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Asylum Seekers

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost, including the administrative costs, of restoring pre-1997 social security entitlements to asylum seekers instead of the vouchers system, (a) per asylum seeker and (b) in total annually; if he will set out the assumptions underlying the calculations and the basis for these assumptions; and if he will make a statement. [125701]

Mr. Bayley: It is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the costs of restoring pre-1996 social security entitlements to asylum seekers. This is because it is not possible reliably to determine what effect the changes made to the support arrangements for asylum seekers in 1996 and those introduced in April 2000 have had in deterring asylum applications.

Bilateral Social Security Agreement

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for the most recent date for which figures are available the number of people from each of the successor states to the former Yugoslavia who were claiming social security benefits in the United Kingdom under the 1958 bilateral social security agreement. [126538]

Mr. Rooker: The information is not available in the format requested from the Department's records. These are held on a computer system which identifies the country of current residence, but does not identify whether or not a reciprocal agreement has been used to enhance title to UK benefits.

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The records do show how many customers we have living in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, but without examination of each individual case we cannot say whether they have benefited from the agreement.

Numbers living in the countries of the former Yugoslavia

	Number
Republic of Slovenia	88
Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina	25
Republic of Croatia	229
The Former Republic of Macedonia	23
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	473

Income Support

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of making income support mortgage interest payments available after a two months' wait to homeowners who had taken out mortgage payment protection insurance but had suffered an uninsurable event. [125298]

Mr. Bayley: It is not possible to say how many people with mortgage protection insurance policies would suffer an uninsurable event.

Waste Recycling

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of waste produced by his Department was (a) re-used and (b) recycled in the last year for which figures are available. [126634]

Mr. Bayley: The vast majority of the Department's waste is paper. Of this approximately 70 per cent. is recycled.

Pensioner Incomes

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for (a) Great Britain and (b) each region, the number of pensioners who live in households with income below half of the UK average, for each year since 1979. [126326]

Mr. Rooker: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is contained in the Department's Household Below Average Income series which is available in the Library.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Kosovan Refugees

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Kosovan refugees who have returned home from the UK in the last 12 months have gone back to (a) their own homes and (b) temporary accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [126079]

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Mrs. Roche: Up to 15 June, 2,177 Kosovans had returned permanently from the United Kingdom, of whom 1,731 had arrived under the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Humanitarian Evacuation Programme. According to a Refugee Council survey of permanent returnees on the point of departure up to 9 June, 59 per cent. would be staying in their own house, 36 per cent. would be staying with relatives or friends and 5 per cent. did not specify where they were staying.

Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the advice he has received from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concerning her recommendations as regards the return of Kosovan refugees. [126292]

Mrs. Roche: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recently issued two papers which address the issue of the return of Kosovan refugees: "Kosovo Albanians in Asylum countries: UNHCR Recommendations as regards Return"; and, UNHCR's "Background Note on Ethnic Albanians Who are in Continued Need of International Protection". Both papers were issued in March 2000, and copies have been placed in the Library.

Metropolitan Police

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when the medical standards required to join the Metropolitan police were last reviewed; and what plans there are to update them; [126200]

(2) how many applicants to join the Metropolitan police have been rejected on medical grounds in each of the last five years. [126199]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The table sets out how many applicants to join the Metropolitan police have been rejected on medical grounds in each of the last five years:

	Number of applicants	Total number rejected on medical grounds	Percentage rejected on medical grounds
1996	6,402	878	13.7
1997	2,845	443	15.5
1998	6,343	671	10.5
1999	6,115	804	13
2000(19)	2,037	366	18

(19) To 15 June 2000

The Metropolitan police follow the Guidelines on Medical Standards of Entry to Police Forces issued by the Home Office in March 1998.

The Home Office is undertaking a review of the guidelines, which it is hoped will be completed later this year.

Mr. Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will make available the formal response by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary report, "Winning Consent". [126969]

Mr. Straw: "Winning Consent", the Report of an Inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), was published on 10 January. I refer to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member

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for Enfield, North (Ms Ryan) on 10 January 2000, Official Report, column 21W. I have today arranged for a copy of the Commissioner's formal response to the Report, submitted to me in my capacity as Police Authority for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), to be placed in the Library.

The Inspection was carried out as a direct response to a recommendation of the Report of the Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

It was one of the most detailed and thorough Inspections ever carried out by HMIC into specific aspects of policing in one police force, and examined community and race relations policies, and the handling of murder inquiries, in the MPS.

"Winning Consent" contains 41 recommendations. 29 relate to diversity issues, and 12 are concerned with the content of murder investigations.

I welcome the Commissioner's candid and very positive response. When the Report was published, I said that I expected senior management in the MPS to address the issues in it urgently and with vigour. This response confirms that they have done so. It demonstrates how much has already been achieved by the Metropolitan police in implementing the Report and reflects the Commissioner's total commitment to meet the challenges laid down and to continue the process of improvement.

The Report makes 41 recommendations. The Commissioner has accepted all of them (except one, which concerns a matter of professional, operational judgment, in the allocation of murder investigations within the Metropolitan police). Many of the recommendations are for action to be implemented over time. The Commissioner explains that there is a specific plan of action in place for each such recommendation; and some recommendations have already been implemented in full.

A fuller account of my assessment of the Commissioner's response is being placed together with it, in the Library.

Wrongful Convictions

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he is making in providing support for people on their release from prison following wrongful conviction. [126168]

Mr. Straw: My officials have initiated discussions with voluntary organisations interested in setting up an advice and counselling service for such people. We expect these discussions to lead to a full scoping study.

Travellers

Mr. Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent reports he has received from police forces about their effectiveness in dealing with the problems caused by travellers. [126203]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I have received information on this matter from a number of sources, and I am considering urgently with colleagues what action should be taken.

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