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Road Safety
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the outcome was of the meeting on 15 January between road safety campaigners and the Minister with responsibility for roads; and if he has ordered a critical summary of relevant controlled road safety evaluation studies. [148588]
Mr. Hill: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lord Whitty), had a useful meeting with my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Mr. Miller), representatives of RoadPeace and other road safety campaigners, at which a variety of issues were discussed. The proposal for a critical summary of relevant controlled road safety evaluation studies has been made by the Institute of Child Health, and my noble Friend has invited the Institute to discuss their ideas with Departmental officials.
Travel Plan Bursaries
Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement about bursaries to local authorities for the promotion of travel plans. [148735]
Mr. Hill: Following an invitation last November we received 263 bids from a total of 153 local traffic authorities and passenger transport executives in England for bursaries to employ dedicated staff to promote travel plans to schools and businesses in their area. I am happy to announce today that we have been able to accept bids for 111 posts across the country. The successful authorities with the number of posts that have been accepted are as listed. Funding will normally be for three years within a limit of £30,000 a year per post.
(7) Full time equivalent posts
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Community Transport Schemes
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 26 January 2001, Official Report, column 739W, on community transport schemes, if applications for continued funding of existing schemes were (a) permitted and (b) encouraged. [148342]
Mr. Hill: The Rural Bus Challenge is intended to promote innovation in the provision and promotion of rural bus transport by seeking to support new approaches and projects. The bidding guidance for the 2000 competition neither prohibited nor encouraged the submission of bids for continuation funding of existing schemes. A number of authorities have submitted bids for continued funding of schemes funded by previous Challenge competitions and these are being considered alongside all the other bids. Successful bids to the 1999 competition included further funding for schemes successful in the 1998 competition.
MOX Fuel Shipments
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations have been received by Her Majesty's Government from other Governments in respect of the current shipment of MOX plutonium fuel to Japan in ships operated by BNFL. [147741]
Mr. Battle: I have been asked to reply.
To date, a representation has been made by the Government of New Zealand about the current shipment of MOX fuel to Japan. A meeting with the New Zealand High Commissioner took place on 19 January.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Winter Fuel Payments
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many (a) men and (b) women living in the Richmond Park constituency are entitled to winter fuel allowance; [148086]
- (2) how many claims had been made by people living in the Richmond Park constituency for the winter fuel allowance by 26 January. [148084]
Mr. Rooker: The administration of Winter Fuel Payments is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Dr. Jenny Tonge, dated 1 February 2001:
- The Secretary Of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent parliamentary questions asking how many claims had been made by people living in the Richmond Park constituency for the Winter Fuel allowance by 26 January and how many (a) men and (b) women living in the Richmond Park constituency are entitled to Winter Fuel Allowance.
- Information regarding how many claims were made by 26 January is not available in constituency format and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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- Approximately 17,400 people may have been entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for Winter 2000 in the Richmond Park constituency. This information is not available for men and women separately.
- I hope the information provided is helpful.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what records the Child Support Agency maintains about fathers' employment status at the time an assessment is made; and what percentage of fathers in employment chose to give up their jobs within 12 months of a Child Support Agency assessment in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [146241]
Angela Eagle: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001:
- I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
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- Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
- You have asked what records the Agency maintains about the employment status of the father at the time an assessment is made. The Agency requests the employment status of the Parent With Care on the Maintenance Assessment Form and the Non Resident Parent on the Maintenance Enquiry Form. These are then recorded on the Child Support Computer System.
- You ask how many people there were in paid employment who had been assessed for child maintenance but who have, during the last 12 months, chosen to give up their jobs. The information is not available in the format requested. Such information that is available is shown in Table 1 in the attached annex. This shows those who were employed as at 31 August 1999 and their employment status as at 31 August 2000 broken down by CSA Business Unit.
- Table 2 shows those who were not in employment in August 1999 and their employment status at August 2000. Comparing both sets of data in the enclosed tables you will note that there was movement both into and out of employment during that period.
