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Area |Target |Performance|+/-
|£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------
Navy |45.0 |62.2 |+17.2
Army |66.0 |56.0 |-10.0
Air Force |51.0 |61.9 |+10.9
PE |10.8 |30.7 |+19.9
Centre |19.1 |23.1 |+4.0
|--- |--- |---
Total |191.9 |233.9 |+42.0
Means of Achievement |As percentage of
|Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Organisational Changes |24
Contractorisation |5
Changes in Manpower Mix |6
Rationalisation |14
Relocation to lower cost areas |1
Utilities and Energy |1
ADP and IT |1
Asset Management |18
Design/Engineering |1
Purchase Improvements |3
Capacity Management |25
Entrepreneurial Activity |1
This related not only to running costs but to Defence expenditure generally, apart from pensions and capital equipment.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the United Kingdom troops in Bosnia have clothing to protect them from the consequences of chemical and biological weapons.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All United Kingdom troops deployed in Bosnia have NBC respirators and protective suits, which give protection against normal chemical weapon agents. They also have detection equipment and wind indicators.
Yugoslavia
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consulation is undertaken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and UNPROFOR prior to the departure of each convoy in the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Prior consultation about individual convoys is conducted between Bosnia-Herzegovina command and UNHCR officials at Kiseliak. Instructions about convoy tasks and delivery points are passed to UNHCR warehouses and to the national contingents. This is supplemented by constant liaison at working level.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action is being taken by UNPROFOR in the former Yugoslavia to protect the chemical plant near Tuzla ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : UNPROFOR is deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina under the terms of United Nations Security Council resolutions 770 and 776 for the purpose of escorting humanitarian convoys. The mandate does not include the protection of any part of the local infrastructure or facilities, such as the industrial chemical plant at Tuzla.
Iraq and Iran
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of British defence equipment exports on (a) Iraqi and (b) Iranian military capabilities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : The Ministry of Defence studies Iraqi and Iranian military capabilities and their military procurement activities. Apart from case by case assessments of individual export licence applications, no specific studies have been undertaken on the effect of United Kingdom defence equipment exports on the Iraqi and Iranian military capabilities.
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Gulf Trust
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution has been made to the Gulf Trust from the polo day at Windsor in July 1991 ; what representations his Department has made on the matter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The event did not generate any income for the Gulf Trust.
Historic Military Buildings Committee
Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the membership, responsibilities and achievements of the Historic Military Buildings Committee since its inception.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Historic Military Buildings Committee was formed in October 1987 and comprises members who are experts in their fields from both the private and public sectors. It is an advisory group and its terms of reference are
"To consider issues concerning the upkeep of historic buildings on the Defence Estate ; to consider the future of historic buildings on the Defence Estate for which there is no current defence use ; and to advise on ways in which they might be preserved, either through a new defence use or through disposal in a manner sympathetic to their character".
The committee has provided advice on a number of individual sites as well as advising on more general issues such as maintenance of historic buildings. Current membership is :
Viscount Cranborne--Under Secretary of State for Defence. Professor W. Whitfield--Architect, William Whitfield and Partners and Commissioner, Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission. Mr. S. A. Lipton--Chief Executive, Stanhope Properties Plc. Dr. J. R. B. Taylor--Architect and Research Consultant.
Head of London Region, English Heritage.
Head of Heritage Division, Department of the Environment. Director General of Design Services and Adviser on Architectural Matters, Department of the Environment.
Head of Infrastructure and Logistics (Infrastructure), Ministry of Defence.
Head of Defence Lands Service, Ministry of Defence.
Additional representatives from within the Ministry of Defence attend as required.
Historic Buildings
Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which organisations are responsible for advising his Department on the care of historic buildings and ancient monuments in the ownership of his Department ; and what role is played by the statutory bodies with general responsibilities in this area in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The organisations which advise the Ministry of Defence on the care of historic buildings are :
(a) The Department of National Heritage ;
(b) The Department of Environment (Conservation Unit) ; (c) English Heritage ;
(d) Historic Scotland ;
(e) Cadw ;
(f) Department of Environment for Northern Ireland.
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The Department obtains advice and clearance from the relevant bodies when it intends to either demolish, alter or extend an historic building.Sir Nicholas Fairbairn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to ensure that historic buildings and ancient monuments in his Department's ownership or care are maintained and protected to the same standards as if they were in private ownership.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My Department is fully aware of the important responsibilities which come with the ownership of historic buildings on the defence estate and aims for the highest standards of conservation.
British Legion Centre, Tidworth
Sir Nicholas Bonsor : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals he has to provide financial support for the British Legion training centre at Tidworth.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My Department has no such proposals. The Royal British Legion has however, been successful in securing a grant from the European Community PERIFRA programme towards the cost of building the centre.
Departmental Properties
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 13 November, Official Report, columns 1005-6, how much revenue his Department hopes to raise from (a) the sale of 97 housing properties at Finningley and (b) the transfer of the additional 119 housing properties at Finningley to a housing association ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The method of sale for the 97 housing properties at Finningley has yet to be decided and it would be inappropriate to disclose a figure which could prejudice any negotiations or tender action. The price for the sale of the 119 housing properties at Finningley has been recommended by the district valuer, but it remains commercial in confidence.
