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Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 13 July 1990] : In the year ending 31 March 1990 a total of 48 such deaths were recorded. Information on the actual cause of death is not recorded centrally.
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NHS Hospitals
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to provide additional funding for the refurbishment of long- term wards in Scotland's national health service hospitals ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 13 July 1990] : Each health board determines its capital expenditure priorities within the block capital allocation made annually by my right hon. and learned Friend.
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of how cuts in national health service provision will affect the quality of patient care in Scotland ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth [holding answer 13 July 1990] : There have been no cuts in the provision for hospital and community health services.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Question Time
47. Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Lord President of the Council what procedural proposals he expects to bring forward to extend the accountability of Ministers at Question Time.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : Ministers are already fully accountable to Parliament. Implementation of the
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Procedure Committee's recommendations about oral questions will help to make Question Time more effective. As I told the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 25 June, I hope the recommendations can take effect from the start of the next Session.Political Parties (Offices)
48. Mr. Wigley : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will take steps to ensure that every recognised political party represented in the House shall have office space available to them within easy access of the Chamber.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I understand that this matter is being considered by the relevant sub-committees of the Services Committee.
Members' Allowances
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Lord President of the Council for the last three years for which figures are available, what was the total cost of Members' (a) salaries, (b) office costs allowance, (c) travel to and from and within their constituencies, (d) second home allowances and (e) any other benefits-allowances claimed by hon. Members.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : Expenditure under the various headings specified in the years ending 31 March 1988, 1989 and 1990 was as follows :
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|1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90
|£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salaries etc. of Members of Parliament |14,478,702.22|15,785,477.81|17,042,032.64
Office costs expenses |13,786,197.56|14,568,579.36|15,871,657.47
Travel by Members between home, Westminster and constituency and within
constituencies |4,322,804.16 |5,023,845.31 |5,905,744.74
Additional costs incurred in living away from home |4,763,539.21 |5,384,650.53 |5,493,942.31
The total expenditure from the House of Commons : Members' salaries etc. vote for each of those years was £42,444,582.70 for 1987-88, £46,905,668.40 for 1988-89 and £48,205,324.76 for 1989-90. The difference between the total of the specified amounts and the overall expenditure from the vote is accounted for by other expenses claimed by Members together with Exchequer contributions to the parliamentary contributory pension fund and Members' fund and payments for financial assistance to Opposition parties.
Select Committee Reports
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council how many reports have been produced by departmental Select Committees since 1979 ; and now many have been the subject of debate on a substantive motion on the Floor of the House.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : From 1979 to 29 June 1990, 591 reports and 231 special reports have been published by departmentally related Select Committees. Of these, seven have been debated in the House on substantive motions.
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Child Care
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) of 24 May, Official Report, column 297, on child care facilities, when he expects the feasibility study to be completed.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : It is expected that the study will be completed in time to be considered by the Services Committee at a meeting early in the autumn.
Recycled Notepaper
Mr. Corbett : To ask the Lord President of the Council what recent inquiries he has made into the comparative cost of switching to the use of 100 per cent. recycled paper for the supplies of headed notepaper now made available to Members compared with continuing with that presently used.
Sir Geoffrey Howe : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms. Walley) on 24 May 1990, column 297. The Accommodation and Administration Sub-Committee considered the comparative costs when approval was given for recycled writing paper and envelopes to be introduced on an experimental basis along with the existing range of stationery.
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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Surplus Food
Mr. Speller : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the arrangements for the distribution of surplus beef and butter in the current year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The arrangements for the 1990 scheme follow closely those in successful operation over the last two years, while enhanced publicity this year has enabled the coverage of the country by the scheme to be improved.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the total numbers of cattle recorded as having BSE for each of the last 12 weeks.
Mr. Maclean : The number of BSE cases confirmed each week is as follows :
Week ending |Number ----------------------------------------- 27 April 1990 |326 4 May 1990 |316 11 May 1990 |271 18 May 1990 |238 25 May 1990 |297 1 June 1990 |141 8 June 1990 |238 15 June 1990 |365 22 June 1990 |301 29 June 1990 |248 6 July 1990 |229 13 July 1990 |292
Lead in Cattle Order
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the reasons for imposing the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Lead in Cattle) (England) Order 1990, (S.I. No. 1391) on a farm in Hertfordshire, indicating the source of the contaminant, the number of cattle involved, the levels of lead in test tissues and milk and the date when his Department first discovered there was a problem.
Mr. Gummer : Following the death of five calves on one farm at the end of May, investigations were carried out by
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the royal veterinary college and the Ministry's veterinary investigation service which suggested lead poisoning. These animals were among a group of 88 animals grazing a particular field. Blood test results for these cattle, are in the range of 0.06 to 5.63 micromol/l. No milk is produced on this farm and tests carried out by the milk marketing board on general supplies from this area show no traces of lead. No animals have been taken for slaughter from this group during the period of these investigations. None the less, while further investigations are being undertaken to establish the cause of the problem, I have made a precautionary order under part I of the Food and Environment Protection Act to ensure that no meat from these animals is allowed to enter the food chain until it is shown to be safe for it to do so.Tyrrell Committee
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now place his further advice from the Tyrrell committee in the Library.
