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Mr. Channon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will instruct the Child Support Agency not to telephone its clients at work without prior consent.

Mr. Burt : The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my right hon. Friend.

Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Paul Channon dated 16 February 1994 :

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency telephoning clients at work.

Normally, the Agency will only telephone a client at work without prior consent where there has been no response to written correspondence and all other methods of communication have failed. We are very aware of the sensitive nature of our work and I can assure you that staff who deal directly with the public are fully trained and equipped with the necessary skills to handle such calls with sensitivity and tact.

I hope you find this reply helpful.

Case Papers

Mr. Channon : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the practice in the Benefits Agency about destroying case papers; and if he will issue guidance requiring that case papers should not be destroyed while active inquiries into a case are going on.

Mr. Burt : The administration of income support is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my right hon. Friend.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Paul Channon, dated 16 February 1994 :

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking about the practice within the Benefits Agency (BA) for destroying casepapers. The BA policy on destruction of documents requires all Incoms Support (IS) cases to be examined at certain times and unnecessary documents to be destroyed. This policy represents an attempt to balance the needs of customers against the administrative expense of keeping all the documents indefinitely. There is no legal basis to the policy as the Agency, like other public bodies, is only legally required to retain samples of cases to conform with the Public Records Act.

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Column 978

New working methods, particularly computerisation, led to the need to review the Benefits Agency's document retention policy and a study was commissioned to consider the retention and storage of documents ; the outcome of this study was to issue new guidance to all BA District Offices at the end of January 1994. This guidance reaffirms that IS casepapers are retained, as before, for a minimum of 18 months after the claim becomes dormant. It also provides clear and specific instructions to staff that casepapers should not be destroyed while active enquiries into the case are ongoing. I hope you find this reply helpful.

Invalidity Benefit

Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the average value of benefit to those in receipt of invalidity benefit in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney and Wales.

Mr. Scott : On 4 April 1992, the latest date for which information is available, the average weekly amount of invalidity benefit for recipients in Wales was £75.43 . Information for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney is not available.

Note : Based on a 1 per cent. sample of claimants in Great Britain.

Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the number of existing recipients of invalidity benefit in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney who will be disqualified under the new capacity test.

Mr. Scott : Numbers cannot be reliably estimated at this stage, but our current estimate is that around 200,000 of the people who initially transfer to incapacity benefit from invalidity benefit may fail to satisfy the test within the first two years. This estimate has not been broken down by district.

Laryngectomy

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consideration he has given to recognising those who suffer from laryngectomy as having a disability ; if he will assess sufferers' special heating requirements ; if he will treat them as disabled people for purposes of VAT heating relief ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Burt : The disability living allowance advisory board is currently considering including in the "Disability Handbook" specific guidance on the care and mobility needs of people who have had a laryngectomy. Such people may be entitled to receive any of the wide range of social security benefits, including disability living allowance and attendance allowance, which are available, subject to individual circumstances. Details of the extra help in respect of VAT on domestic fuel were given in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough and Horncastle (Mr. Leigh) on 30 November 1993 at columns 437-438.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Public Bodies

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who are the members currently appointed to the Sea Fish Industry Authority.

Mr. Jack : The members currently appointed to the Sea Fish Industry Authority are as follows :

Mr. Eric Davey (Deputy Chairman)

Mr. Cecil Thomas Finn MBE

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Column 979

Mr. John Kelly

Mr. Duncan MacInnes JP

Mr. Ian McFadden OBE

Mr. Andrew Pepper

Ms Elizabeth Stevenson

Mr. David Vickers

Mr. Colin Warwick

Mr. Frank Ledwidge OBE FCA

Professor Mike Haines

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who are the members currently appointed to the Apple and Pear Research Council.

Mr. Jack : Members currently appointed to the Apple and Pear Research Council are :

Professor Sir C. R. W. Spedding, CBE, Chairman

Mr. A Burbridge

Mrs. C. Clive

Professor D. M. Conning, OBE

Dr. O. Doubleday

Mr. A. Jackson

Mr. B. D. Neame, CBE

Mr. C. Rose

Mr. N. Stangroom

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who are the members currently appointed to the Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal.

Mr. Jack : The following were appointed as members of the Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal in 1991 :

Lord Grantchester (chairman)

Sir Michael Kerry (deputy chairman)

Mrs. J. Bell

Mr. B. Boot

Mr. A. D. Drummond

Mr. J. M. Evans

Mr. T. M. Evans

Mr. W. E. Evans

Mr. R. Harris

Mr. H. Humphreys-Jones

Mr. J. Jenkin

Mr. T. H. Jones

Mr. J. Lethbridge

Mr. C. Muddiman

Mr. J. Nelson

Mr. P. Phillips

Mr. J. Richards

Mr. A. Webb

Mr. B. Youngman

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who are the members currently appointed to the National Food Survey Committee.

Mr. Jack : The current membership of National Food Survey Committee is listed in the table :

Mr. R. E. Mordue

Dr. W. H. B. Denner

Dr. P. J. Lund

Mr. R. U. Redpath

Dr. J. J. Wiseman

Dr. J. A. Beaumont

Dr. C. Bolton-Smith

Professor A. D. Chesher

Professor C. Ritson

Dr. R. G. Whitehead

Dr. L. Yeomans

The membership list is published annually in the report "National Food Survey", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who are the members currently appointed to the Committee on Agricultural Valuation.

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Column 980

Mr. Jack : The members of the Committee on Agricultural Valuation are :

Mr. J. R. Mathias (chairman)

Mr. C. H. Arkell

Mr. F. Grounds

Mr. T. Hammett

Mr. J. H. Harris

Mr. H. B. Knight

Mr. K. R. McDiarmid

Mr. J. A. Pallister

Mr. T. W. Sale

Mr. T. G. Shearman

Mr. R. V. Stone

Mr. R. Thomas

Mr. G. T. Williams

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food who are the members currently appointed to the Board of Horticulture Research International.

Mr. Jack : They are :

Mr. Terry Pryce (chairman)

Mrs. Valerie Boakes

Professor Donald Boulter

Dr. Peter Bunyan

Professor James Callow

Professor Timothy Flowers

Mr. Michael Holmes

Mr. Anthony Mitchell

Dr. Richard Pugh

Miss Sally Smith

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