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Mr. Sproat: My Department responded to the National Heritage Select Committee's report on 31 May and I have today placed a copy of the response in the Library.
Library and Information Commission
Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 31 January to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Spring), Official Report , columns 617 18 , what appointments he has made to the new Library and Information Commission. [30934]
Mr. Dorrell: I am pleased to be able to announce the following appointments to the Library and Information Commission:
Douglas Adams--author
Mark Wood--Reuters
Dr. Sandra Ward--Glaxo
Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey -- chairman of Chadwyck-Healey Publishing
Rabbi Julia Neuberger--Camden and Islington community health service NHS trust
Professor Judith Elkin--head of University of Central England school of information studies
Councillor Eddy Arram--Croydon borough council
Dr. Brian Lang--chief executive, British Library
Derek Law--director of information services and systems, King's college London
Dr. George Chambers--formerly chairman of the Northern Ireland CBI
Dr. Robert McKee--director of libraries and arts, Solihull metropolitan borough council
Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer--chairman of the former LISC(E) and of the British Library's Advisory Committee on the research and development department.
I am confident that with the breadth and depth of experience this membership represents, the new commission is well equipped to deal with all the issues on which I originally anticipated it working.
Churchill Papers
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if any person associated with the Winston Churchill memorial trust sought to interest him
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or his predecessor in the possible purchase for the nation of the Churchill papers prior to the acquisition of the papers by the national heritage memorial fund. [29854]Mr. Dorrell: Neither I nor my predecessor were ever approached with any specific proposal by the Churchill Archive settlement trust to purchase the papers direct.
Memorial Fund
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for national heritage what responsibility he has for ensuring that the national heritage memorial fund operates in such a way as to secure economy and value for money in relation to its acquisitions policy. [29654]
Mr. Dorrell: The primary responsibility for securing economy and value for money in the operations of the national heritage memorial fund lies with the trustees and the accounting officer of the fund. These responsibilities are established by way of a financial memorandum agreed between my Department and the fund and the directions I have issued to them in accordance with section 26(3) of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 for securing the proper management and control of the money paid to them.
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the membership and terms of appointment of the national heritage memorial fund. [29656]
Mr. Dorrell: There are currently 14 trustees of the National Heritage memorial fund, each appointed for a term of three years from the dates indicated.
Trustee |Appointment date -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lord Rothschild (Chairman) |<1>1 April 1995 Lord Crathorne |16 August 1992 Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden |<1>18 September 1993 Professor Palmer Newbould |<1>23 April 1994 Sir Martin Jacomb |<1>29 July 1994 John Keegan Esq. |1 August 1994 Sir Martin Holdgate CB |25 April 1995 W. Lindsay Evans Esq. |<1>23 April 1995 Cmdr Michael Saunders Watson DL |<1>3 February 1993 Mrs. Catherine Porteous |<1>6 February 1994 Sir Richard Carew Pole Bt DL |<1>18 June 1994 Mrs. Caryl Hubbard CBE |1 August 1994 Sir Nicholas Goodison |<1>16 August 1994 Mrs. Diane Nutting |<1>20 November 1994 <1> Re-appointment.
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make it his policy to require the national heritage memorial fund to take a second opinion on the valuation of acquisitions and for that valuation to be made available for public inspection. [29655]
Mr. Dorrell: The policy on the number of, and publicity relating to, valuations secured by the national heritage memorial fund is a matter for the trustees of the fund.
TRANSPORT
Rail Franchises
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what discussions he has had with the franchising director concerning the eligibility of
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Compagnie Generale Des Eaux to receive an invitation to tender for rail franchises, as defined by clause 26, subsection (3) of the Railways Act 1993; [30171](2) what guidance he has given to the franchising director regarding his duties as defined by clause 26, subsection (3) of the Railways Act 1993. [30172]
Ms Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport as of 17 June how many companies, organisations or individuals have been refused an invitation to tender for private rail franchises for reasons of (a) an inappropriate financial position, (b) inappropriate managerial competence and (c) not being an appropriate person as defined by clause 26, subsection (3) of the Railways Act 1993. [30173]
Mr. Watts: This information is commercially confidential.
Rail Fares
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the average change in rail fares between (a) 1965 and 1979 and (b) 1979 and 1995. [30248]
Mr. Watts: The information requested is not available for the period between 1965 and 1979. Based on a basket of over 2,000 fares, the average annual change in British Rail fares between 1971 72 and 1978 79 was 2.7 per cent. in real terms. Between 1978 79 and 1994 95, the average annual change was 1.9 per cent. in real terms.
The Way Ahead"
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what were the costs of the compilation, publication and distribution of his Department's publication, "Transport: The Way Ahead". [29756]
Dr. Mawhinney: The costs of design, printing, compilation and distribution of "The Way Ahead" were £29,000.
