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Spanish Fishing Vessels
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated value of fish caught by Spanish vessels fishing in British waters, out to 200 miles or the median line, in the last year for which figures are available. [71698]
Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.
This information is not available in the form requested. Under the Common Fisheries Policy, Member States are required to collect data only on the activities of their own vessels or in relation to other landings in their ports. In addition, catch information is required only by species and by ICES statistical areas, which may cover the waters of several countries.
Furthermore, TACs and quotas are set by ICES areas, rather than by reference to national zones. Spanish vessels do not have access to all waters within British fishery limits.
Welfare Reform
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will place the responses to the Green Paper "A New Contract for Welfare" in the Library. [71101]
Mr. Darling: Lists of those organisations and academics who responded to our consultation papers, excluding those who requested confidentiality, have been placed in the House Library. Copies of their responses are available on request from the Department.
The Library advises that it is not standard procedure for them to hold such responses. The Department will willingly make them available should the Library request copies. I am also today placing copies in the Library of summaries of the responses received to "New ambitions for our country: A New Contract for Welfare" (Cm 3805), "A new contract for welfare: Support for Disabled People" (Cm 4103) and "A new contract for welfare: Support in Bereavement" (Cm 4104).
23 Feb 1999 : Column: 265
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the policy of the Benefits Agency in respect of telephoning people outside office hours; [71126]
(3) if he will make a statement on (a) access which the Benefits Agency has to ex-directory telephone numbers and (b) its policy on their use; [71125]
(4) if it is the policy of the Benefits Agency when making telephone calls to people to give a reference number and contact address if requested. [71127]
Angela Eagle:
The administration of the Benefits Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. I have asked him to reply to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 22 February 1999:
Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he has taken to ensure that all medical
23 Feb 1999 : Column: 266
evidence submitted by his Department in tribunal cases is legible; and if he will ensure that all such evidence is typewritten. [70659]
Angela Eagle:
The administration of the Benefits Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 22 February 1999:
Mr. Alexander:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents in Paisley, South were on income support in the periods (a) May 1995-96, (b) May 1996-97 and (c) May 1997-98. [71432]
Angela Eagle:
The administration of benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
(2) if it is the policy of the Benefits Agency to comply with requests from people not to be telephoned with inquiries; [71128]
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking, what is the policy of Benefits Agency (BA) in respect of telephoning people outside of office hours; the policy in respect of complying with requests from people not to be telephoned with inquiries; access which the BA has to ex-directory telephone numbers and policy on use; and the policy on making telephone calls to people, to give a reference number and contact address if requested.
Studies have identified that people prefer to use the telephone as a means of conducting day to day business. We therefore seek to use this as a means to improve upon accessibility and provision of a quality service.
BA does not have a policy on telephoning people outside Office Hours. For operational reasons, the vast majority of calls will be made during the day, Monday to Friday. However, offices do operate flexible working hours resulting in calls potentially being made outside of 'normal' working hours. It is also the case that certain units within BA will need to telephone people in the evening or weekends, for example, where we are seeking to contact people who are no longer in receipt of benefits, or where there is a time difference, eg, people abroad who need to be contacted by our Pensions and Overseas Directorate. In providing a quality service, staff will be sensitive to keep unsociable calls to a minimum.
BA would seek to respect the wishes of people requesting not to be contacted by telephone and would attempt to deal with the business by other means, e.g. by letter or interview. The Income Support computer system includes a notes pad where these details could be incorporated, however, this service is not replicated across our current IT systems, clerical notes to this effect would be made however.
The BA has no direct access to ex-directory numbers. The telephone number would have to be given to the Agency. If the number has been given to us, eg, in respect of a previous benefit claim, it will be held on the Departmental Central Index computer system, which supports our mainframe benefit systems. This would result in the telephone number being available across the BA.
It is policy for BA staff when dealing with customers over the telephone to answer identifying their unit or section. If staff are asked at any time during the telephone call to give their name, or it becomes apparent that the customer needs a contact name to help progress their claim or business, staff are required to give their name. This can be first name only, surname, or full name, and staff can use a pseudonym as long as it is a name used in all their customer contacts, so they can be identified by colleagues.
I hope you find this reply helpful.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what steps are taken to ensure that all medical evidence submitted to a tribunal is legible, and whether an assurance can be given that such evidence be typewritten.
The Benefits Agency ensures that documents containing medical information used as part of the decision making process are clear and legible. Where the information is obtained from the Agency's Medical Advisors, contact specifications dictate that the information must be legible. Staff are advised to return information for clarification that falls below this criteria, before it is used to decide entitlement.
Information provided from an outside organisation such as a hospital or customer's General Practitioner is also scrutinised for legibility. Should such reports contain illegible information confirmation would be sought from the author.
There are no plans to introduce a requirement that all medical evidence should be typewritten.
I hope the information is helpful.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| May 1995 | 4,100 |
| May 1996 | 3,900 |
| May 1997 | 4,000 |
| May 1998 | 3,700 |
Notes:
1. Lone Parents are defined as single people with dependants who are not in receipt of a disability or pensioner premium. Some Lone Parent customers may also be included in load counts for Pensioner premiums and Disability premium. The number of Lone Parents is therefore potentially understated.
2. Please note that Renfrewshire Local Authority District will also include claimants from other constituencies, e.g. Renfrewshire contains claimants from both Paisley South Constituency and Paisley North Parliamentary Constituency.
3. The information has been provided by the Analytical Services Division 1 of the DSS.
4. Figures are based on 1 5% sample and therefore subject to a degree of sampling error.
23 Feb 1999 : Column: 267
SERPS
Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice his Department provides upon request to individuals with SERPS pensions with regard to the change of conditions of the pension on the death of a spouse from April 2000. [72018]
Mr. Timms: Information on the changes to the inheritance of Additional Pension (also known as SERPS) has been included in leaflets NP 45, "A Guide to Widow's Benefit", and NP 46, "A Guide to Retirement Pensions" available from April 1996.
An internal bulletin highlighting the changes and directed at weekly training sessions was issued in January 1999 to Benefits Agency staff.
Mr. David Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of paying the full entitlement to SERPS to widows/widowers whose spouse dies on or after 6 April 2000 based on the deceased contribution record to 5 April 1996. [72552]
Angela Eagle:
The estimated cost is £50 million in 2000-2001, increasing to £2 billion by 2020.
Notes:
1. Estimates, provided by the Government Actuary's Department, are in 1998-99 prices and are rounded to the nearest £50 million.
2. Estimates are gross, i.e. means-tested benefit offsets have not been taken into account.
3. Estimates have been made on the basis of current legislation.
4. Long term real earnings growth of 1.5 per cent. has been assumed.
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