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Public Bodies
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department have (a) a statutory requirement to admit members of the public to all board or committee meetings and (b) a statutory requirement to hold open meetings for the public. [20876]
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 26 April 1995]: Only the Residuary Body for Wales, as a levying body, is bound by a statutory requirement, under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, to open its board meetings to the public. No NDPB has a statutory requirement to hold open meetings for the public.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Turkey
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial aid is now being given to Turkey from organisations in which the United Kingdom has a vote; and if he will list the organisations. [20741]
Mr. Baldry: A detailed breakdown of financial aid by international agencies to Turkey is not available. According to OECD Development Assistance Committee statistics, in 1993, the latest year for which figures are available, total multilateral aid to that country was $3 million in loans and $25.8 million in grants. Taking into account receipts, net multilateral assistance was minus $8.7 million. The following agencies in which the UK has a vote currently have programmes in Turkey:
The World Bank
United Nations Development Programme
Food and Agriculture Organisation
International Atomic Energy Agency
United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
World Food Programme
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United Nations Industrial Development OrganisationWorld Health Organisation
United Nations Childrens Fund
United Nations Department of Development
Support and Management Services
World Intellectual Property Organisation
World Meteorological Organisation
International Civil Aviation Organisation
International Maritime Organisation
International Labour Organisation
European Community assistance provided to Turkey in the form of grants and loans under the first three EC/Turkey financial protocols and the special programme of assistance agreed in 1981 has now been fully disbursed. A fourth financial protocol which should have come into force in 1981 remains suspended for political reasons. Turkey is eligible for support under a number of other EC budget lines, including horizontal cooperation in the Mediterranean and support for Turkish NGOs providing aid for Kurdish refugees.
Afghanistan
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British non-governmental organisations have, over the last five years, been working in Pakistan and elsewhere in support of refugees and displaced persons from Afghanistan; what funding each has received in each year; and what funding each is to receive over the next two years. [21150]
Mr. Baldry: We have provided assistance to the British non- governmental organisations as detailed in the table over the last five years for their work with Afghan refugees and displaced persons. We are unable to predict how much funding may be made available to any organisation for emergency aid over the next two years.
£000s
|1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |1994
------------------------------------------------------
Afghanaid<1> |800 |700 |1,307|599 |787
CAFOD |0 |20 |29 |19 |18
Ockenden Venture |0 |50 |0 |0 |0
SGAA |14 |0 |0 |0 |0
Save the Children |50 |110 |0 |0 |0
<1> Includes rehabilitation work.
In addition the following three British non-governmental organisations received grants for immediate disaster response work. Figures are available for 1993 and 1994 only.
£000s
|1993|1994
--------------------------------
CARE |0 |828
Ockenden Venture |0 |47
Oxfam |110 |323
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to Her Majesty's Government directly and indirectly through international organisations to invest in infrastructure development in Afghanistan; what is the total amount agreed by Her Majesty's Government to be spent in such development projects over the next three
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years; and what assessment has been made of the need for development investment in Afghanistan to facilitate the return of refugees to that country. [21151]Mr. Baldry: Frequent discussions on the needs of Afghanistan are held with international development agencies, the Government of Pakistan and UK non-governmental organisations.
We take the view that long-term infrastructure and development programmes are only possible when the political and security situation is stable. At present, the main focus of our assistance for Afghanistan will remain emergency aid and refugee relief and resettlement programmes. We give funding through international agencies and UK NGOs, some of which operate small rehabilitation projects in the more peaceful parts of the country.
We understand that the United Nations development programme have plans for a meeting to discuss with the international community the prospects for a transition from humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan to longer term rehabilitation.
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government regarding financial inducements to Afghan refugees and displaced persons in Pakistan and elsewhere to assist their return to Afghanistan; and what contribution Her Majesty's Government have agreed to make to such programmes over the next two years. [21152]
Mr. Baldry: UNHCR provides repatriation grants to assist the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran. We support UNHCR's work with Afghan refugees, both politically and financially. Whilst we do not earmark funds given to UNHCR specifically for repatriation grants, such use is not excluded. We are unable to make advance commitments about the use of emergency aid funds.
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made by the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees on the likely implications of closing schools located in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan; and if he will make a statement. [21167]
Mr. Baldry: UNHCR have no plans to cease primary education for all Afghan refugee children in Pakistan.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Benefit Statistics
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, if he will list the average length of time a claimant who was (a) retired (b) sick or disabled, (c) a single parent and (d) unemployed remained on benefit 30 years ago; and if he will give what those averages are at the latest available date. [20389]
Mr. Hague: Information is not available for 30 years ago. Current available information is as follows:
(1) The average length of time for retirement pensioners to remain on benefit until death is 16.5 years.
