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28 Apr 2004 : Column 1066W—continued

Female Poverty

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of women in each ethnic group are living in poverty, defined as below 60 per cent. of median income (a) before and (b) after housing costs. [166923]

Mr. Pond [holding answer 22 April 2004]: The information is in the following tables.

Ethnic Group	Percentage of adult women living below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income before housing costs
White	16
Asian or Asian British	34
Of which:
Indian	21
Pakistani/Bangladeshi	55
Black or Black British	26
Chinese, Mixed or Other	18
All Women	17

Ethnic Group	Percentage of adult women living below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income after housing costs
White	20
Asian or Asian British	40
Of which:
Indian	23
Pakistani/Bangladeshi	64
Black or Black British	38
Chinese, Mixed or Other	28
All Women	21

Notes:
1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series.
2. The data given are for 2002–03, and are taken from the Family Resources Survey.
3. Estimates are for Great Britain, and relate to both working-age and pensioner females.
4. The estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, Council Tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error, and to remaining variability in non-response, which is not corrected by the grossing regime.
5. 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). Figures include the self-employed.
6. Caution should be taken when interpreting results for gender groups using HBAI data. HBAI attempts to measure living standards as determined by household income; consequently both partners in a couple will appear at the same position in the income distribution.
7. Ethnic categories published in HBAI 2002–03 are more detailed; results in this answer have been aggregated because of the additional breakdown for gender.
8. Figures for the 'Chinese, Mixed or Other' group are based on a smaller sample and should only be used as a guide.




 
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Health and Safety

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the recommendations contained in the Health and Safety Commission Strategy Statement, Revitalising Health and Safety, published in June 2000 the Government have implemented. [167496]

Jane Kennedy: Of the 44 Action Points published in Revitalising Health and Safety, 34 have been implemented.

Housing Benefit (Payment Options)

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which direct payment options are (a) offered and (b) available to housing benefit claimants; and if he will make a statement. [160679]

Mr. Pond: Payment of Housing Benefit for private sector dwellings can be made either to the claimant or, where certain conditions are satisfied, direct to the landlord; Housing Benefit for local authority dwellings is paid as a rebate on the rent account. Individual local authorities have discretion in deciding the appropriate method of payment of housing benefit, taking into account tenants' circumstances, such as access to bank accounts.

Wave 8 of the Local Omnibus Survey, which is conducted with local authority managers, asked about payment methods for housing benefit; of those local authorities, which responded, the main method of payment was by cheque. Although 45 per cent. of responding local authorities said that they were not currently using automated credit transfer, 81 per cent. of those said that they had plans to introduce it. A copy of the survey has been placed in the Library.

We are currently undertaking Local Housing Allowance pathfinders in nine local authorities, under which payments are made directly to tenants. We are working with the pathfinder authorities and the British Banking Association to provide tenants with easier access to bank accounts.

Permitted Work Regulations

Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants have had their right to permitted work restricted to £20 per week, having previously had higher earnings, since the introduction of the permitted work regulations in April 2002. [168828]

Maria Eagle: The information is not available.

Recruitment Advertising

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's expenditure on recruitment advertising was in each of the last three years, broken down by publication; and what proportion of such expenditure was (a) to advertise vacant posts and (b) in the form of other general recruitment advertising. [155523]

Maria Eagle: The information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
 
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INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Cereal/Animal Fodder Exports

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 129W, on animal fodder, what his policy is towards developing countries which export cereals and animal fodder. [168797]

Hilary Benn: The UK Government are committed to assisting developing countries that export agricultural products, including cereals and animal fodder, through improving market access and reducing trade-distorting subsidies. DFID continues to work for a fair and equitable international trading system for all agricultural products. In particular, the 49 Least Developed Countries have unlimited duty free access to the EU market under the 'Everything But Arms' agreement, except for rice, sugar and bananas, where limited arrangements apply until full liberalisation takes place. In addition, reforms to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy last June break the link between subsidy and production and hence reduce the damaging effect EU agricultural subsidies can have on developing countries' producers.

However, the largest potential gains for developing countries will come at the multilateral level. At the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Ministerial meeting in 2001 it was agreed that agriculture negotiations would aim to achieve:

"substantial improvements in market access; reductions of, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidies; and substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support".

DFID is committed to ensure that these negotiations result in liberalisation that will benefit the world's poor.

China (Coercive Population Control)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) when he last raised the issue of coercive population control in China with his Chinese counterpart; and with what results; [168174]

(2) if he will make a statement on the practice of coercive population control by the Chinese authorities on the people of Tibet. [168179]

Hilary Benn [holding answer 23 April 2004]: The UK Government have made it clear to the Chinese Government that we believe their family planning policies should be based on the principles of the International Conference on Population and Development; that is on the principle of informed choice, voluntarism, and consent and not coercion. In May 2002, the then Secretary of State for International Development raised the issues of coercive family planning programmes with her counterpart, and the Chinese authorities gave assurances that China was working towards relaxing the one-child policy. At that time Tibetans, as ethnic minorities, were allowed two children (rather than one) in urban areas, and there was legally no limit to the number of children herdsmen could have, although in practice many localities limited them to three.
 
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The new population law of September 2002 reduced birth targets and respects the reproductive rights of couples to freely and responsibly choose the spacing and number of their children. However, it maintained financial incentives for small family size.

DFID funds the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which is working to promote policy change within China towards meeting international standards, including the removal of social compensation fees. DFID funds are used to support independent monitoring and evaluation of the impact of UNFPA's work.

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