Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 465
Letter from Mr. M. Bichard to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 22 July 1993 :As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many women have had their Invalidity Benefit restored on the basis of hardship in (a) Strathclyde and (b) Scotland as a whole in the most recent period of time for which records are available.
The information has been obtained in the format requested. The statistics relating to the number of women who have had their Invalidity Benefit paid on the basis of hardship following the decision of a Social Security Commissioner on 1 April 1992 in (a) Strathclyde and (b) Scotland are shown below :
|Number ------------------------------ (a) Strathclyde |<1>215 (b) Scotland |<1>228 <1> Of these totals, 203 cases are contained within one District (Clyde Valley District) which also received a much higher number of applications. The high incidence of hardship cases within this District is being investigated. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will give the numbers of persons in receipt of invalidity benefit in the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Benefits Agency district for each year since 1987 ;
(2) if he will give the current number of persons in receipt of invalidity benefit in the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Benefit Agency district.
Mr. Scott : The administration of invalidity Benefit is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the Chief Executive of the 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 Mr. M. Bichard to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 22 July 1993 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will give the numbers of persons in receipt of invalidity benefit in the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Benefit Agency district for each year since 1987 and the current number of persons in receipt of invalidity benefit in that district.
The information is not available in the format requested because the Benefits Agency was only set up in April 1991 and it is not possible to provide the information requested prior to this date. Separate statistics were not kept for invalidity benefit claimants until May 1991 and a yearly count of the number of recipients is not maintained. The latest available figures show that there were 12,614 people claiming invalidity benefit in the Agency's Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale district at the last working day of June 1993. The figures on the last working day of June 1992 and June 1991 are 11,790 and 10,421 respectively.
The statistics provided include a few customers who have claimed but are not receiving invalidity benefit, eg. because there is underlying entitlement which has been extinguished by the payment of a higher overlapping benefit or where termination action has not been completed. These figures were obtained from a 100 per cent. clerical count of cases in the District/Benefit office.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Column 466
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if it is intended to amend the level of assumed income from capital that is taken into account in calculating means-tested benefits.
Mr. Burt : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Bow and Poplar (Mrs. Gordon) on 22 July.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what restrictions are placed upon the payment of unemployment benefit in other EC states.
Mr. Burt : Common requirements for payment of unemployment benefit in other EC countries are that a person is involuntarily unemployed, capable of work, registered and available for work.
Age, period of past employment and contribution record are other factors governing entitlement or duration of payment of benefit. More information can be found in "Social Protection in the Member States of the Community," a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the regulations covering the start date for payment of the state pension following the attainment of retirement age ; and what are the regulations covering the termination date of payment of the state pension.
Mr. Hague : Regulation 16 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987--SI 1987/1968--governs both the start and termination dates for payment of retirement pension.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what efforts are currently undertaken by his Department to secure that payments for rent in advance and deposits for accommodation are available quickly and reliably from the Benefits Agency.
Mr. Scott : The administration of the social fund 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 Mr. M. Bichard to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 22 July 1993 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State asking what efforts are currently undertaken by his Department to secure that payments for rent in advance and deposits for accommodation are available quickly and reliably from the Benefits Agency.
I should explain that help with returnable deposits for accommodation has been excluded from the Social Fund (SF) by direction of the Secretary of State.
However, for rent in advance, help from the SF may be given in the form of a Budgeting Loan (BL), where the applicant has been in receipt of Income Support for 26 weeks,
Column 467
or a Crisis Loan (CL) in other cases ; these loans are interest-free. CLs are subject to an overriding condition that the payment is necessary to avoid serious risk to health or safety. An exception to this rule is where applicants who receive a Community Care Grant on returning to the community, after a period of institutional or residential care, also need rent in advance. Decisions on SF applications are made independently by specially trained Social Fund Officers (SFOs). While SFOs are subject to the law and Secretary of State's directions, they still have considerable discretion about whether to make payment, having regard to the circumstances of an individual applicant. These will include consideration of the nature, extent and urgency of the need. The Secretary of State has set a number of targets for the Benefits Agency one of which is clearance times for budgeting loan applications. The Agency has continued to meet this target, indeed performance improved over the year 1992-93 by two working days, emphasising the Agency's commitment to customer care. Most CL applications continue to be cleared on the day they are made, reflecting the urgent nature of such an application.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this letter will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what percentage of applicants to the crisis fund following the Llandudno flooding were made from people in receipt of invalidity benefit ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) how many applications to the crisis fund he received in the aftermath of the Llandudno flooding ; what percentage of these have been granted ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The administration of the social fund 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. Alex Carlile, dated 22 July 1993 : As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many applications to the crisis fund he received in the aftermath of the Llandudno flooding ; what percentage of these have been granted and what percentage of these were from people in receipt of invalidity benefit.
The Benefits Agency District of North Wales Coast, which serves the area affected by the flooding, received 187 applications for a Crisis Loan from victims of the flood. All of these applications resulted in an award. Eight of the applications (4.3 per cent.) were from people in receipt of Invalidity Benefit.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this letter will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what minimum standards of service he has approved for customers of the disability living allowance unit ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has approved the charter standard statement which was published today by the Benefits Agency. We welcome this
Column 468
statement, which sets out the business of the unit, advice on contacting staff and the minimum standards of service customers of the unit can now expect.The publication of the statement underlines and further extends the Benefits Agency's strategy of maintaining and improving standards of service to its customers by establishing targets for the handling and clearance of claims and answering the telephone and correspondence. By the end of June 874,000 claims for disability living allowance had been made. More than 848,000 claims have been cleared, resulting in 502,000 awards. Early difficulties following the introduction of disability living allowance have now been redressed and I congratulate the unit's staff on their efforts to overcome these problems.
A copy of the statement has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the annual reports and accounts for each of his next steps agencies will be published ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lilley : I have agreed that the 1992-93 reports and accounts for the four social security agencies operating last year should be published as follows : yesterday those for the Information Technology Services Agency, today those for the Benefits Agency, on 30 July those for the Contributions Agency, and at the end of September those for the Resettlement Agency. Copies of all four reports will be placed in the Library.
The Child Support Agency began operations in April this year. Its first annual report will be for 1993-94.
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average sum now paid out annually in occupational pensions for (a) males and (b) females.
Mr. Hague : The average amounts of occupational pension paid in 1990 -91 are estimated as £4,200 per annum for males and £2,015 for females at January 1991 prices.
Note : Source : 1990 and 1991 Family Expenditure Surveys.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the number of people who have opted out of the state earnings-related pension scheme into personal pensions and have now allowed those pensions to lapse.
Mr. Hague : Personal pensions used for opting out of SERPS do not lapse. Membership continues until cancelled either by the individual concerned or by the trustees or managers of the scheme.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the income distribution of the recipients of (a) contributory benefits, (b) non-contributory benefits, (c) means-tested benefits, (d) child benefit and (e) retirement pension broken down into (i) equivalised income bands before and after housing costs and (ii) quintiles on an equivalised basis.
Mr. Burt [holding answer 15 July 1993] : The information has been placed in the Library.
Column 469
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research has been undertaken by his Department into the adoption of environmentally related macroeconomic indicators.
Mr. Nelson : Initial research has been carried out by the Central Statistical Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 24 February 1993 at column 592.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what severance pay Mr. Jacques Attali is to receive following his resignation as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ; what view the Government have expressed on this matter ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : Following his resignation as President of the EBRD, Mr. Attali has decided to waive the compensation to which his contract would have entitled him.
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current salary of each full-time and part-time Crown Estates Commissioner.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : The first commissioner works part time and has a current salary of £33,595. The second commissioner works full time and his salary, including bonus, is £91,046. The remaining six commissioners all serve part time : two are paid £12,455 a year and four are paid £10,455 a year.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the numbers of staff by grade who are employed in Customs and Excise in the automatic data processing functional specialism.
Sir John Cope : The number of staff by grade who are employed in automatic data processing functional specialism is as follows :
|Number ---------------------------------------- Grade 4 |1 Grade 5 |3 Grade 6 |5 Grade 7 |26 Senior executive officers |155 Higher executive officers |300 Executive officers |166 Administrative officers |97 Administrative assistants |350
Column 470
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make representations to the European Community to secure that the Fishguard and Haverfordwest travel-to-work areas become eligible for money allocated through the Konver programme.
