Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each independent school in Scotland covered by the assisted places scheme in descending order the amounts which each school received for the financial year 1994 95, the number of pupils on the school's roll, the number of pupils covered by the assisted places scheme, the proportion of the school roll covered by the assisted places scheme and the fees charged by each of the schools for assisted places pupils.
Lord James Douglas Hamilton [pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1995, column 351-52]: The information requested is detailed in the following table. The assisted places scheme is administered and statistical information collected in respect of each school session and not by reference to financial years. The information provided relates to fee remission grant allocations for the 1994 95 school session and to pupil numbers in the schools in the autumn term of that school session:
|Total Numbers |of pupils on |Proportion of |school roll |Assisted Place |Fees charged for |Fee Remission |(i.e., Autumn |Number of |pupils of Total |Assisted Place |Grant |1994-95 term) |Assisted Pupils |School Roll |Pupils |Allocation School |1994-95 (£) |Percentage |(£ per annum) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Stewart's and Melville College and the Mary Erskine School |899,000 |2,550 |276 |11 |2,849-3,912 George Watson's College |747,000 |2,044 |249 |12 |2,802-3,876 George Heriots School |684,000 |1,491 |250 |17 |2,706-3,624 High School of Dundee |580,000 |1,143 |195 |17 |2,532-3,607.50 Hutcheson's Grammar School |452,000 |1,821 |146 |8 |3,389 St. Aloysius College |419,000 |1,082 |159 |15 |2,978 Morrison's Academy |405,000 |584 |140 |24 |3,162-3,351 Merchiston Castle School |330,000 |385 |65 |17 |5,391-6,480 Glasgow Academy |324,000 |1,010 |89 |9 |3,738-4,014 Strathallan School 299,000 Autumn claim not yet received 6,165-7,485 Kelvinside Academy |294,000 |546 |82 |15 |3,314-4,135 St. Margaret's School (Edinburgh) |260,000 |73 |670 |11 |2,939.41-3,894.69 Glenalmond College |258,000 |248 |41 |17 |5,687-7,575 The Park School |235,000 |284 |68 |24 |3,330-3,708 Keil School |234,000 |214 |66 |31 |3,795-4,479 Edinburgh Academy |233,000 |902 |54 |6 |4,935 Fettes College |220,000 |475 |36 |8 |4,584-7,305 Laurel Bank School |217,000 |354 |63 |18 |3,825-4,014 Dollar Academy |211,000 |1,108 |69 |6 |3,251.04-3,719.04 Loretto School |205,000 |374 |33 |9 |5,560-7,235 Wellington School |197,000 |354 |51 |14 |3,951-4,290 Kilgraston School |192,000 |271 |54 |20 |3,726-4,161 Robert Gordon's College 190,000 Autumn claim not yet received 3,548 Lomond School |188,000 |493 |52 |11 |4,014-4,119 Rudolf Steiner School |186,000 |257 |56 |22 |2,715-3,549 Rannoch School |173,000 |250 |37 |15 |5,490 Gordonstoun School |171,000 |453 |31 |7 |6,690 St. Leonard's School |164,000 |329 |37 |11 |4,706-5,682 High School of Glasgow |139,000 |992 |47 |5 |3,060-3,987 Craigholme School |130,000 |498 |44 |9 |3,120-3,330 St. Denis and Cranley School |120,000 |174 |31 |18 |4,203 St. Columba's School |117,000 |571 |33 |6 |3,420-3,690 St. George's School |112,000 |886 |29 |3 |3,729.30-4,097.43 Fernhill School |79,000 |326 |29 |6 |1,773-2,768 Belmont House School |73,000 |382 |24 |6 |3,121-3,522 Albyn School |66,000 |415 |19 |5 |3,432-3,536 St. Margaret's School, Aberdeen |55,000 |405 |20 |5 |3,049.56-3,353.10 Kilquhanity School |46,000 |25 |12 |48 |2,430 Beaconhurst School |45,000 |238 |9 |4 |3,990-4,095 Aberlour School |37,000 |110 |9 |8 |4,875 Crawfordton House School |27,000 |45 |6 |13 |4,542 Clifton Hall School |27,000 |120 |6 |5 |4,827 Lachallan School |27,000 |120 |6 |5 |4,662 Craigclowan Preparatory School |25,000 |230 |10 |4 |3,495 Hamilton College |25,000 |742 |14 |2 |1,968.69-2,272.79 Butterstone School |23,000 |58 |5 |9 |4,930 Cargilfield School |23,000 |192 |4 |3 |5,695 Croftinloan Preparatory School |22,000 |81 |4 |5 |5,475 Ardvreck School |22,000 |147 |5 |3 |4,588 New Park School |19,000 |124 |4 |3 |3,951 St. Mary's School |17,000 |95 |4 |4 |4,536 Belhaven Hill School |10,000 |78 |2 |3 |5,039 Drumley House School |7,000 |106 |2 |2 |4,415 Park Lodge School 3,000 No assisted place pupils as yet for 1994-95 school ses2,694
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what annual budgets of each of the local enterprise companies were within the Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Island Enterprise networks in each of the years since these bodies were established.
