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Electoral Register
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the cost of registering an elector on the electoral register in Scotland; and what is the cost of entering a name to correct an omission from the register. [102546]
Dr. Reid: The estimated overall cost of registration of electors in Scotland is in the region of £4 million per year, or just under a pound per elector. The cost of making a single correction to the electoral register would not be very much greater than the cost of registering an elector.
New Deal Environmental Taskforce
Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what projects are currently being undertaken by the New Deal Environmental Taskforce in the constituencies of Greenock and Inverclyde and West Renfrewshire; and if he will make a statement. [102624]
Dr. Reid:
The projects currently taking place in Greenock and West Renfrewshire are:
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| Provider | Number of placements available | Project | Nature of provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action Environment Ltd. | 22 | CARTS Valley and Planning | Construction of footpaths along banks of river, building walls and carrying out hard landscaping for local community wood project. |
| Heatwise | 24 | Home Insulation | Installing loft insulation in customers' homes, maintenance and care of tools and communication with customers. |
| Heatwise | 20 | Classroom Assistants | Helping to prepare people to apply to become classroom assistants in primary schools. |
(8) Excluding East Renfrewshire
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A further proposal has been submitted by Action Environment to offer 44 New Deal clients ETF opportunities in environmental enhancement, hard and soft landscaping and grounds and building maintenance.
"Public Bodies 1999"
Angela Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she will publish "Public Bodies 1999"; and if she will make a statement. [103463]
Mr. Stringer: "Public Bodies 1999" was published earlier today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
"Public Bodies 1999" provides a range of statistical information on over 1,500 public bodies and over 35,000 public appointments. It focuses primarily on non- departmental public bodies, but also includes information on nationalised industries, certain public corporations and those NHS bodies to which Ministers make appointments. "Public Bodies 1999" is UK-wide in its coverage and includes information on those public bodies which now operate in devolved areas in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"Public Bodies 1999" shows that the Government are making steady progress in reducing the overall number of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). The number of such bodies now stands at 1,057--a reduction of 6 per cent. over the 1997 total of 1,128.
"Public Bodies 1999" also shows that the Government are succeeding in increasing diversity among those serving of the board of public bodies. As at 1 September 1999, 33 per cent. of public appointments were held by women and 4.7 per cent. were held by members of ethnic minorities. This compares favourably to September 1997, when 32 per cent. of public appointments were held by women and 3.6 per cent. by members of ethnic minorities. We will continue working hard to encourage more women and more members of ethnic minorities to take up positions in public life.
Mr. Crausby:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of the total workforce in her
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Department is of ethnic minority origin; and what steps she is taking to encourage the employment of people from the ethnic minorities in her Department. [102739]
Mr. Stringer:
Making a dramatic improvement in diversity is a central part of the civil service reform programme. We are taking action across the civil service to address the under-representation of ethnic minorities particularly at senior levels. We have set a target to double the number of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds in the senior civil service to 3.2 per cent. by 2004-05.
The Cabinet Office is putting in place measures to help achieve corporate action, including: the appointment of an outreach worker who is working with university ethnic minority groups to build a better understanding of the opportunities in the Fast Stream; appointing a Senior Adviser to establish further pools of secondees and potential recruits and act as a source of advice to departments; planning to hold a civil service ethnic minority careers fair annually.
The Cabinet Office, as an organisation, has developed and is implementing, a Diversity Action Plan, which includes objectives and actions for setting targets for recruitment and selection; retention; and progression of under-represented groups, strengthening links with ethnic minority communities (open-days and seminars), summer work placements for school pupils, and a mentoring scheme for Cabinet Office staff and external ethnic minority undergraduates.
As at 1 April 1999 9.02 per cent. of permanent staff in the Department were of ethnic minority origin.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 6 December 1999, Official Report, column 372W, what part of the benefit payment modernisation programme will not be completed until 31 December 2005; and when the computerisation of the entire Post Office network will be completed. [103000]
Mr. Rooker:
Within the Payment Modernisation Programme, the Department will move away from paper
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based methods of payment to payment by Automated Credit Transfer (ACT), a more modern secure and efficient way of paying benefits.
It is envisaged that the migration of customers from orderbooks and girocheques to ACT will take place over a two year period beginning in 2003 and completing in 2005. This will be managed carefully and in a way that will not put at risk the efficient distribution of benefit payments. Benefit recipients who wish to do so will continue to be able to access their benefits in cash at post offices.
The automation of the network of almost 19,000 post offices is due for completion in 2001.
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his timetable for issuing draft regulations on stakeholder pensions. [102507]
Mr. Rooker:
We aim to issue draft regulations on stakeholder pensions for consultation early next year, in advance of the regulations being laid by around Easter.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many companies are currently engaged in firm negotiations with the Government to introduce stakeholder pensions. [103001]
Mr. Rooker:
The pension and financial services industry is involved in the consultation process on the detail of stakeholder pensions policy.
Mr. Alasdair Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claimants receive (a) retirement pension and (b) other benefits from post offices in each Scottish parliamentary constituency; [102691]
(3) what estimates he has made of the number of (a) retirement pension claimants and (b) other benefit claimants within Scotland who do not have a bank account, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [102690]
Mr. Rooker:
The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
As at 31 August 1999, the total number of customers in receipt of Retirement Pension and Widows Pension in Great Britain, receiving their pension through the post office was 5.6 million.
As at 31 August 1999, the number of customers in Great Britain in receipt of benefits (other than Retirement Pension and Jobseeker's Allowance) receiving their benefit through the post office was around 11.6 million.
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(2) what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners and other benefit claimants who do not have bank accounts; and what assessment he has made of the impact on such claimants of his plans to pay benefits directly into claimants' bank accounts; [102748]
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