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Independent Living Fund

Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the (a) number of recipients of, (b) total expenditure on and (c) upper and lower payments made by his Department from the Independent Living Fund for each of the last three years. [141144]

Mr. Bayley: The Independent Living Funds (ILFs) operate on a UK basis and the number of recipients of payments from the ILFs for the last three years was as follows:




The total UK expenditure for the last three years was:




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The maximum sums payable by the Funds remained unchanged since their inception in 1993 until 27 January 2000. From 1993 the maximum payment paid by the Independent Living (Extension Fund) was £560 per week and for the Independent Living (1993) Fund £300 per week. In January these amounts were increased to £625 for the Extension Fund and £375 per week for the 1993 Fund. The lowest payment made in an individual case in each of the last three years was £1 per week.

Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost to his Department of removing the means test from the Independent Living Fund. [141145]

Mr. Bayley: Up to date information is not available. I will write to the hon. Member shortly with the information.

Benefit Fraud

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which of the principal and supplementary recommendations in the Scampion report on organised benefit fraud (a) have been accepted, (b) are being considered and (c) have been rejected; if local authorities have been notified of the Scampion report; and if he will place the full text of the report on the internet. [141049]

Mr. Rooker: Following the Scampion Report work is under way in the following main areas:






Local authorities have been notified of the Scampion report and have been involved in the consultation process for joint working and the review of subsidy arrangements.

The report will be available on the internet shortly.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what working estimate was used by his Department for Housing Benefit fraud; what the level was of detected housing benefit fraud in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [139329]

Angela Eagle: Housing Benefit fraud was not measured prior to 1993. The method of measurement was changed in 1998 as a result of reports by the National Audit Office and Audit Commission. This makes it impossible to make a meaningful comparison across the period.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 17 November 2000, Official Report, column 807W, on benefit fraud, if he will set out the specific measures of the direction issued to Northampton Borough Council. [141006]

Mr. Rooker: I have placed a copy of the direction in the Library.

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NORTHERN IRELAND

Hamill Case

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under what powers the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland has commenced an investigation into the Hamill case. [141161]

Mr. Ingram: The Police Ombudsman is supervising the investigation into the complaint against the police made in relation to the murder of Robert Hamill under the provisions of Part VII of the Police (NI) Act 1998. The Commencement Order signed by the Secretary of State on 4 November 2000 provides that complaints which were made under the 1987 Police (NI) Order shall continue to be dealt with under Part VII of the Police (NI) Act 1998.

Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will set out the criteria by which funds for the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust are distributed; [139814]

Mr. Ingram: The Core Funding for Victims/Survivors Groups Grant Scheme is administered by the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust (NIVT) on behalf of the Victims Liaison Unit in the Northern Ireland Office. The criteria used by NIVT are set out in the Guidance for Applicants brochure produced by NIVT. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

The geographical distribution of funding is given in the following table by District Council area. In addition, a number of the groups which have received funding provide services on a regional basis.

District council area£
Armagh2,000
Belfast576,398
Coleraine73,660
Cookstown3,100
Craigavon80,000
Derry7,550
Down87,800
Dungannon10,000
Fermanagh81,346
Newry and Mourne1,070
North Down88,718
Omagh44,190
Strabane86,000
Regional985,787
Total2,127,619

WALES

Children's Commissioner for Wales

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement about the establishment of a Children's Commissioner for Wales. [139934]

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Mr. Paul Murphy: The office of the Children's Commissioner for Wales is being established under the Care Standards Act, which received Royal Assent on 20 July. The role of the Commissioner reflects Sir Ronald Waterhouse's first recommendation in his report "Lost in Care".

The Commissioner's functions will extend to all social care services for children regulated by the Act: children's homes, residential family centres, local authority fostering and adoption services, fostering agencies, voluntary adoption agencies, domiciliary care, private and voluntary hospitals and clinics, the welfare aspects of daycare and childminding services for all children under the age of eight, and the welfare of children living away from home in boarding schools.

The Commissioner's functions include the review and monitoring of arrangements by the service providers above for dealing with complaints, whistle-blowing and advocacy; the provision of advice and information; the examination, where the Commissioner considers appropriate, of the cases of particular children to be defined in regulations who are receiving or have been in receipt of such services; the provision of assistance, including financial assistance, and representation, in respect of proceedings or disputes or in relation to the operation of procedures and arrangements monitored by the Commissioner; and making reports, including an annual report on the exercise of his/her functions to the National Assembly for Wales.

Dee Estuary

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements are being put in place for the maintenance of the ecology of the Dee Estuary in advance of the forthcoming water framework directive and the Dee Estuary Strategy. [140430]

Mr. Paul Murphy: In relation to that part of the Dee Estuary falling in Wales, this is a matter for the National Assembly.

Special Educational Needs

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list by local education authority the number of cases taken to the Tribunal for Special Educational Needs each year from its inception until July 1999, indicating the number of cases in which the tribunal ruled that additional support should be provided for children with special needs. [140567]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister for School Standards on 28 November 2000, Official Report, column 583W.

Child Protection Registers

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for each local authority area, how many children there were on child protection registers broken down, by type of abuse, in (a) 1990, (b) 1997 and (c) 2000; and what was the rate of abuse per 10,000 children for Wales. [140565]

Mr. Paul Murphy: Figures for 1990 and 1997 are set out in the table. Since 1 July 1999, this has been a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Children on Child Protection Registers

Neglect, physical and sexual abuseNeglect and physical abuseNeglect and sexual abusePhysical abuse and sexual abuseNeglect (only)Physical abuse (only)Sexual abuse (only)Emotional abuse (only)Grave concern: household contains known abuserGrave concern: otherTotalRate per 10,000 population aged 0-17 years
at 31 March 1990
Clwyd1401198354161078637139
Dyfed02532376026256810935545
Gwent0901611223214369236735
Gwynedd01118102015205811
Mid Glamorgan050012612315352817914
Powys001020109221228533
South Glamorgan1825106112263414431575378
West Glamorgan0121122382642113416
Wales2539112754811801084906932,30235
at 31 March 1997:
Isle of Anglesey00007442(32)--(32)--1711
Gwynedd055416241513(32)--(32)--8232
Conwy0501182712(32)--(32)--5424
Denbighshire010091638(32)--(32)--3718
Flintshire0200312122(32)--(32)--319
Wrexham032061037(32)--(32)--3111
Powys0230121619(32)--(32)--4316
Ceredigion00007998(32)--(32)--3324
Pembrokeshire011026131319(32)--(32)--7328
Carmarthenshire060254271224(32)--(32)--12534
Swansea000032363322(32)--(32)--12324
Neath Port Talbot000060421640(32)--(32)--15850
Bridgend000242218(32)--(32)--3712
The Vale of Glamorgan06041344833(32)--(32)--10837
Cardiff4355614310948112(32)--(32)--46261
Rhondda, Cynon, Taff082047301236(32)--(32)--13524
Merthyr Tydfil170022121214(32)--(32)--6846
Caerphilly5121431503019(32)--(32)--15236
Blaenau Gwent0020231087(32)--(32)--5029
Torfaen0200101962(32)--(32)--3918
Monmouthshire0001161657(32)--(32)--4523
Newport03665529198(32)--(32)--12637
Wales10982730614562276412(32)--(32)--2,02930

(32) Not applicable

Note:

Comparisons between abuse categories for these years are not possible as the category 'Grave concern' was discontinued in 1993. Continuing Grave concern cases were assigned to another category.


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30 Nov 2000 : Column: 869W


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