Mr. Gummer : I did so on 12 July.
Agriculture (Assistance)
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a table showing in respect of the most recent year for which figures are available the assistance given to the agriculture industry in (a) European Economic Community aids, (b) national Government aids, (c) price enhancement caused by import levies and intervention, (d) export rebates and (e) other aids ; and if he will also provide an indication of total aids of a comparable nature by the United States of America.
Mr. Curry : Estimates prepared by OECD, recomputed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on a per capita basis, of the transfers from taxpayers and consumers associated with agricultural policies in the European Community and the United States of America in 1989 are shown in the table. The estimates are based on many assumptions. The authors note that the estimates are static ones, taking no account of the effect that a reduction in assistance would have on world prices and thus on the magnitude of the transfers.
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|Transfers|Transfers|Budget |Total
|from |from |revenues
|taxpayers|consumers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ECU per head of population
European Community |125 |150 |2 |273
United States |170 |80 |2 |248
Raspberry Pulp
Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the proposals within the European Community to prevent the dumping of raspberry pulp from eastern European countries.
Mr. Curry : Discussions are taking place between the European Commission and the Polish and Yugoslav authorities. The Commission has undertaken to introduce differential prices for different qualities of semi -processed soft fruit and to improve monitoring to ensure that agreed
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prices are respected. United Kingdom Ministers have been pressing hard for this issue to be resolved quickly and my right hon. Friend will strongly urge the Commission to make a satisfactory statement at the forthcoming Council of Agriculture Ministers.Column 433
SOCIAL SECURITY
National Insurance
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the annual cost if there were no increase in national insurance contributions, if the age of retirement for men were reduced to 60 years ; and by how much national insurance contributions would have to rise if there were no Exchequer payments to meet the increase in cost.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The latest estimates, based on 1985-86 benefit rates, of the gross and net costs to public funds of reducing state pension age for men to age 60 are £4,200 million and £3,000 million respectively. Because of the number of changes affecting benefits, contributions and the labour force in the intervening period, I regret that it is not possible without disproportionate cost to relate such figures to 1990-91 contribution rates. However, the gross 1985-86 cost was equivalent to 18 per cent. of the national insurance fund's outgoings in that year.
Mr. J. W. Davies
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list and date the representations received from the hon. Member for Nottingham, North regarding Mr. J. W. Davies, of 30 Aspley Park drive, Aspley, Nottingham, and his claim for a war pension ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Letters were received from the hon. Member regarding Mr. Davies' claim for war pension on 26 February 1990 and 12 July 1990. The hon. Member also gave notice on 13 March 1990 of a parliamentary question (PQ 1361) on the subject of Mr. Davies' claim and four other questions (PQs 1357-60) requesting background information on war pension claims. A further parliamentary question on Mr. Davies' claim (PQ 2434) was listed on 10 July 1990.
Housing Benefit
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women are in receipt of housing benefit.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The information requested is not available.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the extra cost of the housing benefit scheme in England only if the rate of withdrawal of housing benefit or rent taper was, respectively, reduced from 65 per cent. to (a) 55 per cent., (b) 50 per cent., (c) 45 per cent., (d) 40 per cent., (e) 33 per cent., and (f) 26 per cent. showing the division between rent rebates and rent allowances.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 25 June 1990] : It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for separate parts of the country. The table gives the estimated extra costs, in the current year and on a Great Britain basis, of altering the rate of withdrawal of housing benefit within the present structure of the scheme.
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£ million Taper |Rent Rebate|Rent |Total Cost per cent |Allowance ------------------------------------------------------------ 55 |90 |70 |160 50 |140 |110 |250 45 |210 |160 |370 40 |290 |230 |520 33 |430 |340 |770 26 |630 |500 |1,130 (Source: Modelled using data drawn from the 1985-6-7 Family Expenditure Surveys).
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the extra cost of the housing benefit scheme in England only, if the earnings disregards were increased to £10 for a single household, £25 for a couple and £35 for a single parent.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 25 June 1990] : It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for separate parts of the country. However, for Great Britain, assuming that single people whose applicable amount includes the disability premium retain the £15 earnings disregard to which they are currently entitled, the estimated cost in the current year of increasing the earnings disregards in housing benefit would be about £110 million. ( Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1985-6-7 Family Expenditure Surveys).