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(2) The average length of time a claimant is sick or disabled and on benefit is as follows: sickness benefit--114 days; invalidity benefit--3.4 years; severe disablement allowance--6.1 years. (3) At 10 May 1994 the average length of time a claimant registered as unemployed was 410 days.This information does not include recipients who receive only income support.
Information for lone parents is not available.
War Pensions
Ms Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the number of war pension appeals in (a) 1979 and (b) 1993 and the average length of time which elapsed between the lodging of an appeal and the appeal being heard. [20734]
Mr. Arbuthnot: During 1979, 1,816 war pension appeals were lodged against decisions on entitlement and 1,872 appeals on the assessment of the degree of disablement. During 1993, 11,079 entitlement and 9, 147 assessment appeals were lodged. The average length of time in 1993 between the lodging of an entitlement appeal and the appeal being heard was 349 days. The time scale in 1993 for an assessment appeal was 288 days. Comparable information for 1979 is not available.
Ms Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will make a statement on claims for war disablement pensions in respect of bilateral noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss. [20731]
(2) if he will make a statement on the restriction on claims for war disablement pensions due to bilateral noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss arising from (a) the absence of any award where the assessment of disability is less than 20 per cent. and (b) the non-inclusion of the condition of tinnitus where assessed disablement is less than 20 per cent. [20732]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The war pensions scheme provides compensation for disablement arising from injury or disease which is due to service in the armed forces.
Where the degree of disablement in respect of bilateral noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss is assessed at 20 per cent. or more, a war pension may be paid. Below this level, no award is made in respect of such hearing loss or any condition or symptom, such as tinnitus, which is attributable to the same basic injurious process.
I remain satisfied that bilateral noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss of less than 20 per cent. is not the sort of disablement which should be compensated under a war pensions scheme.
The provisions on this type of hearing loss, which came into effect on 7 January 1993, brought war pensions rules more into line with the rules covering occupational deafness under the industrial injuries scheme. They formed part of a package which increased considerably, from April 1993, the war pensions of the most severely disabled.
Child Support
Mrs. Angela Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to make payments to those recipients of family credit and disability working allowance who lose income for the balance of the period of their existing claim to benefit as a result of the child support regulation changes to be introduced on 18 April, and if he will make a statement. [21900]
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Mr. Burt: The Department intends to make such payments as soon as it is administratively possible to do so once the loss to the individual has been identified and calculated. This compensation will equal half of the difference between the previous maintenance assessment and the new maintenance assessment for the outstanding period in that claim to family credit or disability working allowance. Although awards of these benefits are not normally changed for variations in income once made, the Government have recognised that it is unreasonable not to offer compensation to working parents with care who are modestly paid, particularly as the structure of income support offers automatic adjustment for the incomes of those parents with care not at work and dependent on income support. It would also be wrong to wait until the Child Support Bill received Royal Assent, before considering compensation, as this would result in a delay of several months which could cause hardship. Accordingly, payments will be made in advance of Royal Assent. Parliamentary approval for this service will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Social Security's central government administered Social Security benefits and other payments vote, class XIII, vote 1. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £1,000,000 will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.
Income Support (Deductions)
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what agreements his Department and the Benefits Agency have with the utility industries regarding deductions from income support. [21901]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Department of Social Security and the Benefits Agency have negotiated a joint statement of intent with the fuel and water industries, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. Its purpose is to ensure the continuity of an essential supply to claimants and to prevent disconnection of that supply. It outlines procedures for direct payment for fuel and water bills from income support by reflecting regulations and providing guidance on how the direct payment system should operate in practice. The JSI is not a contract between the parties but works as a "best practice" guide.
