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Police Station, Downpatrick
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures he will take to replace the police station in Downpatrick; and if he will make a statement. [145930]
Mr. Ingram: The Police Authority for Northern Ireland and the Royal Ulster Constabulary intend to build a new police station at Downpatrick commencing financial year 2006-07. Progress will be determined by the availability of an appropriate site and adequate funding.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Fishing
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact of the quota settlement for 2001 agreed between EU Fisheries Ministers in December, upon (a) each fish stock, (b) the overall economic future of the UK fishing industry and (c) the economic future for members of each UK producer organisation. [144271]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 January 2001]: Most of the total allowable catches agreed by the Fisheries Ministers on December 15 last year reflect closely the advice from scientists. We would therefore expect these stocks to move towards or remain inside safe biological limits over the period to which the advice refers.
The immediate economic effect of the quota reductions will vary according to the extent to which fishermen are able to catch their quota allocations. In some cases the quotas for 2001 are higher than catches in 2000. The purpose of the quota cuts and other measures being adopted is to conserve stocks in the longer term and so protect the economic future of the industry.
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We are discussing the implications of the situation with the industry.
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what funding the Government have provided as state aid support to the United Kingdom fishing industry in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [146273]
Mr. Morley: The figures shown include expenditure on national schemes and the national element of payments under EU schemes.
They include funding by the four Fisheries Departments, both before and after devolution. The largest element of the expenditure has been the scheme for decommissioning fishing vessels, which ended in 1997-98.
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 12.75 |
| 1996-97 | 10.75 |
| 1997-98 | 13.78 |
| 1998-99 | 6.14 |
| 1999-2000 | 3.85 |
Farming (State Aid)
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much funding the Government will provide to the United Kingdom farming industry as state aid support in the 2000-01 financial year. [146268]
Ms Quin: The Government are required to provide this information to the European Commission as part of an annual report on state aids. This is an extensive exercise which will be completed at the end of June. The work could be brought forward only at disproportionate cost. I will write to the hon. Member when the figures are available.
Farmers (Compensation)
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to implement a compensation package for farmers whose harvests have been destroyed by recent severe weather conditions; and if he will make a statement. [146235]
Ms Quin: We are helping farmers who have lost harvests as a result of recent severe weather through measures agreed with the European Commission to protect payments under the Arable Area Payments Scheme, to which the answer given to the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry) on 24 January 2001, Official Report, columns 594-95W refers. No separate compensation package is envisaged at this time.
Agricultural Holdings Act
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the occasions he has granted permission under section 2(1) of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986; and what the nature of the permission granted was. [147862]
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Mr. Morley: Between 1985 and 1995 a total of 12,742 approvals were granted under section 2(1). No such approvals could be made after 31 August 1995. The terms of each approval were unique to the individual case.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Income Support
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of recipients of Income Support or its equivalent among (a) pensioners, (b) non-pensioners with children and (c) non-pensioners without children for each of the past 30 years. [146009]
Mr. Bayley [holding answer 18 January 2001]: The information available has been placed in the Library.
Winter Fuel Payment
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2000, Official Report, columns 76-77W, on the winter fuel allowance, on what basis the figure for the number of people entitled to backdated Winter Fuel Payments is estimated to be 1.7 million. [146340]
Mr. Rooker: We estimate there may be up to 1.7 million eligible men aged 60 to 64 and these are estimated to sub-divide into the following categories: 1.2 million aged 60 to 64 during the qualifying week for the winter of 1997-98; 0.25 million aged 60 during the qualifying week for the winter of 1998-99; and 0.25 million aged 60 during the qualifying week for the winter of 1999-2000. All payments for past winters have to be claimed.
- Notes:
- 1. These estimates are based on the 1997-98 Family Resources Survey.
- 2. The estimates do not include men aged 60 to 64 who were getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance as this group would have already been entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner households have been paid the winter fuel allowance in the London borough of Wandsworth to date. [147243]
Mr. Rooker: Information is not available by household. The latest information on Winter Fuel Payments made to individuals in the three constituencies within the London borough of Wandsworth is set out in the table.
| Constituency | Winter fuel payments made this winter |
|---|---|
| Battersea | around 10,000 |
| Putney | around 12,000 |
| Tooting | around 11,000 |
Uprated Benefits
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the net cost is of (a) the increase in the basic state pension from April 2001, including the inflation element, and (b) the increase in the Minimum Income Guarantee from April 2001. [146352]
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Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Benefit | Net costs |
| Basic State Pension | 2,450 |
| Minimum Income Guarantee | 650 |
| Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefits for those aged 60 and over | 150 |
| Total cost | 3,250 |
Notes:
1. Figures are in cash terms and are rounded to the nearest £50 million.
2. Estimates relate to Great Britain.
3. Costs include both costs of uprating in line with inflation and costs of discretionary policy measures.
4. Basic State Pension costs include costs of dependency increases and basic pension increments.
5. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for those aged 60 and over are included as the applicable amounts for these benefits are the same as those in the Minimum Income Guarantee.
Pensioner Poverty
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) male and (b) female pensioners living in households with income below half the national average there were, broken down by five year age group, in the latest year for which figures are available. [147807]
Mr. Rooker: Such information as is available is in the table.
| Pensioner sex and age | Income before housing costs | Income after housing costs |
|---|---|---|
| Male pensioners | ||
| Number of male pensioners below 50 per cent. mean | 0.9 million | 1.0 million |
| Of which: | ||
| Aged 65 to 70 | 29% | 30% |
| Aged 71 to 75 | 30% | 30% |
| Aged over 75 | 42% | 41% |
| Female pensioners | ||
| Number of female pensioners below 50 per cent. mean | 1.5 million | 1.9 million |
| Of which: | ||
| Aged 60 to 65 | 9% | 9% |
| Aged 66 to 70 | 20% | 20% |
| Aged 71 to 75 | 27% | 27% |
| Aged 76 to 80 | 23% | 24% |
| Aged over 80 | 21% | 21% |
Notes:
1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBA) data set which is derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS does not include Northern Ireland, and 1998-99 is the latest year for which data are available.
2. Due to small sample sizes, reliable estimates of male pensioners aged 75 and over and female pensioners aged 80 and over, broken down by five year age bands do not exist.
3. The estimates are sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for region, council tax band and a number of other demographic variables. However, they do not control for the population by five year age bands. Estimates are subject to both sampling error and to variability in non-response. All proportions are rounded to the nearest per cent. and numbers to the nearest 100,000.
4. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household). The figures may be sensitive to the choice of equivalisation scale used.
5. The estimates are presented on both a Before Housing Costs (BHC) and an After Housing Costs (AHC) basis in line with HBAI conventions.
Source:
Family Resources Survey 1998-99.
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