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Official Ministerial Visits
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the Ministers in his Department how many official ministerial visits they have undertaken since 1 January; and how many of these have been abroad. [9376]
Mr. Howard: The information requested is as follows:
| Total visits | Visits abroad | |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Michael Howard | 103 | 10 |
| Baroness Blatch | 42 | 1 |
| Ann Widdecombe | 123 | 4 |
| Mr. David Maclean | 40 | 0 |
| Mr. Timothy Kirkhope | 37 | 6 |
| Mr. Tom Sackville | 39 | 3 |
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Sir Ivan Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Criminal Cases Review Commission will be established; if he will list the names of the people who will be appointed as members; and when the commission will start work. [10396]
Mr. Howard: The Criminal Cases Review Commission will be established on 1 January 1997. Its members will be:
- Sir Frederick Crawford (Chairman)
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- Miss Fiona King
- Mr. Laurence Elks
- Mr. David Kyle
- Mr. John Leckey
- Miss Jill Gort
- Mr. Baden Skitt
- Mr. John Knox
- Dr. James MacKeith
- Mr. Karamjit Singh
- Professor Leonard Leigh
- Mr. Edward Weiss
- Mr. Anthony Foster
- Mr. Barry Capon.
The commission will need a period of time to appoint and train its staff, and to develop its working methods, before it takes on its caseworking responsibilities. It will take on responsibility for considering cases on 31 March 1997.
Members of Parliament (Bribery)
Sir Ivan Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further consideration he has given to the recommendation from the Committee on Standards in Public Life, in its first report, that the law relating to bribery of hon. Members of Parliament should be clarified. [10397]
Mr. Howard: I have today published a paper on this subject, and have placed copies in the Library. I have also sent copies to the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges, and the House of Lords Committee for Privileges.
Criminal Investigations Code
Sir Ivan Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to lay before Parliament the code of practice prepared under part II of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996; and when it will come into effect. [10398]
Mr. Maclean: In view of the interest in the code of practice among criminal justice practitioners, I am laying it before Parliament today. This is to assist them in preparing for the implementation of parts I and II of the Act next year.
Before the code can take effect, Parliament must approve an order bringing it into operation. I will lay an order seeking approval before Parliament as soon as
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possible next year. I am not yet able to do so, because the disclosure scheme in part I, which the code supports, depends on a number of sets of rules of court. These are currently the subject of consultation with criminal justice practitioners, and it is too early to say exactly when they will be ready to be implemented.
Dr. Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for reviewing the system of asylum and immigration appeals. [10474]
Mr. Howard:
My right hon. and noble Friend the Lord Chancellor and I intend to review the current system of asylum and immigration appeals, so as to establish, among other things, whether it provides adequate rights of appeal consistent with the costs to public funds and the impact upon the operation of the immigration control. We shall publish our conclusions in due course as a basis for consultation with interested parties.
Home Visits
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consultations he has had with the chief executive of the Benefits Agency concerning the ending of agency home visits; and if he will make a statement.[5905]
Mr. Roger Evans: The Benefits Agency has not stopped home visits to people claiming or in receipt of benefits. In July 1995, the agency introduced new criteria for determining when income support new claim visits and review visits should be made. This has improved customer service, accuracy, verification and validation of income support claims.
The agency is undertaking a wide-ranging review of its activities, as part of the overall departmental change programme designed to make efficient use of public funds while maintaining high standards of customer service. As part of this review, from 1 April 1996, visits are made only to customers with particular difficulties of access and under the security control programme.
Contracts
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many contracts have been made between his Department and (a) Andersens, (b) BMI, (c) Capita, (d) EDS and (e) Sema; and what is the nature of each service provided. [6734]
Mr. Burt: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Such information as is available is as follows.
- EDS--Four projects with contracts with the Child Support Agency placed between 1992 and 1995; Operational accounting system; maintenance assessment; support to the live running of the system; a technical services agreement to
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- provide resources to develop the system. One project with the Information Technology Services Agency to outsource the Department's data centre services. This contract involves taking over the complete data centre services provision for the Department. A framework for computer and related services.