Column 78
Mr. Stewart [holding answer 2 February 1995]: The allocation of annual budgets to local enterprise companies is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise for their respective networks. I have asked the chairmen of these bodies to write to the hon. Member.
Column 79
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Prime Minister how many persons were recommended for consideration for an MBE, OBE or CBE in 1994; how many were proposed by members of the public via the new procedure; and how many awards in each category were made in 1994.
The Prime Minister: Some 3,000 recommendations were considered for the new year and birthday honours lists 1994, of which around 500 were supported by members of the public. It is not possible to break down the recommendations into categories, but the number of awards made were: CBE 201 awards; OBE 493; and MBE 1,202.
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Prime Minister which Ministers and former Ministers have given evidence to the Scott inquiry.
Mr. David Hunt [pursuant to the reply, 24 January, column 188]: I have been asked to reply.
I wish to add the names of the following as Ministers who have given written evidence only to Sir Richard Scott's inquiry: The Baroness Denton of Wakefield CBE
The right hon. Richard Needham
Mr. Byers: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 26 January to the hon. Member for Dover (Mr. Shaw), Official Report, column 300, what were the total costs of operating the Government Departments and next steps agencies in the economic planning regions; what is the total budget at their disposal; and to which regions they are attached.
The Prime Minister: The running costs of civil departments in the United Kingdom totalled £14.6 billion in 1993 94.
Information is not held by economic planning region and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Prime Minister when (a) he last met and (b) he was last contacted by the chairman of the British Association of Sheep Exporters.
The Prime Minister: I have not met representatives of the British Association of Sheep Exporters and as far as I am aware they have not asked to meet me.
Mr. Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the Government's measures to help the long-term unemployed back into work apply to ex-carers who have been claiming invalid care allowance and who may have been out of the job market for longer than two years.
Column 80
Mr. Hague: An ex-carer returning to work could be eligible for: Family Credit with the extra £10 premium if returning to work of 30 hours or more a week;
the Back to Work Bonus if they had part-time earnings while on Income Support;
the new benefit for couples and single people without children if they were within the pilot areas.
The four-week extension of housing benefit, and the one-year national insurance holiday for employers, are aimed at people who have been continuously unemployed, or a lone parent, for the appropriate qualifying periods--six months for the housing benefit extension and two years for the national insurance holiday. Present plans are that periods in which income support was received while an ex-carer was exempt from the requirement to be available for work would not count towards those qualifying periods. I am considering this particular issue and will write to the hon. Member in due course.
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Child Support Agency computer system was, or is planned to be upgraded, as mentioned in his answer of 21 July 1994, Official Report, column 617 ; what is the total number of client accounts; how many of these client accounts are in arrears; and how many arrears agreements are in force.
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 6 February 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of client accounts and arrears of child maintenance.
The Child Support Computer System is being continually enhanced to reflect policy and operational changes and additional management requirements. Some of the information that you require is now available.
As at the end of November the Agency was dealing with a total of 165,000 accounts that had been set up following the completion of a maintenance assessment for the collection of maintenance through the Agency collection service.
In 26,000 cases the absent parent (AP) was up to date with their payments. In 58,300 they had not met their liability in full and in 70,700 no payments had been made.
There are a further 134,000 cases where an assessment has been completed and the AP agreed to pay maintenance direct to the parent with care.
In some cases, where maintenance has not been paid in full, an agreement with the AP has been reached that arrears of maintenance be rescheduled for payment at a future date. Information on the number of accounts in which there has been an agreement to re-schedule arrears is not currently available. Enhancements to the agency's information systems should provide for this information to be available by the end of the financial year.
