, public corporations, including local authorities, environmental publications, research councils, educational establishments and individuals.
Judgment of the effectiveness of the newsletter is based on the significant number of inquiries received by the Department, and the consequential expressions of interest in applying for inclusion on the tender list for contracts listed in the newsletter.
My Department considers the newsletter an effective device for bringing the formal environmental protection programme of the Department to the attention of the research community.
Column 134
Urban Programme
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table of expenditure on the urban programme broken down into economic, environmental and social categories and cross-referenced to standard regions, showing Greater London as a separate region, for each year from 1987-88 (a) at current prices and (b) 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Robin Squire : I will write to the hon. Member with this information.
Enterprise Zones
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table of expenditure from his Department, to each enterprise zone, including tax reliefs, for each year from 1987-88 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Robin Squire : The table shows annual costs for rate revenue forgone in United Kingdom enterprise zones from 1 April 1987 to 31 March 1990. No comparable figures are available for other enterprise zone allowances.
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|c|Enterprise Zones - Compensation for Rates Revenue forgone|c|
Costs (£'000s) |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90
|(a) = (b) |(a) |(b) |(a) |(b)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England
Allerdale |423 |585 |627 |905 |1,034
Corby |3,464 |4,344 |4,658 |4,711 |5,384
Dudley |4,141 |4,607 |4,940 |7,570 |8,651
Glanford |111 |275 |295 |486 |555
Hartlepool |871 |1,116 |1,197 |1,455 |1,663
Isle of Dogs |6,463 |7,763 |8,324 |12,938 |14,786
Middlesbrough |741 |846 |907 |1,142 |1,305
North East Lancs |916 |1,556 |1,668 |2,438 |2,786
North West Kent |2,175 |3,171 |3,400 |4,361 |4,984
Rotherham |1,205 |2,535 |2,718 |2,553 |2,918
Salford/Trafford |5,747 |7,782 |8,344 |9,790 |11,189
Scunthorpe |1,320 |2,881 |3,089 |3,683 |4,209
Speke |2,015 |2,414 |2,588 |2,919 |3,336
Telford |1,890 |2,332 |2,501 |4,173 |4,769
Tyneside |10,067 |10,455 |11,210 |14,586 |16,670
Wakefield |1,399 |1,572 |1,686 |1,828 |2,089
Wellingborough |1,810 |1,869 |2,004 |2,035 |2,326
Wales
Delyn |607 |622 |667 |826 |944
Milford Haven |582 |631 |677 |779 |890
Swansea |2,249 |2,653 |2,845 |3,777 |4,317
Scotland
Clydebank |2,753 |2,595 |2,783 |2,747 |3,139
Inverclyde |(c) |(c)
Invergordon |366 |209 |224 |n/a
Tayside |1,448 |1,214 |1,302 |1,902 |2,174
Northern Ireland
Belfast |1,304 |1,640 |1,759 |1,989 |2,273
Londonderry |677 |733 |786 |804 |919
(a) actual outturn
(b) 1987-88 prices
(c) included in Clydebank total
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City Grant
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table of expenditure on city grant,
cross-referenced to standard regions, showing Greater London as a separate region, for each year from 1987-88 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1987-88 prices.
Mr. Robin Squire : City grant was introduced in May 1988. Details of expenditure by region and financial year after that date are as follows :
|c|Amount of City Grant approved - 1988-89 prices|c|
Region |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92
|£ million|£ million|£ million|£ million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Midlands |5.34 |18.14 |12.33 |12.84
North West |2.65 |22.82 |13.74 |22.42
Northern |1.50 |6.05 |2.07 |7.30
Yorkshire and Humberside |1.03 |4.76 |14.40 |9.62
London |5.57 |5.31 |2.22 |6.14
East Midlands |9.33 |4.07 |1.50 |6.67
South West |0.23 |3.91
|25.42 |61.15 |46.49 |68.90
|c|Amount of City Grant approved - 1988-89 prices|c|
Region |1988-89 |1989-90 |1990-91 |1991-92
|£ million|£ million|£ million|£ million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Midlands |5.34 |18.14 |12.33 |12.84
North West |2.65 |22.82 |13.74 |22.42
Northern |1.50 |6.05 |2.07 |7.30
Yorkshire and Humberside |1.03 |4.76 |14.40 |9.62
London |5.57 |5.31 |2.22 |6.14
East Midlands |9.33 |4.07 |1.50 |6.67
South West |0.23 |3.91
|25.42 |61.15 |46.49 |68.90
Travellers
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions in 1991-92 local authorities reported difficulties to his Department as a result of the occupation of land in their ownership by gipsies and other itinerants.
Mr. Baldry : Local authorities in England submit to the Department a biannual statistical return showing the numbers of gipsy caravans camped illegally on private and publicly owned land within their areas. Copies of the latest return, for January 1992, are in the Library. Authorities are not required to report to the Department individual cases of unauthorised camping by gipsies and other travellers.
Local Government Officers (Pensions)
Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average annual pension paid to retired local government officers in England and Wales.
Mr. Robin Squire : Based on available data as at 31 March 1991, the average annual pension paid to retired local government officers in England and Wales, under the local government superannuation scheme, was £2,562.
Column 136
Local Government Finance
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his decisions on final caps for the authorities which he has designated for capping ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : I have laid before the House a draft order, under section 104 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, setting out my decisions on the final caps for the eight authorities which have challenged my proposed caps and put forward higher alternatives. For the two authorities--Langbaurgh and Middlesbrough--which accepted the caps I originally proposed for them I have confirmed their caps at the level originally proposed.
