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Assets
Sir Peter Hordern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people over 60 years have assets of £50,000 or more at the latest available date; and how many such people there were five years ago and 10 years ago. [31548]
Mr. Jack: The available information is as follows. I regret that separate estimates for people over 60 years are not available.
| Year | Estimated number |
|---|---|
| 1983 | 3 million |
| 1988 | 6 million |
| 1993 | 10 million |
(6) Includes all assets held by individuals for which a value can be immediately realised, net of liabilities, but excludes the values of accrued pension rights.
Obstetrics
Mrs. Wise: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the total number of (a) live births, (b) stillbirths and (c) maternities which occurred in England and Wales in 1995 and the number of each which occurred in
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(i) NHS hospitals without consultant obstetric units, (ii) NHS hospitals with obstetric units, (iii) other hospitals, (iv) at home and (v) elsewhere. [31855]
Mrs. Angela Knight: Available data requested are shown in the table.
| Live births | Stillbirths | Maternities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS hospitals | 632,378 | 3,530 | 626,633 |
| Non-NHS hospitals2,689 | 14 | 2,667 | |
| At home | 12,464 | 41 | 12,487 |
| Elsewhere | 607 | 15 | 617 |
| Total | 648,138 | 3,600 | 642,404 |
Separate figures for different kinds of NHS hospital have not been collected centrally since 1992, when 98.6 per cent. of all maternities in NHS hospitals occurred in hospitals with consultant obstetric units.
Earnings Statistics
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the number and proportion of manual, non-manual and part-time employees on adult rates earning less than (a) £3.95, (b) £5.26 and (c) £5.52 per hour, excluding overtime payments, in total and for (i) men and (ii) women and by (1) standard economic region, (2) each county in England and Wales, (3) each London borough and Greater London as a whole, (4) each regional authority and borough in Scotland and (5) Great Britain as a whole for April 1992; [31175]
- (2) if he will list the number and proportion of manual, non-manual and all full-time employees on adult rates earning less than (a) £148.13, (b) £197.25 and (c) £207.13 per week, excluding overtime payments, in total and for (i) men and (ii) women and by (1) standard economic region, (2) each county in England and Wales, (3) each London borough and Greater London as a whole, (4) each regional authority and borough in Scotland and (5) Great Britain as a whole for April 1992. [31174]
Mrs. Angela Knight: I am placing the available information from the "New Earnings Survey" in the House of Commons Library.
Deregulation
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated annual saving to business from the Deregulation (Bills of Exchange) Order 1996. [31384]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The Association for Payment Clearing Services has estimated that savings to the banking industry will be in the region of £30 million a year.
Custody Services Regulation
Mr. John Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish his consultation document on extending the scope of the Financial Services Act 1986 to cover regulation of custody services. [32549]
Mrs. Angela Knight: I have today published the consultation document. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Comments are invited by the end of August.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Disabled Employees
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many registered disabled people are employed by his Department; and what percentage this is of the total figures. [30778]
Sir John Wheeler: At 1 May 1996 there 1,120 staff in the Northern Ireland Civil Service--3.96 per cent. of the service--who self-reported a disability. Of these 450--1.6 per cent. of the service--were, or had been, registered as disabled. In addition, 71 registered disabled people are working in the Northern Ireland civil service under the employment support programme.
Of the home civil service staff in the Northern Ireland Office two are known to be registered disabled--0.9 per cent. of the work force.
Postal and Proxy Votes
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applicants for postal or proxy votes for the election to be held on 30 May, have been refused by the chief electoral officer because they stated that they would be on holiday; what plans he has to take steps to reverse this ruling; and if he will advise the chief electoral officer to amend the existing application form so that applicants know to state where they will be on holiday. [30832]
Mr. Ancram: A total of 56 applications for a postal or proxy vote were refused to individuals who cited leave or holiday as the reason for recruiting an absent vote for the 30 May election. The precise reasons for the refusals in these cases are, however, a matter for the chief electoral officer alone to consider. The application form that is used by those wishing to apply for a one-off postal or proxy vote at a particular election already advises in the notes on the reverse of the form that the applicant should indicate where he or she will be on holiday.
Fisheries
Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much Pesca funding is available for fishery projects in Northern Ireland in 1996-97; how much was paid in 1995-96; and if he will list those projects funded and the amount each project received. [32192]
Sir John Wheeler: The financial information for the Pesca programme is available only on the basis of calendar year and not financial year as requested.
The funding available for measure 3 fisheries projects in 1996 and 1997 is as follows:
A nil return should be recorded against list of projects funded and amount each project received.
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16. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the value of (a) land, (b) property and (c) rolling stock and other railway assets in the ownership of British Rail. [30616]
Mr. Watts:
British Rail's 1994-95 annual report and accounts show that the total value of BR's fixed assets was £2,748 million at 31 March 1995. The annual report and accounts for year end 1995-96 are being audited and will be published in July.
19. Mr. Win Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of his travel on official business has been undertaken by rail in the last year. [30620]
Sir George Young:
I travel regularly to work by rail and, during the last year, I travelled by train on approximately 75 per cent. of official visits in the UK outside London. On Friday, I travelled on seven separate trains.
25. Mr. Purchase:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to increase public transport use; and if he will make a statement. [30628]
Mr. Norris:
We aim to increase the attractions of public transport through targeted public investment and through greater involvement of the private sector in offering the services people want.
26. Sir Alan Haselhurst:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to respond to the Second report of the Transport Committee on United Kingdom airport capacity, HC67, Session 1995-96. [30629]
Sir George Young:
I received the report towards the end of last month and aim to respond as soon as possible.
27. Mr. Carrington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to review the economic impact of the introduction of bus lanes in London; and if he will make a statement. [30630]
Mr. Norris:
We are currently updating our guidance note "Keeping Buses Moving". However, I have no doubt that bus priority measures in London are delivering real benefit, and this is reflected in our commitment to complete the bus priority network by 2003.
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department has taken to examine misuse of the orange badge parking concession scheme; and what plans he has to curb such abuse. [31873]
Mr. Norris:
Following a comprehensive review of the working of the scheme new regulations were introduced in 1992 which, among other things, sought to reduce
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abuse of the scheme by making enforcement easier. We are seeking a legislative opportunity for the creation of new powers which will allow traffic wardens and parking attendants to inspect orange badges on demand.
There was no expenditure incurred on fisheries projects in 1995-96 financial year.
1996: £67,000
1997: £76,000
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