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Eastern CairngormsKinveachy Forest
Creag Meagaidh
SOCIAL SECURITY
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many parliamentary questions in (a) the last and (b) the current Session of Parliament have been referred to the chief executive of the Benefits Agency ; what percentage this is of the total number of parliamentary questions tabled in each of these Sessions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Burt : The information is in the table :
Session |Total |Benefits Agency|Percentage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <1>1991-92 |1,270 |110 |7 <2>1992-93 |1,822 |283 |16 <1>31 October 1991 to 16 March 1992. <2>27 April 1992 to current date.
Disability Allowances
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claimants in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) England who were in receipt of mobility allowance or attendance allowance before April 1992 are still waiting for a decision on (i) claims and (ii) appeals for disability living allowance ; (2) how many claimants in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) England have been waiting (i) less than three months, (ii) three to six months, (iii) six to 12 months and (iv) more than 12 months for a decision on (1) claims and (2) appeals for disability living allowance.
Mr. Scott : The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give (a) the number of applications for disability living allowance and attendance allowances referred to the ministerial hotline since it was opened and (b) the number of those which have been cleared, together with the average waiting time.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance and attendance allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 17 January 1993 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of applications for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA) referred to the ministerial hotline since it began and the number of those which have been cleared, together with the average waiting time.
As you are aware an unprecedented number of letters had been received from MPs as a consequence of the large number of claims following the successful launch of DLA. The DLA hotline was set up to alleviate problems experienced when
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MPs were unable to contact the DLA Unit via the main switchboard and to provide up to date information about a specific claim with the minimum of delay.Up to 8 January 1993, 4,607 calls have been received. All the cases have had some action taken and an update provided to the enquirer. The aim is to provide an update to the enquirer within 48 hours of the initial call and this target has been met on average in 97 per cent. of cases. Of the calls received 4,197 have been finally cleared and the remaining calls will be finally cleared when the operational areas have processed the cases. I can assure you that these cases are being monitored to ensure they are cleared as quickly as possible. These calls are not necessarily about new DLA claims, some refer to existing awards of AA and Mobility Allowance (MobA) transferred to the DLA Unit and DLA reviews and appeals. Statistics are not held in a format that enables me to provide an average clearance time. There is no dedicated hotline for AA but calls are treated in the same way and the DLA hotline liaise with the special correspondence section in the AA Unit who are then responsible for responding directly to the MP. Up to 8 January 1993, 483 of the 4,607 calls have been referred to the AA Unit and 13 have not yet been cleared. The target 48 hour update has been met in all cases by the AA Unit. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims to date for the disability living allowance have been completed (a) with the assistance of telephone calls and (b) with the assistance of visits made by the forms completion service staff in the disability benefits centres.
Mr. Scott [pursuant to his reply, 27 October 1992, Official Report, columns 751-52] : The chief executive has written further to the hon. Member.
Carers
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the effect of the registration of a supported lodging as a small residential home, pursuant to the Registered Homes (Amendment) Act 1991 on the benefit entitlement of a typical carer previously in receipt of housing benefit, disability living allowance (care) and the income support severe disability premium and now receiving the residential allowance in their place.
Mr. Burt : The operation of the Registered Homes Act is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. However, I understand that from 1 April 1993, under an amendment to that Act, proprietors of residential care homes for fewer than four people--small homes--which are judged by their local authority as providing both board and personal care, will be required to register with that authority. Homes providing board and personal care for four residents or more are already required to register.
The residential allowance will be introduced from 1 April as part of the new community care arrangements and will be paid to residents who enter a registered home as part of their normal income support entitlement.
People resident at 31 March in small homes, which are subsequently required to register, and who are receiving housing benefit to help with the home fees will have their entitlement to housing benefit transitionally protected for as long as they remain in the same home and otherwise remain entitled to that benefit.
Only those residents in small homes at 31 March 1993, which are subsequently required to register, who are already receiving higher levels of income support will have preserved rights to those higher levels.
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Where a resident has a preserved right to income support, they will also have a preserved right to attendance allowance or the care component of disability living allowance and any associated income support premium.Benefit Entitlement
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the principal provisions governing entitlement to social security benefits of unemployed people involved in self-build projects.
Mr. Burt : People receiving benefits for unemployment involved in self-build projects are subject to the normal conditions of entitlement to benefit ; in particular they must continue to actively seek work each week and be prepared to take a job offer or attend a job interview immediately the opportunity arises.