Road Construction
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list annual outturn and planned expenditure on new construction of roads in England, as defined in figure 22 of his Department's "Transport Report 1995", for the period 1979 80 to 1997 98 in (a) cash terms, (b) constant prices and (c) constant prices allowing for the introduction of value added tax on motorway and trunk road improvement contracts let after 1 April 1989. [29532]
Mr. Watts: The information requested regarding new construction outturn and expenditure in cash terms and constant prices is set out in the table.
The effect of VAT is more difficult to determine because: complex transitional arrangements applied when VAT on construction contracts was introduced in 1989;
VAT does not apply uniformly to all costs; and
the Department's accounting records do not identify separately VAT that is not recoverable. To identify this would involve examining every contract and this could be done only at a disproportionate cost.
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DoT expenditure on new construction of roads 1979-80 to 1988-89
Outturn
|1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash |338 |404 |446 |524 |511 |564 |568 |548 |607 |707
Constant prices (1993-94) |829 |838 |845 |925 |863 |907 |866 |810 |853 |930
DoT expenditure on new construction of roads 1989-90 to 1997-98
|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95|1995-96|1996-97|1997-98
|Outturn|Outturn|Outturn|Outturn|Outturn|Outturn|plans |plans |plans
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash |912 |1,269 |1,276 |1,309 |1,344 |1,314 |1,090 |1,027 |980
Constant prices |1,122 |1,445 |1,367 |1,349 |1,344 |1,288 |1,035 |951 |888
(1993-94)
The constant prices have been calculated on the latest available GDP deflator using 1993-94 as
the baseline.
Contractors
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those consultant, outside organisations and individuals employed by his Department in each year since 1990, the purposes of their employment and the total payments made to those
contractors. [30177]
Mr. Norris: I will write to the hon. Member with details and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Pollution Report
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Government's response to the Royal Commission on environmental pollution report on transport to be published. [29491]
Mr. Norris: Decisions on the Government's response will be taken in the light of the national debate on transport policy initiated by the Secretary of State and outlined in "Transport: The Way ahead", published on 12 June.
Heathrow
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to resist any attempt by the European Commission to decide directly or indirectly how many aircraft may fly over west London on their way to Heathrow and at what times of day. [29446]
Emergency Landings
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by airport the number of emergency landings that have taken place in Scotland in the past five years. [30015]
Mr. Norris: This information is not held by the Department or by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Driving Tests (Impersonations)
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving tests took place in 1994 95; and what was the estimated number of impersonations that occurred. [30461]
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Mr. Norris: The number of driving tests that took place in 1994 95 was 1,649,570. A total of 282 possible impersonations were queried. There were 33 convictions.
Departmental Scientists
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scientists there are in his Department, listed by grade. [30218]
Mr. Norris: According to the Department's personnel information system, my Department, including executive agencies, had 338 staff in either a science grade or science discipline. A breakdown by grade is shown in the following table:
Grade title |Staff --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade 4 |1 Grade 5 |4 Grade 6 |17 Grade 7 |65 Senior Professional and Technical Officer (London) |1 Senior Professional and Technology Officer |1 Senior Scientific Officer |73 Higher Executive Officer |1 Higher Scientific Officer |80 Higher scientific Officer (Development) |1 Professional and Technology Officer |1 Scientific Officer |67 Scientific Officer (London) |1 Assistant Scientific Officer |22 Sandwich Course Student |1 Technical Grade 1 |1 Technical Grade 2 |1 Total |338
Marchioness Disaster
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations underlay the decision that there should be no public inquiry into the Marchioness disaster in the immediate aftermath of the disaster; and who was responsible for this decision. [29319]
Mr. Norris: The power to order a formal investigation into a maritime casualty rests with the Secretary of State for Transport. Following the loss of the Marchioness, Transport Ministers of the day decided that the use of the new powers available under the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 were the most appropriate way of establishing the cause of the tragedy and of identifying what lessons could be learnt to avoid a recurrence. The chief inspector of marine accidents ordered an investigation of the incident,
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the results of which were published as a Marine Accident Investigation Branch report, on 15 August 1991. The report's findings were subsequently endorsed by an inquest jury.EDUCATION
Drug Education Programmes
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what drug education programmes in (a) the United Kingdom or (b) elsewhere have resulted in a reduction in drug use. [29308]
Mr. Forth: There is some evidence from outside the United Kingdom that information can play a vital part in reducing demand for drugs. For example, research undertaken by the United States' National Institute on Drug Abuse published in 1991 showed that
"information, presented in a realistic and credible fashion, plays a vital part in reducing the demand for a drug".
