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Northumberland County CouncilPanache--Ladies hair and beauty salon
Paskins Hotel
Pay Equity Project
Payroll Solutions
Payroll Alliance
Peterborough Software
Peugeot
Police Federation
Polytechnic and Colleges Employers' Forum
Post Office
RJM Business Analysts
Royal College of Nursing (Northern Ireland Board)
Royal College of Nursing
Royal College of Midwives
Royal College of Midwives (Northern Ireland Board)
Sainsburys
Scottish Low Pay Unit
Shell
Southcombe Brothers Ltd.
The Brewers' Society
The Staffordshire Association of Registered Care Homes
The Newspaper Society
The Royal Society
The Law Society
The Labour Party
The Bookshop, Chipping Norton
Trade Union Council
UK Federation of Business and Professional Women
UK Baby Friendly Initiative
Ulster Unionist Council
UNISON--the public service union
University of Glasgow
University of Strathclyde
Wandsworth Borough Council
Waterfront Partnership (for Unigate)
Whitbread Inns
Woking Borough Council
Housing Benefit
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the total number of tenants who received housing benefit in (a) local authority housing, (b) housing association housing and (c) the private rented sector in (i) London and (ii) Great Britain at the latest available date ;
(2) what was the average level of housing benefit paid to tenants in (a) local authority housing (b) housing association housing and (c) the private rented sector in (i) London and (ii) Great Britain at the latest available date.
Mr. Burt : Details for May 1992, the latest date for which information is available, are in the table.
Number of Housing Benefit Cases (Thousands) and Average Amount
of
Benefit (£/Week) in London and Great Britain in May 1992
|London |Great Britain
---------------------------------------------------------------
Local Authority
Number of cases |404 |3,030
Average amount |39.53 |26.45
Housing Association
Number of cases |72 |341
Average amount |40.10 |32.24
Other private rented
Number of cases |187 |948
Average amount |52.46 |40.69
All cases
Number of cases |663 |4,318
Average amount |43.24 |30.04
Sources: The Housing Benefit and Community Charge Benefit
Management Information System 1 per cent. inquiry for May 1992
and
the Income Support Annual Statistical 1 per cent. inquiry for
May 1992.
Notes:
1. The figures are in benefit units and are rounded to the
nearest thousand.
A benefit unit may be a single person or a couple.
2. The information for "Other Private Tenants" excludes that
of Housing
Association tenants.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have been (a) abolished or (b) created since 1979.
Mr. Hague : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 1 February at column 611.
Child Support Act 1991
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made as to the effects of the Child Support Act 1991 on the number of families entitled to (a) family credit and (b) income support, distinguishing between lone-parent families and the families paying maintenance.
Mr. Burt : In the long run it is estimated that increased payments of child maintenance under the Child Support Act will result in some 60,000 to 80,000 lone parent families no longer needing to rely on income support. It is expected that the majority of these will start work and be entitled to family credit. It is further estimated that around 10,000 lone parents already in receipt of family credit will move off this benefit. These estimates are based on data from the family expenditure survey for 1987, 1988 and 1989.
The Act should not have any significant effect on the number of absent parents entitled to income support or family credit.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the expected saving, in real cash terms, of delaying entitlement to the age allowance component of incapacity benefit by six months.
Mr. Scott : Estimated savings are around £10 million per year. Note :
Estimates expressed in constant 1993-94 prices, are rounded to nearest £5 million and are net of offsetting changes in income-related benefit expenditure.
Public Appointments
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which of the public appointments for which he is responsible require advance notice to, and consultation with, the Chief Whip's Office ; and which appointments made since 1979 have been so notified and consulted upon.
Mr. Hague : It is not the practice of Her Majesty's Government to answer parliamentary questions about discussions and consultations between Departments and offices of Government relating to public appointments.
Departmental Finance Limits
Mr. Waterson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes there have been in the cash limits or running cost limits of his Department.
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Mr. Scott : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate the cash limit for class XIII vote 4 will be increased by £1,870,000 from £2,558,124,000 to £2,559,994,000. The revision takes account of an increase of £1,806,000--running costs--offset by a corresponding reduction on Department of the Environment : Property Holdings and other services to Government, class VII, vote 6, an increase of £493,000--of which £484,000 is running costs--offset by a corresponding reduction on Department of Health : administration, miscellaneous health services and personal services, England, class XII vote 3, an increase of £6,000 running costs--offset by a corresponding reduction on Cabinet Office : other services, class XIX vote 1, a reduction of £348,000--running costs--offset by a corresponding increase on Department of Health : administration, miscellaneous health services and personal social services, England, class XII vote 3, a reduction of £47,000 offset by a corresponding increase in Foreign and Commonwealth office : overseas representation, class II vote 1, a reduction of £40,000 offset by a corresponding increase on Department of Employment : programmes and central services, class V vote 1.
Further running cost changes arise from a reduction of £99,000 for services provided by Department of Health and Social Services (Northern Ireland) on a repayment basis, an increase of £692,000 in value added tax refunds and a reduction of £6,920,000 as a result of a reallocation to capital expenditure.
