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people aged over 21 years, (b) the number of people aged 18 to 21 years and (c) the number of people aged under 18 years who were involved in each of the last three years ;(3) if he will publish a table showing for each bail support scheme currently in operation in England and Wales (a) the current total cost on a full year basis, (b) the total cost in each of the past three years and (c) the cost per head per week for each scheme in 1991 or for the latest available financial year.
Mr. Jack [holding answer 3 February 1993] : The Home Office probation supervision grant scheme, established in March 1992, makes available grants to voluntary organisations working in partnership with the probation service for a number of purposes, including bail support
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programmes for young adult defendants. Information about the scheme and how to apply for grants under it was sent in March 1992 to all probation services and the major voluntary organisations concerned with offenders. Bail support projects for juveniles are run by or in partnership with social service departments of local authorities. Such projects are also eligible for Home Office funding where there is a partnership with the probation service and the voluntary sector.So far 16 applications under the supervision grant scheme have been made. Of these, five have been approved and the remainder are under urgent consideration. The available information about the two projects already in operation is set out in the table.
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Bail support schemes in operation in England and Wales
Name and location of |> |Number (per year)<1>
scheme |involved by age
|(i) Magistrates |(i) under 18
|court area served
|(ii) Local authority |(ii) 18-21
|(iii) Police force |(iii) over 21
|area
|(iv) Number dealt
|with<2>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bail Charter Scheme (North Wales) |(i) Wrexham, Mold, Hawarden, Flint |(i) 34 |73,412
|(ii) Clwyd |(ii) 18
|(iii) North Wales police |(iii) 23
Surrey Youth Justice Team |(i) All Petty Sessional areas in Surrey|(i) 80 |97,422
|(ii) Surrey county council |(ii) 0
|(iii) Surrey constabulary |(iii) 0
<1> Estimates as shown on application form for Home Office funding.
<2> Information not yet available.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Cider Tax
12. Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the yield from cider tax during the year 1992-93.
Sir John Cope : The yield from the excise duty on cider for the year ending 1992-93 is estimated at £80 million.
Economy (Demand)
13. Mr. Knox : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the level of total demand in the economy.
Mr. Lamont : Real domestic demand has been edging up since the second quarter of 1991. Both Treasury and the majority of outside forecasters expect it to pick up further in 1993.
Financial Services
14. Mr. Hawkins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to make further changes in the system of regulation of financial services ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : My right hon. Friend has asked the chairman of the Securities and Investments Board to review how SIB carries out its regulatory responsibilities.
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Competitive Tendering
15. Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will issue guidelines to Departments in respect of expenditure on the underwriting of compulsory competitive tendering contracts.
Consumption and GDP
16. Mr. Hain : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the percentage changes in consumption and gross domestic product between 1979 and 1992.
Mr. Nelson : GDP is estimated to have risen by 22 per cent. in real terms between 1979 and the first three quarters of 1992. Real consumers' expenditure is estimated to have risen by 37 per cent. over the same period.
Value Added Tax
17. Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the operation of the new single market VAT procedures introduced at the beginning of the year.
Sir John Cope : Early indications are that the new single market VAT procedures have been introduced with minimum disruption to trade. This reflects credit on the preparations made by Customs and by British businesses, often against tight deadlines.
25. Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the operation of the new single market VAT procedures introduced at the beginning of the year.
Sir John Cope : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Mr. Rowland).
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Company Cars
18. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost in the last financial year of tax relief on company cars ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir John Cope : Capital allowances for company cars are estimated to have reduced corporation tax receipts by about £900 million in 1991- 92. The hon. Member would not expect me to make a statement on taxation matters at this time of year.
Retail Prices
19. Mr. Duncan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest figure for the annual increase in retail prices ; and what was the equivalent figure two years ago.
Mr. Lamont : Latest figures show that the retail prices index rose 2.6 per cent. in the 12 months to December. The equivalent figure two years earlier was 9.3 per cent.
Tax Evasion
20. Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amount of revenue lost through tax evasion in the cash economy.
Mr. Nelson : That part of the economy known as the "underground" or "hidden economy" is, by its very nature, unseen and thus unmeasurable. Reliable estimates of its size are therefore not available.
Business and Consumer Confidence
21. Mr. Sweeney : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the autumn statement on business and consumer confidence.
Mr. Portillo : The autumn statement was widely welcomed by business organisations. Recent survey evidence indicates that it has been followed by a marked improvement in both business and consumer confidence.
Car Tax
22. Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the decision to abolish car tax.
Sir John Cope : The abolition of car tax has been warmly welcomed by both the motor trade and the vast majority of retail customers, and the motor industry has received a valuable stimulus.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of car tax on Exchequer revenue.
Mr. Dorrell : The abolition of car tax, announced in the 1992 autumn statement, has an estimated revenue cost of £100 million in 1992-93 and £750 million in 1993-94, including the loss of consequential VAT receipts. However, the Chancellor announced his intention at that time to recoup the cost of abolishing car tax in 1993-94 through other taxes on motoring. This information is set out in the 1992 autumn statement.
