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Ademola Onibiyo
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the representations received by his Department concerning Ademola Onibiyo in the seven days preceding his departure from Britain. [29480]
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 14 May 1996]: In the seven days preceding Mr. Onibiyo's deportation on 4 May, representations were received from:
Bernie Grant MP
Bill Morris--Transport and General Workers Union
Lord Gifford QC--Councillor Adam Sandell, Oxford city council
John Monks TUC
Baroness Williams of Crosby
Harry Cohen MP
Fisher Meredith--Solicitors
Jeremy Corbyn MP
The President of Guyana
Jack Straw MP
Rodney Bickerstaff--UNISON (by telephone) together with 65 letters from the general public.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 14 May 1996]: The total legal costs which fall to be met by the Home Office in connection with the deportation of Ademola Onibiyo amount to £21,000. Mr. Onibiyo was detained for two periods totalling 360 days prior to his deportation on 4 May. The average cost of detaining a person for this length of time is £39,225. The information requested concerning administration costs is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Abdul Onibiyo
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statements were issued by his Department on Wednesday 1 May to (a) the Daily Mail, (b) the Daily Express and (c) The Guardian concerning Abdul Onibiyo. [29481]
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 14 May 1996]: Information confirming that Mr. Abdul Onibiyo was living safely in Nigeria was given to a number of newspapers which had previously expressed an interest in his whereabouts when that information became available on 30 April.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish (a) all correspondence between Her Majesty's Government and Nigeria and (b) all Interpol briefings the Metropolitan police have received on the whereabouts of Abdul Onibiyo. [29486]
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 15 May 1996]: It is not our practice to publish correspondence with foreign or Commonwealth Governments about individual cases or the text of communications received from Interpol. However, I can confirm that on 30 April information was received from Interpol in Lagos that Mr. Onibiyo had been located in March this year living with his family in Ibadan and that at no time since his return to Nigeria had he been arrested or detained by the Nigerian authorities.
Nigeria (Missing Persons)
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reference has been made to Interpol (a) by his office and (b) by British police forces concerning the whereabouts of missing persons in Nigeria; and if he will make a statement. [29487]
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 15 May 1996]: No such references have been made by the Home Office.
Since January 1995, Interpol London has made one request to the Nigerian central bureau of Interpol to help trace a missing person believed to be in Nigeria. The request was made on behalf of a police force in the United Kingdom which had been contacted by concerned relatives.
Council of Europe Meetings
Mr. Terry Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings of, or organised by, the Council of Europe since January 1995 have been attended by Ministers or officials of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [29359]
Mr. Howard [holding answer 17 May 1996]: The readily available information suggests that Home Office Ministers or officials have attended some 68 meetings of, or organised by, the Council of Europe since January 1995.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Benefits
Mr. Rooker: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about how he
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devolves his powers to suspend payment of any particular social security benefit as between civil servants in his Department and the Benefits Agency. [28640]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Benefits Agency forms part of the Department of Social Security and its staff are civil servants engaged in the implementation and administration of social security legislation. Decisions, including suspension of payment of benefit under the claims and payments regulations, are taken by civil servants in the Benefits Agency acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Social Security.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what performance indicators apply to the payment of housing benefit; and if these apply equally to the new unitary authorities. [28982]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Department of Social Security does not set performance indicators for the payment of housing benefit but information from departmental statistical returns is used by local authorities to provide the base data for housing benefit performance measures compiled for and published under the citizens charter initiative by the Audit Commission. The most recent publication was for 1994-95.
The Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987 provide that every authority shall make the first payment of any housing benefit awarded by it within 14 days of the receipt of a properly completed claim and all claims should be determined within 14 days of receipt of all the relevant information. Where this is impracticable, payments on account must be made. The regulations apply to all local authorities administering housing benefit.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what powers he has to intervene where a local authority is failing to pay housing benefit on time; and what procedures exit for a special audit of those local authorities who have a backlog in the payment of housing benefit. [28981]
Mr. Evans:
The day-to-day administration of housing benefit is the statutory responsibility of local authorities and the quality of service is largely a local matter. The Department monitors administrative performance through the examination of statistical returns and other information backed by a programme of visits to a range of local authorities. Where a local authority appears to have serious administrative problems, departmental officials will consider making a special visit to discuss them at a senior level. In addition, a local authority housing benefit subsidy returns are subject to annual audit by an auditor approved by the Audit Commission which many, as part of this process, draw the Department's attention to authority failings.
Ms Jowell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the former recipients of invalidity benefit who had been transferred on to incapacity benefit up to the end of February 1996 were (a) disqualified for failure to return the IB50 questionnaire, (b) disqualified for failure to attend a medical examination and (c) failed the all-work test. [29477]
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| Former Invalidity Benefit recipients who transferred to Incapacity Benefit | Total to 30 November 1995 |
|---|---|
| (a) disallowed following failure to return questionnaire | 1,200 |
| (b) disallowed following failure to attend a medical examination | 260 |
| (c) disallowed following application of the all work test | 21,680 |
Source:
5 per cent sample from the Incapacity Benefit computer system. Excludes a small number of cases not held on the system.
Ms Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many former recipients of invalidity benefit who had been transferred on to incapacity benefit had been reviewed up to the end of November 1995. [29476]
Mr. Burt: As at 30 November 1995, 165,000 1 former recipients of invalidity benefit who transferred to incapacity benefit had been reviewed under the new provisions for the assessment of incapacity for work introduced on 13 April 1995. Note: 1 Includes those reviewed under the all work test and those found to be exempt from the test.
Family Credit Payments
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the reductions in family credit payments following DSS action to recover child maintenance during the period 1988-89 to 1992-93. [29375]
Mr. Roger Evans: The information requested is not available.
Small Firms
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many firms with fewer than (a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees were used by his Department in each of the last five years. [29436]
Mr. Burt: The information is not available.
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