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Local Government Finance
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the general Exchequer grant allocations to district councils for the 1997-98 financial year. [14324]
Sir John Wheeler: The total provision for general Exchequer grant for 1997-98 is £37.7 million. Distribution of the grant will be in accordance with the statutory formula.
Social Security Benefits
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals are in receipt of (a) disability living allowance, (b) incapacity benefit,
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(c) severe disablement benefit, (d) family credit, (e) income support, (f) jobseeker's allowance, (g) widow's benefit, (h) state retirement pension and (i) child benefit, in each parliamentary constituency.[13314]
Mr. Moss: Responsibility for the subject has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie, and I have asked him to arrange for a response to be given.
Letter from Alec Wylie to Mr. Seamus Mallon, dated 4 February 1997:
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(35) Includes customers in receipt of credits only.
(36) Benefit recipients which cannot be assigned to a particular constituency.
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I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of people in receipt of various social security benefits in each parliamentary constituency.
I have attached a table which shows the number of customers in receipt of five of the benefits listed in your question. Unfortunately, information about Widows Benefit, Child Benefit and Retirement Pension is not available in the format you requested. It will also be some time before the figures are available for Jobseeker's Allowance.
I hope this explains the position for you but I would be happy to provide any further information you require.
Constituency Severe Disablement Allowance (August 1996) Incapacity benefit(35) (August 1996) Disability living allowance (August 1996) Income support (August 1996) Family credit (February 1996)
Strangford 652 4,508 4,080 8,085 956
Belfast East 547 3,703 4,213 9,206 806
North Down 646 3,778 3,721 7,809 993
South Down 1,061 6,228 5,980 13,602 1,819
Lagan Valley 702 4,841 6,063 11,694 1,285
South Antrim 1,054 4,630 5,025 8,957 1,340
North Antrim 795 4,731 4,002 11,492 1,531
East Antrim 677 4,756 4,670 10,186 1,327
East Londonderry 979 5,399 4,992 15,512 1,805
Mid-Ulster 1,091 6,910 7,195 16,403 1,957
Newry and Armagh 1,130 6,352 6,596 16,160 1,555
Upper Bann 821 6,760 7,256 11,818 1,537
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 936 4,676 5,327 15,395 1,735
Foyle 1,243 8,179 10,157 22,963 2,046
Belfast South 482 3,412 3,822 11,372 613
Belfast West 860 6,350 10,397 20,355 1,652
Belfast North 745 5,893 7,436 15,693 1,291
Unknown(36) 624 3,070 3,515 7,410 649
Educational Expenditure
Mr. Mallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total capital expenditure by the
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Department of Education in each parliamentary constituency in each of the past 10 financial years, indicating the cost of each project. [13343]
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Mr. Ancram: Information in the form requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Computer Crime
Mr. Derek Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) on how many occasions in each of the last five years computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers in his Department; [14550]
- (2) how many cases of computer hacking, fraud and theft, including theft of computer chips his Department has recorded in the last five years. [14551]
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Sir John Wheeler: During each of the past five years the number of occasions when computer systems within this Department have been illegally accessed by computer hackers is as follows:
| Year | Number of occasions |
|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 2 |
| 1992-93 | 2 |
| 1993-94 | 0 |
| 1994-95 | 1 |
| 1995-96 | 0 |
| 1996(37) | 0 |
(37) To date.