| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Written Answers
Thursday, 24th October 1996.
Immigration Control: Efficiency Scrutiny
Lord Harding of Petherton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the outcome of the programme of work arising from the scrutiny of enforcement of immigration laws which they announced on 18th July 1995.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch): The programme of work announced by my right honourable friend in July 1995 was designed to implement the findings of an efficiency scrutiny which examined ways in which the Government as a whole could work more effectively to strengthen immigration control and to prevent those temporarily or illegally in this country from receiving state benefits to which they should not be entitled.
We are pleased to say that the scrutiny process is now complete. It has successfully:
- created a coherent legal framework which bars immigration offenders and temporary visitors from access to important and expensive benefits such as child benefit, family credit and publicly subsidised housing assistance;
- made it an offence under the immigration laws for temporary visitors to have unauthorised recourse to public funds;
- established a general policy on the identification of persons subject to immigration control who claim benefits or services to which they are not entitled through the revision of departmental instructions, the production of a guidance booklet and the opening of the Immigration & Nationality Directorate's (IND) status inquiry service to more registered users;
- strengthened the arrangements, within existing data protection legislation, for the exchange of information between government departments, agencies and local authorities in order more effectively to administer benefits policy and more quickly to identify and locate immigration offenders. A copy of a circular about the exchange of information with IND issued to local authorities has been placed in the Library.
Some of the work is incomplete because it will necessarily stretch beyond the normal time limits of the scrutiny process. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment is considering linking eligibility for both student awards and home fee status classification to those who are lawfully settled in the United Kingdom under the immigration laws. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health is considering better ways to identify those persons from abroad who are not eligible for free medical treatment. Such work will be taken forward by the departments concerned.
The Government believe that it is wrong that people who are admitted to this country on the basis that they can provide for themselves or who are here illegally should receive benefits paid for by the taxes of lawful residents. The measures we have now taken and the work currently in hand will see that they do not.
Long Term Care: Partnership Scheme
Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they propose to establish a partnership scheme for long term care.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege): The Government remain committed to the proposals for a partnership scheme set out in the consultation paper A New Partnership for Care in Old Age, copies of which are available in the Library. In the light of responses to the consultation paper, it also intends to legislate to allow residents in care homes to top up the care arranged by their local authorities.
The Government intend to introduce a Bill as soon as legislative time is available. In the meantime, it is discussing the details of legislation with the financial services industry, representatives of local authorities, and other interested parties. It will publish a draft Bill, and a statement of its policy in the light of comments on the consultation paper, in the New Year.
Social Services: Consultation Documents
Baroness Young asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will place in the Library copies of the Secretary of State for Health's speech to the Social Services conference in Edinburgh on 18th October and of the two documents whose publication he announced on that occasion.
Baroness Cumberlege: In his speech on 18th October, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health announced the publication of a consultation document on setting the standards of conduct and practice for social services staff, entitled The Obligations of Care. Copies are being sent out to interested parties this week. Comments have been requested by 28th February 1997.
My right honourable friend also announced the publication of Tom Burgner's report on his review of the regulation and inspection of social services, and gave the Government's initial response to it. Copies are being sent to interested parties this week. The Government intend to publish a White Paper on social services in January next year, and some more detailed responses to the Burgner recommendations will be given then. Meanwhile we shall be initiating the necessary further consultations on particular issues with the relevant interests, whom we shall be approaching direct in due course.
Copies of both documents and of the speech have been placed in the Library.
Environment Council, Luxembourg 15th October
Baroness Seccombe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the outcome of the Environment Council on 15th October 1996.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Earl Ferrers): Together with my noble friend the Earl of Lindsay, my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment represented the United Kingdom at the Environment Council in Luxembourg on 15th October.
Policy debates were held on the review of the Fifth Environment Action Programme and on the proposals to revise Directive 90/219 on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms. In each case the Council is expected to reach agreement in December. There were also useful discussions on the "auto-oil" proposals, the proposals for a revision of the Drinking Water Directive and on the review of the community waste management strategy.
The Council agreed conclusions on the EU position for the Third Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Council noted a report from the Presidency on the progress which is being made on the negotiation of a Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and on a framework agreement on humane trapping standards.
Petrol Vapour Recovery: Directive
Baroness Seccombe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress has been made in implementing in the United Kingdom the European Community Stage 1 Petrol Vapour Recovery Directive.
Earl Ferrers: We are laying regulations in Parliament today, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to implement the EC Directive (94/63/EC) on the control of volatile organic compound emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution
from terminals to service stations. These are important measures which aim to reduce emissions of the volatile organic compounds which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone.The directive requires the fitting and use of equipment, in the distribution and storage of petrol, which is designed to capture and recover petrol vapours rather than venting them into the air as at present. The provisions of the directive will be implemented in a phased programme running through to 2004.
The Government have decided to apply a derogation in the directive which exempts from its provisions small service stations in areas where emissions are unlikely to contribute significantly to environmental or health problems.
The regulations laid today include a map showing the areas in which the derogation will apply to new small service stations. These are in rural areas in the northern half of Scotland where petrol vapour emissions do not contribute significantly to ozone formation and ground level ozone is not itself a problem. The directive applies immediately to any proposals for new service stations which are not eligible for the derogation.
The provisions of the directive do not apply to existing small service stations until 2004. The areas in which the derogation will be applied to these stations will be defined closer to that date, using the best scientific information then available.
Legislation to implement the directive with regard to petrol tankers was introduced in August in amendments to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations.
Industrial Development: Reports
Lord Dean of Beswick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will list the industrial and related financial assistance they have given over the last 10 years to (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) Northern Ireland, and (iv) the individual regions of England.
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie): The Industrial Development Act annual reports contain details of the financial assistance given by the Government under the Industrial Development Act 1982 in England, Scotland and Wales, including breakdowns by English region. These reports, the latest of which is for the year ended 31st March 1996, are laid before the House. Information on industrial financial assistance in Northern Ireland is given in the annual report and accounts of the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland and the annual report of the Local Enterprise Development Unit. The accounts of the Industrial Development Board are laid before the House. Details of the Government's support for science, engineering and technology in the United Kingdom as a whole are given in the report entitled Forward look of Government-funded Science, Engineering and Technology which is also laid before the House and is available in the Library of the House.
| Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |