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Diego Garcia
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what United Kingdom military presence there is on Diego Garcia.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to page 36 of the 1992 Statement on the Defence Estimates, Cm 1901.
Iraq
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the details of all discussions which Ministers or officials of his Department had with International Military Services on its exports to Iraq.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 25 November 1992] : International Military Services has signed only one export contract with Iraq since 1980. Details of this were given to the House on 2 July 1991.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what evaluation has been made by Her Majesty's Government of the effect on Iraq's military capabilities of sales of military equipment or dual-use engineering technology by United Kingdom companies following their attendance at the Baghdad international military equipment exhibition and fair in April 1989.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 27 November 1992] : The Government have studied the Iraqi defence industry and its military procurement activity. Apart from case-by-case assessments of individual export licence applications, no
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specific study has been undertaken by Her Majesty's Government on the effect of exports by united Kingdom companies on Iraq's military capability following the Baghdad exhibition.Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's monitoring of the Advanced Technology Institute in connection with military exports to Iraq.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 27 November 1992] : My Department monitors all organisations which we have any reason to suspect may be trying to procure military technology for Iraq.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by date all written, telephonic and personal communications Ministers or officials of his Department had with (a) Matrix Churchill Ltd., (b) Alliance International Group, (c) Allivane International Ltd., (d) Ordtech Ltd., (e) Autel Ltd. and (f) Consarc Ltd. in regard to Iraq since 1985.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 27 November 1992] : The information the hon. Gentleman requests is not held centrally and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what responses have been made by his Department to requests and reports received from the United Nations Special Commission of Inspection on Iraq or its executive chairman, Rolf Ekeus ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 26 November 1992] : The Government have made a significant contribution to the work of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq as it seeks to implement relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. In response to UNSCOM's requests, we have supplied MoD personnel as part of the UNSCOM inspection teams and some specialist equipment. It is not our practice to comment in detail on the information given to us by UNSCOM.
Astra Holdings
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what papers or records belonging to Astra Holdings plc or its former directors or employees are held by his Department and its agencies ; and if he will make these papers available to Lord Justice Scott's inquiry.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 27 November 1992] : Lord Justice Scott will have access to all relevant Government papers.
It is not the practice of Government Departments to itemise publicly documents in their possession.
Nuclear Tests
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many documents having a bearing upon the health and safety of participants in Britain's nuclear test programme are being withheld from public scrutiny beyond the 30-year rule ; on what grounds this has been done ; and if he will now ensure that all such documents are placed in the public domain.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 26 November 1992] : Much information relating to the health and safety
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of participants in Britain's nuclear test programme has already been released into the public domain. Those documents which continue to be withheld from public scrutiny beyond the 30-year release period of the public records Acts are properly retained on files by the MOD, under section 3(4) of the 1958 Act, for national security and personal sensitivity reasons. The number of such documents cannot be assessed without disproportionate cost, but the files in question will continue to be kept under regular review and will be progressively released as their sensitivity lapses.El Alamein Anniversary
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of El Alamein was made by companies ; and if he will identify the companies and amounts concerned.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding reply 27 November 1992] : The following companies generously provided sponsorship for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the battle of El Alamein : Alvis plc
British Aerospace Defence Ltd.
Perkins Engines (Shrewsbury) Ltd.
Vickers plc
VSEL
Land Rover
British Airways
Sponsorship was either in the form of a cash donation or the provision of a service in kind. Individual contributions are a matter for the companies concerned.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give full details of all official representatives of Her Majesty's Government who attended the Eighth Army Veterans Association 50th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein held at Commonwealth cemetary, El Alamein on Sunday 25 October with, in each case, their travel and expenses costs.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 27 November 1992] : Her Majesty's Government were represented at the El Alamein commemoration ceremony by the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence. Calculation of their exact travel and expenses costs has not yet been finalised.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution was requested from the 8th Army veterans towards expenses of their attending the 50th anniversary of El Alamein ; and if he will refund it.
Mr. Archie Hamilton [holding answer 27 November 1992] : The El Alamein commemoration events consisted of the service at Westminster abbey, a ceremony in Egypt and the refurbishment of the El Alamein museum. The MOD El Alamein project team funded by the MOD, industry and private individuals helped to organise the events. No contributions were requested from either individual veterans or the Eighth Army Veterans Association. All veterans made their own arrangements, and paid for travel to Egypt, most booking packages with travel firms or with the Royal British Legion.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Family Credit
12. Mrs. Browning : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans his Department has to establish a family credit helpline.
Mr. Burt : We will fulfil our manifesto commitment by introducing a family credit telephone helpline from March 1993. This expanded service will for the first time be available to potential family credit recipients rather than simply current recipients and will help support yet more working families.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many family credit claimants, since its introduction, have sought a change in their payments arising from a change in their income during the 26 weeks for which the award has been granted.
Mr. Burt : The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of family credit claimants since its introduction have had a different income when they have made their second 26 weeks claim from when they made their first.
Mr. Burt : Since April 1988, 83 per cent. of family credit recipients, who made a successful claim for a period immediately following a previous award, had a different income at the time of their second claim.
No comparable information is held about those whose second claim was unsuccesful, or about those whose second award did not follow immediately after their previous award.
Source : 5 per cent. sample.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to alter the family credit regulations to allow payments to take account of a claimant's change in income during the 26 weeks for which the award has been granted ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : The majority of family credit claimants receive an increase in their earnings during the 26 weeks of the award. The rule therefore works to their advantage and we have no plans to change it.
Expenditure
13. Mr. Knox : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by what percentage total expenditure on social security has increased since 1979 in real terms.
Mr. Lilley : Expenditure on social security increased in real terms by almost 60 per cent. between 1978-79 and now. Included within this total is a 33 per cent. real increase in expenditure on benefits for the elderly and additional spending on the long term sick and disabled which is one and a half times as great as in 1979. In addition--help for low income families has more than doubled-five times as many families now receive family credit as received family income supplement in 1979.
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Disability Living Allowance
14. Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects the backlog of applications for disability living allowance to be cleared.
Mr. Scott : Steady progress towards achievement of the Benefits Agency's national clearance times for disability living allowance is being maintained and the number of outstanding claims continues to fall.
21. Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken to process a disabled living allowance application.
Mr. Scott : The information is not available in the form requested. Clearance is measured against targets and for disability living allowance these are : 60 per cent. of claims cleared in 30 days and 95 per cent. of claims cleared in 55 days.
22. Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many disabled people will benefit from the introduction of the new disability living allowance.
27. Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people will gain from the two new disability benefits introduced in April.
Mr. Scott : Around 300,000 people are expected to gain from the introduction of disability living allowance and disability working allowance.
Low-income Families
15. Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what extra help, over and above normal upratings, he has made available to help low-income families since 1987.
Mr. Burt : The measures we have taken since 1988 to help low income families will be worth around £1 billion extra from April next year.
Mr. Nicholls : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has of the number of low income families facing marginal reduction rates in excess of 100 per cent. in (a) 1978-79 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Burt : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Blackpool, North (Mr. Elletson) on 3 November at column 94.
Public Sector Pay
17. Mr. Norman Hogg : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what will be the effect on the level of his Department's expenditure on benefits of the proposed public sector pay norm.
Miss Widdecombe : We are unable to identify separately numbers of potential beneficiaries who work in the public sector. However, the effect of the policy for public sector pay announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his autumn statement was taken into account when assumptions about future earnings for the whole economy were made for the purpose of forecasting benefit expenditure.
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Disabled People
18. Mr. Booth : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures his Department has taken to maintain support for disabled people.
Mr. Scott : Since 1979 we have introduced a wide range of improvements. They include the introduction of severe disability allowance, improvements to income support premium for disabled children, and the extension of invalid care allowance to non-relatives and married women. We have aimed to provide a comprehensive and coherent system giving priority to those disabled early in life, who have least opportunity to work and to save and to promote independence and integration. These improvements culminated in the introduction of disability living allowance and disability working allowance in April this year.
By the end of 1992-93 planned expenditure on benefits for long-term sick and disabled people will have risen by more than 170 per cent. in real terms to £13.7 billion.
Invalid Care Allowance
19. Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current earnings disregard in invalid care allowance ; and what was its value three years ago.
Mr. Scott : The earnings limit has been increased each year since 1990, rising from £12 a week in March 1990 to £40 a week in April 1992, a total increase of £28. Subject to Parliament's approval the limit will increase to £50 a week from April 1993.
New Age Travellers
20. Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects social security payments to cease to new age travellers.
Mr. Burt : The Income Support (General) Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 1992, which come into effect on 3 December, will remove entitlement to income support from most unemployed single people and childless couples who fail to seek work actively. So-called new age travellers and others who make no effort to look for work will no longer be able to support themselves at the taxpayer's expense.
Child Support Agency
23. Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans his Department has to provide information about the new Child Support Agency.
Mr. Burt : We are planning an advertising campaign to begin in mid- January with advertisements in professional journals. This will be followed in mid-February by television and radio advertising, and advertisements in newspapers and magazines.
Leaflets providing a broad overview of the changes will be available on request from early December. The main leaflet will be available from mid- February ; this will explain the changes in more detail and how much child support maintenance might be payable in individual cases.
In addition, officials are holding a series of training presentations for advisers and lawyers at 23 locations in Great Britain.
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Support for Families
24. Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures his Department has taken to maintain support for families.
Mr. Burt : The information follows :
Date and change introduced
April 1988
Introduction of Family Credit
April 1989
Extra 50p in IRB child allowances
April 1990
£1 on Family Credit adult credit
Extra 50p on Income Support and Housing Benefit family premium Extra 50p on child personal allowances in Income Support, Family Credit and Housing Benefit
Increase in lone parent premium in Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefit
Increase in lone parent earnings disregard in Housing benefit and Community Charge Benefit
Extra in disabled child premium in Income Support
Extra for expectant mothers through Social Fund maternity payment October 1991
Increase for families on Income Support to ensure they gain from Child Benefit increases
April 1992
Change in Family Credit hours rule and maintenance disregards for lone parents
April 1993
No clawback of amounts included in IRB for Community Charge
Homeless Families (Cooking Facilities)
25. Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will introduce a boarder premium for homeless households living in temporary accommodation who do not have access to cooking facilities.
Mr. Burt : We have no plans to do so.
Computerisation
26. Mr. Duncan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what evidence he has of improvements in the service offered by the social security offices as a result of a computerisation of the benefits system.
Mr. Burt : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-West (Mr. Stern) on 2 November at column 94.
Invalidity Benefit
28. Mr. Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the methods by which he plans to make savings from invalidity benefit.
Mr. Scott : We will streamline the medical control procedures which already apply to all claims for incapacity benefits. People invited for medical examinations will be given more notice, and asked to give reasons if they cannot attend ; and improved reports by examining doctors will reduce the number of people who are invited to attend a second examination. This better use of resources will help to ensure that benefit is paid only to those who satisfy the entitlement conditions laid down by Parliament.
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Pensioners (Diet)
29. Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement concerning his Department's efforts to enable pensioners to have access to and be able to afford a better diet.
Miss Widdecombe : While endorsing the view that everyone should be encouraged to follow a healthy diet, the Government believe that pensioners, like other benefit recipients, should be free to spend their money as they choose.
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