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Tax System (Distortions)
23. Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress in eradicating distortions in the tax system.
Mr. Nelson : The Government's main objective in reforming taxes is to improve the performance of the economy and to see that people's choices are distorted as little as is reasonably possible by the tax system.
Balance of Payments
24. Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the balance of payments.
Mr. Portillo : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Greenwich (Mr. Raynsford).
Growth (EC)
26. Mr. Clapham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the prospects for growth in the economies of the European Community.
Sir John Cope : In the autumn statement my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer forecast that average growth in the three main continental European economies in 1993 would be under 1 per cent. A more recent forecast by the European Commission points to growth in the Community as a whole of only 3/4 per cent.
Local Authority Capital Receipts
27. Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is for local authority capital receipts.
Mr. Portillo : The latest estimate of capital receipts in Great Britain for the current financial year is published in table 5.10 of "Statistical Supplement to the 1992 Autumn Statement" which was published on 29 January.
Banking
28. Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Governor of the Bank of England to discuss the banking sector ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor meets the Governor from time to time to discuss a wide range of issues.
Interest Rates
29. Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the level of interest rates.
Mr. Nelson : I have received a number of such representations.
Ozone-depleting Substances
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 30 November 1992, Official Report, column 48, whether he has completed his consideration of a leakage prevention programme.
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Sir John Cope : As part of the HM Treasury domestic policy and strategy for environmental good housekeeping there is a commitment to cease to use wherever possible ozone-depleting substances. In addition to this, the Treasury is committed to a leakage prevention programme for all refrigeration and air conditioning equipment owned by the Department. Work has started on this operation which is due to be completed by 1 April 1993.
European Community
Mr. Jim Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he next plans to meet European Community Finance Ministers to discuss proposals for generating economic growth.
Sir John Cope : My right hon. Friend next intends to discuss measures to promote economic recovery with his European Community colleagues at the meeting of the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers on 15 February.
Inflation
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many months over the last year the United Kingdom inflation rate has been below the EC average.
Mr. Portillo : The United Kingdom inflation rate, as measured by the annual change in the retail prices index, was lower than the EC average inflation rate in all of the 12 months up to December 1992.
National Savings
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes he is considering in the operation of National Savings Bank accounts.
Mr. Nelson : The terms and operation of National Savings Bank accounts are kept under review.
Custom House, Greenock
Dr. Godman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost of the renovation of the Custom House, Greenock, occupied by Customs and Excise staff ; which department met the cost ; and how long the construction programme took from start to finish.
Sir John Cope : The total cost of renovation of the Custom House, Greenock, was £2.9 million and was jointly funded by PSA and Customs and Excise. The construction programme took 24 months from start to finish.
European Investment Fund
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations he has had with the European investment bank concerning the European investment fund ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir John Cope : My right hon. Friend has not had any such consultations.
VIP Tax Unit
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has to expand the workload of the VIP tax unit at Llanishen, Cardiff.
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Mr. Dorrell : There are no current plans to expand the workload of this unit.
National Investment and Loans Office
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes he proposes to make to the running cost limit for the National Investment and Loans Office in 1992-93.
Mr. Nelson : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the running cost limit for class XVIII, vote 12 will be reduced by £28,000 from £1,214,000 to £1,186,000. This reduction reflects lower than expected expenditure on pay and other expenses.
Departmental Costs
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes he proposes to make to the Treasury's cash and running costs limits in 1992- 93.
Mr. Nelson : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XVIII, vote 1 for 1992-93 will be increased by £800,000 from £93,691,000 to £94,491,000 to provide for redundancy and residual costs following the closure of the National Economic Development Office. Total winding-up costs are estimated at £2.5 million, part of which (£1.7 million) is being met from savings on the NEDO grant-in-aid and on Treasury gross running costs. The balance of £800,000 will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure. The gross running costs limit is being reduced by £1,532,000 from £80,891,000 to £79,359,000 following the transfer of CCTA and Chessington computer centre to the Cabinet Office : Office of Public Service and Science ; and the transfer of savings to fund part of the NEDO residual costs and capital expenditure.
Registry of Friendly Societies
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes he proposes to make to the cash and running costs limit of the Registry of Friendly Societies for 1992-93.
Mr. Nelson : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XVIII, vote 11 will be reduced by £2,124,000 from £5,685,000 to £3,561,000 and the Registry of Friendly Societies running costs limit will be reduced by £1,502,000 from £8,869,000 to £7,367,000.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Fund
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan), 19 January, Official Report, columns 215-17, regarding the refusal of community care grants and social fund loans if he will provide comparable information for each year from 1989.
Mr. Scott : The administration of the social fund is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the
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Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. Alan Milburn, dated 3 February 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 Social Fund applications refused on grounds of insufficient priority. Information for the year 1989- 90 is not available by local office but you may wish to know that the number of loans and grants refused nationally on the grounds of insufficient priority in that year was 138,997 and 50,342 respectively.