The Government are clear that education has a key part to play in preventing drug misuse amongst the young. The Office for Standards in Education will undertake a specific study of provision for drug education in schools during the academic year 1995 96 to establish evidence on best practice.
Directors of Education
Mr. Barry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her answer of 17 May, Official Report , column 240 , how many directors of education there will be in Berkshire following the reorganisation of the county. [31074]
Mr. Forth: Director of education is a title that some authorities give to their chief advisers on educational issues: chief education officer is another. I therefore refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend gave to him on 17 May, Official Report , column 240 .
Access Funds
Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State what resources will be available for access funds for students in further and higher education institutions in England in 1995 96, and when he proposes to issue new guidance on the use of the funds.
Mr. Boswell: The Department is making available £27.733 million for access funds for students in further and higher education in England for 1995 96. This sum is being allocated between the two funding councils for England as follows:
G
|£ million
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(i) Higher Education Funding Council for England |21.624
to be allocated as follows:
Undergraduate fund |15.88
Postgraduate fund |5.40
Further Education fund |0.34
(ii) Further Education Funding Council for England |6.109
Total |27.733
The Department will be writing shortly to the two funding councils with guidance to be given to institutions about allocation and use of the funds for 1995 96.
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Students
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what percentage of young people attending university come from homes in which parents earn less than the average industrial wage. [29639]
Mr. Boswell: This information is not held centrally.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Davie Inquiry
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Attorney-General what was the total cost of the Davie inquiry of July 1994. [28933]
The Attorney-General: The direct costs attributable to the Davie inquiry totalled £18,335.
War Crimes Act
Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Attorney-General when he expects to announce decisions about prosecutions under the War Crimes Act 1991. [29259]
The Attorney-General: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to his earlier question on 22 May 1995, Official Report, column 451 .
SOCIAL SECURITY
Benefit Payment Card
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the items of data to be held on the benefits card; and what is his estimate of the number of times per year the information on the card will be changed. [29762]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The design of the benefit payment card has not yet been decided.
It is not envisaged that the card itself will need to be changed other than by replacement due to damage, loss or expiry.
Home Visits
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 6 June, Official Report, column 114 what financial targets he has set for each benefit office to achieve as a result of home visits. [29908]
Mr. Roger Evans: No such targets are set.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what funds are available for local authorities that consider the funding available under regulation 11 is insufficient to meet local needs. [29606]
Mr. Roger Evans: No additional funds are available. We believe the current funding arrangements for direct and indirect subsidy for local authorities' expenditure on cases exempt from rent restriction to be fair and reasonable. The arrangements ensure local authorities
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have an incentive to make prudent decisions when considering rent restrictions.Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice he plans to issue to claimants and local authorities with special reference to Coventry city council in respect of private landlords charging rents above the current costs of a market rent in relation to the new housing benefit changes. [29598]
Mr. Evans: This Department will be publicising the proposed changes to the housing benefit scheme by means of a publicity campaign. The campaign will include a new leaflet aimed at the general public which will be available from post offices and local authorities. Local authorities have already received details of the proposals and will receive further detailed written guidance before the changes come into effect.
Child Support Agency
Sir Dudley Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consideration underlies the authority of the Child Support Agency to charge individuals an annual fee for the review of their cases when no review has been supplied; and if he will make a statement. [28281]
Mr. Burt: We accept that the Child Support Agency has not been able to provide an adequate level of service. Fees have, therefore, been suspended for two years until April 1997.
The assessment fee is not charged for specific actions on a child maintenance assessment; it covers the administration costs of servicing the assessment. For that reason we believe it right that those who use such a service should pay a fee rather than have the cost borne by taxpayers, as would have been the case if the courts and lawyers had been involved.
Income Support
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were claiming income support in Scotland, Wales and in each of the standard English regions; and how many partners and dependents they had in each of the last five years. [29328]
Mr. Roger Evans: The available information is set out in the tables:
Income support recipients by country: May 1990
Thousands
|Number of |Number of |Number of
Country |claimants |partners |dependents
-------------------------------------------------------
England |3,451 |577 |1,793
Wales |248 |44 |133
Scotland |481 |70 |226
Total |4,180 |691 |2,151
Notes:
1. Source: Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry
May 1994, Income Support Statistics Annual Statistical
Enquiry May 1990-May 1993.
2. Figures in the tables have ben rounded to the
nearest thousand and as a result some of the figures
may not tally.
3. Figures for the standard English regions are not
available prior to May 1991.
