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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 25 July 2000
SOCIAL SECURITY
Next Steps Agencies
Mr. Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the 1999-2000 annual reports and accounts for each of his Next Steps agencies. [133026]
Mr. Darling: The 1999-2000 annual reports and accounts for the Benefits Agency (HC 640), Child Support Agency (HC 658), Information Technology Services Agency (HC 680) and War Pensions Agency (HC 615) have been laid before Parliament today.
Fraud
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the anti-fraud targets announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review are (a) in addition to or (b) instead of, the existing Benefits Agency Security Control Programme. [132400]
Mr. Rooker: The Benefits Agency Security Control Programme ceased in April 1999.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how he plans to measure the success of the anti-fraud measures announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review. [132398]
Mr. Rooker: We are now measuring the level of fraud and error by means of a monthly rolling programme of reviews in each Benefits Agency area. A regular, random sample of cases is investigated thoroughly to establish how much fraud and error they contain.
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish his new public service agreements. [132395]
Departmental Staff
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many unfilled vacancies for permanent staff his Department has; what percentage of staff positions in his Department are vacant; what the monthly cost would be to his Department of employing civil servants in these positions; how many and what percentage of staff his Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; how much his Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the last 12 months; and how much he expects to pay employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the next 12 months. [131427]
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Mr. Rooker: The information is in the tables.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Number of unfilled vacancies | 1,187 |
| Percentage of total staff | 1.39 |
| Monthly cost of employing civil servants in these positions | 1,370,070.00 |
The numbers of staff the Department employs on a temporary basis through Employment Agencies can vary from day to day. For example, during May 2000, the equivalent of 22 staff were employed, which represents 0.03 per cent. of the Department's staff.
| Month | Total payments to employment agencies |
|---|---|
| July 1999 | 39,481.90 |
| August 1999 | 22,238.50 |
| September 1999 | 15,480.35 |
| October 1999 | 42,162.88 |
| November 1999 | 34,874.99 |
| December 1999 | 24,012.67 |
| January 2000 | 14,412.46 |
| February 2000 | 24,863.32 |
| March 2000 | 21,950.25 |
| April 2000 | 28,498.11 |
| May 2000 | 26,279.97 |
| June 2000 | 25,333.14 |
It is not possible to predict with any certainty what payments will be made to Employment Agencies for each of the next twelve months. It is expected that the amounts and numbers of staff involved will be similar to those detailed above.
Single Currency
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much his Department is planning to spend on preparing for the euro in the period to March 2004, broken down between years. [132396]
Angela Eagle: The Second Outline National Changeover Plan said that this Department will expect to spend up to £5 million on euro preparation in this financial year.
Household Income Statistics
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will assess which statistics from the Households Below Average Income series could robustly be produced on a quarterly basis. [132097]
Mr. Bayley: The Department's statisticians have not made a detailed assessment of whether any Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics could be robustly produced on a quarterly basis. However, past experience raises doubts as to whether any robust results could be produced on a quarterly basis.
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Child Poverty
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children in Shrewsbury and Atcham he estimates will be taken out of poverty by the end of the present year. [131138]
Mr. Bayley: It is not possible to make estimates at a local level of the numbers of children who will be taken out of poverty. However, children in Shrewsbury and Atcham will benefit from the range of measures we have announced which will lift 1.2 million children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Extradition
Mr. Chope: To ask the Solicitor-General how many court days have been occupied in hearing extradition cases in 2000. [130603]
The Solicitor-General: No records are kept of how many court days are occupied in hearing extradition cases, although applications for judicial review in such cases have occupied the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court for 13 whole or part days this year.
HEALTH
Flour (Folic Acid)
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to issue the consultation document on the implementation of the COMA recommendations on the addition of folic acid to flour. [132646]
Yvette Cooper: The United Kingdom Health Departments and the Food Standards Agency have today published a joint public consultation document on the report from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy which concluded that all flour should be fortified with folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. The consultation period runs until 31 October 2000. The document is available in the Library and on the internet at www.doh.gov.uk/folicacid.
Meat Hygiene Service
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what performance targets have been set for the Meat Hygiene Service in 2000-01. [133030]
Ms Stuart: Following consultation with interested organisations, the board of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved at its meeting on 20 July the following performance targets for the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) for 2000-01:
- 1. Public Health Protection
- (a) Reduction of microbiological hazards in meat:
- Fully apply MHS Clean Livestock Policy.
- Not to apply the health mark stamp to any meat showing visible faecal or alimentary tract contents contamination.
- Take effective action in slaughterhouses with low Hygiene Assessment System (HAS) scores to improve hygiene standards.
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- (b) Removal of Specified Risk Material (SRM) from the human and animal food chain:
- Strictly enforce SRM controls in abattoirs.
- 2. Animal Welfare
- Strictly enforce Welfare at Slaughter and Killing Regulations.
- 3. Staff Training
- Provide update training for all Principal Official Veterinary Surgeons and lead Official Veterinary Surgeons (OVSs) in enforcement (training course to be developed in liaison with FSA Legal Services).
- Provide update training for 33 per cent. of lead OVSs in animal welfare at slaughter (training course to be developed in liaison with Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Animal Welfare Division).
- Provide refresher training for 33 per cent. of lead OVSs in hygiene requirements (training course to be developed in liaison with FSA Veterinary Public Health Unit).
- All training to be completed by 31 March 2001 and to comply with Investors in People standards.
- 4. Customer Focus
- Provision of high quality service
- Introduce an independent element to MHS Appeals System.
- Sign up to Government Enforcement Concordat.
- To meet the FSA targets for customer service.
- Maintain full compliance with Charter Mark standards.
- 5. Value for Money
- Efficiency
- To implement those recommendations in the Pooley report applicable to the MHS and accepted by the FSA for implementation in 2000-01.
- To implement those recommendations in the external efficiency review accepted, and within the timetable laid down, by the FSA Board.
- 6. Financial Performance
- To operate within the cash allocations as agreed with the FSA.
- To recover from government departments, agencies and the Intervention Board Executive Agency (IBEA) the full economic costs (calculated in accordance with the relevant charging legislation and accruals accounting) of providing agreed services or other work undertaken on their behalf.
A copy of the consultation package, summary of responses and details of the assessment of these targets have been placed in the Library. They are also available on the FSA website at www.foodstandards.gov.uk.
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