Mr. Redwood : Both Fishguard and Haverfordwest travel-to-work areas are eligible for consideration under the KONVER initiative and will feature as such in the operational programme being prepared by the United Kingdom Government for submission to the EC by 31 August 1993.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to collect annual data on the estimated number of children with disabilities in Wales by region and by nature of disability.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Children Act 1989 requires each local authority to keep a register of disabled children in their areas. There are no plans to collect data centrally on the number of children with disabilities.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement outlining what action will be undertaken by his Department resulting from meetings with the Wales Council for the Disabled to discuss the information award scheme.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : As a result of meetings with the Wales Council for the Disabled and the Welsh Consumer Council during 1992, the published information for users, carers and the general public initiative was set up to run one year. The initiative is nearing its completion and awards will be made on 26 July.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which members of his Department attended the Directoria conference in Brussels between 2 to 4 June ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : None. I understand, however, that certain officials from Welsh local authorities attended. Directoria is a meeting for local authority representatives.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will announce a target date for reaching his Department's efficiency target in respect of the timetable for informing all national voluntary youth organisations of their grant level.
Mr. Redwood : The target date for notifying national voluntary youth organisations in Wales of their grant levels for 1994-95 is 31 January 1994.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the number of recorded cases of organophosphate contamination of humans directly attributable to the handling of sheep dips in Wales in each year since 1985.
Column 471
Mr. Redwood : The Government operate the suspected adverse reaction scheme, under which persons who believe that they may have suffered a reaction to sheep dip are encouraged to report full details to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. The number of suspected adverse reaction reports made under the scheme in relation to Wales each year between 1985 and 16 July 1993, which is the latest date for which figures are available, are given as follows. The figures relate to the number of reports, not to the number of people involved.
|Number --------------------- 1985 |0 1986 |0 1987 |0 1988 |2 1989 |0 1990 |0 1991 |10 1992 |25 1993 |12
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what efforts are currently undertaken by his Department to encourage farmers to report any symptoms of illness or depression suffered during or after the use of sheep dips.
Mr. Redwood : A number of initiatives have been put in hand by the Government to help ensure that those who use sheep dip report any suspected adverse reaction to it. Among other measures the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has for a number of years operated a widely publicised suspected adverse reaction scheme, under which persons who believe they may have suffered from an adverse reaction to sheep dip are encouraged to report full details.
A letter was sent in April 1991 by the chief medical officer to all medical practitioners in Great Britain making them aware of the issues involved and alerting them to the need to report details of any suspected adverse reaction to sheep dip. A further letter will be sent to all UK medical practitioners shortly giving further advice on the potential hazards which can arise from misuse of these toxic products.
This letter will draw attention to new leaflets prepared by the National Office of Animal Health and VMD giving detailed guidance on the protection of operators and the environment, including medical advice to doctors and users, and the need to report suspected adverse reactions to the VMD. The leaflet has been circulated to all sheep farmers in the UK and made widely available from HSE, Agricultural Departments and other outlets within the agricultural industry.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to secure that all new planning permissions for mineral extraction are limited to no more than 20 years, and the revision of existing permissions with the imposition of a 20-year time limit.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : A consultation paper issued last year sought views on ways in which old minerals permissions could be updated and on possible mechanisms for ensuring future periodic updating of minerals permissions generally. The paper set out possible options,
Column 472
one of which was that the current 60-year time limit on pre-1982 minerals permissions be reduced. We hope to consult further on detailed proposals later this year. There are no proposals to change the duration of those minerals permissions granted since 22 February 1982 on which guidance is given in minerals planning guidance note 2.Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the number and percentages of children under the age of 18 years who were looked after by local authorities in March 1991 and March 1992 in Wales under the care of (a) foster placements, (b) community homes, (c) registered voluntary and private homes, (d) under placement with parent registration and (e) in other accommodation.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Information on the number of children in Wales looked after by local authorities at 31 March 1992 is not yet available. The available information for children in care at 31 March 1991 is given in the following table :