Mortgage Interest
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has so far made of the number of individuals annually who change from a fixed rate to a variable rate mortgage; if such individuals would be considered under his current proposals to have obtained a new mortgage and be ineligible for the existing range of social security assistance with mortgage interest; and if he will make a statement. [21106]
Mr. Roger Evans: No such estimate has been made. Under our proposals for changes to the rules on income support help with mortgage interest payments, a borrower with existing housing costs who changes from a fixed rate to a variable rate mortgage after 1 October this year will only be subject to the rules affecting new housing costs if they have entered into a new mortgage agreement while doing so. The full details of the new rules will not be completed until we have given full consideration to the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee. We are currently awaiting this report which will be based on
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representations that were made to the committee during its consultation period.War Widows Pension
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent discussions he has had with ex-service and other organisations about war widows' pensions. [213328]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The Minister with special responsibility for war pensions meets regularly with members of the war pension committees and twice-yearly (in June and December) with members of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions. At these meetings, matters of concern to both war disablement pensioners and war widows are discussed. He also met on 25 April with Major General Sir Laurence New CB CBE, to discuss the campaign by the Officers' Pensions Society, the War Widows Association of Great Britain, the RAF Widows Association and Help the Aged, for improvements to the pension provision for war and service widows. During that meeting our decision announced on 24 April to restore the war widow's pension to those former war widows who had become widowed for a second time, divorced or legally separated was discussed.
State Retirement Pensions
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what information he has on the projected level of the state retirement pension for each of the following five years for each of the European Union member states; and what percentage change this represents relative to the projection for the previous year; [21258] (2) what is the current level of state retirement pension paid in each European Union member state; and what percentage increase or decrease this represents relative to the previous year. [21257]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The information is not available in the form requested, as most European Union member states operate wholly earnings- related state retirement pension schemes, unlike the United Kingdom.
Information on retirement pensions in the EU, and their annual adjustments, is contained in the "MISSOC" tables, "Social Protection in the Member States of the Community", published by the European Commission. Information about retirement pensions in the three new member states, Austria, Finland, and Sweden, may be found in "Comparative tables of social security schemes in Council of Europe member states, published by the Council of Europe. Copies of both publications are in the Library."
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department are under statutory requirement to (a) publish their advice to the Government, (b) publish an annual report and (c) lay an annual report before Parliament; and if he will list those bodies with a statutory base. [21156]
Mr. Hague: The advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by this Department are listed in "Public Bodies 1994".
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All of the bodies have a statutory basis, but none is under statutory requirement to publish advice or reports, although most such reports are published.Vaccine Damage Payments
Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what compensation is available for those who are severely or partially damaged by (a) polio vaccination and (b) measles and rubella vaccination; [21324]
(2) whether the Government will seek to amend the Vaccine Damage Payment Act 1979 to provide adequate compensation for the children and families affected by all degrees of vaccine damage. [21321]
Mr. Hague: The Vaccine Damage Payment Act 1979 provides for a single, tax-free payment of £30,000 for people who, on the balance of probability, have suffered severe mental and/or physical disablement of 80 per cent. or more as a result of vaccination against one, or a group, of the specified diseases. The specified diseases include poliomyelitis, measles and rubella.
The payment is not compensation, but is designed to ease the present and future burdens of those suffering from vaccine damage and their families.
The Government are satisfied that the scheme operates fairly and effectively in its present form.
SCOTLAND
Pensions Agency
Mr. Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what key performance targets he has set the Scottish Office Pensions Agency for 1995 96. [21804]
Mr. Lang: I have set the Scottish Office Pensions Agency the following key targets for 1995 96, which cover important areas of service delivery and steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness. 1. To ensure that awards and transfer payments are accurate to within 1 per cent. of their value in 99 per cent. of cases, as compared with the 1994 95 target of 1 per cent. in 98 per cent. of cases.
2. To pay on time 99 per cent. of all pensions and lump sums where the target date for receipt of claims is met.
3. To make transfer payments within four weeks of members' final instructions to transfer pension rights.
4. To carry out a survey to measure customer satisfaction with administration of the teachers' superannuation scheme, taking account of experience gained from the 1994 95 NHS survey.
5. To keep the development and supply of a new pension administration IT system on course for completion by June 1996, by reaching the last key 1995 96 milestone in the implementation plan. 6. To optimise use of budgetary provision while keeping within direct running cost limits.
7. To provide policy advice which is consistent with public service pension policy and takes account of operational objectives of Scottish Office departments, within the required time scales.
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Departmental Annual Report
Mr. Mathew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much staff time, and at what estimated cost, was put into compiling the departmental annual report; and what were the figures for each year for which figures are available since 1990. [20179]
Mr. Lang: Much of the information collected for publication in the Scottish Office departmental report is also used for other purposes. Therefore the total staff time commitment to the report is not readily estimated. The editor of the 1995 report spent approximately four months in its compilation at an estimated cost of £15,000. Costs for previous years were broadly comparable.
