---

Military Provost Guard

Mr. Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the Military Provost Guard Service. [88076]

Mr. Doug Henderson: Following a two year pilot scheme of the use of the Military Provost Guard Service to carry out armed guarding duties at a number of Army establishments, I have decided, subject to consultation, to extend the scheme. Over five years, the Military Provost Guard Service will initially expand from its existing strength of 118 local engagement regulars to a strength of over 600, providing armed guarding services to a total of 27 Army establishments nation-wide. They will in most cases replace Ministry of Defence Police who currently carry out armed guarding duties but who will in future concentrate on their primary role of carrying out constabulary duties. Where the MPGS replace MDP they will provide a cost-effective method of guarding, achieving savings rising to over £7 million per annum by comparison with existing arrangements once the scheme is fully up and running. This will be done without any changes to security standards. There will be consultation with the Defence Police Federation on these proposals which will involve a reduction in the overall numbers of MOD Police.

I am writing to hon. Members whose constituencies are to be affected by these changes, and a report by the Commander in Chief Land Command on the pilot scheme will be placed in the Library.

Ulster Defence Regiment

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were engaged for (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) three years, in (i) 1985, (ii) 1986 and (iii) 1987. [87849]

Mr. Doug Henderson: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Bloody Sunday

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral statement of 10 June 1999, Official Report, column 808, concerning the disclosure of soldiers' names, if he has decided to provide protection to those potentially at risk. [87828]

Mr. George Robertson [holding answer 22 June 1999]: We have assessed the implications of the disclosure of six names. The former soldiers concerned are being offered appropriate assistance. For obvious reasons I cannot give further details.

23 Jun 1999 : Column: 399

PRIME MINISTER

United Nations Reform

Q19. Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to promote reform of the United Nations. [86823]

The Prime Minister: We have given strong support to the UN Secretary General's plans for reform of the UN and its institutions. We recognise the need for new ways to be found to ensure that the UN and the Security Council work more efficiently and effectively. The Government will be pursuing this with other member states in the coming months. At the same time we will continue to press for enlargement of the Security Council to make it more representative of the world today. We will be working towards securing proper funding for the UN together with effective and transparent accountability arrangements. We will also discuss how the UN might improve co-ordination of its activities.

Engagements

Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 23 June. [87660]

The Prime Minister: This morning I had meetings with Ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I will have further such meetings later today.

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Housing Benefit

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates he has made of the number and percentage of private sector landlords whose rent is derived from housing benefit in each local authority area in England. [87349]

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested is not available in the format requested as the Department does not collect data on the total number of private sector landlords. The table gives information on the number of tenants in receipt of rent allowance in each local authority.

Rent allowance recipients in the private sector in England (excluding housing association) August 1998