Independent Living Fund
Sir John Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how the limit for establishing the cost of a placement in a residential or nursing home will be set under the proposed arrangements for the replacement of the independent living fund ; who will assess the needs of a disabled person requiring personal assistance over the level ; whether the cash payment from the new fund will be claimed by the individual or the local authority ; and whether the expertise required by the administrators of the new fund will be the same as that required by the administrators of the fund continuing for existing ILF claimants.
Mr. Scott : The means by which the costs of a placement in residential or nursing care will be assessed for the purposes of the body that will replace the independent living fund are still being considered. An announcement will be made in due course.
The needs of a disabled person who applies to the new body will be assessed and agreed by the local authority, by social workers employed by the successor body, and by the disabled person themselves.
The cash payment from the new body will be paid to the individual. The question of whether the individual or the local authority should make the application is under consideration.
The expertise required by the administrators of the new body will be broadly similar to that required by those administering the fund for existing cases because both bodies have the same fundamental aims. Operational details of the new body are still under discussion.
Sir John Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what provision will be made between now and April for people who would previously have been eligible for funding from the independent living fund who require funding over the level provided by the local authority ; and what provision there is for people whose local authority is unable to make appropriate personal assistance provision between now and April.
Mr. Scott : Those people should approach their local authorities, whose duties to provide services to disabled people are unchanged.
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Housing Benefit
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will bring forward proposals to extend the payment of housing benefit following the death of the claimant to cover a period when the deceased's affairs are being dealt with by family or representatives.
Mr. Burt : The purpose of housing benefit is to help claimants to meet their liability to pay rent. We therefore have no plans to extend payment of housing benefit to cover a period after a claimant's death.
Cold Weather Payments
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the areas in which cold weather payments have been triggered since 1 November 1991, the national climatological message stations involved, the dates in each case between which payments were made, the numbers of people who have received such payments in each of those areas and the total sum paid out during each such period.
Mr. Scott : So far this winter more than 2.6 million people have been sent cold weather payments worth in total more than £16 million. The specific information requested on weather stations, trigger dates and the number of payments made is made available in the Library.
Homelessness
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what relationship exists between the living expenses of homeless families in bed-and-breakfast accommodation paid through income support and the hotel charges paid to landlords by local authorities.
Mr. Burt : Income support provides help with day-to-day living expenses. Housing benefit is available to people in bed-and-breakfast accommodation to help with reasonable charges. Arrangements made between landlords and local authorities are a matter for them.
Care Homes
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is total expenditure on (a) private residential homes and (b) private nursing homes by his Department in 1991-92 (i) in Doncaster and (ii) for Doncaster residents.
Mr. Burt : I understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
War Pensions
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many war pensioners currently reside within the area of Barnsley metropolitan borough council.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is not available. It is estimated that in 1991 6,784 war disablement pensioners and 1,771 war widows were resident in the South Yorkshire and Humberside area.
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Pensioners Living Overseas
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of uprating all pensions currently received by British state pensioners living in (a) Canada, (b) Australia, (c) New Zealand, (d) South Africa and (e) other EC countries.
Miss Widdecombe : The estimated additional cost, at 1992 rates, would be as follows :
|£ million
---------------------------------------
(a) Canada |70
(b) Australia |120
(c) New Zealand |30
(d) South Africa |25
United Kingdom pensions are already paid at full United Kingdom rates to beneficiaries living in EC countries.
EMPLOYMENT
KPMG Management Consultants
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will list the contracts awarded by her Department to KPMG Management Consultants over the past 12 months.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : Contracts for consultancies awarded to KPMG Management Consultants in the current financial year (1992-93) were as follows :
A review of the training development arrangements in the Department's training, enterprise and education directorate. A feasibility study on output related funding for TECs. A workshop on market testing for managers in the Department's business services division.
An assessment of the scope for market testing in the Department's economics, research and evaluation division.
A study into the distribution of HSE publications.
A review of the roles and functions of SEOs/business managers in the Department.
To produce and disseminate (in two contracts) extensions of manuals on key skills for the training of trainers.
The office of manpower economics also awarded the following contracts to KPMG Management Consultants in 1992-93 ;
Work relating to the civil service grades 5 to 7 pay levels survey. Work associated with the schoolteachers' pay review body (two contracts).
Labour Statistics
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the actual and percentage figures for the numbers of adult males (a) registered unemployed, (b) receiving income support and (c) economically inactive for each standard planning region.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 17 December 1992] : The extent of the latest available information is given in the following tables.
