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Consultants
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list those (a) consultants, (b) outside organisations and (c) individuals employed by his Department each year since 1990, indicating the purposes of their employment and the total payments made to them. [3971]
The Prime Minister: For these purposes my Office is part of the Cabinet Office, Office of Public Service and its agencies. Total numbers of staff can be found in the civil service staff in post summary tables which have been placed in the Library. Staff costs are published in the Cabinet Office departmental report. It is not possible to provide the other information requested without disproportionate cost.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Ministerial Travel, London
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many times in the last year he has used London Buses while on official business; [428]
(2) how many times in the last year he has used the London Underground while on official business. [573]
Mr. Lilley: I have occasionally used both London Buses and the London Underground when travelling to and from the Department of Social Security but have not done so this year while on official business.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to change the Child Support Agency rates regarding the calculation of ex-husband obligations; and if he will make a statement. [2579]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The child support maintenance formula is based on income support benefit rates. The rates in protected income for non-householders' housing costs are based on the non-dependent deductions under housing benefit rules. The relevant amounts will increase form April 1996, as announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in his statement on Wednesday 29 November, Official Report, columns 1212-15.
The formula will continue to ensure that no absent parent is assessed to pay more than 30 per cent. of his net income in current maintenance.
Mr. Mills:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to improve the client communications of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement. [2674]
Mr. Mitchell:
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Iain Mills, dated 30 November 1995:
5 Dec 1995 : Column: 150
Ms Armstrong:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the published recommended response times within which his Department is expected to reply to letters from the public. [3005]
Mr. Burt:
There is no published recommended response time for the Department as a whole. The charters of the Benefits, Contributions, Child Support and War Pensions agencies state that these agencies aim to reply to correspondence from the public within 10 working days of receipt.
Mrs. Lait:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the definition of the terms "maternity expenses" and "funeral expenses" used in section 138 (1)(a) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992; and if he will make a statement.
5 Dec 1995 : Column: 151
Mr. Roger Evans:
Help with maternity expenses and funeral expenses may be given only from the regulated fund. I have today issued additional guidance to social fund officers on the interpretation of the terms "maternity expenses" and "funeral expenses".
The Benefits Agency has issued a bulletin to all district offices notifying them of the new guidance, which will be incorporated in a amendment to the social fund guide as soon as possible.
Details of the guidance have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what response he will make to the recommendations of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council regarding disorders of the knee and occupational rhinitis. [4706]
Mr. Roger Evans:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has given careful consideration to the recommendations in the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's reports, Cm 2842 and 1843. The Government accept in full the council's recommendation in respect of occupational Rhinitis that the terms of the current prescription should be more precise and brought into line with current scientific thinking. Regulations will be laid to implement the change from March 1996.
The Government note the council's conclusion that there is insufficient scientific evidence available at present to recommend adding disorders of the knee to the list of prescribed diseases for which industrial injuries disablement benefit can be paid.
Mr. Tipping:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to receive the report from the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council concerning the regulations relating to chronic bronchitis and emphysema. [4070]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien) on 24 October 1995, Official Report col 627.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received concerning his proposals to limit benefits to people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [3972]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
Proposals on social security payments to asylum seekers and other persons from abroad were presented to the Social Security Advisory Committee on 11 October. The committee has carried out a public consultation on these proposals and is now evaluating the responses to that consultation and we expect to receive its report during December. We have also received a number of items of correspondence, both from Members of Parliament and from the public.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is (a) the mean and (b) the median state
5 Dec 1995 : Column: 152
pension received by (i) married women, (ii) widows and (iii) single women. [1845]
Mr. Heald
[holding answer 24 November 1995]: The information is set out in the table:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency's client communications.
I understand that you may have some specific concerns about a particular case and if that is so I would be happy to look at those for you.
Earlier this year the Child Support Agency reviewed its procedures for dealing with Members enquiries. We looked carefully at our procedures and concluded that not only should we issue a revised set of guidelines to staff on how to deal with enquiries from Members but that we should use those improved guidelines to form the basis of a training brief to raise staff awareness about the important role that MPs play in our business. The training brief is currently being piloted.
The guidelines place the responsibility for providing accurate and comprehensive replies to MP enquiries firmly with the section responsible for that part, or parts, of child support business about which the MP has expressed concern. The guidelines also make it clear that promises of future action and monitoring that action also lies with the section giving that undertaking.
Our business plan makes it clear that we aim to reply to MPs' letters within an average of 20 working days from the date of receipt, with acknowledgments sent within 2 working days. Where a Member contacts one of our Centres by telephone using the specially designated 'MPs hot-line' (set up in late 1993 to meet Members concerns about the speedy resolution of very difficult constituency cases), we aim to return the call within 24 hours with a full explanation made to timescales agreed with the Member or his or her secretary. The time taken to give a full explanation will obviously depend on the individual circumstances of the case but it is important that dialogue continues until the case is cleared to the Member's satisfaction. I would be very interested to know if our procedures are not working properly and are failing to deliver the sort of service we want to offer to MPs.
Where a client contacts one of our centres the call is routed to a team of operators who are trained in all aspects of child support work and who in the vast majority of cases, provide a one stop service to callers. The introduction of these dedicated telephone teams has been very successful, with more than 1 million calls answered since April 1995. The placing of incoming calls to a dedicated section releases staff working in business areas to concentrate on core business activities. In those cases where the team are unable to deal with a particularly complex enquiry then details are taken and passed to the relevant section for a reply. The complexity of our work makes it impracticable for one member of staff to have complete knowledge of every aspect of our business. We do know however, that most of our clients would prefer to have contact with fewer members of staff and we are looking at how best this might be achieved, perhaps by actioning cases within a smaller team of people.
I hope this information is helpful to you, but once again if you have a particular case in mind please do not hesitate to write to me.
| Married women | Widows | Single women | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 34.80 | 60.25 | 58.16 |
| Mean | 36.43 | 63.00 | 55.59 |
Source: Retirement Pension Biannual enquiry September 1994. Note: Marital status is based on the most recent information available to the Department.
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