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Victoria Hospital, Glasgow
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) the companies initially shortlisted for the support services contract put out to competitive tender by the Victoria hospital in Glasgow, (b) those companies still bidding for that contract and (c) the reasons notified to his Department for the loss of interest in the contract by companies originally shortlisted that subsequently withdrew. [26349]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Information is as follows: (a) ISS Mediclean
- Initial Healthcare Services
Gardner Merchant Sodexho
Capita
Tarmac Servicemaster
Taylorplan Services.
(b) Initial Healthcare Services
Gardner Merchant Sodexho
Capita
Tarmac Servicemaster
(c) ISS Mediclean and Taylorplan Services notified the Victoria Infirmary NHS trust that they would not be submitting bids as they wished to concentrate on their other commitments.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: This is a contractual matter between an employee and the employing trust.
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what steps he has taken to monitor the implementation of Government guidance on competitive tendering at the Victoria hospital in Glasgow; and what assessment he has made of whether it has been implemented adequately; [26346]
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- (2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidance on competitive tendering issued to the NHS in Scotland; [26347]
(3) if he will make a statement on the competitive tendering exercise for support services initiated last year and being implemented this year by the Victoria hospital in Glasgow. [26348]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Comprehensive guidance on market testing in the NHS in Scotland was issued most recently to the service in October 1993. Copies of that guidance are available in the Library of the House. The responsibility for implementing market testing within NHS hospitals in Scotland rests with trust boards. It was for the Victoria Infirmary NHS trust to determine the arrangements for the competitive tendering of support services. Safeguards exist to ensure that contracts for goods or services are awarded in a proper manner by health boards and NHS trusts in Scotland. This takes the form of a statutory requirement on all health boards and NHS trusts to undergo an end-year audit by external auditors to ensure that the trust standing financial instructions, and any other financial instructions determined by the management executive of the national health service in Scotland, have been complied with.
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland for what reasons no in-house bid was allowed for the contract for support services put out to competitive tender by the Victoria hospital in Glasgow; and to what extent this was in breach of Government guidelines on competitive tendering in the NHS. [26350]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The existing in-house service was free to bid for the contract on the same basis as commercial tenderers. The trust did offer to fund independent external advice for any staff group which wished to mount a bid. This offer was not taken up and no bid was made.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of BSE have been identified in (a) the East Kilbride constituency and (b) Lanarkshire in each of the last 10 years; and how many farms were involved. [26332]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: The information requested is being collated and will be placed in the Library of the House as soon as it becomes available.
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many appointments to the public bodies listed in "Public Bodies" for his Department were made during 1994-95 from names supplied by the public appointments unit; and if he will list them. [25960]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 22 April 1996]: The Scottish Office maintains its own public appointments list and therefore makes limited use of names from the public appointments unit, although names are exchanged from time to time. The Scottish Office list is used as a source of names of suitably qualified candidates for consideration for a wide range of appointments. No central records are, however, kept of the sources from which the names of those appointed are derived.
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SOCIAL SECURITY
Occupational Pensions
12. Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures he is proposing to improve the security of occupational pensions. [24680]
Mr. Heald: The measures in the Pensions Act 1995, most of which will become effective from April 1997, reflect the Government's commitment to safeguarding the security of occupational pension scheme assets.
Pensioner Incomes
13. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of pensioners' gross income in the north-west comes from (a) benefits, (b) occupational pensions and (c) investments for the most recent years for which figures are available. [24681]
Mr. Heald: For the United Kingdom as a whole, 53 per cent. of pensioners' average incomes is from state benefits, 25 per cent. from occupational pensions and 16 per cent. from investment income.
It is not possible to provide a reliable breakdown by region due to the limited sample size.
Unemployment Benefits
14. Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what incentives to work will be included in his reforms of unemployment benefits. [24682]
Mr. Burt: Helping people back to work is a key aim of Government policy.
This month we introduced extended payments of housing benefit and council tax benefit for unemployed people who return to work and the national insurance contribution holiday for employers.
With jobseeker's allowance in October, we will be introducing the back-to-work bonus. This will enable at least 150,000 people a year to receive a tax-free lump sum of up to £1,000 when they leave benefit to take up work.
We will also be introducing earnings top-up, a new in-work benefit for people without dependent children, in eight pilot areas from October.
15. Mr. Riddick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he intends to take to assist people to make additional provision for their own long-term care in their old age. [24683]
Mr. Heald:
To help people retain more of their savings when they enter long-term care, we have more than trebled the lower capital limit and doubled the upper
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capital limit for those in residential care; and for those who are covered by the preserved rights provisions, we have also introduced a 50 per cent. disregard on income from their occupational pension if they have a spouse who remains at home.
We have already taken steps to give personal pension holders more flexibility in the use of their pension savings during retirement, and are committed to building on that foundation by giving members of occupational pension schemes extra choices.
16. Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received recently regarding the withdrawal of benefits from asylum seekers. [24684]
Mr. Roger Evans:
We have received representations in various forms from hon. Members, members of the public, local authorities and voluntary organisations. Representations were also made to the Social Security Advisory Committee which were included in its report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what social security benefits persons who have a legal right to live in the United Kingdom, but do not hold a British passport, will be eligible under the new Asylum and Immigration Bill; and if he will make a statement. [25349]
Mr. Roger Evans:
The Asylum and Immigration Bill provides that an immigrant will not be entitled to child benefit unless he satisfies prescribed conditions. Regulations will set out those conditions. An immigrant is defined as a person who requires leave under the Immigration Act 1971 to enter or remain in the United Kingdom. A non-British passport holder's eligibility for other social security benefits depends on his immigration status.
17. Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the relative administrative costs of (a) the state pension and (b) personal pension schemes. [24686]
Mr. Heald:
The estimated cost of administering state retirement pension in 1994-95 is £309 million. Information on the administrative costs of personal pensions is not collected centrally.
Source:
Social Security departmental report, March 1996--Cm 3213.
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