31. Social Security
The Committee was nominated on 14 July 1997.
It had 11 Members and held 51 meetings.
|
Members | Meetings attended |
|
Kirkwood, Mr Archy (Chairman) | 49 |
Buck, Ms Karen | 41 |
Coaker, Mr Vernon (added, 9.11.98) | 0 |
Dismore, Mr Andrew (added, 9.11.98) | 0 |
Flight, Mr Howard (added, 20.7.98) | 5 |
Foster, Mr Michael (Hastings and Rye) (added
9.11.98) | 0 |
Gibb, Mr Nick (discharged, 20.7.98) | 28 |
Goggins, Mr Paul (added, 28.11.97)(discharged, 9.11.98) | 36 |
Hewitt, Ms Patricia (discharged, 9.11.98) | 39 |
Humble, Mrs Joan (added, 9.11.98) | 0 |
Kirkbride, Miss Julie | 38 |
Leigh, Mr Edward | 42 |
McDonagh, Siobhain (discharged, 28.11.97) | 5 |
Mountford, Kali (added, 9.11.98) | 0 |
Pond, Mr Chris | 42 |
Roy, Mr Frank (discharged, 9.11.98) | 34 |
Stuart, Ms Gisela (discharged, 9.11.98) | 45 |
Wicks, Mr Malcolm (discharged, 9.11.98) | 47 |
|
Overall attendance: 78.8 %
Number of Members added: 7
Number of Members discharged: 7
Turnover of membership during the Session: 64
%
Staff
Committee Clerk: Mr L C Laurence Smyth, Grade 5.
Other Committee staff: Ms J Hughes, Assistant Clerk,
Grade A3 (from 1 October 1997 until 23 January 1998); Mr P A Shelley,
Assistant Clerk, Grade A3 (from 1 October 1998); Mr A Brazier,
Specialist Assistant, Grade 8 (until 31 July 1998); Ms J Allbeson,
Specialist Assistant, Grade 8 (from 2 October 1998); Mrs D B Nelson,
Higher Executive Officer; Grade 10, Ms L Booth, Secretary, Grade
13 (until 17 June 1997); Mrs L Andrews, Secretary, Grade 13 (from
18 June 1997 until 13 July 1997); Mrs J Kalogerides, Secretary,
Grade 13 (from 14 July 1997 until 27 September 1998) and Ms M
Sullivan, Secretary, Grade 13 (from 28 September 1998).
Specialist Advisers during the Session
Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, Mr Chris Giles, Ms Marilyn
Howard, Mr Allan Martin, and Ms Maggie Rae.
Witnesses
Oral evidence was given during the Session by the
following categories of witnesses:
Number of appearances by:-
Cabinet Ministers: 1
Other Ministers: 6 (of which 2 were by a Member
of the House of Lords)
Number of appearances by officials from, or representatives
of:-
Department of Social Security: 12
other departments: 10
comprising:- Treasury 4
Inland Revenue 4
Lord Chancellor's Department 2
executive agencies: 9
comprising:- Benefits Agency 9
Child Support Agency 1
non-departmental public bodies: 4
comprising:- Disability Living Allowance Advisory
Board 4
Appearances by other witnesses: 70 (of whom 1
was a Member of the House of Lords)
Overseas Visits
Date |
Destination
|
Members |
Staff |
Purpose
|
Cost |
30.11-6.12.97
|
Washington DC and Wisconsin,U.S.A.
|
9
|
2
|
Social Security Reforms: Lessons from the United States of America
|
£51,451.46
|
.
Visits to European Institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg
Date |
Destination
|
Members |
Staff |
Purpose
|
Cost |
3.3.98 |
European Commission, Brussels
|
5
|
2
|
Meetings with UKREP and European Commission Officials
|
£3,262.11
|
UK Visits
Date
|
Destination
|
Members
|
Staff
|
Purpose
|
Cost
|
14-15.10.97 |
Leeds and Newcastle
|
9
|
5
|
Benefits Agency and Contributions Agency
|
£3,018.91
|
23.2.98
|
Kensington |
6
|
4
|
Constituency visit
|
£150.00
|
2.3.98
|
Birmingham |
7
|
3
|
Constituency visit
|
£557.25
|
27.7.98
|
ICL Pathway, Feltham, Middx.
|
3
|
1
|
Briefing on benefit payment card
|
£51.00
|
20.10.98
|
Blackpool and Preston
|
3
|
3
|
Visit to Family Credit operations
|
£1,031.37
|
Reports and Minutes of Evidence
Title |
HC No.
