House of Commons Hansard Debates for 9 Dec 1994

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Written Answers to Questions

Friday 9 December 1994

OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

Export Credit Guarantees

Sir David Steel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of export credit guarantee finance contributes to arms sales; and what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of this funding as a means of overseas aid.

Mr. Baldry: ECGD supported guarantees worth £1.96 billion in respect of defence contracts in 1993 94. This amounted to 48 per cent. of ECGD's support for capital goods and projects in 1993 94. Export credit cover does not form part of the Government's overseas aid effort, nor is it funded from the aid budget. Export credit is provided as part of the Government's export promotion strategy.

Death Penalty

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries of the British Commonwealth still retain the death penalty; and how many people in each country were under sentence of death on 16 November.

Mr. Baldry [pursuant to his reply 28 November 1994, Official Report, column 502]: The death penalty in Britain applies only to acts of treason and piracy with violence.

Rwanda

Miss Lestor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are Rwanda's outstanding debts to (a) the World bank, (b) the International Monetary Fund and (c) the United Kingdom.

Mr. Baldry [pursuant to his reply, 6 December 1994, Official Report, columns 120 21]: Rwanda's arrears to the World bank currently total $5.2 million.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Prison Statistics

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) boys and (b) girls under the age of 16 years were being held in an adult prison in England and Wales on 10 October 1994.

Mr. Michael Forsyth: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

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Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 8 December 1994 : The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what was the number of (a) boys and (b) girls under the age of 16 years held in an adult prison in England and Wales on 10 October 1994.

The provisional information for 30 September 1994 is the closest to 10 October that is available. On that date ten males and two females aged under 16 years of age were held in adult Prison Service establishments in England and Wales.

Solvent Abuse

Mr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the police greater powers to deal with glue sniffing and solvent abuse.

Mr. Michael Forsyth: The Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985 makes it an offence for retailers to sell substances to a person under the age of 18 if they have reason to believe that the young person intends to use them for the purpose of intoxication. It is punishable on conviction with up to six months' imprisonment and/or a fine up to £5,000. In addition, under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 it is an offence for a person to use threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly behaviour, a sanction which can be used against an individual who behaves in such a way while so intoxicated.

The possibility of making volatile substances abuse a criminal offence was considered by the Government in 1983 in consultation with a range of statutory and voluntary agencies. The great majority of those who replied took the view that to criminalise VSA would be counter-productive, deterring misusers from seeking help and possibly burdening young people with a criminal record. There was also a fear that such a course might put young people in greater danger by making their activities more secretive.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has recently undertaken a study into VSA, the results of which will be published next year. We do not expect it to recommend any changes in the law.

We currently have no reason to believe that a change in the law would be beneficial and have no plans for such a change.

Whitemoor Prison

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Sir John Woodcock's inquiry into the escape from Whitemoor prison will be completed; and when it will be published.

Mr. Howard: I will publish Sir John Woodcock's report as soon as possible.

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of his correspondence with the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Lady Olga Maitland) concerning Whitemoor prison.

Mr. Howard: I shall place copies of the correspondence with my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam in the Library once Sir John Woodcock's report into events at Whitemoor prison has been published.

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Vehicle Checks

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what priority he gives to the targeting of police resources for the purpose of vehicle checks; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Maclean: The priority given to the use of police resources for vehicle checks is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police.

Operation Brink

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received from the West Midlands police force regarding Operation Brink; and what plans he has to recommend the adoption of the scheme by other forces.

Mr. Maclean: I understand that this is a police initiative against those who have outstanding warrants for the non-payment of fines. No reports on this operation had been received prior to the tabling of this question.

The allocation and deployment of police officers on initiatives of this kind is a matter for individual chief constables.

M11 Link Road

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total cost of the policing of the M11 link road protest (a) in order to occupy the premises in Claremont road, Leytonstone and (b) for the project as a whole to date; and if he will estimate the continuing cost.

Mr. Maclean: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the cost of policing the protest in order to allow bailiffs to take possession of the premises in Claremont road was £1, 014,060. Prior to the operation which commenced on Monday 28 November the costs of policing the M11 protest were £1,190,846 giving a total cost to date of £2,204,906. No continuing costs are expected.

Overseas Domestic Workers

Mr. Fishburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce further safeguards for overseas domestic workers admitted to the United Kingdom with their employers.

Mr. Nicholas Baker: I have been considering in consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Employment Department the arrangements under which overseas domestic workers are admitted to the United Kingdom. The Government believe that the majority of employers make satisfactory arrangements for the maintenance and accommodation of such employees while in the United kingdom, but we have been concerned about cases where employers have failed to do so. We have therefore introduced additional requirements at the entry clearance stage in order to ensure that there is no

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misunderstanding about employers' obligations to their domestic workers:

-- employers must give a written undertaking to provide adequate maintenance and accommodation--in particular, a separate bedroom--for their domestic workers;

-- employers must confirm that they have read and understood the note to employers and the leaflet for servants;

-- employers must set out in writing the main terms and conditions of employment in the United kingdom;

-- domestic workers must be given a copy of the statement of the main terms and conditions of their employment at the entry clearance interview, with an explanation of them, and must confirm that they agree to those terms and conditions;

-- the minimum qualifying age for domestic workers has been raised from 17 to 18.

These measures build on requirements already in place that all domestic workers must obtain entry clearance before coming here; must have been in continuous paid employment with the employer abroad for at least the previous 12 months before coming here with a visitor, or at least two years in all other cases; and must be interviewed (at least on their first visit with a particular employer) by the entry clearance officer separately from that employer and receive and understand a leaflet setting out their legal rights and where to go to for help. We believe that the new measures will provide valuable additional safeguards for domestic workers entering the United Kingdom.

ENVIRONMENT

Noise Policy

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his local environment quality division now work full-time on noise policy matters.

Sir Paul Beresford: Four staff in the local environment quality division work full time on policy matters relating to noise and other statutory nuisances.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research he has undertaken or commissioned on the effectiveness of the current noise control framework in dealing with neighbour noise complaints.

Sir Paul Beresford: An inter departmental working party comprising officials from my Department, the Home Office, Lord Chancellor's Department, territorial departments and representatives of the local authorities and police, is reviewing the effectiveness of current neighbour noise controls and will be making recommendations to Ministers in the new year.

The working party will consider available evidence on the effectiveness of current neighbour noise controls, including surveys by local authorities, voluntary bodies and research institutions.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State of the Environment what plans he has to set targets for reducing noise exposure as part of his sustainable development strategy.

Sir Paul Beresford: Planning policy guidance note No. 24, "Planning and Noise" issued in October 1994, recommends exposure levels for new residential

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development near transport and other noise sources. A copy of PPG24 is in the Library.

A number of EC directives ensure the progressive reduction in noise from road vehicles, aircraft and a variety of machinery and equipment.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State of the Environment what research he has undertaken of commissioned on the contribution of poor sound insulation to neighbour noise complaints.

Sir Paul Beresford: My Department has commissioned the Building Research Establishment to study a small sample of complaints about poor sound insulation between dwellings. The research was carried out between 1992 and 1994. The information gained will form part of a continuing review of the regulations for sound insulation.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is his estimate of the proportion of the population currently exposed to night-time noise levels of (a) more than 65 decibels, (b) between 55 and 65 decibels and (c) less than 55 decibels;

(2) what is his estimate of the proportion of the population currently exposed to daytime noise levels of more than 65 decibels.

Sir Paul Beresford: From noise measurements carried out at 1,000 dwellings in England and Wales during the 1990 national noise incidence study it is estimated that at night (a) less than 1 per cent. of the population are exposed to noise levels 65dB LAeq (23.00-07.00), (b) 13 per cent. are exposed to levels between 55dB and 65dB LAeq (23.00-07.00) and (c) 86 per cent. to levels less than 55dB LAeq (23.00-07.00). It is estimated that 10 per cent. of the population are exposed to daytime noise levels of more than 65dB LLeq (07.00-23.00).

Copies of an information paper reporting the findings of the study, which was carried out by the Building Research Establishment, are in the Library.

Empty Property

Mrs. Maddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what statistics the Government have regarding the reasons for private sector dwellings lying empty.

Mr. Robert B. Jones: Some indication of the reasons for dwellings being vacant can be obtained from data about council tax exemptions, collected annually from each English housing authority. This information does not distinguish between dwellings in the private and public sector.

Additionally, broader information on the reasons for

privately-owned dwellings being vacant is provided by the five-yearly English House Conditions Survey. The Department will soon have results from a research project which has tried to identify reasons for long-term vacancy in the private sector.

Single Regeneration Budget

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his statement of 6 December on the single regulation budget, (a) over how many years the total sum is to be spread, and how much in each year, (b) how much of the sum announced is top-sliced from other programmes, (c) how much of the sum announced is new

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money and (d) how any money will be paid; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Curry: As stated in my reply to my hon. Friend the member for Hayes and Harlington (Mr. Dicks) on 5 December, Official Report column 9-10 , the resources available for projects successful in the first bidding round of the single regeneration budget (SRB) have been increased by £25 million in each of the three years 1995 96 to 1997 98.

This brings the proposed funding for the 201 successful bids, announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on 6 December, to £125 million in 1995 96 and to £225 million in both 1996 97 and 1997 98. The 201 successful bids are planned to have lifetimes varying from one to seven years. Over their lifetime they are expected to receive total SRB funding of some £1.1 billion, subject to satisfactory performance and the availability of resources.

