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Child Support Act 1991
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a progress report on the research work being undertaken by the centre for research in social policy at the university of Loughborough into the effects of the Child Support Act; and if he will make a statement. [28738]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: No research into the effects of the Child Support Act has been commissioned from the university of Loughborough.
Income Support
Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner claimants of income support have savings of less than £3,000. [28896]
Mr. Roger Evans: The information is not available in the format requested. The number of income support pensioner claimants who were recorded as having capital of up to and including £3,000 was 464,000 in May 1995, the latest date for which figures are available.
Source:
Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry: May 1995
Notes:
1. Pensioner claimants are defined as those in the pensioner statistical groups ie. where either the claimant or partner is aged 60 or over.
2. The figure has been rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. Some claimants with savings of less than £3,000 may not be recorded as these amounts do not affect the assessment of benefits.
Mr. Evans: The information is not available.
Statutory Sick Pay
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much has been paid in statutory sick pay to employees by employers of (a) under 100 employees, (b) under 50 employees and (c) under 10 employees since the withdrawal of the small employers relief scheme for statutory sick pay in April 1995. [28743]
Mr. Heald: The information is not available.
The first full year following replacement of the small employers relief scheme has just ended. Any information about employers' payments will not be available until end-of-year-returns have been submitted and assessed.
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many firms (a) in total, (b) with under 100 employees, (c) with under 50 employees and (d) with under 10 employees reclaimed statutory sick pay under the small employers' relief fund in each of the 10 years preceding the end of the scheme in April 1995; [28744]
13 May 1996 : Column: 371
Mr. Heald:
Information is not available in the format requested.
The statutory sick pay small employees relief scheme was introduced from 6 April 1991. For the years 1991-92 to 1993-94, employers were not required to distinguish in their end-of-year returns between reimbursement under SER and the 80 per cent. reimbursement of employers' SSP costs available to all employers. For 1994-95, following abolition of 80 per cent. reimbursement from 6 April 1994, the total amount reclaimed under SER was £25 million.
Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner recipients of (a) social fund loans and (b) social fund grants, have savings in excess of (i) £500, (ii) £1,000 and (iii) £3,000. [28895]
Mr. Roger Evans:
The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Helen Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases of unfair treatment have been taken to industrial tribunals by employees of the Department of Social Security in each year since 1988; and in how many of these the industrial tribunal found in favour of the employee. [28660]
Mr. Burt:
The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
(2) how much was reclaimed in statutory sick pay under the small employers' relief fund in each of the 10 years preceding the end of the scheme in April 1995 by (a) all firms, (b) firms with under 100 employees, (c) firms with under 50 employees and (d) firms with under 10 employees. [28745]
Citizens Charter
4. Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment has he made of the effectiveness of the citizens charter. [27667]
Mr. Willetts: The key criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the citizens charter is improvement in the standards and responsiveness of public services. A full account of this is set out in last year's charter White Paper "The Citizen's Charter: The Facts and Figures".
Delegated Legislation
5. Mr. Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many statutory instruments were introduced in the 1994-95 Session; and what is their estimated total annual cost to business and to public funds. [27668]
Mr. Freeman: Numbers of statutory instruments are recorded by calendar year. The number of new statutory instruments in 1995 was 3,345, of which fewer than 12 per cent. placed compliance costs on business. The costs of individual instruments are specified in compliance cost assessments, but these include transfers between sectors and other factors which prevent the type of aggregation requested by my hon. Friend.
13 May 1996 : Column: 372
Contracting Out (in Service Pensions)
12. Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received regarding the Contracting Out (Administration of the in Service Pension Scheme) Order 1996. [27676]
Mr. Willetts: Various representations that had been made were taken fully into account in the decision to open up to competition administration of the principal civil service pension scheme and associated schemes. Competition will ensure value for money, and the focus on performance outputs will help improve further the quality of service to scheme members.
Ministerial Visit (Plymouth)
19. Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he next intends to visit Plymouth to discuss inward investment. [27684]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I have no such plans at present, but would be very glad to consider an invitation.
Widdecombe Report
20. Dr. Goodson-Wickes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Widdecombe report on the conduct of local government. [27685]
The Deputy Prime Minister: None. This is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
Regional Offices
21. Ms Quin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the relationship between his Department and the Government's regional offices. [27686]
Mr. Freeman: My Department is in regular contact with the 10 Government regional offices on those matters relevant to this Department--competitiveness and deregulation.
Departmental Initiatives
24. Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what initiatives his Department is taking to disseminate abroad its work in co-ordinating Government policies. [27689]
Mr. Willetts: My Department has responded positively to interest expressed by other countries in the action we take to co-ordinate and present Government policy.
European Legislation
25. Mr. Hain: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the impact of European regulations and directives. [27690]
Mr. Freeman: Revised guidance requiring Departments to produce a compliance cost assessment for each EC legislative proposal was published in January. These assessments are a vital tool for helping to minimise any costs to business arising from new legislation.
13 May 1996 : Column: 373
Deregulation
26. Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Deputy Prime Minster what discussions he has had with trade unions in respect of his policies on deregulation. [27691]
Mr. Freeman: We welcome the views of all interested parties to our deregulation initiative, including those from trade unions.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to alter the number of staff in his office; and if he will make a statement. [27666]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I expect to see further reductions in staff numbers in the Office of Pubic Service in the coming year.
BSE
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is his role in disseminating information relating to BSE. [27683]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Like other senior members of the Government, I take every opportunity to explain the Government's position.
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