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Pensioners
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioner units have savings below (a) £6,000, (b) £8,000, (c) £10,000, (d) £16,000 and (e) £20,000. [50881]
Mr. McCartney: The information is in the table.
| Pensioner units with savings below limit | ||
|---|---|---|
| Limit | Number | Percentage |
| £6,000 | 4,100,000 | 60 |
| £8,000 | 4,400,000 | 64 |
| £10,000 | 4,600,000 | 68 |
| £16,000 | 5,200,000 | 76 |
| £20,000 | 5,400,000 | 79 |
| All pensioner units | 6,800,000 | 100 |
Notes:
1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). 2000–01 is the latest year for which data are available.
2. A pensioner unit is a single person or couple living as married and any dependent children where the head of the benefit unit is over state pension age.
3. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response and using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and to variability in non-response.
4. Questions on assets are a sensitive part of the FRS questionnaire and have relatively low level of response. Evidence suggests some under reporting of capital by respondents.
5. The numbers are rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.
Source:
Figures are from the Family Resources Survey 2000–01.
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Incomes
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the total share of national income received by the poorest 10 per cent. of the population was in (a) 1997, (b) 1999 and (c) 2001; [45290]
- (2) what percentage of people living below (a) 50 per cent., (b) 60 per cent. and (c) 70 per cent. of median income are in receipt of a means-tested benefit. [45556]
Malcolm Wicks: Such information as is available can be found in the publication "Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 1999–2000", a copy of which can be found in the Library.
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will break down the sentences received by those convicted of benefit fraud as a result of investigations carried out by the Benefits Agency in each year since 1997 by type; and in the case of sentences of imprisonment how many were sentences of (a) less than six months, (b) six to 12 months and (c) more than 12 months. [45334]
Malcolm Wicks: Information is not collated centrally on the terms of imprisonment. For information on the type of sentences, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 540W.
Ministerial Transport
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the cost of (a) ministerial cars and drivers and (b) taxis for his Department in each of the last four years. [27915]
Mr. McCartney: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Afghanistan
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on how the operation to clear Afghanistan of unexploded ordnance is being funded. [50087]
Clare Short: The United Nations Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA) is leading on humanitarian mine action and unexploded ordnance (UXO) interventions in Afghanistan. The current humanitarian situation and the challenges ahead, including for mine and UXO action, are set out in the Immediate and Transitional Assistance Programme for the Afghan People (ITAP), prepared by the UN and agreed with the Afghan Interim Administration (AIA) for the period to the
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end of December 2002. So far 53 per cent. of the £33 million requirements for mine/UXO action in the ITAP have been met by the international community.
In response to the ITAP, DFID has to date allocated £3 million through the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) for the MAPA programme in Afghanistan.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what education on the dangers of unexploded ordnance is being provided to people living in areas of Afghanistan which are affected by the problem. [50086]
Clare Short: In March this year the Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan initiated mine awareness coordination meetings and workshops to ensure that mine awareness operations are fully integrated into the humanitarian response throughout the country.
The Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan is producing mine risk education (MRE) training, which covers UXO, to brief national education focal points including Ministry of Education officials, heads of schools and provincial education representatives to prepare for the integration of MRE in regular school curriculum. All returning refugees from Pakistan and Iran will receive MRA training.
According to UNMAS, all mine risk education messages have been updated to include the threat of new unexploded ordnance (UXO).
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the number of civilian victims of unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan since 11 September 2001. [50084]
Clare Short: We have requested this information from the International Committee of the Red Cross. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with details once this information has been received.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the progress being made in clearing unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan. [50083]
Clare Short: The United Nations Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA) is currently completing a period of retraining and is resuming operations wherever possible. In most regions mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance operations have returned to their pre-September 2001 capacity. In addition, the process of expanding capacity to address the UXO threat is under way. The UN priorities for 2002 are the execution of emergency operations throughout the country and a subsequent return to 100 per cent. operational capacity, and to continue to expand mine clearance capacity as resources become available.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the accuracy of the information on the geographical locations of unexploded ordnance being provided to clearance experts in Afghanistan. [50085]
Clare Short: The United Nations Mine Action (UNMAS) has been notified by coalition forces of 188 sites where cluster bombs were used. UNMAS is currently undertaking a programme of visits to high priority areas to determine the accuracy of information being provided.
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Sudan
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the decision to put the Higher Educational Links Scheme in Sudan out to international tender. [52250]
Clare Short: No such decision has been made.
The Higher Education Links Programme aims to enhance the capacity of higher education in developing countries to contribute to the promotion of sustainable development. This is done through promoting collaboration between UK universities and similar institutions in developing countries. Sudan is one of 47 countries in which the programme currently operates.
DFID has recently agreed to extend the current Links Programme for a further year (up to 31 March 2003). We will shortly be developing proposals for a new long-term programme to operate from April 2003. This will reflect the evaluation of the current programme, our strategy for meeting the demand for knowledge and skills, and our policy on untying. We will be consulting the British Council, which manages the current programme, about these plans.
Emergency Aid
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the additional £120 million allocated for emergency aid in 2001–02 has been spent. [52362]
Clare Short: Following the events of 11 September, additional commitments totalling £120 million, including our share of additional EC spending, were made to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The funds were allocated to emergency aid, budgetary support and debt relief. They were financed from additional allocations from the Treasury Central Reserve, DFID's Contingency Reserve and other resources. Figures for spending will become available with the finalisation of DFID's accounts later this year.
Foreign Infrastructure Programmes
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what foreign infrastructure programmes the Department is involved in. [52148]
Clare Short: We are increasingly allocating our funds to multi-donor or multilateral programmes in order to both minimise the transaction cost and use our inputs to help guide the allocation of funds of other donors.
In addition, much of our programme is now channelled through the central budgets of the recipient developing countries we are assisting.
In both these instances, where our money is mixed with that of others in order to achieve broad development objectives, rather than for individual projects, we are unable to give specific details of the infrastructure projects in which we are involved.
We are however, in many of our recipient countries, still providing funds in direct support of specific infrastructure projects and programmes. Table 1 shows these projects, by number and value in each sector.
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| Sector | Number | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Air Transport | 7 | 2.5 |
| Energy | 10 | 14.8 |
| Misc. Transport | 4 | 14.1 |
| Roads | 15 | 125.1 |
| Communications | 3 | 0.9 |
| Water and Sanitation | 46 | 82.9 |
Note:
Table details operational and planned projects over the value of £100,000 that commenced in or after 1998.
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