---

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of the private finance initiative expenditure by his Department listed in table 5.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" has already occurred; and what are the future commitments implicit in this private finance initiative expenditure. [9288]

Mr. Burt: Table 5.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" gives the capital sums which the Department estimates will be spent by the private sector between 1997-98 and 1999-2000 as a consequence of any private finance initiative deals it may make with the DSS. It does not therefore include any expenditure by the Department itself or any expenditure estimated already to have taken place.

Revenue commitments resulting from the PFI deals concluded by this Department are still subject to negotiation and are currently commercial-in-confidence.

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 149

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown by project of the estimated capital spending on his Department's private finance initiative projects for each year given in table 5.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report". [9291]

Mr. Burt: The information is not available as disaggregating the figures quoted in table 5.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" into individual, identifiable projects at this stage would harm the competitive position of a third party and prejudice the Department's position in on-going and future project negotiations.

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of the expected future private finance initiative expenditure by his Department listed in table 5.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report" is contracted for; and what proportion is estimated. [9292]

Mr. Burt: Of the capital sum which this Department estimates will be spent by the private sector between 1997-98 and 1999-2000 as a consequence of any private finance initiative deals it may make, broadly half has been contracted for already. All figures are estimated as the total level of private sector capital expenditure is not specified contractually.

Consultants

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [10196]

Mr. Burt: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows:

Financial year	Expenditure £
1996-97 (to end of November)	34,766
1995-96	40,219

The Department of Social Security's non-departmental public bodies--NDPBs--are funded directly from the Department's overall administration and miscellaneous services vote. The vote accounting arrangements prior to April 1995 preclude separate identification of NDPBs' expenditure on external consultants.

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the actions his Department has taken on each of the recommendations contained in the Cabinet Office report, "The Government's Use of External Consultants". [10197]

Mr. Burt: The information has been placed in the Library.

War Pensions

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many sets of guidelines and instructions have been issued by his Department to its officials since 1986 to help them decide whether to award war pensions to claimants who are claiming disablement as a result of experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down. [10227]

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 150

Mr. Heald: Under war pensions legislation, awards may be made in respect of any disablement which is attributable to, or has been and remains aggravated by, service in the armed forces. No distinction is made between those who participated in experiments at Porton Down and other members of the armed forces who did not.

Guidance and instruction in determining entitlement to a war pension is contained in the war pensions manual available to all appropriate staff of the War Pensions Agency.

The version of the manual current in 1986 did not include a section which related solely to Porton Down cases.

That version was comprehensively rewritten in 1993, when a section about such claims was included. The manual was restructured in 1995 to coincide with the introduction of a new computer system and now consists of 12 separate guides, two of which mention Porton Down claims.

Of these two guides, a total of 79 and 117 sets respectively are currently in issue.

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the current members of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions; in what form the advice of the committee is communicated to the Minister with special responsibility for war pensions; if this advice is publicly available; on what dates the committee has met since January 1993; and (a) if the minutes and (b) the committee's annual report are publicly available. [10228]

Mr. Heald: The current members of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions are listed below. Advice from members comes through discussion at the meetings, which are chaired by my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State, Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish, and through individual written representations. Copies of the minutes of committee meetings and supporting papers are distributed to members of the committee, the chairmen and vice chairmen of war pensions committees and to certain ex-service organisations which are not directly represented on the committee. Copies are not usually distributed more widely, but details of the main issues considered by the committee are published in the war pensioners' annual report ¹ . The committee does not produce its own annual report.

Since January 1993, the committee has met on the following dates: 24 June 1993; 2 December 1993; 23 June 1994; 7 December 1994; 29 June 1995; 7 December 1995; 13 June 1996; and 5 December 1996.

Members of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions

Members
Mrs. P. A. Ade obe	Chairman, North and West Wales War Pensions Committee (WPC)
Major J. Aitkin td ca	Chairman, The Royal British Legion Scotland
Major General C. G. Cornock cb mbe	Chairman, The Confederation of British Service and Ex-Service Organisations
Mr. T. S. Deeming mbe	Chairman, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire WPC
Brigadier A. K. Dixon	Director, Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society
Mr. P. H. Dixon obe ma	Vice Chairman, SSAFA Forces Help
Mr. G. Downing	Chairman, The Royal British Legion
Mr. I. Duncan Smith mp	Conservative party
Mr. W. R. Dunn mbe	Chairman, Northumbria WPC
Mr. I. Grainger	Departmental Representative
Major J. W. Henning mbe ud	Chairman, Northern Ireland WPC
Mr. D. B. Hilton	The Royal British Legion Scotland
Lt. Col. R. R. Holland obe bem	General Secretary, British Limbless Ex-Servicemans' Association
Mr. T. C. House	The Royal British Legion
Mr. W. G. MacDonald	Chairman, North of Scotland WPC
Lord Mackie of Benshie cbe dso dfc	Liberal Democrat party
Mr. A. Meale mp	Labour party
Mrs. H. Murphy mbe	Honorary Secretary, War Widows' Association of Great Britain
Mr. W. S. Mutimer mbe jp mipm	Chairman, London South WPC
Mrs. P. Newnes obe	Chairman, West Midlands, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire WPC
Mr. F. E. Onyon mbe	Chairman, Lancashire WPC
Sir Roger Palin kcb obe ma	Controller, RAF Benevolent Fund
Mr. A. G. Palmer mbe	Chairman, East Anglia WPC
Mr. H. L. Payne cbe	President, National Federation of FEPOW Clubs and Associations
Brigadier H. L. B. Salmon obe	Chairman, The Chilterns WPC
Mr. F. E. Walker mbe	Chairman, Sussex WPC
Lt. Col. R. G. Woodhouse dl	Chairman, South West England WPC

The Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish and Mrs. Anne Bowtell, DSS permanent secretary, are ex officio members of the Committee.

Captain D. J. Mooney, Chairman of the Republic of Ireland War Pensions Advisory Committee, is an official observer to the Committee.

(57) Report to Parliament by the Secretaries of State for Social Security, Health, Scotland and Wales in accordance with the Transfer of Functions (Ministry of Pensions) Order 1953 (SI 1198).

13 Jan 1997 : Column: 151

European Court of Justice Ruling

Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the recent interim ruling by the European Court of Justice in respect of measures concerning poverty and the elderly. [9992]

Mr. Heald: The Government welcome the Court's interim ruling on 24 September 1996. The Court held that no payments of grants to projects should be made until the Court's final decision and that the Commission must make it clear that any commitments it enters into to make grants will be subject to the Court upholding the legality of payment in the main proceedings. The final ruling is not expected until later this year at the earliest.

---