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Scott Inquiry
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's implementation of the recommendation of Sir Richard Scott on accountability to Parliament on trade in arms. [19460]
Mr. Arbuthnot: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough (Mr. Sykes) on 22 January 1997, Official Report, columns 600-01, about action to implement the recommendations of Sir Richard Scott's report.
Defence Contracts
Mr. Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent defence contracts or subcontracts have been awarded to companies based in and around Colchester; and what is the value of each contract or subcontract. [20279]
Mr. Arbuthnot: During the current financial year, over 200 prime contracts have been placed by MoD contracts branches on approximately 100 companies either based in the area or where the major element of the work is being performed or sub-contracted in and around Colchester. Because of the number of contracts it is impractical to list them individually, but values range from several hundred to several million pounds.
The above does not include any minor sub-contract work, or local purchase orders placed locally by MoD units as this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Robert Banks:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has made a decision on the future use of the former Army apprentices college near Harrogate; and if he will make a statement. [20681]
Mr. Soames:
No firm decision has yet been made on the future of the Harrogate site. It will be drawn to the attention of bidders for the Army Foundation college, for which we intend to seek private finance, but we are not in a position to reach final conclusions at this stage.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department which are subject to (a) investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner, (b) scrutiny by the Audit Commission, (c) scrutiny by the National Audit Office, (d) statutory provisions for open government, (e) performance indicators and (f) provisions under the citizens charter. [20931]
Mr. Arbuthnot:
None of my Department's executive non-departmental public bodies are subject to investigation by the Audit Commission. While none of them are listed as subject to investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner they are all subject to the code of practice on access to Government information--under which complaints may ultimately be investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner. The Submarine museum has been incorporated as a charitable limited company and is not currently subject to audit by the National Audit Office. All other of my Department's executive non-departmental public bodies are subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office and all of my Department's executive non-departmental public bodies are subject to performance indicators and citizens charter provisions.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department publish (a) annual reports (b) annual accounts, (c) the minutes of meetings, (d) the agendas of meetings and (e) a register of members' interests; and if this is in each case (i) under a statutory requirement or (ii) voluntary. [20900]
Mr. Arbutnot:
There is a statutory right for the public to inspect the annual accounts of all the service museums, held by the Charities Commission; the National Army museum and the RAF museum publish their annual reports voluntarily. The Oil and Pipelines agency's annual report and accounts are laid before Parliament.
None of the MOD's executive non-departmental public bodies publishes the agendas or minutes of meetings; and there is no statutory requirement to do so.
Appointees to the Oil and Pipelines agency are required to declare any personal interests and records are maintained.
Mr. Cummings:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on low flying by the RAF in the vicinity of Seaham on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 March between 12 noon and 5 p.m; [19941]
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Mr. Soames:
The RAF police have been tasked to investigate the activity of 3 and 4 March. My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, will write to the hon. Member when these inquiries are complete. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Timms:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list (a) the number of family credit claims and (b) the average payment of family credit by benefits offices made each year since 1992. [20296]
Mr. Roger Evans:
The administration of family credit is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from David Riggs to Mr. Stephen Timms, dated 18 March 1997:
(2) if the flight paths of low-flying exercises by the RAF now incorporate the vicinity of Seaham. [19944]
| Date | Average weekly entitlement (£) |
|---|---|
| May 1992 | 37.69 |
| May 1993 | 43.34 |
| May 1994 | 47.09 |
| May 1995 | 50.17 |
| February 1996 | 54.97 |
Source:
Analytical Services Division, Family Credit Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, February 1996.
Figures are provisional and subject to change.
Benefit Recipients
Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bristol, East (Ms Corston) of 12 February, Official Report, columns 247-48, if he will list the
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95 per cent. confidence limits for his number of estimated recipients of council tax benefit and retirement pension, and entitled non-recipients of income support; [18677]
Mr. Roger Evans:
The figures in my written answer to the hon. Member for Bristol, East (Ms Corston) on 12 February, Official Report, columns 247-48, were based on the housing benefit management information system annual 1 per cent. sample. This database consists of detailed records of approximately one in every 100 recipients of housing benefit, council tax benefit or both. This information is supplied by the local authorities responsible for the administration and payment of these benefits. The records include details of amounts of housing benefit and council tax benefit being received, eligible council tax, details of other benefits being received by the claimant or partner and details of any dependants and non-dependants.
No particular assumptions were therefore made in producing figures for the number of recipients of council tax benefit and retirement pension or the number of recipients of council tax benefit, retirement pension and income support.
To provide an estimate for recipients of council tax benefit and retirement pension eligible for but not claiming income support, information on the relevant database records was used to calculate whether council tax benefit, after adding back in any deductions for non-dependants, is equal to eligible council tax. This then indicates whether the recipient has income less than his applicable amount--the total of personal allowances and premiums--and therefore whether they would be eligible for income support. Differences in council tax benefit and income support rules relating to earnings disregards and capital amounts have been taken into account in this calculation.
The only assumptions made are that:
1. Recipients of council tax benefit and retirement pension, who are not already claiming income support, but receive either war disablement or war widow's pension and have council tax benefit equal to eligible council tax, will not be entitled to income support. This is due to the differences between how income from war disablement or war widow's pension is disregarded for council tax benefit and income support. Analysis of the cases where council tax benefit is equal to eligible council tax, which would total around 16,000, indicates that the vast majority would be unlikely to qualify for income support due to these differences and the relatively large amounts of war disablement or war widow's pension paid in addition to retirement pension. The effect of this assumption, if any, would be slightly to underestimate the number of entitled non-recipients of income support.
2. The number of special cases where a non-dependant deduction would not be applied and which cannot be identified from the information on the database, is relatively small. In these cases, it has been assumed that a non-dependant deduction has been made and so this deduction has been added back in the calculation
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described above. The effect will be slightly to overestimate the number of entitled non-recipients of income support.
3. The effects of any other minor differences between the entitlement rules of council tax benefit and income support are small.
(2) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bristol, East (Ms Corston) of 12 February, Official Report, columns 247-48, in respect of council tax benefits, if he will list the assumptions which have been made in supplying the answers to her question. [18676]
| Number (000s) | Approximate 95 per cent. confidence interval | |
|---|---|---|
| Recipients of council tax benefit and retirement pension | 2,431 | 2,411 to 2,451 |
| Estimated recipients of council tax benefit and retirement pension, eligible for but not claiming income support | 260 | 250 to 270 |
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