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Table 1 Male claimant unemployed aged 16 and over (not seasonally adjusted) in November 1992<1> Region |Number |<2>Per cent. rate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East (including Greater London) |682,597 |13.2 East Anglia |61,310 |10.4 South West |166,416 |12.9 West Midlands |213,030 |14.5 East Midlands |136,919 |12.2 Yorkshire and Humberside |187,784 |13.8 North West |252,333 |14.4 Northern |128,716 |16.2 Wales |102,530 |13.5 Scotland |187,478 |13.0 Northern Ireland |80,542 |18.7 <1>Males aged 16 and over claiming Unemployment Benefit, Income Support and National Insurance Credits at Employment Service local offices. <2>Percentage of male workforce (the sum of unemployed claimants, employees in employment, self-employed, HM forces and participants on work-related Government training schemes). Source: Employment Department. Monthly unadjusted claimant unemployment data.
Table 2 Males aged 16 and over in receipt of Income Support in May 1991<3> Region |Number |<1>Percentage -------------------------------------------------------- England<2> |1,645,000 |8.9 Wales |111,000 |10.4 Scotland |209,000 |10.8 <1>Males in receipt of Income Support as a percentage of the male population aged 16 and over. Population figures were obtained from the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) and apply to mid 1991. <2>Data is not available for the standard regions of England. <3>No data is available for Northern Ireland. Source: Department of Social Security (DSS). Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiry May 1991.
Table 3 Males aged 16 and over economically inactive in summer 1992<2> Region |Number |Percentage rate<1> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East (including Greater London) |1,560,986 |23.5 East Anglia |191,950 |24.0 South West |471,183 |26.2 West Midlands |494,279 |24.6 East Midlands |391,411 |25.1 Yorkshire and Humberside |501,305 |26.6 North West |654,128 |27.2 Northern |336,087 |28.8 Wales |352,215 |32.1 Scotland |481,026 |25.3 <1>Males economically inactive as a percentage of the male population aged 16 and over. <2>No data is available for Northern Ireland. Source: Employment Department. Labour Force Survey summer 1992.
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DEFENCE
PSA Projects
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts between the pre-privatised PSA Projects and his Department were amended to ensure a greater proportion of (a) contract costs and (b) fee income became due in the period preceding the transfer of projects to the private sector.
Mr. Aitken : None. The only revisions made were to total fees where the level was considered to be disproportionate to the contract costs and the work involved. This negotiation was unconnected to the sale of PSA Projects.
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what value of new work the MOD has guaranteed to PSA Projects Ltd ; and how the MOD will ensure it receives value for money.
Mr. Aitken : The MOD has a contract with PSA Projects for architectural, design and related services to the value of £8 million. This contract ensures value for money through predetermined prices and its provision for termination if the company's performance is unsatisfactory.
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list each project undertaken by PSA Projects Ltd. for his Department by name and value ; and if he will publish for each of these projects a breakdown of the proportion of fees to be earned at each stage of the project.
Mr. Aitken : The information that the hon. Member requests could not be provided without incurring disproportionate costs. My Department has contracts with PSA Projects Ltd. for some 480 projects with an estimated total value of £4 billion. The phasing of fee payments is related to progress achieved.
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total value of contracted work currently undertaken by PSA Projects Ltd.. at the Faslane and Coulport sites ; and what was the total value of contracts held by PSA Projects for work at the Faslane and Coulport sites on 1 November 1992.
Mr. Aitken : The total value of the outstanding project management task which PSA Projects Ltd. is contracted to undertaken on Trident works at Faslane and Coulport, including costs for employment of consultants, is some £69.3 million. As at 1 November 1992, the total outstanding value of the supply and service agreements for Trident works at Faslane and Coulport with PSA Projects was £81.9 million. The value of other non- Trident work at Faslane and Coulport with PSA Projects Ltd. is about £3 million.
Market Testing
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the MOD's market-testing programme for maintenance work for each year from 1993-94 to 1998-99.
Mr. Aitken : My Department has a rolling programme to complete market testing of property management, which includes all maintenance and new construction jobs up to a value of £300,000, between now and 1999.
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Maintenance projects with a value in excess of £300,000 are now subject to competition.Maintenance
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current total value of maintenance work carried out on behalf of the Ministry of Defence by (a) other undertakings, (b) the PSA building management business divisions and (c) private contractors.
Mr. Aitken : The current value of MOD property management, based on 1992-93 contract figures, is estimated at £593 million, including works costs and fees. Of this some £78 million has been won in competition, including £21 million by PSA Building Management, the balance going to private contractors. The rest of the work remains largely with PSA and there are no other bodies, including MOD employees, undertaking any significant amount of work.
Departmental Land
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will specify the whereabouts of the land owned and leased by his Department and the land over which his Department has rights in Wales, indicating the amount of land area involved in each instance.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.