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures he is taking to tackle the problems that the Child Support Agency is having in assessing and enforcing child support maintenance from absent parents who are self-employed.
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.
Column 81
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Adam Ingram, dated 6 February 1995:I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about measures taken by the Child Support Agency to improve the assessment and enforcement of child maintenance from absent parents who are self-employed. The White Paper published by the Government on 23 January ("Improving Child Support"--cm 2745) includes proposals to create a new interim assessment for the self employed, together with other measures to address problems that have arisen when dealing with these cases.
The Agency is also considering separately other options available to improve enforcement of maintenance assessments made against self employed absent parents.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many parents with care have currently been waiting (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months, (d) six months and (e) one year to receive their first maintenance payment through the Child Support Agency from the date of first application; and what percentage of applications each group represents;
(2) how many parents with care have waited (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months, (d) six months and (e) one year from the date of first application since the Child Support Act 1991 came into force to receive their first maintenance payment through the Child Support Agency; and what percentage of applications each group represents.
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. Clive Betts, dated 3 February 1995 :
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the time taken for parents with care to receive their first maintenance payment through the Child Support Agency.
The precise information that you require does not need to be collected in the form that you mention, however, information that you may find helpful will soon be collected; I will write to you again once it is available.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the extra workload created by his recent proposals for changes to the operation of the Child Support Act 1991; what effect it will have on work backlog within the agency; and if he has any plans to recruit extra staff as a result.
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. Clive Betts, dated 2 February 1995 :
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the impact of the recently announced legislative and operational changes to child support on the Child Support Agency.
We do not expect any effect on staffing or an increase in the overall workload or backlog of maintenance assessments following the operational improvements due for implementation in April 1995, over the year as a whole. The benefits arising from these changes are expected to balance out the extra work needed to implement them during this period. In the longer term they will have a beneficial effect on our operations.
Details of the costs arising from the proposed primary legislation will be supplied in the financial memorandum to the Bill.
Column 82
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of deduction from earnings orders that have been issued for each six-month period since the setting up of the Child Support Agency; what consultations he has had with business organisations concerning the extra work involved for employers; and what are his proposals to compensate businesses, with particular reference to particularly small businesses, for the additional burden involved in compulsory employer processings of deduction from earnings orders.
Mr. Burt: The Child Support Agency issued 2,600 deduction from earnings orders in 1993 94. This figure cannot be broken down into six- month periods. Between 1 April and 30 September 1994 11,463 DEOs were issued.
Discussions about DEOs were held with employers through the DSS employers' panel. The legislation relating to the operation of DEOs includes a provision for an employer to deduct up to £1 in respect of his administrative costs from the person's earnings each time a deduction in accordance with the DEO is made.
Sir David Madel: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what contingency plans he has to assist Maxwell pensioners who have deferred pensions when the Cuckney fund runs out in 1996; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Arbuthnot: We have taken a number of exceptional steps to help the Maxwell pensioners, including the setting up of the Maxwell pensioners trust, now chaired by Mrs. Jane Newell. The trust is supporting pension payments while asset recovery work continues. We hope that parties to pensions disputes will now settle them quickly, which would extend the life of the trust and safeguard the position of many deferred pensioners. However, the Government cannot assume responsibilities which properly belong to others.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the rules and regulations in his Department which have been withdrawn in the last 12 months, or which his Department plans to withdraw in the next 12 months; and what impact this will have on his Department's manpower.
Mr. Arbuthnot: Two items of legislation for which this Department is responsible and which place an obligation on business or the general public have been withdrawn--as opposed to amended or replaced--during the past 12 months:
From 10 October 1994, regulations 37, 38, 41 and 42 of the Industrial Injuries (Prescribed Diseases) Regulations 1985 were repealed. These required periodic medical examinations of people engaged in certain occupations involving a risk of pneumoconiosis. The savings to the Department was approximately £100,000 per annum in medical and X-ray costs.
Column 83
The Occupational Pension Schemes (Friendly Societies) Regulations 1976 (SI 1976 No 598) have been revoked with effect from 7 February 1995. These were redundant following introduction of the Friendly Societies Act 1992 which allowed incorporated and registered friendly societies to carry out group insurance without approval.Neither had an impact on this Department's manpower.
The Department is continuing to identify rules and regulations for withdrawal. Those for withdrawal in the next 12 months will be announced as and when consultations are completed.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the total departmental administration costs for each year since 1979, in 1994 prices.
Mr. Hague: The information is in the table:
Expenditure since 1979-80 uplifted by current GDP deflators to 1994-95 prices Year |£ million ------------------------------- 1979-80 |2,096 1980-81 |2,271 1981-82 |2,457 1982-83 |2,488 1983-84 |2,665 1984-85 |2,751 1985-86 |2,695 1986-87 |2,835 1987-88 |3,398 1988-89 |3,380 1989-90 |3,471 1990-91 |3,562 1991-92 |3,793 1992-93 |4,084 1993-94<2> |4,350 1994-95<2> |4,177 Notes: <1> Expenditure on total Departmental administration costs is included in table 1 of the Social Security Departmental Report. <2> These figures will shortly be updated on publication of the Departmental Report in March. <3> The figures quoted in the table include the grants to Local Authorities for Housing Benefit and Community Charge administration and payment to Department for Employment for the administration of the Unemployment Benefit Office network. These payments were £629 million in 1986-87 and are anticipated to be in the region of £944 million in 1994-95.
Mr. Chisholm: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much his Department spent or expects to spend in Scotland on (a) income support for mortgage interest and (b) housing benefit in each year between 1991 92 and 1995 96.
Mr. Roger Evans: The available information is set out in the table. Information on expected expenditure for income support mortgage interest in 1995 96 will not be available until after the consultation exercise on the proposals announced in the Budget.
Column 84
Estimated expenditure on income support mortgage interest and housing benefit in Scotland | |income support |expenditure on |mortgage interest|housing benefit Year |£ million |£ million ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1991-92 |33.1 |590 1992-93 |32.4 |650 1993-94 |32.6 |730 1994-95 |32.6 |820 1995-96 |n/a |930 Notes: Income Support Mortgage Interest figures: 1. Source: Income Support Annual Statistical Enquiries, May 1991-1993 and Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, February 1994. 2. rounded to nearest hundred thousand. 3. based on estimates on weekly amounts and number of recipients at time of survey. Housing Benefit figures: 4. the figures underlie those that appear in the 1994 Social Security Departmental Report. 5. figures are rounded to the nearest £10 million.
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the severance payments made to special advisers in each of the last five years indicating (a) the amount and (b) the date.
Mr. Hague [holding answer 1 February 1995]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him today by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report , column 452 , on aid to the fishing industry in other EEC countries, if he will obtain from the commission and publish the full list of aid it has approved, along with a list of unauthorised payments it has checked or objected to.
Mr. Jack: A full list of aids to the fishing industry is compiled annually by the Commission, but not published because it contains information supplied by member states on a confidential basis. The UK has pressed for this restriction to be lifted. Some summary information is available in the Commission's periodic surveys of state aids in the European Community. The latest of these covers 1986 to 1990 and is available in the Library of the House.
The Commission does publish details of aids in the Official Journal of the European Communities following their approval. This also contains details of unauthorised aids which the Commission is examining under the procedure set out in article 93(2) of the treaty of Rome, and the subsequent conclusions of such examinations.
Column 85
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 January, Official Report , column 452 , on the application of conservation measures, if he will now request the Commission to progress new technical conservation measures to ban industrial fishing in British waters round the south-west and on the Dogger bank.
Mr. Jack: At the December 1994 Fisheries Council, the Commission agreed to bring forward by 30 June 1995 proposals to improve the technical conservation rules for western waters. The Commission has also been asked by the Council to review the technical conservation measures applying in the North sea. At my instigation, Community scientists are currently examining the effects of fishing and particularly industrial fishing, on the marine ecosystem. EU Fisheries Ministers will consider the outcome of this work, and appropriate action, at future meetings. I shall consider the UK position in relation to these matters in liaison with the industry.
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what funds are available through his Department in the current financial year for coastal protection and repair.
Mr. Jack: This Department offers grant aid to coast protection authorities for new or improved defences designed to protect land from erosion or encroachment by the sea. The supply provision in 1994 95 currently stands at £26 million.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the value of food and drink stocks held by the Government and by European Community bodies as a consequence of agriculture price intervention; and what are the annual costs involved in holding such stocks, including the costs of depreciation.
