Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Swinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the annual cost of reinstating the link with earnings for the state pension from 1 October. [95425]
Mr. Rooker [holding answer 26 October 1999]: Social Security benefits are uprated in April each year.
Million (1999-2000 prices) | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Excluding linked benefits | Including linked benefits |
2000-01 | 730 | 850 |
2001-02 | 1,040 | 1,210 |
2002-03 | 1,510 | 1,750 |
2003-04 | 2,060 | 2,390 |
2004-05 | 2,610 | 3,040 |
Notes:
1. As annual costs are not constant over time the first five years are shown.
2. Costs are in 1999-2000 prices and are rounded to the nearest £10 million.
3. Net costs are estimated using gross costs provided by the Government Actuary's Department, together with income-related benefit offsets produced by the Policy Simulation Model and PENSIM in the Department for Social Security. Overseas cases are included.
4. Costings assume the Minimum Income Guarantee continues to be uprated in line with earnings. No allowance is made for introduction of the State Second Pension or the measures in the Welfare Reform Bill.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes he intends to make to the Discretionary Social Fund. [96567]
Angela Eagle: As a consequence of the Decision Making and Appeals provisions contained in the Social Security Act 1998, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be making changes to the Social Fund directions and guidance. These will come into effect on 29 November 1999. Also included is a range of other minor improvements, the need for which has been identified in the course of routine monitoring. Details of these changes have been placed in the Library.
I am also pleased to announce that the Social Fund guide will be made available on the DSS internet site from 29 November.
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 877
Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if an action plan for increasing the representation of women in public life has been (a) prepared by his Department and (b) published since November 1998. [94844]
Angela Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to the written answer from my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 25 October 1999, Official Report, column 682.
Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply from the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency to his letter of 1 September regarding a constituent, ref: 15499. [94919]
Angela Eagle:
A reply was issued to my hon. Friend on 22 October 1999.
Jackie Ballard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if an action plan for increasing the representation of women in public life has been (a) prepared by his Department and (b) published since November 1998. [94847]
Mr. Straw: Yes. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, my right hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Marjorie Mowlam), on 25 October 1999, Official Report, column 682.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants for travel documents have been waiting for more than six months. [94795]
Mrs. Roche: There are approximately 3,000 travel document applications awaiting consideration which were received over six months ago. In recent weeks, there has been a substantial increase in staff numbers in the Travel Document Section of the Integrated Casework Directorate in order to process increasing volumes of new applications as well as older cases from the backlog.
This, combined with streamlined working practices, has resulted in dramatic increases in output from averages of 120 per week during August to well over 700 last week.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to implement the 1996 recommendations of the Law Commission on the issue of corporate killing. [94821]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Government are well aware of the weaknesses in the current law on corporate manslaughter. An interdepartmental working group
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 878
of officials, which includes a member of the Law Commission, is currently considering the recommendations made in the Law Commission's report Number 237, "Legislating the Criminal Code: Involuntary Manslaughter".
We expect to receive the conclusions of the interdepartmental working group within the next few weeks and will then consider the way forward.
Mrs. Ellman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the report of the investigation into allegations of bullying in relation to nursing staff at HMP Liverpool will be completed; and to whom it will be made available. [95948]
Mr. Boateng:
The report of the investigation into allegations that nursing staff at Liverpool prison had been the victims of bullying and harassment from other staff has been completed. None of the allegations were substantiated. However, the report makes a number of recommendations to improve the management of the health care centre in the future. The area manager is considering these recommendations and is determined to ensure that nothing along the lines alleged could happen undetected at Liverpool prison.
The report is an internal document and contains information and unsubstantiated allegations which could cause further distress to individuals named in it if it was made public. However, the governor is making it available to the Board of Visitors at Liverpool prison. The investigating officer has discussed the contents of the report with the family of Robert Price, the former nurse whose death prompted the investigation. The Coroner recently recorded a verdict of suicide. Managers will arrange to discuss the report with any of the other members of staff involved who request it.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what controls are available and how often they have been exercised in the last five years over the (a) manufacture, (b) sale, (c) possession and (d) use of ball-bearing pellet guns. [95367]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
There are two basic categories of guns designed to fire small ball-bearings (BB guns).
The first is the ball-bearing repeater pistol. These guns usually have a muzzle energy of less than one joule. Under the definition of "firearm" given in section 57 of the Firearms Act 1968, guns with a muzzle energy as low as this are not classed as firearms because they are not lethal and are incapable of inflicting more than trivial injury. As such, they do not come under the control of the Firearms Acts.
The second category consists of BB rifles. These are air rifles which are capable of firing ball-bearings as well as the more normal waisted pellet. Being low-powered airguns, there is no requirement for them to be held on a firearm certificate but in all other respects they come under the control of the Firearms Acts.
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 879
There are no controls under the Firearms Acts on the manufacture of low-powered airguns but their sale to, possession and use by young people is controlled by the Acts, as is the use of such weapons by adults.
For the purposes of the legislation, airguns capable of firing ball-bearings are classed simply as "air weapons". For this reason, it is not possible to distinguish between
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 880
convictions for offences in which guns firing ball-bearings were used and those involving guns capable of firing only the conventional waisted pellet.
The table gives the number of convictions for the most common airgun offences for the five years between 1993 and 1997 (the last year for which figures are available).
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 879
Offence | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carrying a loaded air weapon in a public place | 506 | 614 | 511 | 575 | 540 |
Person under 14 having an air weapon | 92 | 95 | 92 | 82 | 60 |
Person under 17 having an air weapon in a public place | 448 | 361 | 462 | 396 | 297 |
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 879
The figures relating to other offences under the firearms legislation cover the misuse of all types of firearms. It is not possible to separate out those convictions relating to air weapons except at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes he intends to make to the police funding formula following the report into the sparsity element of the formula. [95781]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We are considering the findings of the research report on the cost of policing in rural areas. We intend to announce soon details of how the police funding formula will operate in relation to next year's finance settlement.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |