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Community Care Grant Appeals
Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to accelerate the community care grant appeals procedure; and if he will make a statement. [40236]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Secretary of State has laid down guidance and directions for dealing with a request for a review. We are not aware of any major problems with the current review process.
From 1 April 1996 to 31 July 1996 inclusive the average clearance time for a community care grant review was 13.8 days.
One benefit office in the hon. Member's constituency did have a backlog of reviews outstanding at the end of July. It has since taken action to reduce the arrears in this area of work. Its clearance time for reviews should be showing an improvement and constituents should now be receiving an improved service.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many appeals in each of the benefit districts in Wales have been lodged against the withdrawal of the reduction in earnings allowance. [40464]
Mr. Roger Evans:
This information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate his Department has
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made of the number of appeals to be made in England and Wales against the withdrawal of the reduced earnings allowance; [40468]
Mr. Evans:
The information is not available in the format requested.
It was estimated that approximately 25 per cent. of reduced allowance recipients transferred to retirement allowance following the introduction of amending legislation would appeal against the adjudication officer's decision.
Based on this assumption the cost in staff time for the Benefits Agency is estimated at a total of 15.81 man years. This figure is provisional and may be subject to change.
Offices have been provided with resources accordingly to enable them to deal with the extra work arising from these appeals.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individual appeals against the withdrawal of the reduced earning allowances have been heard; and what percentage of appeals heard have found in favour of the appellants. [40469]
Mr. Evans:
The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the average cost to an individual who has lost his reduced earnings allowance as a result of recent regulations in each of the benefit districts in Wales. [40467]
Mr. Evans:
The information is not available in the format requested.
Reduced earnings allowance recipients who are over pensionable age and who are not in regular employment have been transferred to retirement allowance in accordance with the Social Security (Industrial Injuries and Diseases) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1996, which came into effect on 24 March 1996. The average difference between reduced earnings allowance and retirement allowance is estimated to be around £29.00. This may be offset by additional income-related benefit entitlement for some retirement allowance recipients.
Mr. Jacques Arnold:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he proposes to introduce the child support departure system. [40915]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
I have today laid draft regulations which, subject to the approval of the House, will provide for the departures system to be phased in nationally from 2 December 1996.
The child support formula assessment is right in the vast majority of cases but the new system will allow scope for discretion in the small proportion of cases where the standard formula is not seen to produce a fair result. The
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grounds on which a departure application may be made include, for example, property and capital transfers made before April 1993 and high travel costs to maintain contact with the child. Also included are cases where parents are diverting income which would otherwise be available or where their lifestyle is inconsistent with their declared income.
Mr. Jacques Arnold:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the terms of reference of the interdepartmental review of funding of supported housing; and if he will make a statement. [40914]
Mr. Roger Evans:
In April, right hon. Friend the Secretary of State consulted on draft regulations to clarify the treatment of service charges in housing benefit. The representations that he received indicated that significant amounts of housing benefit may be being paid in respect of personal services in supported accommodation. He concluded that the sudden withdrawal of this source of income may cause significant difficulties for vulnerable people. Therefore, the proposed amendment was withdrawn and an urgent inter-departmental review commissioned to consider all aspects of the funding of services in supported accommodation. The review's terms of reference are to:
Mr. Steinberg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children aged (a) 16, (b) 17, (c) 18 and (d) 19 years in receipt of child benefit attend (i) school, (ii) sixth form college, (iii) tertiary college, (iv) further education college and (v) the youth training scheme. [30139]
Mr. Burt
[pursuant to his reply, 22 May 1996, Official Report, c. 290]: The information that I gave regarding the number of 17-year-olds undergoing youth training was incorrect. The correct information is as follows.
(2) how many additional staff have been employed and how many man hours have been devoted to deal with the outstanding appeals made to date against the withdrawal of the reduced earnings allowance. [40461]
We are seeking a sustainable balance between the various funding sources which ensures that essential support services are properly and appropriately funded whilst securing the most effective and economic resources.
1. Identify and estimate current benefit expenditure on services provided in supported accommodation.
2. Consider the proposed legislation and its implications. In particular, identify and estimate the numbers of people who would have been affected by it.
3. Examine and report upon the current mechanisms for funding and delivery of support services.
4. Identify and report upon alternative mechanisms for funding support services.
5. Examine and support upon where the sustainable balance should lie between Social Security and other funding services, and the implications for the care and housing sectors.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 16 year olds | 577,100 |
| 17 year olds | 400,700 |
| 18 year olds | 177,600 |
| 16-year-olds | 17-year-olds | 18-year-olds | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schools | 246,000 | 175,000 | 19,000 |
| Sixth form colleges | 53,000 | 40,000 | 10,000 |
| Tertiary colleges | 35,000 | 30,000 | 13,000 |
| Further education | 125,000 | 112,000 | 74,000 |
| Youth training | 69,000 | 76,000 | 40,000 |
DEFENCE
Precision Guided Missiles
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received that parts for the ISC-Ferranti precision guided missile were to be supplied by South Africa; what action his Department took as a result of such reports; and if he will make a statement.[40210]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The hon. Member will recall that he raised this issue in a letter that he sent to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister dated 5 November 1994.
The Prime Minister's reply of 24 November stated that the papers that the hon. Member had forwarded with his letter did not provide any evidence of breaches in UK import or export controls. I have nothing to add to this.
Biological Weapons (Iran)
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the biological weapons capacity of Iran. [40506]
Mr. Soames: Iran has a developed biotechnology industry which would be capable of sustaining a biological warfare research programme. For this reason, it is a cause for concern that Iran, though a state party to the biological and toxin weapons convention since 1973, has not offered to submit to the UN centre for disarmament affairs any confidence-building and transparency declarations.
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