Local authority	Recipients
Adur	810
Allerdale	1,420
Alnwick	440
Amber Valley	1,410
Arun	3,120
Ashfield	1,360
Ashford	890
Aylesbury Vale	900
Babergh	910
Barking	2,240
Barnet	6,920
Barnsley	3,200
Barrow in Furness	2,300
Basildon	1,450
Basingstoke and Deane	590
Bassetlaw	1,510
Bath and North East Somerset	2,330
Bedford	1,960
Berwick upon Tweed	480
Bexley	2,700
Birmingham	17,240
Blaby	470
Blackburn with Darwen	2,630
Blackpool	8,690
Blyth Valley	830
Bolsover	1,470
Bolton	3,990
Boston	540
Bournemouth	7,380
Bracknell Forest	600
Bradford	10,900
Braintree	1,200
Breckland	1,230
Brent	10,060
Brentwood	420
Bridgnorth	520
Brighton and Hove	13,290
Bristol	7,590
Broadland	1,060
Bromley	3,110
Bromsgrove	510
Broxbourne	710
Broxtowe	1,350
Burnley	2,390
Bury	2,070
Calderdale	3,470
Cambridge	1,010
Camden	5,650
Cannock Chase	740
Canterbury	2,720
Caradon	2,050
Carlisle	1,320
Carrick	2,290
Castle Morpeth	440
Castle Point	1,230
Charnwood	2,010
Chelmsford	1,010
Cheltenham	1,760
Cherwell	1,330
Chester	1,790
Chester le Street	490
Chesterfield	1,710
Chichester	1,190
Chiltern	1,220
Chorley	910
Christchurch	500
City of London	120
Colchester	2,050
Congleton	570
Copeland	1,010
Corby	430
Cotswold	850
Coventry	6,740
Craven	810
Crawley	410
Crewe and Nantwich	1,300
Croydon	7,600
Dacorum	890
Darlington	1,760
Dartford	1,020
Daventry	370
Derby	4,020
Derbyshire Dales	610
Derwentside	1,260
Doncaster	5,070
Dover	3,070
Dudley	2,050
Durham	610
Ealing	7,370
Easington	1,420
East Cambridgeshire	570
East Devon	2,070
East Dorset	740
East Hampshire	860
East Hertfordshire	750
East Lindsey	3,320
East Northamptonshire	720
East Riding of Yorkshire	5,870
East Staffordshire	1,370
Eastbourne	3,050
Eastleigh	910
Eden	600
Ellesmere Port and Neston	620
Elmbridge	1,100
Enfield	5,620
Epping Forest	1,150
Epsom and Ewell	580
Erewash	2,140
Exeter	2,510
Fareham	600
Fenland	1,450
Forest Heath	500
Forest of Dean	820
Fylde	1,580
Gateshead	3,860
Gedling	1,350
Gloucester	2,500
Gosport	890
Gravesham	1,530
Great Yarmouth	3,080
Greenwich	4,410
Guildford	1,180
Hackney	8,710
Halton	1,520
Hambleton	880
Hammersmith and Fulham	4,080
Harborough	370
Haringey	11,870
Harlow	540
Harrogate	2,110
Harrow	4,060
Hart	360
Hartlepool	2,190
Hastings	5,330
Havant	1,080
Havering	2,500
Herefordshire	2,670
Hertsmere	650
High Peak	1,300
Hillingdon	3,140
Hinckley and Bosworth	730
Horsham	790
Hounslow	3,620
Huntingdonshire	1,080
Hyndburn	2,120
Ipswich	2,210
Isle of Wight	4,140
Isles of Scilly	20
Islington	4,700
Kennet	750
Kensington and Chelsea	3,470
Kerrier	2,700
Kettering	900
Kings Lynn and West Norfolk	1,850
Kingston upon Hull	7,810
Kingston upon Thames	1,460
Kirklees	6,440
Knowsley	2,950
Lambeth	7,170
Lancaster	4,590
Leeds	10,640
Leicester	3,960
Lewes	1,660
Lewisham	7,000
Lichfield	510
Lincoln	2,040
Liverpool	20,680
Luton	3,870
Macclesfield	1,360
Maidstone	1,480
Maldon	670
Malvern Hills	680
Manchester	14,160
Mansfield	1,610
Medway	4,750
Melton	430
Mendip	1,850
Merton	3,000
Mid Bedfordshire	620
Mid Devon	1,160
Mid Suffolk	660
Mid Sussex	1,000
Middlesbrough	2,980
Milton Keynes	1,660
Mole Valley	600
New Forest	1,840
Newark and Sherwood	1,280
Newcastle under Lyme	940
Newcastle upon Tyne	6,290
Newham	12,960
North Cornwall	2,680
North Devon	2,690
North Dorset	410
North East Derby	690
North East Lincoln	4,820
North Hertfordshire	900
North Kesteven	730
North Lincolnshire	2,280
North Norfolk	1,920
North Shropshire	710
North Somerset	4,050
North Tyneside	3,470
North Warwickshire	750
North West Leicester	610
North Wiltshire	820
Northampton	2,100
Norwich	2,490
Nottingham	5,980
Nuneaton and Bedworth	1,460
Oadby and Wigston	480
Oldham	2,670
Oswestry	520
Oxford	2,480
Pendle	1,900
Penwith	2,470
Peterborough	3,120
Plymouth	7,730
Poole	2,280
Portsmouth	4,980
Preston	1,790
Purbeck	730
Reading	2,750
Redbridge	6,650
Redcar and Cleveland	2,100
Redditch	460
Reigate and Banstead	790
Restormel	3,070
Ribble Valley	500
Richmond upon Thames	2,190
Richmondshire	450
Rochdale	3,420
Rochford	830
Rossendale	1,060
Rother	2,460
Rotherham	3,010
Rugby	670
Runnymede	670
Rushcliffe	950
Rushmoor	750
Rutland	260
Ryedale	690
Salford	4,540
Salisbury	1,630
Sandwell	2,940
Scarborough	3,490
Sedgefield	850
Sedgemoor	1,750
Sefton	6,470
Selby	510
Sevenoaks	860
Sheffield	5,660
Shepway	3,710
Shrewsbury and Atcham	1,140
Slough	1,520
Solihull	1,180
South Bedfordshire	820
South Buckinghamshire	350
South Cambridgeshire	610
South Derbyshire	1,020
South Gloucestershire	1,630
South Hams	1,610
South Holland	570
South Kesteven	1,320
South Lakeland	1,490
South Norfolk	1,000
South Northants	410
South Oxfordshire	910
South Ribble	620
South Shropshire	650
South Somerset	1,940
South Staffordshire	590
South Tyneside	2,060
Southampton	5,460
Southend on Sea	7,040
Southwark	3,950
Spelthorne	720
St. Albans	790
St. Edmunsbury	820
St. Helens	2,100
Stafford	880
Staffordshire Moorlands	740
Stevenage	1,170
Stockport	3,620
Stockton on Tees	2,620
Stoke on Trent	3,810
Stratford on Avon	1,060
Stroud	1,180
Suffolk Coastal	1,810
Sunderland	4,670
Surrey Heath	330
Sutton	1,550
Swale	2,310
Swindon	1,670
Tameside	3,330
Tamworth	500
Tandridge	460
Taunton Deane	1,950
Teesdale	390
Teignbridge	2,850
Telford and Wrekin	1,310
Tendring	3,930
Test Valley	640
Tewkesbury	680
Thanet	6,490
Three Rivers	480
Thurrock	1,830
Tonbridge and Malling	830
Torbay	6,560
Torridge	1,920
Tower Hamlets	2,610
Trafford	2,480
Tunbridge Wells	1,160
Tynedale	600
Uttlesford	500
Vale of White Horse	690
Vale Royal	820
Wakefield	3,450
Walsall	2,120
Waltham Forest	8,830
Wandsworth	5,630
Wansbeck	1,230
Warrington	1,650
Warwick	1,230
Watford	1,020
Waveney	4,100
Waverley	830
Wealden	1,670
Wear Valley	950
Wellingborough	660
Welwyn Hatfield	470
West Berkshire	980
West Devon	1,060
West Dorset	1,170
West Lancashire	1,330
West Lindsey	1,210
West Oxfordshire	820
West Somerset	990
West Wiltshire	1,620
Westminster	5,660
Weymouth and Portland	1,750
Wigan	3,270
Winchester	750
Windsor and Maidenhead	1,080
Wirral	11,730
Woking	560
Wokingham	550
Wolverhampton	2,810
Worcester	1,350
Worthing	2,520
Wychavon	710
Wycombe	850
Wyre	2,060
Wyre Forest	1,050
York	2,380

Source:

Housing Benefit Management Information System.

23 Jun 1999 : Column: 404

---