For each of the challenging authorities, I have considered all the available relevant information, including the case made to me by those authorities in support of a higher cap, before taking my decisions. For Cheltenham, Gloucester, Greenwich, Hillingdon and Lambeth I have decided to confirm the caps which I initially proposed.
In the case of the other three authorities I consider that some relaxation would be justified. I have decided to increase Basildon's cap by £1.95 million, Gloucestershire's by £2.59 million and Warwickshire's by £4 million. The caps that I have now decided are, in my view, reasonable, appropriate and achievable in all the circumstances of the authorities concerned.
The caps for each of the designated authorities and the resulting reductions in charges are as follows :
Authority |Final Cap |Reduction in
|charge
|£ million |£
-------------------------------------------------------
Basildon |22.10 |41
Cheltenham |9.91 |12
Gloucester |10.15 |3
Gloucestershire |320.50 |18
Greenwich |220.04 |56
Hillingdon |166.27 |5
Langbaurgh |16.50 |18
Lambeth |328.79 |23
Middlesbrough |20.20 |14
Warwickshire |296.99 |8
UNCED
Mr. Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the official United Kingdom delegation to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.
Mr. Howard [holding answer 22 June 1992] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside, gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett) on 9 June, [ Official Report, column 147. ]
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Members' Employment Status
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make it his policy to allow hon. Members to revert to self-employed status.
Mr. Newton : I have no plans to do so.
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Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Lord President of the Council what recent representations he has received about allowing hon. Members to regain their self-employed status.Mr. Newton : None, other than those implied by my hon. Friend's questions.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Residential Care
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 9 June, Official Report, column 136, what studies his Department has undertaken of the proportion of income support for people in residential care required for (a) living support, (b) housing support and (c) care.
Mr. Burt : None. No study has been made by the DSS of specific items of expenditure within income support. The Price Waterhouse survey commissioned by the Department and published in October 1990 did make a distinction between running costs and capital costs. A copy is in the Library.
Unclaimed Benefits
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he could give an estimate of the annual amount and category of social security benefits which are not claimed ; and what measures will be taken to make people aware of what benefits they are entitled to.
Mr. Burt : The latest available information is contained in the estimates of take-up of income-related benefits for 1987, copies of which are in the Library. The Department tries to ensure that people are in a position to make informed choices on whether to claim, but does not have a legal duty to advise people to follow one course rather than another. Social security legislation clearly places the onus of claiming on individuals. One of the major priorities of its Benefits Agency is to enable people to establish their eligibility by making available information which is comprehensive, accurate and easy to understand, and to seek to ensure that claims are handled helpfully and efficiently.
Young People
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he will take in response to the recommendations of the Social Security Advisory Committee regarding the needs of young people.
Mr. Burt : We have read and are carefully considering the SSAC report in respect of administrative arrangements. The Department has already implemented a number of initiatives aimed at easing access to benefit for young people and at ensuring help is available to those at risk. Benefit arrangements are monitored on a continuing basis and are always under review.
Overseas Pensioners
Mr. Donald Anderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the annual cost to the Exchequer of unfreezing the retirement pensions of those now resident overseas but entitled to receive such
Column 138
pensions so that they are eligible for that same sum they would have received had they remained in the United Kingdom.Miss Widdecombe : The estimated additional cost of paying United Kingdom retirement and widows pensions to beneficiaries living abroad at the same rate of benefit which they would have been paid had they remained in the United Kingdom is £275 million a year at 1992 rates. A separate figure for retirement pensioners only is not readily available.
Disability
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the claim by Florence Muriel Marshall, NI No. ZS 506176D for disability living allowance was submitted ; when it is to be resolved ; and if he will make a statement.
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 my hon. Friend and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
Residential Care
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants for (a) residential care and (b) nursing home care there were in each region in May 1991.
Mr. Burt : Information in the form requested is not available. Such information as is available is in the table, taken from the May 1991 annual statistical inquiry, published on 19 June 1992.
|Residential|Nursing
|care |homes
|(thousands)|(thousands)
--------------------------------------------------
England |123.3 |75.8
Scotland |8.4 |9.1
Wales |7.1 |8.8
Great Britain |138.8 |93.7
Personal Pension Plans
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will state the annual sums paid to providers of personal pension plans under the Social Security Act 1986 in respect of rebates and subsidies for contracting out of the state earnings-related pension scheme in each of the financial years including 1991-92 that the Act has been in force.
Miss Widdecombe : The information is in the table.
|c|Payments in respect of personal pensions|c|
|c|used for contracting out of SERPS|c|
Year of |NI rebates|Incentives|Tax refund|Total
payment |£ million |£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |295 |<1> |37 |332
1989-90 |1,712 |685 |205 |2,602
1990-91 |1,492 |512 |172 |2,176
1991-92 |1,777 |599 |204 |2,580
Totals |5,276 |1,796 |618 |7,690
<1>First payments of the incentive were made in April 1989.
Source: Contributions Agency: 100 per cent. count of payments
made.
Water Charges
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his policy for assisting with water charges claimants with dependent children.
Mr. Burt : For most people expenditure on water is one of many items to be taken into account when managing a budget. Movements in the cost of water are incorporated in the index used to uprate the income-related benefits, including income support.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of households in England are dependent on housing benefit ; and how this has changed since the current system of housing benefit was introduced.
Mr. Burt : The most recent estimate, for May 1991, is that 17 per cent. of households in England receive some of their income from housing benefit--rent rebates and allowances. The corresponding figures for previous years are 18 per cent. for 1988 and 17 per cent. for both 1989 and 1990.
National Insurance
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the year end balance of the national insurance fund in each year from 31 March 1985 showing the effect of payments made to the fund under section 16 of the Social Security Act 1990 and section 13 of the Employment Act 1990.
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