Details of loans and grants refused on grounds of insufficient priority for the year 1990-91 by former Department of Social Security local office are at Annex A. Details for the year 1991-92 are given by Benefits Agency District and are at Annex B.
The figures should be viewed in the light of the increase in Social Fund applications ; from 1989-90 to 1991-92 the number of applications to the discretionary part of the fund increased by 35 . I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. A copy is also being placed in the Library.
Disability Allowances
Mr. Hanson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security to what extent the services of civil service medical officers were made use of in clearing the recent backlog of applications for disability living allowance ; and if he will make a statement on the role of civil service medical officers in this regard.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. David Hanson, dated 3 February 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. You asked to what extent the services of Civil Service Medical Officers were made use of in clearing the recent backlog of applications for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) ; and on the role of Civil Service Medical Officers in this regard.
When the backlog of DLA claims arose following the launch of the benefit a number of measures were taken which I described in my letter of 19 October 1992 to all MPs. In addition, as a temporary measure, the opinions of Civil Service Medical Officers were sought to clarify some of the comments on individual cases to enable adjudication officers to quickly reach a decision. This action was taken on approximately 56,000 claims. However, I must emphasise that the decision on entitlement to benefit is always made by the adjudication officer and at no time has this been altered. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. A copy is also being placed in the Library.
Pensions
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to enable couples, where the woman is of pensionable age and the man is not, to claim a married couple's pension.
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Miss Widdecombe : We have no plans to alter the basic structure of pension provision for married couples.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the average number of years for which a woman currently works prior to reaching the state retirement age ; and for how many years she would expect, on average, to receive that pension ;
(2) what is the average number of years for which a man currently works prior to reaching the state retirement age ; and for how many years he would expect, on average, to receive that pension.
Miss Widdecombe : The average life expectancy for a woman aged 60 is 21.69 years and for a man aged 65 is 14.06 according to the Government Actuary's Department's interim life tables. Information regarding the average length of time for which men and women work prior to state retirement age is not currently available.
Child Support Act
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what representations his Department has received concerning the need for research to monitor the effects of the Child Support Act 1991 ; (2) what plans his Department has to carry out or commission research on the working of the Child Support Act 1991 and its impact on single parents caring for children and on non-custodial parents.
Mr. Burt : We have consistently stressed the importance of monitoring and evaluating the effects of the Child Support Act 1991, as did several respondents to the consultation exercise. Such work will be built in to the Department's research programme. We envisage that this will involve both the careful analysis of management information on the activities of the Child Support Agency and the comissioning, if necessary, of research by external experts.
Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the estimated first year costs inclusive of setting-up moneys of the newly-formed Child Support Agency.
Mr. Burt : The current estimated first-year costs, inclusive of setting-up costs, are £262 million. These are broken down as follows :
|£ million
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Total costs of setting up the agency |146
(b) Total costs of running the agency in 1993-94 |116
One-parent Families
Mr. Congdon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide the latest estimate for the number of one-parent families in Great Britain.
Mr. Burt : The latest provisional estimate for 1991 of the number of one-parent families in Great Britain is 1.3 million. This is due to be published in March 1993 in "Population Trends No. 71."
Departmental Costs
Mr. Sykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes he proposes in the cash limit or running costs limit of his Department for 1992-93.
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Mr. Scott : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate the cash limit for class XIV vote 4 will be increased by £21,426,000 from £2,271,998,000 to £2,293,424,000. The revision takes account of an increase in agency payments to the Department of Employment (class VI vote 2) £31,000,000), a transfer to the Department of Health (class XIII vote 3) of £696,000, of which £646,000 is running costs, a transfer to the Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) (vote 3) of £227,000 (running costs) and a transfer from the Scottish Office (class XV vote 19) of £1,429,000 (running costs). The additional requirements are partially offset by an increase in receipts of £10,080,000 and the balance of £20,920,000 will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
The running cost limit of the Department of Social Security will be reduced by £12,239,000 from £2,537,904,000 to £2,525,665,000. In addition to the running cost transfers included above there is also a net reduction of £12,795,000 to take account of a transfer from running costs to capital expenditure (£25,367,000) and a £12,572,000 shortfall on value added tax refunds.
Family Credit
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will collect and publish data on family credit recipients in each of (a) the major industrial classifications and (b) by employer employing over 1,000 workers.
Mr. Burt : An analysis of family credit recipients, by the occupation of the main earner, is contained in table A1.05 of "Social Security Statistics 1991", a copy of which is in the Library. No analysis is kept of family credit recipients by employer and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Benefits Agency Staff
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for each of the past five years, what was the number of residential courses undertaken by departmental or Benefits Agency staff based in West Yorkshire, the cost of such courses and the reason why it has been necessary for such courses to be undertaken on a residential basis.
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