(1997-98)
|
Date of
publication
|
No. of
pages
|
Sale price
|
Government
reply
|
First Report: Tax and Benefits: An Interim Report
|
283
|
24.11.97
|
358
|
£25.67
|
Not required |
Second Report: Social Security Reforms: Lessons from the United States of America
|
552
|
18.2.98
|
71
|
£10.60
|
Not required |
Third Report: Tax and Benefits: Pre-Budget Report
|
423
|
11.3.98
|
156
|
£17.00
|
Received 19.5.98 published as First Special Report, Session 1997-98
|
Fourth Report: Disability Living Allowance
|
641
|
20.5.98
|
204
|
£19.50
|
Cm 4007, 23.7.98
|
Fifth Report: Pensions on Divorce
|
869
|
28.10.98
|
277
|
£22.00
|
Reply awaited |
First Special Report: Government's Response to Third Report from the Committee, Session 1997-98, Tax and Benefits: Pre-Budget Report
|
756
|
22.5.98
|
4
|
£1.45
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Pensions
|
516-i
|
13.3.98
|
18
|
£4.75
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: The Case for Social Security Reform
|
587-i
|
1.4.98
|
20
|
£5.50
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Welfare Reform Green Paper and the Department of Social Security Departmental Report
|
587-ii
|
1.6.98
|
31
|
£7.00
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Active Modern Service
|
587-iii
|
25.6.98
|
26
|
£6.20
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Success Measures
|
777-i
|
24.6.98
|
21
|
£5.50
|
Not applicable |
|
777-ii
|
21.7.98
|
27
|
£6.20
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Child Benefit Fraud
|
1021-i
|
29.9.98
|
32
|
£8.00
|
Not applicable |
Minutes of Evidence: Child Support
|
1031-i
|
15.9.98
|
20
|
£5.50
|
Not applicable |
Divisions
Date |
Subject
|
4.3.98
13.5.98
|
Seven, on consideration of amendments to Chairman's draft Report on Tax and Benefits: Pre-Budget Report.
Two, on consideration of amendments to Chairman's draft Report on Disability Living Allowance.
|
Debates
The following Reports were referred to on the Order Paper as being
relevant to debates in the House:
First Report, 1997-98, Tax and Benefits: An Interim Report, on
a Government motion for the Adjournment (debate on Welfare to
Work), 19.12.98
Third Report, 1997-98, Tax and Benefits: Pre-Budget Report, debate
on the Budget Resolutions,17,18,19, and 23.3.98
Fourth Report, 1997-98, Disability Living Allowance, on a Government
motion for the Adjournment of the House on a Wednesday morning,
under Standing Order No. 10(4), 17.6.98
Evidence
Oral evidence was taken at 33 of the Committee's 51 meetings.
On 1 of these occasions evidence was taken partly or wholly in
private. The Committee received 304 memoranda, of which 34 came
from Government departments and 10 from associated public bodies.
The Committee published 124 memoranda.
Inquiry
|
No. of oral evidence sessions
|
No. of memoranda received
|
No. of memoranda received from Government departments/
executive agencies/ associated public bodies
|
No. of memoranda published
|
No. of memoranda made available in the Record Office for public use and placed in the Library
|
Tax and Benefits: An Interim Report
|
3
|
47
|
1/0/0
|
34
|
0
|
Tax and Benefits: Pre-Budget Report
|
6
|
35
|
0/0/0
|
11
|
9
|
Tax and Benefits: Implementation of Tax Credits
|
4
|
30
|
3/0/0
|
19
|
9
|
Disability Living Allowance
|
4
|
35
|
7/0/10
|
22
|
1
|
Pensions on Divorce
|
8
|
59
|
10/0/0
|
31
|
5
|
Child Benefit Fraud
|
1
|
19
|
1/0/0
|
1
|
0
|
Child Support |
1 |
3 |
1/0/0
|
1
|
0
|
Pensions |
1
|
13
|
0/0/0
|
1
|
0
|
Success Measures |
2 |
47 |
1/0/0
|
2
|
0
|
Departmental Report and Green Paper
|
1
|
1
|
1/0/0
|
1
|
0
|
Active Modern Service
|
1
|
1
|
0/0/0
|
0
|
0
|
Other |
0
|
14
|
9/0/0
|
1
|
1
|
Total |
33
|
304
|
34/0/10
|
124
|
25
|
|