Iraq
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has about the use of United Kingdom technology in the Iraqi centrifuge uranium enrichment plant at Al-Farat.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 25 November 1992] : As indicated in the IAEA reports which are available in the House of Commons Library, the Al-Farat sites intended use was as a centrifuge machine manufacturing plant. It was still under construction at the start of the Gulf War. No United Kingdom manufacturing equipment has been found at the facility.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has about the role of the Taji and Hutteen factories in Iraq prior to 15 January 1991.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 25 November 1992] : From United Nations inspection reports, we now know that Taji was a military installation serving armaments production as well as missile storage, support and modification. Al Hutteen was an ammunition plant producing and testing a variety of armaments including artillery rockets and shells.
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Space Research Corporation
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on all meetings held between Ministers and officials of his Department and the Space Research Corporation since 1985.
Mr. Aitken [holding answer 25 November 1992] : I am not aware of any such meetings.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Information Technology
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 30 October, Official Report, columns 922-23, what has been the cost to the Exchequer of the Information Technology Services Agency's visits to the United States Social Security Administration during the last 12 months ; and what was the purpose of the visits.
Miss Widdecombe : Responsibility for the administration of the Information Technology Services Agency is a matter for the chief Executive, Mr. F. J. Kenworthy. He will reply to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from F. J. Kenworthy to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 1 December 1992.
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to the Parliamentary Question tabled by you on 24 November 1992, concerning my fact finding visit to the United States Social Security Administration. As Chief Executive of the Information Technology Services Agency I have responsibility for the Agencys travel expenditure.
The visit referred to in the Secretary of States answer of the 30th of October, Official Report, columns 922-3, took place in July 1992. The main purpose of the visit was to attend a meeting of the 5 Countries IT sub- committee which took place in Ottawa, Canada. This is a group comprised of representatives from the Information Technology Divisions of the Social Security Departments of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The purpose of setting up the 5 countries meetings was to create a forum which is conducive to the sharing of knowledge and pooling of experience. The sub-committee meets a little less than once a year.
Whilst in North America, I took the opportunity to visit the offices of the United States Social Security Administration in Baltimore to look at some of the technical advances that they have made in their utilisation of Information Technology. I was particularly interested in their use of kiosk technology and optical imaging and was keen to look at the improvements in service that this type of technology could offer to the public.
Also during my visit to the US SSA I met with the Deputy Commissioner of Systems, Mr. DiPentima, to discuss the possibility of an exchange of technical staff between our two organisations. ITSA has already been involved in a number of exchanges with the other members of the 5 Countries and these have proved extremely worthwhile ; resulting in a sharing of expertise which could otherwise only have been gained through the employment of consultants at a considerable greater cost.
The total cost of my visit to Canada and America was £5,341.03.
Independent Living Fund
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has for the future of the independent living fund.
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Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) on 24 November at column 597.
Mr. Simpson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements have now been made to replace the independent living fund in Nottingham after March 1993 ; and if he will state whether (a) the replacement for the ILF will continue to be based in Nottingham, (b) curent levels of staffing and finance will be maintained and (c) existing staff in the ILF will be transferred to the replacement unit.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Canterbury on 24 November (Mr. Brazier) at column 597.
Details of the administrative arrangements for the two bodies will be announced in due course.
Child Support Act 1991
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to ensure that a woman will not be compelled to claim maintenance from her child's father (a) before the implementation of the Child Support Act 1991 and (b) afterwards.
Mr. Burt : There is currently no requirement for a mother to co- operate with the Department of Social Security in seeking maintenance from the father of her child, though the great majority do so willingly. From April 1993, parents with care who are getting income support, family credit or disability working allowance will be required to co-operate with the Child Support Agency in seeking maintenance, unless the agency is satisfied that compliance would risk causing harm or undue distress to the parent with care or to any child living with her.
Agencies
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to amend targets set for his next steps agencies for 1992.
Miss Widdecombe : By a combination of increasing expertise and improved efficiency, the Contributions Agency is having increasing success in identifying the previously unregistered self employed. Accordingly my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has raised the agency's 1992-93 target to identify those with class 2 liability from 40,000 to 70,000 persons. This will be a more challenging target for the agency's staff to meet.
War Pensions
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations his Department has received from the national chairman of the Royal British Legion concerning his announcement on 12 November on the uprating of war pensions and allowances ; what reply is being sent ; what action he will be taking ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : A letter on the subject has been received from the national chairman of the Royal British Legion. A reply has been sent advising that the views expressed in that letter, and the views of others representing the interests of ex-servicemen and women, will be discussed at the meeting of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions on 3 December.
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Correspondence
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the average time taken by the Ministers in his Department, including himself, to answer letters from hon. Members, in each of the first three quarters of 1992, measuring the time from the receipt of the letter to the dispatch of the substantive reply.
