| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Cold Weather Payments
Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many times the temperatures at (a) Loch Glascarnoch and (b) Aultbea monitoring stations have indicated levels entailing cold weather payments; and how many recipients have received such payments as a result. [10841]
15 Jan 1997 : Column: 256
Mr. Roger Evans: The administration of the social fund is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Charles Kennedy, dated 14 January 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many times the temperatures at (a) Loch Glascarnoch and (b) Aultbea monitoring stations have indicated levels entailing Cold Weather Payments; and how many recipients have received such payments as a result.
The weather station at Loch Glascarnoch has identified five periods of cold weather. No periods of cold weather have been identified by Aultbea Weather Station.
Figures are not kept on how many people actually receive payments per weather station.
However data on the estimated number of people who would qualify (qualifiers) is available, for each time a weather station identifies a period of cold weather. For Aultbea weather station the estimated number of qualifiers is 238 and for Loch Glascarnoch the estimated number of qualifiers is 1,880. Therefore, an estimated 9,400 payments have been issued to those customers covered by Loch Glascarnoch Weather Station.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
Benefits Agency (Doctors)
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many doctors the Benefits Agency has trained in the operation of the all-work test; how many of those doctors (a) were found unsuitable and (b) left of their own accord after training; and how many have worked with the Benefits Agency medical services for a time but since left. [10219]
Mr. Burt: The administration of the Benefits Agency medical services is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
| Fee-paid doctors(4) | Employed doctors | |
|---|---|---|
| Trained | 1,627 | 290 |
| Found unsuitable after training(5) | 76 | 0 |
| Left | 186 | 54 |
Figures are provisional and subject to change.
Notes: (3) The table shows information from 1 February 1995 to 30 November 1996.
(4) Fee-paid doctors are not employees, but independent contractors.
(5) Doctors who have repeatedly failed to achieve a satisfactory standard at various stages of the approval process.
(6) Figures include those who left for personal reasons, retirement, etc., and fee-paid doctors whose contracts were terminated after approval, for failure to maintain a satisfactory quality standard.
(7) Separate figures are not available to show the number who left immediately after training of their own accord.
15 Jan 1997 : Column: 257
Pensioner Incomes
Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 11 December, Official Report, column 286, how many (a) single pensioners and (b) pensioner couples there were in which three quarters or more of the total income was derived from national insurance retirement and similar pensions and other state benefits in each of the last five financial years. [10844]
Mr. Heald: The information is in the table.
| Year | Number of single pensioners | Number of pensioner couples |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 calendar | 2,750,000 | 950,000 |
| 1990 calendar | 2,550,000 | 950,000 |
| 1992 calendar | 2,550,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1993 calendar | 2,600,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1994-95 financial | 2,650,000 | 1,000,000 |
Notes:
1. The pensioners' incomes series gives estimates for pensioner units. A pensioner unit is defined as being either a single person over state pension age (SPA) or a couple where the man is over SPA.
2. Income from state benefits has been calculated as income form national insurance benefits and all other benefits that may be received above SPA, such as income related benefits and disability benefits.
3. The figures given are for the last five years for which pensioners' incomes series data is available, and rounded to the nearest 50,000. Due to this rounding, the totals may not necessarily sum to the totals given in my answer of 11 December Official Report, column 286.
Source:
Pensioners' incomes series. This is based mainly on data from the family expenditure survey carried out over calendar years up to and including 1993, and carried out over financial years from 1994-95 onwards, covering the whole of the United Kingdom.
National Insurance
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what amount was budgeted for the national insurance contributions holiday in 1996-97; what level of contributions has been forgone to date; and what is the present estimate for the year. [10907]
Mr. Heald: The original estimate for 1996-97 was £28 million. However, this has now been revised and the current estimate is £1.5 million. Information about the level of contributions reclaimed by employers will not be available until their end of year returns have been received and processed.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for (a) each English region, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales the number of (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful applications made to date for a national insurance contributions holiday for the recruitment of an unemployed person. [10908]
15 Jan 1997 : Column: 258
Mr. Heald: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows:
Number of applications: 2,718
Successful applications: 2,312
Unsuccessful applications: 296
Awaiting further information: 110
| North | 247 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 332 |
| East Midlands | 232 |
| East Anglia | 77 |
| South East | 329 |
| South West | 207 |
| West Midlands | 246 |
| North West | 247 |
| Wales | 115 |
| Scotland | 197 |
| Greater London | 83 |
1. The number of unsuccessful applications by region is not available.
2. Statistics relate to the position on 6 January 1997.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Carrickmannon Lake
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if Carrickmannon lake in Saintfield, Co. Down, is classed as a designated water; and who owns the fishing rights. [10801]
Mr. Ancram: Carrickmannon lake is designated as a rainbow trout water under the Fisheries Consolidated and Amendment Byelaws (Northern Ireland) 1989. The Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland has no information on the ownership of fishing rights in this water, but it is operated a private sector put-and-take rainbow trout fishery by Dr. D. McVeigh.
Veterinary Laboratory, Omagh
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which (a) agricultural, (b) farming and (c) veterinary organisations were consulted prior to the decision to close Omagh veterinary laboratory; and if he will make a statement. [10834]
Mr. Ancram: None. Consultation is not possible in relation to announcements on the public expenditure survey.
Veterinary Post-mortems
Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full post-mortem cases were carried out, and on which species, in each of the past five years at the veterinary laboratories at (a) Stormont and (b) Omagh. [10836]
15 Jan 1997 : Column: 259
Mr. Ancram: The information is as follows:
| Year | Cattle(8) | Sheep | Pigs | Miscellaneous | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omagh | Stormont | Omagh | Stormont | Omagh | Stormont | Omagh | Stormont(9) | |
| 1992 | 1,399 | 1,280 | 796 | 563 | 726 | 501 | 23 | 837 |
| 1993 | 1,507 | 1,379 | 903 | 701 | 778 | 559 | 47 | 575 |
| 1994 | 1,674 | 1,344 | 1,006 | 691 | 757 | 544 | 58 | 825 |
| 1995 | 1,749 | 1,210 | 996 | 668 | 780 | 399 | 65 | 688 |
| 1996 | 1,560 | 1,314 | 1,047 | 744 | 892 | 327 | 182 | 672 |
(8) Excluding BSE cattle.
(9) Miscellaneous submissions at Stormont include zoo animals, pigeons, exotic birds, badgers, marine mammals and material connected with the wildlife investigation scheme.
15 Jan 1997 : Column: 259
| Year | Poultry | Horses | BSE/Cattle | Fish | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omagh | Stormont(10) | Omagh | Stormont | Omagh | Stormont | Stormont | ||
| 1992 | 1,932 | 16,533 | 19 | with misc | 134 | 293 | 4,696 | |
| 1993 | 2,792 | 20,855 | 15 | with misc | 263 | 403 | 2,789 | |
| 1994 | 5,793 | 24,750 | 3 | with misc | 127 | 443 | 4,349 | |
| 1995 | 3,261 | 23,485 | 3 | with misc | 70 | 229 | 2,790 | |
| 1996 | 2,813 | 19,753 | 11 | 39 | 26 | 125 | 3,900 | |
(10) Poultry submissions at Stormont include both diagnostic and statutory. In 1996 the split was 5,983 for diagnostic purposes, while 13,770 were received for statutory purposes. Statutory submissions do not generally have a detailed post-mortem examination carried out.
15 Jan 1997 : Column: 259
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |