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Residence Orders

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what financial support his Department makes available to grandparents who obtain a residence order in respect of a grandchild. [181810]

Mr. Pond: Subject to the usual rules of entitlement, the full range of social security benefits and tax credits is available to grandparents who are responsible for a grandchild living with them.

Additionally, a grandparent who provides day-to-day care for a child can choose to use the services of the Child Support Agency.

Student Loans

Dr. Cable: If he will make a statement on the treatment of student loans by the benefit system. [181903]

Mr. Pond: Full-time students are not generally entitled to receive income-related benefits while studying unless they are in a vulnerable group such as disabled people or lone parents. Where a student is eligible for a loan, it is taken into account as income when deciding entitlement with an amount disregarded for books, equipment and travel. We will be laying regulations this week to increase these disregards for the next academic year.

Sure Start Maternity Grant

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Tamworth have taken up the Sure Start maternity grant. [179966]

Mr. Pond: The information is in the tables.
Sure Start Maternity Grants for area covered by Staffordshire Social Fund District

	Applications	Awards
2000–01	2,830	2,498
2001–02	3,502	3,024
2002–03 to October	2,659	2,221

 
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Sure Start Maternity Grants for area covered by Staffordshire Jobcentre Plus District

	Applications	Awards
2002–03 from November	2,142	1,648
2003–04	5,504	4,199
2004–05 to May	961	680

Notes:
1. Tamworth parliamentary constituency was part of the Staffordshire Social Fund District. In November 2002, Staffordshire Social Fund District was combined with parts of Burton Social Fund District to form Staffordshire Jobcentre Plus District. The two areas for which data is given are different, therefore the data is not comparable.
2. A very small area of Tamworth parliamentary constituency falls into another Jobcentre Plus District for which data is not separately available.
3. Sure Start Maternity Grants were introduced on 27 March 2000. There were no applications recorded in the Staffordshire district during 1999–2000.
4. Data is given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Winter Fuel Allowance

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cut-off date is this year beyond which those turning 70 years will not qualify for the extra £100 winter fuel allowance. [181161]

Malcolm Wicks: It is intended that the one-off 70-plus payment will be made to someone who is aged 70 on or before 26 September 2004 and who is ordinarily resident in Great Britain for at least one day in the week of 20 to 26 September 2004.

The intention is for the payments to be made automatically with the 2004–05 winter fuel payment, to those who are eligible and who do not need to claim it, before the end of the year. People who do not get a winter fuel payment will need to claim the one-off payment from the Department for Work and Pensions before 31 March 2005.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Absent Ballot Papers

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many absent ballot papers
 
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were applied for in each constituency in Northern Ireland at the recent European parliamentary elections; and what percentage of the total electorate this represented in each case. [180976]

Mr. Spellar: The number of absent votes cast as a percentage of the electorate, and the total number of applications, is detailed as follows:

Constituency	Absent vote applications (Total)	Absent votes accepted	Percentage of eligible electorate
Belfast East	475	454	0.912
Belfast North	584	552	1.116
Belfast South	591	561	1.137
Belfast West	814	735	1.506
East Antrim	432	426	0.781
E. Londonderry	1,496	1,377	2.503
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	4,913	4,506	7.076
Foyle	1,739	1,587	2.512
Lagan Valley	922	863	1.319
Mid Ulster	2,796	2,610	4.410
Newry and Armagh	2,090	1,834	2.703
North Antrim	1,235	1,177	1.684
North Down	537	527	0.943
South Antrim	532	516	0.819
South Down	1,664	1,595	2.326
Strangford	645	623	0.964
Upper Bann	1,149	1,082	1.603
West Tyrone	3,200	2,840	4.990
Total	25,814	23,865	2.225

Andersonstown Newspaper Group

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public funding has been given to the Andersonstown Newspaper Group; from which departments it originated; and how much each has contributed. [179708]

Mr. Gardiner: The Andersonstown News Group publishes the Andersonstown News, the North Belfast News and the South Belfast News. It also has management responsibility for the publication of the Irish language daily newspaper "Lá" on behalf of Preas an Phobail Ltd.

Set out are details of the funding made available by the Northern Ireland Administration during the period 1999–2004.

Company	Funder	Amount funded (£)
Andersonstown News	Department of Finance and Personnel	5,095
Andersonstown News	Department of Social Development	347,375
Andersonstown News	Local Enterprise Development Unit	7,500
Preas an Phobail Ltd.	(13)Department of Finance and Personnel/Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister	33,500
Preas an Phobail Ltd.	Local Enterprise Development Unit	30,026
Preas an Phobail Ltd.	(14)Foras na Gaeilge	128,139

⁽¹³⁾ The Department of Finance and Personnel was responsible for funding until December 1999 when responsibility for funding transferred to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister under Devolution.
⁽¹⁴⁾ Foras na Gaeilge (the Irish Language Agency of the North/South Language Implementation Body) is funded jointly by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) in Northern Ireland and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCRGA) in the Republic of Ireland. DCAL contributes 25 per cent. and DCGRA contributes 75 per cent. of the funding. The total contribution from Foras na Gaeilge to Preas an Phobail for the publication of Lá during the period 1999 to 29 June 2004 was £512,558. DCAL contributed 25 per cent. of this amount—£128,139.





 
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Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure the full implementation of antisocial behaviour orders in Northern Ireland; and when the draft Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order will come into effect. [178384]

Mr. Spellar: The draft Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 was laid before Parliament on 28 June 2004. Subject to parliamentary consideration, the aim is for legislation to be made by the end of July.

Autism

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to improve respite services for autism sufferers. [181534]

Angela Smith: Although there are no specific plans in respect of respite services for autism sufferers, "Priorities for Action 2004/05" requires that boards and trusts should develop the range of community learning disability services, with particular emphasis on community support teams, community placements and day and respite care provision to support those living in the community. This action, which will include services relating to autism, has been allocated additional funding.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consideration has been given to creating a regional facility for autism respite. [181535]

Angela Smith: The development of services for children with autism is a departmental priority and £0.5 million has been made available for this purpose in 2004–05. It is important, however, that services are locally accessible and there are no plans to provide a specialist province wide centre for autism respite.

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