As a result of these changes the running cost limit of the Department of Social Security will be reduced by £5,850,000 from £2, 921,010,000 to £2,915,160,000.
The additional requirements are offset by reductions elsewhere and will therefore not add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Family Credit
Lady Olga Maitland : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects the research by the social policy research unit on the assessment of self-employed earnings in family credit to be published.
Mr. Burt : I have today placed in the Library copies of the report "Measuring Low Incomes : Self-Employment and Family Credit" by the social policy research unit at the University of York.
We welcome this detailed review and plan to introduce a package of measures from April 1994 to improve the family credit service to self-employed families. The fast-track service for people who have recently started work will be extended to self-employed families. Currently the fast track for families of employees clears 95 per cent. of claims received within one week. At the same time the family credit claim pack will enable self- employed people to provide information about their earnings straightaway rather than later. These measures should speed up awards of family credit and make it as simple as possible to get the benefits due to them.
Within the next few weeks the Department will be issuing a consultative document to interested professional associations and bodies representing self-employed customers to seek their opinions on the issues raised by the report.
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Unemployment Benefit
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the annual cost to the Exchequer of paying unemployment benefit.
Mr. Burt : The cost in 1991-92 was £1,604 million. The estimated out-turn for 1992-93 was £1,838 million and the plans for 1993-94 account for £1,886 million. These figures are recorded in table 1 of the Department's third annual report--Cm 2213--a copy of which is in the Library.
Community Care Grants
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women were given community care grants in respect of the purchase of essential furnishings when they were re-housed from Women's Aid refuges in (a) Inverclyde, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland in each of the past three years ; what was the average amount paid to such claimants ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
War Pensions
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for 1Social Security (1) if he will set out his reasons for and the intended effect of his proposal to change the war pensions scheme by amending the Service Pensions Order to exclude diseases caused by the use or effects of tobacco, or the consumption of alcohol, from the definition of injury in schedule 4 to the order ; what
representations his Department has received from the Royal British Legion about the proposal ; what reply he has sent ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what responses he has had from members of the central advisory committee on war pensions to his proposal to change the war pensions scheme by amending the Service Pensions Order to exclude diseases caused by the use or effects of tobacco, or the consumption of alcohol, from the definition of injury in schedule 4 to the order.
Mr. Hague : The war pensions scheme provides compensation for disablement or death suffered as a result of service in the Armed Forces. The long-standing policy of successive Governments has been that the decision to smoke or drink is a personal one, and that smoking and the consumption of alcohol should be regarded as attributable to service in the Armed Forces only where a severely disabling mental condition itself attributable to service renders the individual incapable of exercising personal choice.
The proposed amendments follow a recent decision in the High Court and would ensure that the legislation reflects the policy intention. Nineteen representations from members of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions, including three from representatives of the Royal British Legion, have been received.
Careful consideration is being given to all the representations, which have been both for and against the proposed change. Members of the committee will be advised when a decision has been reached.
Column 841
Touche Ross
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if his Department or any agencies for which he is responsible has engaged the services of the firm Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
Mr. Hague : The Department of Social Security has engaged the services of Touche Ross on the following occasions since 1 July 1993 :
12 July 1993--Extension of contract let on 16 February 1993 to provide consultancy support to the Benefits Agency Accommodation and Office Services market testing projects.
July 1993--Consultancy support to the Contributions Agency's Information Systems Strategy.
August 1993--Quality assurance of the Contributions Agency's management information system.
August 1993--Consultancy support to the Contributions Agency's market test of data entry activity.
6 September 1993--Consultancy support for the development and preparation of an outplacement counselling contingency plan for the Benefits Agency Personnel Directorate.
Pensions
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether married women in receipt of small graduated pensions will be eligible to receive the increase in pension directly attributable to the imposition of VAT on domestic heating fuel.
Mr. Hague : The extra help for VAT on domestic fuel will be paid as an addition to the rate of basic retirement pension or income-related benefit. Married women who receive graduated retirement benefit with either a basic retirement pension or an income-related benefit will receive the extra help. Those receiving graduated retirement benefit only will receive no increase beyond normal price indexation.
EDUCATION
Surplus Places
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has of the number of surplus places that exist in the primary, secondary and special places sectors in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire ; and what percentage this represents of the total number of places in each sector.
Mr. Forth : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Warwickshire, North (Mr. O'Brien) on 31 January 1994, Official Report, columns 517-21.
LEAs (Spending)
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the estimated amount being spent by each shire local education authority on primary education and secondary education in 1993-94 and the likely amounts for 1994-95 if the 1994-95 total is increased or reduced by the proposed standard spending assessment and reduced or increased by any increase or reduction in the numbers entering schools in 1993-94, assuming that such increases or reductions were spread proportionately between the primary and secondary sectors.
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Mr. Robin Squire : The information is not available in the form in which it has been requested. I will write to my hon. Friend.
Teacher Numbers
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list, for each local education authority, how many full-time equivalent teachers were employed in January 1993.
