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Capping Limits
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will exclude expenditure on redundancy payments from capping limits. [12758]
Mr. Kynoch: At its meeting with my right hon. Friend and me on 17 January, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities asked whether it would be possible for a council, if it so wished, to use part of its 1997-98 capital allocation to fund spend-to-save measures including redundancies. My right hon. Friend agreed to consider this proposal provided it was neutral in public expenditure terms. He will announce his conclusion as soon as possible.
Water Grants
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the amount given to each water and sewerage authority in Scotland in each financial year from 1990-91 to 1995-96, in respect of (a) first time water grant and (b) first time sewerage grant. [13059]
Mr. Kynoch: The information is not available in the form requested since no distinction was made between water and sewerage grants paid for first time provision and general improvement of the supply of the services. Details of the amounts paid to each water and sewerage authority for general improvement, from 1990-91 up to and including 1995-96, are set out in the tables.
| 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councils | ||||||
| Borders | 246,423 | 262,387 | 266,304 | 345,039 | 236,534 | 221,271 |
| Central | 90,195 | 101,633 | 107,855 | 123,125 | 131,648 | 73,409 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 475,583 | 475,397 | 685,781 | 591,399 | 521,776 | 521,505 |
| Fife | 30,826 | 27,984 | 61,490 | 18,022 | 53,956 | 18,022 |
| Grampian | 999,710 | 1,196,309 | 1,119,051 | 1,638,244 | 1,218,846 | 1,096,916 |
| Highland | 912,836 | 1,039,104 | 766,017 | 857,364 | 866,296 | 926,659 |
| Lothian | 451,712 | 467,206 | 421,898 | 463,044 | 795,949 | 403,482 |
| Orkney | 165,415 | 165,347 | 162,853 | 178,121 | 176,018 | 175,380 |
| Shetland | 239,314 | 190,550 | 223,770 | 210,819 | 191,170 | 237,971 |
| Strathclyde | 355,899 | 296,802 | 443,570 | 436,380 | 425,506 | 411,788 |
| Tayside | 261,850 | 266,387 | 279,944 | 318,340 | 223,280 | 200,013 |
| Western Isles | 199,002 | 190,500 | 236,872 | 336,484 | 307,529 | 286,675 |
| Total paid | 4,428,765 | 4,679,606 | 4,775,405 | 5,516,381 | 5,148,508 | 4,573,091 |
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28 Jan 1997 : Column: 185
| 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councils | |||||
| Borders | -- | 970,000 | 1,100,000 | 1,284,000 | -- |
| Central | -- | 2,300,000 | 3,270,000 | 3,552,000 | -- |
| Dumfries and Galloway | -- | 1,590,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,125,000 | -- |
| Fife | -- | 3,140,000 | 5,390,000 | 5,983,000 | -- |
| Grampian | -- | 2,000,000 | 5,060,000 | 5,043,000 | -- |
| Highland | -- | 3,650,000 | 3,770,000 | 6,000,000 | -- |
| Lothian | -- | 5,460,000 | 5,000,000 | 5,628,000 | -- |
| Strathclyde | -- | 5,320,000 | 12,050,000 | 15,156,000 | -- |
| Tayside | -- | 4,080,000 | 4,420,000 | 6,376,000 | -- |
| Orkney | -- | 810,000 | 1,010,000 | 2,155,000 | -- |
| Shetland | -- | 210,000 | 1,170,000 | 1,072,000 | -- |
| Western Isles | -- | 470,000 | 760,000 | 626,000 | -- |
| Total paid | -- | 30,000,000 | 45,000,000 | 55,000,000 | -- |
(27) These grant payments were made as a part of a grant scheme which was implemented in 1991-92 and completed in 1993-94.
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28 Jan 1997 : Column: 185
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Sustainable Development
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how his Department has used the UK indicators for sustainable development in (a) the production of the Department's annual report, (b) monitoring progress towards meeting the objectives set out in the UK sustainable development strategy and (c) assessing the environmental implications of policy options; and what plans they have to extend their use in future within the Department. [12267]
Mr. Boswell: The Department's officials played an active part in the interdepartmental working group which prepared the UK indicators of sustainable development. We consider that the indicators are a valuable tool for helping us to monitor progress towards sustainable development.
However, most of the indicators relevant to agriculture track changes in the state of the environment. They do not identify precisely the extent and nature of agriculture's contribution.
In order to address these gaps in our knowledge, the Department announced plans to develop more detailed measures of agriculture's impact on the environment in "Rural England 1996"--jointly published by this Department and the Department of Environment in October 1996. The initial work will focus on indicators of pesticide use, emissions of ammonia and greenhouse
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 186
gases, nutrient losses to water and soil quality. This work should help us to identify future priorities for action or new policy directions which will be recorded in future departmental annual reports.
Sir David Steel:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the review that he is conducting on rabies policy to be completed. [12588]
Mrs. Browning:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) on 15 January 1997, Official Report, column 288.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received and what research he has commissioned on the implications of a reduction in the genetic pool of cattle breeds in the United Kingdom. [12855]
Mrs. Browning:
As I explained to the hon. Member on 21 March 1996, Official Report, column 314, the Ministry has commissioned work on the theory of genetics which included specific studies on the effects on the gene pool of selective breeding of farm animals. The research concluded that any potential negative effects can be avoided by targeted breeding.
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 187
13. Mr. Nigel Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received concerning the use of traditional methods in combating benefit fraud. [11381]
Mr. Heald:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly receives correspondence on a range of fraud issues. The Government have made cracking down on fraud a top priority and this year fraud investigation and anti-fraud initiatives are forecast to result in the detection of about £1½ billion fraud.
14. Mr. Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much has been paid out in cold weather payments since 1 December; and on which dates payments were triggered. [11382]
Mr. Roger Evans:
Since 1 December 1996, payments amounting to over £43 million have been triggered on 16 days. The details of actual dates are available in the Library.
15. Sir Michael Neubert:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of a higher guaranteed minimum income for pensioners on incentives to save. [11383]
Mr. Heald:
Any means-tested income scheme for pensioners at a significantly higher level than income support would weaken any incentives for individuals to make their own provision for retirement and penalise those who do so.
16. Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the effect on the Department's budget of the shift from invalidity benefit to incapacity benefit. [11384]
Mr. Burt:
Incapacity benefit was introduced in April 1995 in order to simplify the structure of provision for the sick and disabled and improve the targeting of resources on the long term sick. It is estimated that the introduction of incapacity benefit will reduce expenditure in the long term by around £2.3 billion per year.
17. Mr. Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to improve the administration of the Child Support Agency. [11385]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
The Child Support Agency is performing well against its 1996-97 business plan. Further challenging targets seeking improvements in performance over and above that achieved this year will be set for 1997-98.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans the Child Support Agency has to restore the charging of fees for assessment of clients after 17 April. [13216]
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 188
Mr. Mitchell:
There are no plans to restore fees from April 1997. Regulations came into force in January 1997 which suspended fees for both the assessment and collection services for a further two years until April 1999.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what discussions he has had on the involvement of the private sector in the running of the Child Support Agency; and which operations centre is under consideration for such involvement. [13031]
Mr. Mitchell:
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant CB. She will write to the hon. Member.
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