U Accommodation |Number of children |Percentage of total ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Foster placements |1,950 |61.4 Community homes |528 |16.6 Registered voluntary and private homes |18 |0.6 Under charge of parent |434 |13.7 Other accommodation |247 |7.8 |------- |------- Total of all children |3,177 |100.0
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has on the numbers of children looked after in March 1992 and in care in March 1991 in Wales ; and if he will indicate (a) total numbers, (b) those granted care orders, (c) those given section 20 voluntary arrangements, (d) single placements, (e) those given Section 20 under private care arrangements, (f) those on remand or in detention and (g) any other categorisation.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Informr children in care at 31 March 1991 is given in the following table :
Legal Status |Number of children |in care ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On remand, committed or detained |26 Subject to interim care order |106 Section 2 Child Care Act 1980 (voluntary care) |1,246 Under care orders |1,799 |------- Total all children |3,177
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has on the number of cases of young people under the age of 17 years running away from residential care homes in Wales, by local authority area.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The available information on children and young people running away from residential care relates to children who have absconded for more than
Column 473
one week on the date that the statistics are collected. The latest available information relates to 31 March 1991 and is shown in the following table.Aged 16 to 17 years<1> Local Authority |Boys |Girls |Total -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clwyd |- |- |- Dyfed |- |- |- Gwent |1 |- |1 Gwynedd |- |- |- Mid Glamorgan |- |1 |1 Powys |- |- |- South Glamorgan |4 |2 |6 West Glamorgan |- |- |- Wales |5 |3 |8 <1> There were no children aged under 16 years who had absconded for more than one week.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish figures showing the rate per 1,000 population under the age of 18 years who were removed to a place of safety in each local authority area in Wales in 1987, 1989 and 1991.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information requested is shown in the following table :
Number of Rate per 1,000 Children removepopulationaged a place of safeunder 18 years |1987|1989|1991|1987|1989|1991 --------------------------------------------- Clwyd |54 |43 |43 |0.6 |0.5 |0.5 Dyfed |40 |20 |95 |0.5 |0.3 |1.2 Gwent |18 |27 |31 |0.2 |0.3 |0.3 Gwynedd |19 |31 |10 |0.3 |0.6 |0.2 Mid Glamorgan |61 |35 |36 |0.5 |0.3 |0.3 Powys |26 |5 |9 |1.0 |0.2 |0.4 South Glamorgan |79 |64 |49 |0.8 |0.7 |0.5 West Glamorgan |48 |13 |27 |0.6 |0.2 |0.3 Wales |345 |238 |300 |0.5 |0.4 |0.5
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish figures showing the number of children moved to a place of safety who were (a) aged under five years, (b) aged five to nine years, (c) aged 10 to 15 years and (d) aged 16 years and over at the time the orders were made in Wales in each year since 1989.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The latest available information on the number of children in Wales removed to a place of safety is shown in the following table :
Age |1989|1990|1991 --------------------------------------- Under five years |115 |144 |160 Five to 15 years |111 |160 |132 16 plus years |12 |9 |8 Total all Children |238 |313 |300
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children in Wales were (a) in care in March
Column 474
1991 and (b) looked after in March 1992 indicating the numbers aged (i) under five, (ii) five and under 10, (iii) 10 and under 16, (iv) 16 and 17 and (v) over 17 years.Mr. Gwilym Jones : Information on the number of children in Wales looked after by local authorities at 31 March 1991 is not yet available. The available information for children in care at 31 March 1991 is given in the following table :
Aged |Number ------------------------------ Under 5 years |549 5-9 years |691 10-15 years |1,303 16-17 years |625 Over 17 years |9 |------- Total |3,177
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what is his policy concerning the Agricultural Wages Board ;
(2) if he will make a statement concerning the future of the Agricultural Wages Board.
Mr. Redwood : We will consider our policy on the future of the Agricultural Wages Board in the light of responses to the consultation paper that we issued on 1 July.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to require all his Department's executive agencies to work within the framework of Agenda 21 of the United Nations conference on environment and development.
Mr. Redwood : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has published a consultation paper on the United Kingdom's national strategy for sustainable development, which is due to be completed by the end of the year. The role that different organisations can play in implementing Agenda 21 will be addressed in this strategy.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what were (a) the number of registrations and (b) the numbers on child protection registers in Wales in (i) 1991 and (ii) 1992 indicating the numbers in each instance caused through (1) neglect, (2) physical injury, (3) sexual abuse, (4) emotional abuse and (5) grave concern.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information requested is shown in the table.
Column 473
Additions to the Numbers on the register<1> register Category of |1 April 1990 to 31|1 April 1991 to 31|31 March 1991 |31 March 1992 registration |March 1991 |March 1992 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neglect |80 |165 |230 |270 Physical abuse |270 |353 |468 |481 Sexual abuse |93 |203 |148 |237 Emotional abuse |30 |68 |93 |102 Grave concern |898 |593 |1,467 |962 Other<2> |21 |46 |54 |60 |------- |------- |------- |------- Total |1,392 |1,428 |2,460 |2,112 <1>Additions to the register may include reclassifications of existing cases as well as new registrations. <2>Other categories are combinations of the single categories (excluding grave concern).
Next Section
| Home Page |