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British Irish Rights Watch
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will summarise the principal arguments he has advanced in response to the submission of British Irish Rights Watch to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression concerning allegations made by Mr. Martin Ingram; and if he will place a copy of his full response in the Library. [117261]
Mr. Spellar: The Government have not seen any submission from British Irish Rights Watch to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, and therefore have not prepared a response.
Sectarian Harassment Policy (Northern Ireland)
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library (a) the Northern Ireland Sectarian Harassment Policy and Guidelines and (b) Standing Orders of the General Service Battalion of the RIR (i) prohibiting a display of paramilitary insignia and emblems, (ii) on sectarian harassment and procedures and (iii) on improper retention of photographic or other material to which access is granted in the course of official duties. [117265]
Mr. Spellar: I have made arrangements for copies of the text of the documents to be placed in the Library of the House.
TREASURY
Youth Unemployment
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the figures underlying Chart 3, on long-term youth unemployment, in the Treasury paper "The Goal of Full Employment: Employment Opportunities for all Throughout Britain", published in February. [116852]
Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 4 April 2000]: The figures refer to those aged 18-24 claimant unemployed for six months or longer. Since the data are not seasonally adjusted a moving average over one year was taken to smooth out seasonality. Prior to 1995 data are available only quarterly and missing months were estimated by interpolation. The figures for December, being representative of each year, are shown in the table.
(5) Those aged 18-24 claimant unemployed for six months or more. Figures refer to the average over the previous 12 months of non-seasonally adjusted data in December for each year.
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 21W
Genetic Testing
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what role he plans for the Financial Services Ombudsman in the regulation of the use of genetic information by the insurance industry. [116567]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Financial Services Authority has recently consulted on this subject and will decide on its policy shortly.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Human Rights Legislation
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what estimate he has made of the number of additional court cases which will be brought in England and Wales (a) in the year to October 2001 and (b) subsequently in each year, as a result of the coming into force of provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 in October 2000; what the cost to public funds and the amount of court time taken up will be in (i) the High Court, (ii) the Court of Appeal and (iii) the House of Lords; and what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive regarding the operation of human rights legislation in Scotland. [118544]
Jane Kennedy: The Government anticipate that the vast majority of human rights points will be raised in existing cases, rather than new cases, save for applications for leave to move for Judicial Review which may rise from the 300 received in 1998 to 600 per year. We expect a significant number of human rights points to be raised in the months following implementation but it is anticipated that the level of challenges will reduce subsequently as the higher courts determine the basis on which the Act and Convention are to be applied.
The Government have made annual provision for the overall costs of implementing the Human Rights Act in the courts--£60 million, including £39 million for legal aid. In addition, £4.5 million has been set aside to ensure that all full and part-time judges, lay magistrates and their legal advisers are trained to deal with Convention points effectively, which should reduce the impact on court time.
On an annual basis, the High Court and Court of Appeal estimate that 2,300 to 2,800 extra sitting days would be required as a direct result of Human Rights Act cases, but the need for additional sittings will, in part, be offset by other changes in workload.
Officials in my Department have been, and remain, in contact with officials of the Scottish Executive to benefit from an understanding of how their business has been affected by human rights litigation.
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 22W
PRIME MINISTER
Downing Street Records
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister in what form records are kept of persons visiting 10 Downing Street for meetings (a) with him and (b) with officials; and for how long such records have been maintained. [116924]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 3 April 2000]: There is no requirement for this information to be kept. Since February 1998 a visitor notification system has been kept for operational purposes of persons visiting 10 Downing Street. I have continued the practice of previous Prime Ministers of keeping an official diary which includes the names of my visitors. This is deposited in due course in the Public Record Office.
Press Office
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Prime Minister what was the reason for his Press Officer's attendance at the 27 March Conference in Portsmouth on promoting Europe; and if he will deposit a copy of the Press Officer's speech in the Library. [118023]
The Prime Minister: No member of staff from my Office attended the Council of Europe Parliamentary and Public Relations Committee visit to Portsmouth from 25-28 March.
Strategic Communications Unit
Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what has been the total cost so far of the Strategic Communications Unit, broken down by (a) salaries, (b) capital equipment and (c) other costs. [108898]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 8 February 2000]: Expenditure for the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) was £77,633 in 1997-98 (during which year the SCU was only functioning for approximately three months) and £716,672 in 1998-99. The budget for 1999-2000 is £839,440. The rise between expenditure in 1998-99 and the budget for 1999-2000 is principally due to the additional costs of the re-design and re-launch of the No. 10 internet site which included the replacement of outdated computer equipment and the creation of two additional established Civil Service posts. Savings have of course been made in other departments as a result of the transfer of work to the SCU and its role in providing consultancy services to departments which are not reflected in these figures.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when Mr. M. R. Bacon of Thanet will receive his Winter Fuel Payment. [118216]
Angela Eagle: We are unable to trace any record for Mr. Bacon without further information.
10 Apr 2000 : Column: 23W
Deportees
Mr. Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will introduce legislation to treat people who are deported to the UK as being habitually resident in the UK. [118799]
Mr. Bayley: We have today laid regulations that will automatically treat deportees, who may not otherwise be covered, as being habitually resident in the United Kingdom for the purposes of Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action is being taken by his Department to monitor the quality of advice given by SEMA Medical Service doctors about the awarding of Incapacity Benefit on the basis of scrutiny of documents without commissioning a medical examination. [118800]
Mr. Bayley: In February 1999, new guidelines for doctors undertaking scrutiny were produced by SEMA Medical Services and the Department's Chief Medical Adviser.
A recent survey by the Department's Medical Policy Group has shown that some Medical Services doctors are not following the scrutiny guidelines which means that some Incapacity Benefit awards may have been made incorrectly.
The Benefits Agency has written to SEMA Group's Director of Medical Services to instruct Medical Services to take corrective action immediately to ensure compliance with the medical quality standards specified in the contract.
SEMA has also been informed that the Department's Chief Medical Adviser will be carrying out further audits of the scrutiny process, to ensure that advice to award Incapacity Benefit on the basis of scrutiny, without medical examination, is given only where there is sufficient medical evidence already on file to justify it.
In addition, the Chief Medical Adviser's Medical Quality Surveillance Group is making arrangements for a joint audit, with Medical Services, of the standard of each individual doctor undertaking scrutiny. This exercise will begin next month.
Medical Services, through their own medical quality monitoring procedures, already identified some doctors who are not following the scrutiny guidelines and have instituted remedial training for them.
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