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Miss H. McNulty

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what contact was made with Walsall Social Services before Miss H. McNulty, of Walsall, reference JP/4L/JKM was refused a Social Fund payment for a mobility scooter; and if he will make a statement; [70445]

(2) for what reasons Miss H. McNulty, reference JP/4L/KJM in Walsall was refused a social fund payment for a mobility scooter; [70447]

(3) if Miss H. McNulty, of Walsall, reference JP/4L/JKM was seen by officials prior to a decision being made that she should not receive a Social Fund payment for a mobility scooter; [70444]

(4) what circumstances were taken into account when deciding that a Social Fund payment for a mobility scooter should be refused in the case of Miss H. McNulty, of Walsall, reference JP/4L/KJM; [70446]

(5) if he will ensure that the local Benefits Agency office in Walsall reconsiders the application by Miss McNulty; and if he will make a statement. [70768]

16 Feb 1999 : Column: 682

Angela Eagle: The administration of the Social Fund is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. David Winnick, dated 15 February 1999:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Benefits Agency (BA) refusal of a Social Fund payment to Miss H McNulty, in particular whether contact was made with Walsall Social Services before a decision was made; for what reasons a payment was refused; if Miss McNulty was seen by officials prior to the decision; what circumstances were taken fully into account; whether the local office intends to send an official to see Miss McNulty; and if the local office in Walsall will reconsider the application.

Neither the Social Fund Officer, Social Fund Review Officer or Social Fund Inspector made any contact with Walsall Social Services prior to making their respective decisions to refuse a Social Fund payment to Miss McNulty for a mobility scooter. It is not the practice of the BA to approach Social Services without the express permission of the customer. The application form which Miss McNulty completed asked if there was anyone she would like contacted in connection with the application, but the offer was declined.

Miss McNulty was refused a Community Care Grant for a mobility scooter on the grounds of insufficient priority. Although the eligibility and qualification criteria for a Community Care Grant [Social Fund directions 25 and 4 (a) (ii)] were met, the demands on the district grants budget are such that only high priority grant applications can be met. The Social Fund Officer, Social Fund Review Officer, and Social Fund Inspector decided that Miss McNulty's need for a mobility scooter was not of high priority in her circumstances.

The eligibility and qualification criteria for a Budgeting Loan [Social Fund directions 8 and 2] were also met. Again, the demands on the district loans budget are such that only high priority loan applications can be met. The Social Fund Officer, Social Fund Review Officer, and Social Fund Inspector decided that Miss McNulty's need for a mobility scooter was not of high priority in her circumstances, so a Budgeting Loan was refused.

A Crisis Loan was refused because the Secretary of State has excluded mobility needs from consideration for a Crisis Loan [Social Fund direction 23].

The mobility scooter was not considered to be a medical item as it does not treat, cure, alleviate, prevent, or diagnose a medical condition. [Medical items are excluded by the Secretary of State from Social Fund payments].

Miss McNulty was not seen by officials of the Benefits Agency or Social Fund Inspectorate prior to the decision to refuse her a Social Fund payment. However she received copies of all papers relating to her application and replied to these papers with her own comments.

There is no provision in the Social Fund scheme for the local office to reconsider the application after it has been subject of a decision by a Social Fund Inspector, therefore there is currently no intent to visit Miss McNulty in connection with the application in question.

I empathise with the difficulties faced by many of our customers, particularly our vulnerable and disabled customers such as Miss McNulty. I am satisfied that my staff have given full consideration of the facts but accept a home visit could have been carried out.

There are two possible ways forward: Miss McNulty could either make another application for a payment from the Social Fund for a mobility scooter, but an immediate repeat application would be excluded by Direction 7 (if this was made within 26 weeks of her former application); or she could apply for a judicial review of the first decision if she thinks that there was an error in law in the processing of the application.

I am sorry I could not be of more help on this occasion.

16 Feb 1999 : Column: 683

WALES

Task Forces

Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the (a) task forces, (b) review panels and (c) advisory groups within his Department; and if he will state, in respect of each, (i) the remit, (ii) the membership, (iii) details of members' principal employment and (iv) the level of members' remuneration. [70042]

Mr. Michael: I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible and place a copy of my reply in the Library of the House.

Environmental Enhancement Works

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans the Welsh Development Agency has for environmental enhancement works for (a) the urban corridors from Queensferry to Connahs Quay, Deeside and (b) Buckley, Flintshire; and if he will make a statement. [70917]

Mr. Hain: This is an operational matter for the Welsh Development Agency and I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my hon. Friend directly. I will arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.

Civil Servants (Misconduct)

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the offences or acts of misconduct under which a civil servant in his Department could have his pension removed or reduced; and how often this has happened during the last five years. [70778]

Mr. Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, on 15 February 1999, Official Report, column 569.

Disabled People

Mr. Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what amounts in his Department's budget for 1998-99 can be attributed to spending on disabled people; and what proportion this represents of total departmental spending. [71281]

Mr. Michael: Welsh Office expenditure on programmes targeted at supporting people with learning disabilities, physical and sensory disabilities and mental health problems totalled £46.6 million in 1998-99. Other expenditure related to people with disabilities is incurred in other programmes and by the Department as an employer but this is a normal and integral aspect of business which is not separately identified. For this reason the full proportion of departmental spending on people with disabilities cannot be identified.

Homelessness

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many persons are currently registered homeless in Wales; and how many were so registered for the quarter ending June 1997. [71297]

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Mr. Jon Owen Jones: Information is not collected centrally on the number of individual people estimated to be homeless. Information on homeless households is shown in the following table.

Homeless households: Wales (40)

	April-June 1997	July-September 1998
Unintentionally homeless and in priority need	1,137	1,208
Intentionally homeless and in priority need	87	81
Homeless but not in priority need	1,020	95

(40) Excludes households not eligible for assistance under the Housing Act 1996

Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

A4042

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he held regarding the bridging of A4042 during his recent visit to Croesyceiliog. [71164]

Mr. Hain: The visit was arranged by my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. Edwards) and I have since had discussions with Welsh Office officials.

Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

Aggregate External Finance

Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is estimated amount of aggregate external finance excluding specific grants for local government in 1999-2000; and how this figure compares with each year since 1992. [71650]

Mr. Michael: The figures requested are given in the following table.

Aggregate external finance in Wales, net of specific grants

Year	£ million
1992-93(41)	2,156.6
1993-94	2,139.5
1994-95	2,204.1
1995-96	2,238.3
1996-97	2,280.1
1997-98	2,333.4
1998-99	2,443.1
1999-2000	2,570.2

(41) Includes funding for Further Education. £124 million was transferred out of the local authority sector in 1993-94 when Further Education funding became the responsibility of the Further Education Funding Council for Wales.

Following the transfer of functions, this matter will become one for the National Assembly.

Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the estimated aggregate external finance as a percentage of the total standard spending of local government in 1999-2000; and what was the equivalent percentage in each year since 1992. [71649]

16 Feb 1999 : Column: 685

Mr. Michael: The requested figures are given in the following table.

Aggregate external finance as a percentage of totalstandard spending, net of specific grants

Year	Percentage
1992-93	89.4
1993-94	89.3
1994-95	88.5
1995-96	87.6
1996-97	86.7
1997-98	86.8
1998-99	86.3
1999-2000	86.1

Following the transfer of functions, this matter will become one for the National Assembly.

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