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Student Loans

Mr. David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the total value of the loans granted for support of students which have been treated as income for the purposes of calculating income support entitlement in each of the financial years since April 1991; and how many students have been affected. [15325]

Mr. Keith Bradley: The information is not available.

Income Support is not normally paid to students. In those limited circumstances where it is payable, information on student loans is not identified separately from other forms of income.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Gibbs: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans she has to review the jobseeker's allowance. [15756]

Mr. Keith Bradley: The Government believe that work is the best form of welfare for people of working age. Our Welfare to Work objectives are to provide work incentives, to reduce poverty and welfare dependency and to strike a new balance between rights and responsibilities. A programme of monitoring and evaluation is under way to enable us to ensure that jobseeker's allowance contributes to achieving our objectives.

Income Support (Disabled Claimants)

Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for income support were originally refused because of non-receipt of disability living allowance or attendance allowance but which when re-submitted subsequently after receipt of disability living allowance or attendance allowance were successful within (i) three, (ii) four, (iii) five and (iv) six months; and what was the total number of disabled claimants receiving income support in the years (a) 1994-95, (b) 1995-96 and (c) 1996-97. [15454]

19 Nov 1997 : Column: 226

Mr. Keith Bradley: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table.

Total number of disabled income support claimants

	Number of claims
1994-95	722,000
1995-96	769,000
1996-97	809,000

Notes:

1. The number of income support claims which were originally refused but were successful on review following receipt of disability living allowance or attendance allowance is not available.

2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.

3. Sample size 5 per cent. Figures may be subject to a degree of sampling error.

4. Disabled are defined as those claimants receiving the disability premium.

5. Jobseeker's allowance replaced income support for the unemployed in October 1996.

Source:

Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiries February 1995 to February 1997.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Justices of the Peace

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many justices of the peace there were in 1980; how many there are now; and if he will make a statement. [15749]

Mr. Hoon: At 1 January 1980, there were 24,684 active justices of the peace in England and Wales; as at 1 January 1997, the figure was 30,374.

Conditional Fees

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many representations he has received in favour of the extension of conditional fees; and if he will make a statement. [15748]

Mr. Hoon: My Department has had in the region of 30 inquiries from individual members of the public. The overwhelming message is that the proposed extension of conditional fees will be a real answer to the real problem they face of being denied access to justice through unaffordable lawyers fees.

Traditional Dress

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans the Lord Chancellor has to dispense with his traditional dress on what timescale; and if he will make a statement. [15758]

Mr. Hoon: The Lord Chancellor is keen to modernise his traditional dress on ordinary workings days. This is, however, a matter for committees of the House of Lords to decide.

19 Nov 1997 : Column: 227

DEFENCE

Gulf War Syndrome

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will correct in the Official Report all ministerial answers to hon. Members in respect of Gulf war syndrome which his Department has now discovered to be inaccurate. [14707]

Dr. Reid: I am not aware of any answers given by Defence Ministers in this Administration to questions concerning Gulf veterans' illnesses which have been discovered to be incorrect.

Fair Trade (Coffee and Tea)

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral Statement by the Secretary of State for International Development, Official Report, 5 November, column 332, if he will instruct officials in his Department to serve coffee and tea furnished by suppliers who adhere to fair trade standards. [15488]

Mr. Spellar: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer the Prime Minister gave on 13 November 1997, Official Report, column 617. All procurement decisions in the Department are based on the Government's policy of value for money.

Service Personnel (Exposure to Radiation)

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 22 July 1997, Official Report, columns 529-30, on exposure to radiation, when each of the six individuals received the doses of radiation; what work each of them was engaged in at the time; in what circumstances each of them received the doses; and if his Department has monitored the health of these individuals after they received these doses. [15553]

Mr. Spellar: I shall write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Exhibitions (China)

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support the United Kingdom Government is giving to United Kingdom companies planning to attend the International Defence Electronics Exhibition and the China Military Logistics Exhibition to be held in Beijing in May 1998. [16043]

Mr. Spellar: The Defence Export Service Organisation is aware of both exhibitions and is encouraging British companies to participate where exhibiting their products is consistent with the UK interpretation of the EU embargo on defence sales to China and our usual criteria governing all defence exports.

Communications Cables

Mr. Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Defence if he will make a statement on the laying of communications cables by the Government or government agencies in the early 1970s in the Barents Sea in the vicinity of the North Cape Bank. [16691]

19 Nov 1997 : Column: 228

Dr. Reid: The Ministry of Defence did not lay cables in the Barents Sea either in the 1970s, or at any other time. Nor am I aware of any cables laid by any other UK Government organisation.

Animal Experiments

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of experiments carried out on animals at (a) Porton Down and (b) other DERA establishments in 1995 would now be prohibited by the Government's announced ban on weapons testing. [16454]

Mr. Spellar: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Norman Baker, dated 19 November 1997:

I have been asked to respond to your question about experiments carried out by DERA for the purpose of weapons testing.

DERA does not use animals to develop or evaluate weapons. All experiments undertaken by DERA for the Ministry of Defence involving the use of animals are concerned with the safety and protection of the UK Armed Forces.

I hope this is helpful.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by category the experiments carried out on animals at (a) Porton Down and (b) other DERA establishments in 1995. [16455]

Mr. Spellar: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Norman Baker, dated 19 November 1997:

I have been asked to respond to your question about the category of experiments involving animals within DERA.


Within DERA, two areas hold Home Office Project Licences to carry out tests on animals, the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector (CBD) at Porton Down and the Environmental Sciences Department at Alverstoke. In 1995 CBD held thirty five Home Office Project Licences for animal experimentation, of which six were classified as substantial, twenty as moderate, five as mild and four as unclassified. The Environmental Sciences Department held one project licence classified as moderate.

I hope this information is helpful.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) viruses, (b) bacteria and (c) other pathogens tested on animals in (i) Porton Down and (ii) other DERA establishments in 1995. [16456]

Mr. Spellar: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Norman Baker, dated 19 November 1997:

I have been asked to respond to your question about viruses, bacteria and other pathogens tested on animals in DERA establishments.

DERA does not test viruses, bacteria or other pathogens on animals for any offensive purposes. All experiments undertaken by DERA for the Ministry of Defence involving the use of animals are concerned with the safety and protection of the UK Armed Forces.

19 Nov 1997 : Column: 229

The research programme carried out by the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector (CBD) at Porton Down does include work on new or improved vaccines and medical countermeasures. It would not be in the interest of national security to release details of the specific microganisms involved in this research programme.

I am sorry I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.

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