Research
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many research agreements or contracts have been agreed by (a) the royal aircraft establishment, (b) the atomic weapons research establishment, (c) the royal signals and radar establishment, (d) the aeroplane and armament experimental aircraft establishment, (e) the royal armament research development establishment, (f) the Admiralty research establishment, (g) the chemical defence establishment and (h) the Royal Ordnance factories with universities and other institutions of higher education (i) within and (ii) outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Aitken : In April 1991 RAE, RSRE, RARDE and ARE were amalgamated to form the Defence Research Agency (DRA). The DRA currently sponsors 690 research agreements and contracts within the United Kingdom and two overseas.
The atomic weapons establishment currently sponsors 29 research agreements and contracts within the United Kingdom and one overseas. The aeroplane and armament evaluation establishment, now part of directorate general of test and evaluation, does not currently sponsor any research agreement or contracts.
The chemical and biological defence establishment currently sponsors 66 research agreements and contracts within the United Kingdom and none overseas.
Following their sale on 2 April 1987, the Royal Ordnance factories now are part of British Aerospace plc and I am therefore not in a position to provide the information that the hon. Member requests.
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many research projects in universities and other
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institutions of higher education have been funded under the joint research council-Ministry of Defence research grants scheme in each year since the inception of the scheme.Mr. Aitken : A total of 552 research projects have been funded under the joint Research Council/MOD research grants scheme since the inception of the scheme in 1986. The annual breakdown is as follows :
F
Year |Number of projects
|started
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 April 1986 to 31 March 1987 |64
1 April 1987 to 31 March 1988 |42
1 April 1988 to 31 March 1989 |76
1 April 1989 to 31 March 1990 |143
1 April 1990 to 31 March 1991 |122
1 April 1991 to 31 March 1992 |53
1 April 1992 to 15 January 1993 |52
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list his Department's research contracts currently placed with United Kingdom universities and other institutions of higher education.
Mr. Aitken : It has been the consistent policy of my Department not to release details of individual research contracts at universities and other institutions of higher education, but to leave it to the institutions themselves to confirm their involvement.
Procurement
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of his Department's procurement expenditure was spent in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern ireland and (d) each of the standard English regions during the last financial year.
Mr. Aitken : A geographical breakdown is available only for equipment expenditure, which excludes items such as fuel, food and clothing. This is published in table 1.11 of Defence Statistics, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Defence Lectureship Scheme
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many academics are at present sponsored under the defence lectureship scheme ; and at which universities or other higher education institutions they are based.
Mr. Aitken : There are four academics fully sponsored by my Department under the defence lectureship scheme, based at Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, Birmingham and London universities. My Department also continues to meet the administrative and support costs of two academics at Cambridge university who have come to the end of their lectureship term.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of nuclear weapons withdrawn from deployment by NATO in Europe (a) as a result of unilateral decisions by NATO, (b) as a result of bilateral negotiations with the former Soviet Union and the
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Commonwealth of Independent States and (c) as a result of multilateral negotiations with former members of the Warsaw treaty organisation since 1979.Mr. Archie Hamilton : The number of nuclear warheads deployed by NATO in Europe has since the late 1970s been reduced by some 90 per cent, to a current toal of well under 1,000. This includes the elimination of all ground-launched and tactical martime nuclear weapons in Europe. The withdrawal of some 400 ground-launched cruise missiles and Pershing II missiles came specifically under the bilateral US/USSR INF treaty, other reductions have resulted from reassessments, within the alliance, of NATO's minimum security requirements.
Seismology
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money was allocated by his Department on unclassified work on seismology as a verification technology in 1992.
Mr. Aitken : Funding allocated for this purpose was £1.5 million.
Defence Land
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the establishments of, and land owned by, or leased by, or in which an interest is held by (a) the Territorial Army, (b) the Home Service Force, (c) the Royal Observer Corps, (d) recruitment offices of the armed forces and (e) the cadet forces in Wales.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.
Arms Exports
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark), 3 December 1992, Official Report, column 365, if he will set out the criteria used to evaluate the commercial sensitivity of arms exports.
Mr. Aitken : All information on individual arms exports is normally judged to be a commercial matter between the customer government and the commercial firm concerned. However, in exceptional circumstances such as those surrounding the conflicts with Argentina and Iraq, when the information concerned is no longer commercially sensitive, this rule may be overriden.
Yugoslavia
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what investigations his Department made, prior to 10 November 1992, into the involvement of United Kingdom companies in establishing military production facilities in Yugoslavia since 1984.
Mr. Aitken : Prior to July 1991, applications for licences to export military production facilities to the former Yugoslavia were considered on a case-by-case basis. It is not our policy to discuss the details of individual export licence applications.
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