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15 May 2003 : Column 404W—continued
Philippines
Mr. Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had on the level of bombing in the Philippines. [112608]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Our Ambassador in the Philippines has regular discussions with a range of contacts, including Philippine government representatives, about the continuing terrorist threat in the Philippines and how
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best to address it. The British Government has been providing training to help the Philippines authorities deal with the terrorist threat.
When they met President Arroyo in January 2002 and December 2001 respectively, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter, the then FCO Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ben Bradshaw), both commended the Philippines government's efforts to tackle its domestic terrorist threat and its support for the international campaign against terrorism. I also raised these issues with the Philippines' Foreign Minister Guingona when we met in June 2002. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no opportunity to discuss terrorism with members of the Philippines' government.
UN Firearms Protocol
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK has ratified the UN Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition; and which other states have ratified the Protocol. [112976]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Jenny Tonge) on 14 May 2003, Official Report, column 297W.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Disability Living Allowance
Mrs. Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate (a) the additional cost and (b) the number of beneficiaries of reforming attendance allowance by (i) reducing the amount of time a person has to be ill to receive the benefit of three months, (ii) introducing a lower rate care component, (iii) introducing a lower and higher rate mobility component and (iv) abolishing attendance allowance and removing the upper age limit on claiming disability living allowance; and if he will set out the take-up assumptions used in making these estimates. [111678]
Maria Eagle: Estimates are not available in the form requested. However, if the qualifying period for Attendance Allowance, during which a severely disabled person must meet the main qualifying conditions (ie must require, or be likely to require either frequent attention from another person in connection with their bodily functions or continual supervision or watching over to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others) was reduced from 6 months to 3 months, the
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annual extra spend on the benefit would be about £50 million 1 at current benefit rates and some 320,000 successful claimants a year would be affected 2 .
Up-to-date estimates are not available. However, information from the 1996/97 Disability Survey suggested that with a take-up rate of 50 per cent, the annual cost of extending entitlement to the mobility component and to the lowest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance to people who claim after the age of 65 would be in the region of £3.1 billion 3 at current benefit rates. Some 1.35 million people would gain a mobility component and about 0.3 million people would gain the lowest rate care component.
- 1 Costs are rounded to the nearest £10 million.
- 2 Caseloads based on data taken from Attendance Allowance administrative records, and projected forward to 2003/04 by PBR forecast changes in new claims.
- 3 Costs are rounded to the nearest £100 million and are subject to a significant margin of error reflecting underlying uncertainties of modelling entitlement from available survey data. Costs include effects on income related benefits.
Pension Plans
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of working-age (a) adults, (b) men and (c) women in the (i) North West of England and (ii) the UK are members of a pension plan. [112714]
Maria Eagle: The information is in the table.
| North-west and Merseyside | Great Britain | |
|---|---|---|
| Adults | 32 | 33 |
| Men | 37 | 40 |
| Women | 27 | 27 |
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
2. Family Resources Survey only covers Great Britain. Therefore figures for the UK are not available.
3. Figures relate to the north-west and Merseyside Government office regions.
4. Working age is defined as 16-State Pension Age (65 for men and 60 for women).
5. Numbers contributing to a private pension include all those contributing to an occupational, personal pension or stakeholder pension.
Source:
2001–02 Family Resources Survey.
Special Advisers
Mr. John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the salary bill was for special advisers in his Department in 2002–03; and what it is expected to be in 2003–04. [108500]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right. hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 24 April 2003, Official Report, column 45W.
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HEALTH
Age Discrimination
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide specific funding for the implementation of the Government's commitment to end ageism in the NHS. [110594]
Jacqui Smith: Implementation of the national service framework (NSF) for older people, including the standard to root out age discrimination, is supported by the substantial additional investment that has been provided for the national health service since the NSF's publication in 2001. In 2001–02 and 2002–03, the NHS received average annual increases of 6.3 per cent. above inflation. Cash allocations to primary care trusts in the three years from 2003–04 will provide an average increase over the three years of 30.83 per cent.
Since publication of the NSF, significant progress has been made in tackling age discrimination. NHS organisations have checked their written policies to ensure they have no inappropriate age discrimination. Only a small number of age-related written policies were found, and the evidence base for them is being reviewed. A tool to help identify incidence of implicit age discrimination—by comparing, across the country, the rates of 10 hospital procedures by different age groups—has been provided and this is currently being developed further. We have funded Age Concern to run eight events on age discrimination across England later this year.
Anti-social Behaviour
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial assistance has been available from his Department in each of the last five years for initiatives to tackle anti-social behaviour. [110318]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have been asked to reply.
During the period in question, the Home Office has provided programme funding to tackle crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour. We have also provided record numbers of police officers and police support staff, and tackling anti-social behaviour is firmly embedded as one of our four key priorities in the National Policing Plan. As part of the Crime Reduction Programme the CCTV Initiative has provided £170 million across England and Wales. The Communities Against Drugs programme provided crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) with a share of £120 million over 2001–03 with £50 million allocated in year one and £70 million in year two. The Safer Communities Initiative provided additional funding of £20 million in 2002–03. In 2002–03 £19 million was available for the new community support officer initiative, and £41 million will be available in 2003–04.
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Each of these initiatives has enabled partnerships to fund a wide range of interventions, including means to tackle anti-social behaviour where this has been identified as a local priority. £75 million is being made available over the next three years, specifically to support the drive to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The Home Office also contributes to various diversionary schemes for young people. The results have been encouraging and evidence from them suggests strong arguments for the potentially positive contribution that diversionary activities can make in helping and preventing young people who are involved, or are at risk of becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.
Autism
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to implement the National Autism Plan for Children; and if he will make a statement. [112244]
Jacqui Smith: We welcome this plan and its recommendations for good practice in providing for the increasing numbers of children being identified with autistic spectrum disorders. The plan will inform the care pathway for autism that is being developed for the forthcoming children's national service framework.
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to ensure that the rights of autistic people are protected under the Mental Health Acts. [112678]
Jacqui Smith: It is Government policy to ensure that the rights of all patients treated under mental health legislation are protected, particularly those of vulnerable groups such as people with autism.
The Mental Health Act 1983 sets out the circumstances in which someone with a mental disorder may be treated without their consent, provides rights of access to review by an independent tribunal and other safeguards for the patient. The proposals set out in the draft Mental Health Bill, as published in June 2002, would improve the protection of patients' rights by, for example, requiring all compulsory treatment beyond 28 days to be independently authorised by the new Mental Health Tribunal and by providing specialist advocacy.
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