Mr. Mathew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures the Department takes to assess the cost and staff implications of compiling material for the departmental annual report. [20180]
Mr. Lang: Estimates are made annually, in the light of previous years' experience, of the time commitment which will be required of the departmental report editor and of the costs of pre-production design work and of purchase and distribution of copies of the report.
Illiteracy
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current reported rate of illiteracy; and what was the rate in each of the previous four years. [20701]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Information on the rate of illiteracy is not held centrally by the Scottish Office. In 1990 the Scottish Community Education Council was funded by the Scottish Office to undertake a small study of literacy and numeracy. This indicated that 9 per cent. of a sample of adults had difficulties with either reading, writing or numeracy.
The Scottish Office will continue to support initiatives addressing problems of adult literacy and numeracy. We will also continue to tackle the problem in schools by encouraging appropriate support for pupils with special needs.
Electricity Privatisation
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the actual cost incurred to date by his Department meeting the obligation to provide pension incentives to eligible applicants under the pensioner priority offer for shares on the flotation of ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro-Electric; [20597]
(2) what estimate he originally made of the likely cost to his Department of the offer announced by him on 12 March 1991 making available to pensioners of ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro-Electric preferential arrangements and pension incentives on the public flotation of these companies; [20598]
(3) what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department as a result of the non-completion of the pensioner incentive section of the pensioner priority offer application form submitted by eligible pensioners of ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro-Electric; [20595] (4) how many pensioners of ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro-Electric purchased shares in these companies by completing the pensioner priority offer application form;
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and how many eligible applicants omitted to apply for the pensioner incentives. [20599]Mr. Lang [holding answer 26 April 1995]: As part of the arrangements for the flotation of ScottishPower and Scottish Hydro- Electric, all employees and pensioners of the two Scottish electricity boards who applied for shares were given priority access to up to £15,350 worth of shares when the allocation of shares to applicants was made. Quite separately, all applicants were able to elect to receive bonus shares if they held the shares they had purchased for a specified period and met certain other criteria; 1, 170,000 applicants did so. Apart from the initial priority allocation arrangement, therefore, there were no special incentives offered to electricity board pensioners.
TREASURY
Mortgage Protection Policies
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the possible effect of taxation on those benefits paid under insurance policies purchased to provide protection to mortgage holders following his proposed changes to income support for mortgage interest; what specific proposals he has for the tax treatment of such benefits with particular reference to any period for which they would be untaxed; and if he will make a statement. [21107]
Sir George Young: Under the Secretary of State for Social Security's proposals, there will be no entitlement to income support in respect of mortgage interest payments for a period of nine months for new borrowers. Benefits paid under mortgage protection insurance policies that provide cover for this period are not liable to tax, provided the maximum period during which benefits can be paid does not exceed one year.
European Community Finances
Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the statement on the 1995 Community budget; and what information it will contain. [21856]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: I have today laid before Parliament the statement on the 1995 Community budget, entitled "European Community Finances". This White Paper is the 15th in the series. As in the past, it covers annual budgetary matters. It also describes the Budget for 1995 as adopted by the European Parliament and the United Kingdom's gross and net contribution to the Community budget over the years 1992 to 1995.
This year, the annual statement includes for the first time details of recent developments in EC financial management and in countering fraud against the Community budget. This reflects an undertaking that I gave in December 1994 during the passage of the European Communities (Finance) Bill.
Copies of the White Paper are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Monetary Policy
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect on the nominal exchange rate it
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was Her Majesty's Government's policy to engender in the decisions to increase the interest rates on (a) 12 September 1994, (b) 7 December 1994 and (c) 2 February; and if he will publish his estimate of the effect on real interest rates together with the export unit value of United Kingdom manufacturers as a percentage of the fourth quarter 1986 figure in dollar terms. [21413]Mr. Nelson: Interest rates are set in order to meet the Government's objective of permanently low inflation. Movements in the exchange rate are considered part of the general assessment of monetary conditions in setling monetary policy. The basis of all decisions on interest rates are fully set out in the published minutes of my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's meetings with the Governor of the Bank of England. Copies of the minutes are in the House of Commons Library. It is impossible to quantify effects of interest rate changes on real interest rates and export unit values.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the evidence of overheating on which be based his decision in (a) September 1994, (b) December 1994 and (c) February 1995 to raise interest rates. [21403]
Mr. Nelson: The basis of all the interest rate decisions on my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is set out fully in the published minutes of his meetings with the Governor and in the Treasury's monthly monetary report, published on the same day as the meetings. Copies of these publications are in the House Library.
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