Mr. Robin Squire : The table shows the full-time equivalent number of teachers employed in the maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools sector, including self-governing--grant-maintained--schools, in each local education authority in England at January 1993.
Teacher numbers (FTE) in the maintained
nursery, primary and
secondary sector in England, including
self-governing (GM) schools, as
at January 1993
|FTE of
|teachers
-----------------------------------------
Corporation of London |15
Camden |1,273
Greenwich |2,033
Hackney |1,550
Hammersmith and Fulham |1,024
Islington |1,533
Kensington and Chelsea |696
Lambeth |1,549
Lewisham |1,777
Southwark |1,705
Tower Hamlets |2,232
Wandsworth |1,754
City of Westminster |1,188
Barking |1,353
Barnet |2,597
Bexley |1,753
Brent |2,030
Bromley |2,080
Croydon |2,397
Ealing |2,130
Enfield |2,324
Haringey |1,589
Harrow |1,581
Havering |2,009
Hillingdon |1,843
Hounslow |1,869
Kingston upon Thames |1,051
Merton |1,297
Newham |1,972
Redbridge |1,858
Richmond upon Thames |1,029
Sutton |1,266
Waltham Forest |1,903
Birmingham |9,548
Coventry |2,752
Dudley |2,670
Sandwell |2,959
Solihull |1,857
Walsall |2,575
Wolverhampton |2,467
Knowsley |1,351
Liverpool |4,185
St. Helens |1,679
Sefton |2,515
Wirral |2,963
Bolton |2,517
Bury |1,467
Manchester |4,044
Oldham |2,256
Rochdale |1,851
Salford |2,000
Stockport |2,362
Tameside |2,036
Trafford |1,616
Wigan |3,096
Barnsley |1,696
Doncaster |2,760
Rotherham |2,335
Sheffield |3,866
Bradford |5,004
Calderdale |1,827
Kirklees |3,632
Leeds |6,010
Wakefield |2,741
Gateshead |1,707
Newcastle |2,212
North Tyneside |1,765
South Tyneside |1,325
Sunderland |2,651
Isles of Scilly |28
Avon |7,612
Bedfordshire |4,983
Berkshire |6,080
Buckinghamshire |5,215
Cambridgeshire |5,667
Cheshire |8,072
Cleveland |5,560
Cornwall |3,647
Cumbria |4,211
Derbyshire |8,098
Devon |7,229
Dorset |4,389
Durham |5,239
East Sussex |4,908
Essex |12,033
Gloucestershire |4,090
Hampshire |12,037
Hereford and Worcester |5,441
Hertfordshire |8,280
Humberside |7,740
Isle of Wight |997
Kent |11,980
Lancashire |11,922
Leicestershire |7,570
Lincolnshire |4,808
Norfolk |5,791
North Yorkshire |5,954
Northamptonshire |5,466
Northumberland |2,677
Nottinghamshire |8,508
Oxfordshire |4,206
Shropshire |3,563
Somerset |3,595
Staffordshire |8,357
Suffolk |5,276
Surrey |6,677
Warwickshire |3,961
West Sussex |5,319
Wiltshire |4,596
England |396,331
Genetic Screening
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what response he has made to the Nuffield report on genetic screening in relation to the aspects which affect his department.
Mr. Robin Squire : My right hon. Friend welcomes the initiatives of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in producing this report. He regards it as essential that through the combination of science, religious and health education pupils are equipped to tackle the ethical issues which they will encounter at the various stages of their lives, including those resulting from advances in genetic science.
Column 844
Touche Ross
Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if his Department or any agencies for which he is responsible has engaged the services of the firm Touche Ross or any of its partners since 1 July 1993.
Mr. Boswell : The Department has placed one contract with Touche Ross since 1 July 1993, for a financial management and policy review of the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges.
Education Charters
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the companies commissioned by his Department in 1992-93 to carry out polling and market research in the course of preparing (a) the further education charter and (b) the higher education charter ; and if he will list the areas of research, the questionnaires used and the groups questioned.
Mr. Boswell : The Department for Education commissioned The British Market Research Bureau--BMRB--and Research Services Limited--RSL--for both the further education charter and the higher education charter. BMRB undertook research among students, parents and the wider community and RSL specifically consulted employers. All areas of research undertaken are reflected in both charters.
NATIONAL HERITAGE
Brass Bands
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what action he is taking to seek to ensure the continuation of the tradition of civilian brass bands.
Mr. Sproat : I am keen to find ways to encourage and help civilian brass bands to flourish. I regard such bands as an important element in our British cultural traditions.
I have recently received a number of representations about difficulties confronting some of our most prestigious brass bands. I am aware of the wider economic and social factors that might have contributed to specific instances of difficulty ; for example, for colliery bands.
I am also keen to see the brass band tradition strengthened in schools. I shall be raising these subjects with other Government Departments. In order to gain a better understanding of the position from an arts funding perspective, and of the current state of the brass band movement, I am consulting the Arts Council and the British Federation of Brass Bands.
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