Mr. Jack: Details for the Community as a whole are contained in annexes 9 and 10 of the annual financial reports of the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund guarantee section. Details of intervention stocks within the United Kingdom are contained in table 13 of the 1994 Department report by the Ministery of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Intervention Board, Cm 2053. These publications have been deposited in the Library of the House.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total actual annual expenditure for his Department in each year since 1979 in 1994 prices; and if he will provide a breakdown of each figure to show expenditures on (a) price support measures and (b) set- aside schemes.
Mr. Jack: Information on this subject is contained in the annual appropriation accounts for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Intervention Board executive agency. Information is also available in, "Agriculture in the United Kingdom", which has been
Column 86
produced since 1988 and, prior to then, in the annual review of agriculture White Papers. The data can be expressed in 1994 prices using the published retail prices index information. Copies of the above publications are available in the Library of the House.Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the representatives and the countries they represented that were present at the recent Agriculture Ministers meeting which agreed to bring forward the review of veal rearing systems from 1997.
Mr. Jack: The meeting in question was the January Agriculture Council and all EC member states were, as is usual, represented by their Agriculture Ministers, with the exception of Finland, which was represented by the Secretary General of its Agriculture Ministry. The European Commission was represented by Mr. Franz Fischler.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make available in full the legal advice he has received as regards the use of article 36 of the treaty of Rome, to stop the export of calves to be reared in the crate system.
Mrs. Browning: My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food set out the conclusion which emerges from the legal advice, and the reasons for it, in his letter of 1 February to all right hon. and hon. Members.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many staff his Department employs on a regional basis in each standard English region; what is the cost of running these regional operations; what was the total budget for each region in the latest available year; and what are the main purposes for which the budget is used.
Mr. Jack: The Department's regional administrative organisation, consisting of nine regional service centres, employed a total of 1, 610 staff as at 1 January 1995 with a budget provision for 1994 95 of £35.4 million, as published in the Supply estimates.
The regional service centres handle the administration of grant and subsidy schemes, licensing and various other services provided mainly to farmers and growers. The present organisation into nine regions was adopted in 1992 and was designed to match the distribution of the farming industry rather than the standard regions used by other Departments.
Apart from the primary regional organisation, there are separate regional structures within the Department for the state veterinary service and various inspectorates, for which information in the form requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The executive agency, ADAS, also has its own regional structure.
Column 87
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps are being taken by his Department to improve the situation relating to provision of dental services in Gwynedd and in particular Meirionnydd Nant Conwy and the constituency of Caernarfon.
Mr. Richards: Following the Secretary of State's announcement of an extra £2.5 million for dental services in Wales, Gwynedd health authority, along with all other Welsh health authorities, has been invited to bring forward proposals to improve the quality and availability of dental services in its area. Already in this financial year, the Welsh Office has provided an additional £50,000 for the authority to purchase extra treatment sessions from the community dental service.
Gwynedd family health services authority has permission to employ salaried dentists. The Welsh Office is funding all the costs associated with this salaried dental service including the recruitment campaign; the salaries of all staff employed; all other practice expenses; and the costs of converting and equipping dental suites at Caernarfon, Pwllheli and Llanfairfechan.
Location incentive grants are also available from the Welsh Office to attract new general dental practitioners into Gwynedd.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when was his Department's last review of the provision of community dentistry in Wales; what were its fundings; how matters have proceeded since 1989; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Richards: The subject of community dentistry may be discussed with each of the district health authorities as part of the normal annual review process by the Welsh Office, which assesses their performance jointly with family health services authorities. The district health authorities are responsible for commissioning community dental services in light of local needs and locally determined priorities. They are also responsible for monitoring services.
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to ensure that in the periods of the three final months of the financial year, the patients of non-fundholders are not disadvantaged in respect of patients of fundholders in waiting periods for operations.
Mr. Richards: Hospital treatment for patients of non-fundholding GPs is purchased by district health authorities. The additional waiting times initiative funding of £4 million which my right hon. Friend announced last November should ensure that both the district health authorities and GP fundholders in Wales are able to meet the waiting times targets which they identified in their health plans for 1994 95.
Column 88
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many opted- out schools there are in Wales.
Next Section
| Home Page |