- The Department produces a CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics which is available in the House of Commons Library and you may find the information it contains of further interest.
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| Agency Business Units | (1) Number in employment (9) at 31 August 1999 | (2) Number of (1) in employment (9) at 31 August 2000 | Number of (1) not in employment at 31 August 2000 | Number of (1) no longer CSA customers at 31 August 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands | 80,000 | 71,000 | 5,000 | 4,000 |
| South Eastern | 67,000 | 63,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 |
| Scotland and North East England | 87,000 | 80,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 |
| South Western | 86,000 | 78,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Wales and North West | 83,000 | 70,000 | 6,000 | 7,000 |
| Eastern | 89,000 | 83,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 |
| All | 491,000 | 445,000(10) | 28,000(10) | 18,000 |
| Number of population in paid employment(11) | 27,500,000 | 28,000,000 | 28,000,000 | -- |
| Percentage of CSA customers in paid employment against population as a whole | 1.78 | 1.59 | -- | -- |
(8) All cases employed and self-employed with full and interim assessments.
(9) Those cases employed as at August 2000 may have had periods of unemployment during the year.
(10) NRP benefit status is more indicative of the case at take-on rather than at the current time.
(11) Source: Labour Force Survey (seasonally adjusted) rounded to nearest half million.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, therefore totals may not tally.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of CSCS.
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(12) The table does not show whether there were short term periods of employment during the year.
(13) Employed figure includes self-employed cases.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, therefore totals may not tally.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of CSCS.
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Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps are being taken to improve the accuracy of Child Support Agency assessments. [146242]
Angela Eagle: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001:
- I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
- Mr Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
- You have asked what steps are being taken to improve accuracy of Child Support Agency assessments.
- I fully accept that the current level of accuracy is unacceptable and since I joined the Agency last September I have made it a top priority to improve it. Revised checking arrangements, with built in feedback loops to decision makers, have recently been introduced and each of my Area Directors has developed an accuracy plan setting out specific actions for which I will hold them accountable. We have also targeted training at areas of weakness and developed guidance to help deal with particular problem areas.
- That said, it is unlikely that accuracy will be brought to an acceptable level until the Child Support Reforms are introduced. The complexity of the current calculation, requiring over a hundred separate pieces of information is well documented.
- However, I will not let the problems of the current system become an excuse for simply waiting for the new scheme and, as already indicated, we will continue to strive to improve accuracy levels.
- I trust that this is helpful.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many cases the Child Support Agency is currently dealing with; and what the average cost was per case over the last 12 months; [146243]
- (2) what is the cost to the Child Support Agency of every £100 it recovers. [146244]
Angela Eagle: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001:
- I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
- Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
- You asked how many cases the Child Support Agency is currently dealing with; what the average cost was per case over the last 12 months and what is the cost to the Child Support Agency for every £100 it recovers.
- The Agency currently (at 31 December 2000) has a Live and Assessed caseload of 1,042,700. This includes Full Maintenance Assessments, Interim Maintenance Assessments and Closures and Suspensions.
- The average cost per case is £203.10 and is based on the Agency's current running costs (excluding the costs associated with the Child Support Reforms) between January to December 2000 of £211,769,683.
- The cost to the Agency for every £100 recovered is £25.98. This has been calculated using the total maintenance collected and arranged for the period April to December (£577,930,287) and the Agency running costs (excluding the costs associated with the Child Support Reforms) for the same period (£150,134,117).
- I hope this is helpful.
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Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information is contained in Child Support Agency records about the nature of a father's relationship to the child's mother; and how the CSA categorises such relationships. [146246]
Angela Eagle: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001:
- I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
- Mr Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
- No records are held about the nature of a Non Resident Parent's relationship with a child's Parent With Care, nor are categories of relationships held. This information is not relevant to the calculation of Child Support and therefore, is not requested.
- For the Agency to collect information which is not relevant would not only go beyond its legal powers, but would also be in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 which requires that information must only be obtained to meet legitimate business needs, must be relevant, and not excessive.
- I hope this is helpful.
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