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Child Benefits
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the number and value of child benefits payable to those past the minimum school leaving age in each of the last five years. [37164]
Mr. Moss: The information is presented in the table.
| Amounts of benefit payable (£) (30) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of children past minimum school leaving age (29) | First child | Subsequent child | |
| 1991 | 43,540 | 8.25 | 7.25 |
| 1992 | 44,052 | 9.65 | 7.80 |
| 1993 | 45,254 | 10.00 | 8.10 |
| 1994 | 45,864 | 10.20 | 8.25 |
| 1995 | 47.814 | 10.40 | 8.45 |
(28) Child benefit is normally paid up to the age of 16 but may be paid up to the age of 19 if the child is in full-time non-advanced education.
(29) At 31 December for each year.
(30) At April for each year. Total child benefit expenditure on 16 to 18-year-olds is not available. Child benefit is accounted for as a whole and is not apportioned between different age bands.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what performance targets have been set for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland in 1996-97. [38771]
Mr. Moss: For 1996-97 the following key performance targets have been set for the agency:
To meet an overall efficiency gain of 2 per cent.
To reduce the unit cost per vehicle excise enforcement case by 0.5 per cent. in real terms compared with 1995-96.
To dispatch 94 per cent. of registration books for new vehicles in 16 working days from receipt.
To dispatch 92 per cent. of refunds of vehicle excise duty in 10 working days from receipt.
To dispatch 93 per cent. of vehicle excise licences in five working days from receipt of postal applications.
To dispatch 93 per cent of duplicate vehicle registration books in six working days from receipt of applications.
To dispatch 93 per cent. of ordinary driving licences in 10 working days of receipt of applications.
To dispatch 96 per cent. of vocational driving licences in 10 working days from receipt of applications.
18 Jul 1996 : Column: 668
- To dispatch 95 per cent. of provisional driving licences in
10 working days from receipt of applications.
To dispatch substantive replies to 95 per cent. of written inquiries for information from the drivers and vehicles registers in three working days from receipt.
To limit maximum waiting time at local vehicle licensing offices so that 95 per cent. of customers are attended to within 23 minutes during peak periods-the first eight and last two working days of each month--and within 10 minutes at other periods.
To limit the error rate--errors on any item sent out by the agency--to a maximum of 0.5 per cent. of total agency output.
Valuations and Lands Agency
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what performance targets have been set for the Valuation and Lands Agency in 1996-97. [38772]
Sir John Wheeler: For 1996-97, the following key performance targets have been set for the agency:
- (1) To complete 40,000 rating cases--equivalent to
22,000 work units.
(2) To complete 24,600 client service cases--equivalent to
20,050 work units.
(3) To have met by 31 March 1997, all 1996-97 non-domestic
revaluation project milestones as specified in the business
plan.
(4) To have completed by 31 December 1996 the action plan
activities implementing the recommendations of the
efficiency scrutiny on Government-owned land.
(5) To achieve a productivity for case working valuers of
327 work units.
(6) To achieve at least a 2 per cent. efficiency saving on the
1995-96 allocation in real terms.
(7) To reduce the unit cost of casework by 3 per cent. in
real terms.
(8) To issue 94 per cent. of certificates for rating cases subject
to backdating within 12 months of the events giving rise to
revisions of the valuation list.
(9) To achieve a standard in rating valuations such that
88 per cent. of those determined on appeal are within (plus) + or (minus) --10 per cent. of the initial assessment.
(10) To complete 85 per cent. of rating appeals within six
months of receipt.
(11) To complete 93 per cent. of a representative sample of
client services casework within agreed time limits.
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what inquiries to detect fraud by cross-checking his Department's payroll with details of those claiming benefit he has undertaken; when these exercises took place; and how many staff were (a) suspended, (b) dismissed and (c) prosecuted as a result. [37707]
Mr. Moss [holding answer 17 July 1996]: Responsibility for the subject has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alex Wylie and I have asked him to arrange for a response to be given.
18 Jul 1996 : Column: 669
Letter from Alec Wylie to Mr. Frank Field dated 17 July 1996:
18 Jul 1996 : Column: 670
I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the detection of social security fraud by cross-checking Department's payroll with details of those claiming benefit.
The Social Security Agency has not carried out any data matching exercises where Departmental payroll information has been cross-checked against benefit details. Northern Ireland Departments currently respond to enquiries made by the Agency's Fraud and Prosecutions Branch and relevant information appropriate to an investigation is provided where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual member of staff has been involved in benefit fraud. No separate records are kept on these cases.
I hope this explains the position for you but I would be happy to provide any further information you require.
Mature Students
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people aged 65 years or over were engaged in full-time or part-time education (a) in 1990-91 and (b) at the latest available date; and what percentage this represents of the age group. [37204]
Mr. Ancram: In 1994-95, some 600 Northern Ireland domiciled students were aged 65 or over; this represents 0.3 per cent. of the age group. Reliable information for 1990-91 is not available.