A second bidding round will be launched next year and will build up to a full spend of £200 million in 1997 98, with £40 million available in 1996 97 for early funding of successful projects. The resources--more than £800 million in SRB funding over the next three years--for new projects are being released from the provision for programmes which combined to form the SRB, as existing commitments are fulfilled.

Government offices for the regions will be in touch with the successful bidders about arrangements for payment of the agreed funding. Successful partnerships have been informed that approval is subject to agreement of delivery plans and that the continuation of funding will be dependent on achievement of outputs and milestones identified in those plans.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria he uses to select successful bids for funds from the single regeneration budget.

Mr. Curry: The criteria used to select successful bids under the single regeneration budget are set out in the bidding guidance issued on 14 April. Copies are in the Library of the House.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many single regeneration budget bids were submitted from the north-west.

Mr. Curry: The Government office for the north-west received 56 bids for funding from the single regeneration budget.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Child Support Agency

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases the Child Support Agency is currently dealing with; what is the extent of the Child Support Agency's backlog; how long, on average, it takes for the Child Support Agency to deal with a case; and if the Child Support Agency will take on further cases before the backlog is cleared.

Mr. Burt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.

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Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 9 December 1994 :

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

At 30 September 1994 the Agency was dealing with over 766,500 cases; in up to 474,000 of which action had not been fully completed. It was originally expected that a straightforward case would take around 12 weeks to complete, and we would be likely always to have about 250,000 cases in action at any one time. The Agency has already implemented a number of management initiatives to improve performance and operations are kept under review to establish where further improvements may be possible.

The Agency does not produce an average clearance time for maintenance assessments, but between April and September 1994 37 percent of assessments were cleared within 40 days; 14 percent between 41 and 100 days, and 49 percent over 100 days.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which company has been engaged by the Child Support Agency to advise the agency upon its administration structure and procedures; and what is the projected cost for this advice.

Mr. Burt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Adam Ingram, dated 9 December 1994 :

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the consultants engaged by the Child Support Agency.

The Agency is being advised upon current and planned service improvements by Andersen Consulting. I cannot provide you with information regarding the projected cost as this is confidential due to its commercial nature.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated cost per annum of the Child Support Agency proposals to provide DNA testing for fathers in cases of disputed paternity.

Mr. Burt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Adam Ingram, dated 9 December 1994:

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the estimated cost to the Child Support Agency of DNA testing.

The contract for providing the DNA testing service has not yet been awarded, but it is being tendered on the basis that there will be no additional administrative costs for the Agency.

Where paternity is established, the resulting payment of child maintenance will provide a continuing nett weekly gain to either the parent with care, or in certain benefit cases, the taxpayer. In the expectedly small number of cases where the alleged absent parent proves not to be the father and benefit is involved, the Agency will refund the test fees from within existing operating costs.

I hope this reply is helpful.

Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much has been paid out by the Child Support Agency over the last 12 months in compensation for errors or inefficiency; and in how many cases;

(2) how many compensation claims for inefficiency are under consideration in the Child Support Agency.

Mr. Burt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.

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Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Helen Jackson, dated 9 December 1994:

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about claims for compensation from the Child Support Agency.

Over the 12 months to the end of September 1994, payments totalling £900 were authorized in respect of four claims. A further 102 were under active consideration.

I hope that this reply is helpful.

Incapacity Benefit

Mr. Dewar: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the numerical targets for Benefits Agency medical service doctors in respect of the number of medical tests in connection with applications for incapacity benefit (a) in Scotland, and (b) in Strathclyde and the Benefits Agency districts contained within Benefits Agency area directorates 4 and 5.

Mr. Hague: The administration of incapacity 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.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 8 December 1994:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking about the numerical targets for Benefits Agency Medical Service (BAMS) doctors in respect of the number of medical tests in connection with applications for Incapacity Benefit in Scotland, Strathclyde and the Benefits Agency (BA) Area Directorates (ADs) 4 and 5.

The planning of procedures to deal with referrals to the BAMS is not yet complete and, accordingly, the number of cases to be seen by each doctor is not known.

It will be the nature of the cases to be seen which will determine the number seen each day by a doctor as opposed to the area in which the customer resides.

I hope you find this reply helpful.

Mr. Dewar: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many Benefits Agency medical service doctors will be employed in the medical examination centres in Scotland, Strathclyde and the Benefits Agency districts contained within Benefits Agency area directorates 4 and 5.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 8 December 1994:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of doctors to be employed by the Benefits Agency medical Service in the medical examination centres in Scotland, Strahtclyde and the Benefits Agency Districts of Area Directorates 4 and 5 of the Scotland and Northern Territory. In 1995, Scotland will have approximately 70 full time equivalent doctors, in addition to 19 full time medical advisers, all of whom will all be available to examine customers in the medical examination centres. The doctors will be available to examine where needed and will not be based rigidly in one specific location. I hope you find this reply helpful.

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