- ANDERSENS--Replacement of the national insurance recording system (NIRS1) with a new system (NIRS2). A framework for computer and related services. Framework for management consultancy. A framework for accountancy consultancy.
- BMI--Audiology services.
- SEMA--Small systems support. A framework for computer and related services. A framework for management consultancy.
- CAPITA--framework for management consultancy.
Benefit Appeals Procedure
Mr. Roy Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to speed up the benefits appeals procedure. [7980]
Mr. Roger Evans: We have done so. The benefits appeals procedure is constantly under review and I hold regular meetings with officials.
The Independent Tribunal Service, through its change programme, continues to look for ways to improve clearance times.
We introduced regulations, which came into force on 21 October, amending the appeals process which should help to reduce the time it takes to clear appeals. Among other changes they
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Ms Corston:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 18 November, Official Report, column 451, for the years (a) 2000-1 and (b) 2010-11, what is his estimate (i) of the number of additional pensioners eligible to claim income support as a result of the retirement pension not being increased annually in accordance with earnings, (ii) of the additional cost, at 1995-96 prices and (iii) of the additional cost of administration, assuming that the difference between the per capita costs of administering the basic retirement pension and income support in 1995-96 were applied to subsequent years, that the basic retirement pension continued to be price-indexed and that the number and amount of other sources of income remained as now.[8248]
Mr. Heald:
Estimated numbers of additional pensioners in receipt of income support and the additional cost to income support as a result of the basic retirement pension not being uprated in accordance with earnings are given in the table. The table also contains estimates as a result of the basic retirement pension not being increased in accordance with the higher of prices and average earnings. Estimates have been made using Pensim, a dynamic simulation model that projects pensioners' incomes into the next century. Pensim estimates are based on a number of economic and behavioral assumptions, and in particular that average earnings increase by 1.5 per cent. per year above prices. Due to the reliance on assumptions and the time period covered, caseload estimates have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 and cost estimates to the nearest £100 million, and should be treated with caution. Further details of the methodology and assumptions used by Pensim are outlined in GES working paper No. 129 "Pensim: A Dynamic Simulation Model of Pensioner Incomes". Copies are available in the Library.
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aim to reduce confusion by requiring a specified form to be used when appealing and specifying the information which has to be given by the appellant;
streamline the administration of appeals by providing for oral hearings only at the request of an interested party or the chairman of a tribunal, otherwise paper hearings, and reducing the minimum notice of an oral hearing to seven days for all jurisdictions except child support;
relieve the burden on tribunal chairman by allowing the clerk to the tribunal to make certain decisions, such as postponements, amend the circumstances in which an appeal may be struck
out for want of prosecution and the circumstances in which these appeals may be reinstated, and allow for the issue of a summary decision, with a full decision available on request.
| 2000-01 | 2010-11 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additional pensioners in receipt of IS | Additional cost to IS £ million | Additional pensioners in receipt of IS | Additional cost to IS £ million | |
| Basic retirement pension increasing in line with average earnings | 900,000 | 600 | 600,000 | 400 |
| Basic retirement pension increasing in line with higher of average earnings and prices | 900,000 | 600 | 600,000 | 400 |
| Estimated administration cost to nearest £1 million | -- | 32 | -- | 21 |
1. Pensioners are defined as those single aged at state pension age or above, or couples in which the husband is aged at state pension age or above.
2. Caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest 100,000. Cost figures have been rounded to the nearest £100 million.
3. Costs are at 1995-96 prices.
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Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 27 November, Official Report, column 316, what estimate he has made of the average weekly charge above preserved rights to income
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support for (a) men and (b) women in (i) residential care and (ii) nursing homes. [9352]
Mr. Roger Evans: The information is set out in the table:
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| Residential care £ | Nursing homes £ | |
|---|---|---|
| Male claimants | 36.80 | 27.26 |
| Female claimants | 28.81 | 23.94 |
| All claimants | 30.48 | 24.54 |
Notes:
1. Amounts shown represent the average charge made in excess of the income support preserved rights limits.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry November 1995.
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