Miss Widdecombe : This information is in the table :
Quarter |Number of letters |Average working days
|taken
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 January 1992-31 March 1992 |4,464 |19.0
1 April 1992-30 June 1992 |2,284 |18.5
1 July 1992-30 September 1992 |3,169 |21.0
Running Costs
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress he has made in achieving the target of a reduction of 1.5 per cent. in his Department's running costs for the present financial year, in the first half of this financial year ; and what specifically has been saved, by what means and in what areas of his responsibility.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department is well on the way to achieving its target of 1.5 per cent. efficiency savings in 1992-93. Approximately £66 million has already been achieved to meet the cash target of £78 million and we expect to exceed that by around £20 million by the end of the year.
The main achievement in efficiency measures to date include, within the Benefits Agency, staff savings from computerisation of IS and pensions. Better education for the Contributions Agency's customers has led to greater efficacy in NIC collection whilst further savings have been made in the transfer of work from IT consultants to civil servants and contractors.
Families
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the cost of the survey on families with children being carried out on behalf of his Department by the Policy Studies Institute ;
(2) what is the purpose of the survey of families with children being carried out for his Department by the Policy Studies Institute ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : The survey of families with children is being carried out for the Department as part of a programme of studies by the Policy Studies Institute. The programme looks at the role of family credit for a range of different families, and will provide better information than is presently available on movements in and out of low income.
The cost of the survey is £20,000.
Child Support Act
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the numbers of parents with care who will incur the 78-week benefit penalty under the Child Support Act 1991.
Mr. Burt : It is not possible to estimate this number within acceptable levels of accuracy. However, it is
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anticipated that in all but a tiny minority of cases of parents with care on benefit will either voluntarily co-operate with the Child Support Agency or will not be required to co-operate because there would be a risk of harm or undue distress to her or her children, were she to do so.Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the numbers of families divided into lone parents and couples, who will be lifted off income support as a result of receiving child support maintenance under the Child Support Act 1991 in the first year of implementation and the following three years.
Mr. Burt : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Mr. Knox) on Thursday, 26 November at column 803.
EMPLOYMENT
Wages Councils
8. Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations she has received against her proposal to abolish the wages councils.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Since 5 November, I have received a number of representations for and against the proposal. Some 94 per cent. of representations from employers support abolition of the wages councils.
18. Sir Fergus Montgomery : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement on the impact on incomes following the abolition of wages councils.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The abolition of wages councils will free up the labour market, increase job opportunities and improve the prospects for many individuals to increase their income.
26. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employees have conditions of work and remuneration covered by wages councils ; and what percentage of these employees are women.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : It is estimated that the wages councils set minimum pay and overtime rates which cover some 2,561,000 workers, aged 21 or over, about two thirds of whom are women.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to her answer of 19 November, Official Report, column 332, if she will estimate (a) the number of wages councils employers in 1988, (b) the number of them who responded directly with support for abolition and (c) the ratio of (b) to (a) .
Mr. McLoughlin : It is estimated that some 250,000 employers were covered by wages councils in 1988. The 1988 consultation document, resulted in 36 individual employers and 37 employers' organisations writing in support of abolition. It is not possible to estimate the ratio of all employers covered by the councils which these letters represent.
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Labour Statistics
15. Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of Britain's work force is currently unemployed ; and what percentage of the European Community's work force is currently unemployed.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The latest available and most up to date figures are published by the OECD. These show an unemployment rate for the United Kingdom of 10.2 per cent. for October 1992 compared with an EC average, excluding Denmark, Greece and Luxembourg, of 9.4 per cent. for September 1992.
16. Ms. Estelle Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies there have been in the west midlands in the last three months.
Mr. McLoughlin : The latest available figures from the quarterly labour force survey show that 32,000 people were made redundant in the west midlands in the three months prior to the spring 1992 survey.
19. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what the change has been in the numbers unemployed for a year or longer since 1 December 1991.
Mr. McLoughlin : Claimant unemployment figures by duration are available on a quarterly basis and are not adjusted for seasonal influences. Between January 1992 and October 1992 the number of claimants unemployed for more than one year rose by 208,635.
20. Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of unemployed people in the United Kingdom, using the same counting base as in May 1979.
Mr. McLoughlin : No such figures are available from the Department. Attempting to estimate how many people would now be registered as unemployed at jobcentres and careers offices if voluntary registration had not been introduced in October 1982 would involve speculation about economic, demographic and other factors.
25. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures ; and what the figures were in May 1979.
Mr. McLoughlin : On the consistent, seasonally adjusted basis, there were 2,867,600 claimant unemployed people in the United Kingdom in October 1992 compared with 1,087,000 in May 1979.
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people in the Carlisle travel-to-work area are not in employment, not on a youth training scheme and not in full-time education.
Mr. McLoughlin : In October 1992 there were 1,143 unemployed claimants aged under 25 in the Carlisle travel-to-work area.
Job Clubs
21. Mr. Brandreth : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement on the performance indicators used in the evaluation of job clubs.
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