4. Dependant include 16 to 18 year olds.
Income support recipients in England by standard
statistical region: May 1991
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
English region |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North |296 |51 |173
North West |632 |99 |358
Yorks and Humberside |421 |74 |252
East Midlands |278 |52 |151
West Midlands |431 |81 |256
East Anglia |126 |23 |55
South West |310 |59 |155
South East (ex London) |612 |110 |330
London (Inner and Outer) |637 |99 |380
7
Income Support recipients by country: May 1991
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
Country |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------
England |3,743 |647 |2,110
Wales |257 |46 |138
Scotland |487 |69 |249
Total |4,487 |763 |2,497
Income support recipients in England by standard
statistical region: May 1992
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
English region |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North |318 |55 |183
North West |693 |114 |394
Yorks and Humberside |463 |80 |269
East Midlands |321 |59 |175
West Midlands |493 |96 |296
East Anglia |143 |29 |71
South West |353 |67 |185
South East (ex London) |706 |138 |402
London (Inner and Outer) |792 |128 |479
7
Income support recipients by country: May 1992
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
Country |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------
England |4,282 |766 |2,454
Wales |287 |52 |157
Scotland |519 |73 |263
Total |5,088 |891 |2,874
Income support recipients in England by standard
statistical region: May 1993
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
English region |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North |349 |63 |192
North West |756 |121 |429
Yorks and Humberside |509 |95 |286
East Midlands |347 |67 |193
West Midlands |552 |112 |332
East Anglia |159 |32 |85
South West |404 |78 |207
South East (ex London) |810 |161 |470
London (Inner and Outer) |909 |152 |532
7
Income support recipients by country: May 1993
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
Country |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------
England |4,795 |882 |2,725
Wales |305 |56 |173
Scotland |543 |78 |265
Total |5,643 |1,016 |3,163
Income support recipients in England by standard
statistical region: May 1994
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
English region |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North |353 |63 |195
North West |758 |117 |428
Yorks and Humberside |510 |93 |287
East Midlands |355 |68 |201
West Midlands |550 |111 |333
East Anglia |161 |32 |85
South West |399 |73 |204
South East (ex London) |801 |152 |462
London (Inner and Outer) |926 |150 |533
7
Income support recipients by country: May 1994
|Number of |Number of |Number of
|claimants |partners |dependents
Country |(000s) |(000s) |(000s)
-------------------------------------------------------
England |4,812 |858 |2,748
Wales |312 |56 |175
Scotland |550 |79 |262
Total |5,675 |992 |3,185
Housing Benefit
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will amend the proposed housing benefit changes to take into consideration the shortage of housing stock and reduced bargaining power of claimants in certain areas. [29599]
Mr. Evans: No. Where the tenant is unable to find alternative accommodation or negotiate a lower rent, the local authority will be able to use its discretion to pay above the restricted rent, or encourage the claimant to look for properties in adjoining localities. Furthermore, pre- tenancy determinations will help tenants to get a better indication of the likely rent that housing benefit will meet before they commit themselves to a tenancy.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to make a decision to amend the housing benefit changes in respect of its effect on sheltered and supported housing. [29600]
Mr. Evans: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has recently received the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee following its public consultation on the proposed changes to housing benefit. We will consider carefully the position of sheltered and supported housing as part of our response to the report.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if local authorities will be given the funding under the new housing benefit procedures to enable local authorities to use their discretion to respond
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to local needs to the same extent as currently occur under the regulation 11 payments. [29601]Mr. Evans: The Government consider the level of funding for the new arrangements to be realistic. It will allow local authorities scope to help individual cases of exceptional hardship they consider to be most urgent. For claims made under the new arrangements, it is not expected that local authorities should continue to protect all those cases which would currently satisfy the criteria in regulations to have their rent met in full.
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of administration costs resulting from the proposed housing benefit changes being implemented. [29602]
Mr. Evans: An estimate of the total administration costs has still to be completed.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Business Grants Advisory Group
Mr. Alton: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received about the Liverpool-based Business Grants Advisory Group; what steps he will take, through business links and local authorities, to ensure that companies, and small business in particular, are aware that the information sold by the Business Grants Advisory Group is available free of charge from Government agencies; whether his Department will initiate inquires into this practice; and if he will make a statement. [29899]
Mr. Page: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has received no representations about the Business Grants Advisory Group (Liverpool) Ltd.
The wide range of free or low-cost services to business offered by business links and local authorities is widely publicised, and includes advice on finding grants and soft funding. Private sector consultancies also offer this advice. The Department will always investigate well-founded complaints, but cannot interfere with legitimate business activity. Businesses are free to choose which advisory services they will use.
Government office for Merseyside has written to Liverpool city council and to all business links and chambers on Merseyside and in the north-west asking them to advise businesses of the availability of free advice on grants and funding through business links. The Association of British Chambers of Commerce has advised all chambers to remind their members that free advice in this field is readily available, and Merseyside chamber has done this.
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