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Social Security Appeals
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many cases notices were issued by the clerk to the social security appeal tribunal covering the Newport, Gwent, area directing the parties to notify him if they wished an oral hearing to be heard, in each week since 21 October 1996; and how many (a) appellants and (b) adjudication officers requested oral hearings in each of those weeks. [11089]
Mr. Roger Evans: The information is set out in the table.
| Week commencing | Number of notices issued by clerk | Number of oral requests from adjudication officer | Number of oral requests from appellant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 October 1996 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 October 1996 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 November 1996 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 November 1996 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 November 1996 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 November 1996 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 December 1996 | 11 | 8 | 2 |
| 9 December 1996 | 51 | 4 | 5 |
| 16 December 1996 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 December 1996 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 30 December 1996 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 January 1997 | 47 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 January 1997 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
Benefits Agency Medical Services
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give access to (a) the National Audit Office and (b) the Parliamentary Commissioner on Administration to the operating records of private sector companies contracted to undertake the functions currently carried out by the Benefits Agency medical services. [10993]
Mr. Burt: The successful contractor or contractors will have a mandatory contractual requirement to allow National Audit Office appropriate access to their records.
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The jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commission for Administration is unaffected where administrative functions of a Department or agency are carried out by private sector contractors.
Mr. Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the contractors who will be operating the Benefits Agency medical services will be reimbursed by his Department for the payment of claimants' travel expenses to medical centres. [10973]
Mr. Burt:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 11 November 1996, Official Report, column 88.
The cost of reimbursement of claimants' travel expenses will be met by the responsible contractor and will form part of the contract price.
Mr. Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many weather stations within the United Kingdom have triggered cold weather payments in each of the last five years. [11857]
| Year | Number of weather stations |
|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 36 |
| 1992-93 | 30 |
| 1993-94 | 25 |
| 1994-95 | 5 |
| 1995-96 | 52 |
Lone Parents
Mr. Dykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to involve the private sector in helping lone parents into work. [12206]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: Up to 100,000 lone parents on income support will be offered help to get back into work under the parent plus scheme, which will be piloted in 12 Benefits Agency districts over three years starting in April.
Parent plus will involve both public and private sector teams in competing to find the best ways of helping lone parents to reduce their dependency on benefits.
In four of the pilot areas the private sector will be invited to tender to provide innovative services to help get lone parents into work. The four areas will be selected from the following:
23 Jan 1997 : Column: 723
North Hampshire
Preston
Wirral
Wiltshire
Blackburn
Bradford
Northamptonshire
Buckinghamshire
Central Manchester.
Contracts will be issued to successful tenderers by the beginning of April and will stipulate that payment will be dependant on how many lone parents are helped into jobs. This will be the first time that private enterprise has been harnessed in this way to help people into work.
Nuclear Co-operation
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the co-ordination of French, British and US nuclear forces within NATO, with particular reference to the role of the French Government. [12124]
Mr. David Davis: As the alliance has made clear in its strategic concept, the supreme guarantee of the security of the allies is provided by the strategic nuclear forces of the alliance, particularly those of the United States. The independent nuclear forces of the United Kingdom, which are also assigned to the alliance, and of France contribute to the overall deterrence and security of the allies. NATO's strategy includes a requirement for widespread participation by European allies in collective defence planning in nuclear roles, in peacetime basing of nuclear forces on their territory and in command, control and consultation arrangements. France does not participate in NATO's collective defence planning and has not assigned its nuclear forces to NATO.
Lake Kojsanovskoe
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government are taking to provide assistance following the EC-funded report on the contamination of Lake Kojsanovskoe. [10827]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor: We, our EU partners and the European Commission have not yet reached a decision as to what assistance might be made available to counteract contamination of Lake Kojsanovskoe.
Russia
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to his letter of 13 May 1996, if he will list the projects (a) round the Kola peninsula, (b) in the Russian far east and (c) in relation to the Lepse in Murmansk harbour in which the EC and the United Kingdom are taking part; and what progress has been made. [10828]
Dr. Liam Fox: The latest available project list--September 1996--records a total of 15 projects concerning radioactive waste management in Russia in which the EU is involved. These are as follows:
- (1) Basis for diagnostics and forecasts on the state of nuclear waste at the bottom of the Barents Sea and the Sea of Japan.
(2) Conceptual design of a radwaste repository for the Kola region.
(3) Suitability of Krasnoyarsk rock formations for plutonium-containing waste disposal.
(4) Measurements, modelling and possible consequences of deep well injection sites at Dimitrovograd.
(5) Sorting of waste at the Smolensk and Kalinin nuclear power plants.
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(6) Solidification facility for radioactive waste at the Leningrad nuclear power plant.
(7) Analysis of safety and environmental impact of the storage facility for VVER-1000 spent fuel (Krasnoyarsk).
(8) Improvement of incineration facility at Kola.
(9) Feasibility study for St. Petersburg Waste Management Centre.
(10) Civil plutonium storage facility at Mayak.
(11) Support for the Moscow Radwaste Specialized Enterprise "RADON".
(12) Identification of disposal sites in the North-West region.
(13) Engineering assessment of "Lepse".
(14) Evaluation of the radiological situation around nuclear reactors holding spent fuel, dumped in the Kara Sea.
(15) Analysis of the medium and long term environmental and radiological consequences of the migration of radionuclides from the Karachay lake. Identification of countermeasures.
- Measurements, modelling and possible consequences at deep well injection sites at Dimitrovograd--the project has been completed.
- Solidification facility for radioactive waste at the Leningrad nuclear power plant--The project is currently in the tender phase.
- Feasibility study for St. Petersburg Waste Management Centre--A recently launched project to upgrade the facility for the storage and treatment of radioactive wastes at Sosnovy Bor. A study is under way.
- Engineering assessment of "Lepse"--The Feasibility Study on the removal of nuclear waste from the ship has been completed. An advisory committee has been established, and is now examining the study's recommendations.
- Evaluation of the radiological situation around nuclear reactors holding spent fuel, dumped in the Kara sea--The study was initiated in January 1996, and is expected to be completed as scheduled by May this year.
- Analysis of the medium-and long-term environmental and radiological consequences of the migration of radionuclides from the Karachay lake. Identification of countermeasures--the first of four project phases--has been completed. This involved the translation, analysis and collation of currently available data in respect of the regional climate, geology, hydrogeology and groundwater geochemistry of the area concerned.
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