| Previous Section | Home Page |
Column 938
Creches
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the military bases where creches are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : Creche and child-minding facilities are available to service personnel and dependent parents on bases in the United Kingdom and overseas as a result of local initiatives. Details of these facilities are not, however, held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Child care legislation places no statutory obligation on the MOD to provide creche or child-minding facilities for service personnel or their dependants, and, as with the civilian population at large, service personnel are responsible for making their own arrangements for the care of their children and for meeting the costs involved.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Citizens Charter
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the total amount paid out to date in compensation under provisions of the citizens charter (a) in total and (b) by relevant Department.
Mr. Waldegrave : An estimated £9,383,000 in total has been paid out in compensation under provisions of the citizens charter. This is broken down as follows :
Column 937
Department |Compensation paid|From |To
|(nearest £000)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Rail |4,427 |April 1992 |30 November 1993
London Underground |184 |August 1992 |7 January 1994
Northern Ireland Railways |2 |November 1992 |19 January 1994
HM Customs and Excise |14 |January 1992 |31 December 1993
Benefits Agency |4,071 |April 1992 |March 1993
Contributions Agency<1> |76 |April 1991 |March 1993
Employment Service |89 |April 1992 |March 1993
Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland<1> |520 |April 1991 |20 January 1994
<1> These figures represent payments made from April 1991, four months before the Contributions Agency and Northern Ireland Social
Security Agency charters were introduced.
In addition, in the financial year 1992-93 the Inland Revenue paid £389,000 in compensation for "serious error" as defined in the code of practice "Mistakes by the Inland Revenue" ; and between January 1992 and 31 December 1993 HM Customs and Excise paid £532,000 in repayment supplements.
The privatised utilities also compensate customers for failure to meet service standards. Details of payments are not held centrally.
Column 938
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the latest estimate of the number of inquiries dealt with to date under the citizens charter (a) in total and (b) by relevant Department.
Mr. Waldegrave : Since April 1992, over 5,000 letters have been received in the citizens charter unit. Individual Departments and agencies will, of course, receive their own citizens charter correspondence, but my Department does not hold records on this.
Column 939
Iraq (Visits)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list each of the visits made by Ministers or officials of his Department to Iraq since 1982, giving details of dates, names of Ministers or officials and the purpose of visit in each case.
Mr. Waldegrave : According to the information available, there is no record of either Ministers or officials
Column 940
of the Office of Public Service and Science having visited Iraq since centralised departmental records were begun in 1986.
|
| Home Page |