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the extra cost of the housing benefit scheme in England only, if the applicable amount for a single person aged 18 to 24 years was the same as that for a single person aged over 25 years and the applicable amount for a single-parent family was the same as that for a two-parent family.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 25 June 1990] : It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for separate parts of the country. However, for Great Britain, assuming
(a) the increase in the personal allowance would apply also to 16 and 17- year-olds on housing benefit (the applicable amount for this age group has been set at the same level as that for 18 to 24-year-olds since July 1989) ; and
(b) the lone parent premium is subsumed into the increased personal allowance for lone parents, but the special earnings disregard is retained,
the extra estimated cost in the current year for housing benefit would be about £40 million.
Local Offices
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what consultations he has undertaken regarding the future of the regional office of his Department at Gabalfa, Cardiff ;
(2) what is his best estimate of the (a) gross and (b) net job loss arising from the proposed reorganisation of the regional tier of administration of his Department's local office network ; (3) what proposals he has to relocate the administration and management of the regional tier of his Department, currently located at Gabalfa, Cardiff.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The restructuring of social security operations, to improve service to the public under the benefits agency, will include the replacement of the present seven regions and two central offices by larger territorial directorates. Many of the functions at present
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carried out by regional offices are likely to be devolved to local managers, as part of their increased accountability. The detailed implications of these changes will need to be worked out in the light of a study which we have commissioned to identify the continuing need for centralised regional services, and after discussion with the chief executive. The trade union side has been kept informed about this study and about management proposals for three territorial directorates, and it will continue to be consulted about the personnel aspects of the move to the benefits agency. Meanwhile, our concern is to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of the public and of our own staff in Wales to the fullest possible extent, and we have no plans to close the offices at Gabalfa, Cardiff.Family Credit
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the cost to his Department of the current advertisements to inform the public of their entitlement to family credit ; what increase in applications has resulted from this ; and how many additional staff have been employed to deal with this.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The cost of the current advertising campaign on television and in the press is £2.4 million. The campaign has not yet been running long enough for the full impact to be reflected in the level of claims. Overtime is being worked at the family credit unit, but otherwise, to date, only one additional member of the staff has been employed, to deal with the requests for claim forms prompted by the adverts.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give figures for each of the last 12 months of the number of people on family credit who have not received a replacement claim book before their current one expired.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Family credit awards are for a fixed period of 26 weeks, and a fresh renewal claim has to be made for entitlement to continue when each period ends.
Information is not available as to the number of cases where the new award is not received before the expiry of the previous book.
Social Security Appeals
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements are made for representation of adjudication officers at commissioners' hearings ; and whether he will make similar arrangements for representation of claimants who would otherwise be unrepresented.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Adjudication officers are represented at all oral hearings before a commissioner. The office of the chief adjudication officer arranges for representation by an adjudication officer from that office, from the central office in Scotland where the case is to be heard there, or by lawyers where complex legal issues are involved.
Responsibility for the administration of the social security commissioners lies with the Lord Chancellor's Department, to which the hon. Member may wish to refer the question of the provision of representation for claimants at commissioners' hearings.
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Income Support
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the scheduled dates of publication for 1990 and 1991 of the information relating to income support referred to in his reply to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Broadgreen (Mr. Fields) of 9 July, Official Report, column 75.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The data to which the hon. Member refers are collected as part of the Department's management information system. They are not published routinely but are available on request at quarterly intervals.
EMPLOYMENT
Messrs. Graham Brabyn Ltd.
Mr. Mudd : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when former employees of Messrs. Graham Brabyn Ltd. of Redruth, Cornwall, may expect to receive their payments under the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 redundancy payments scheme ; for what reason payments have not yet been made ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : My officials are dealing with claims for arrears of wages, holiday pay, notice pay and redundancy pay for around 70 employees. The need to undertake the usual check of the company's wage records, which has proved difficult in this case, and the pressure of current casework in redundancy payments offices has given rise to some delay. I hope, however, to be able to begin making payments to the employees shortly.
Employment Training
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish the departmental scrutiny of drop-out rates of employment training, referred to by Sir Geoffrey Holland in his Department's evidence to the Select Committee on Employment concerning employment training, HC 394-i, Q 5-9.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, North-East (Mr. Leighton) on 9 July, Official Report, column 97.
Employment Service
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the Official Report the guidelines used by his officials in deciding whether a question should be referred to the chief executive of the Employment Service.
Mr. Eggar : The criteria I use in deciding whether to refer a question to the chief executive of the Employment Service are set out in the Employment Service framework document published by my Department in March this year.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East, 10 July, Official Report, column 146, if he will arrange for the 57 replies from the Employment Service Agency's chief executive made between 1 April and 6 July to be printed in the Official Report.
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Mr. Eggar : The chief executive of the Employment Service, when replying to questions referred to him, invites hon. Members to say whether they wish the reply to be placed in the Library of the House. The chief executive has informed me that, since 1 April, copies of 26 replies have been placed in the Library of the House.Beaches
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made of the cost of lost tourist trade to resorts that have failed to reach the European Economic Community blue flag safety levels on their beaches.
Mr. Nicholls : No such estimate has been made. Thanks to a major programme of remedial works, there has been a very marked improvement in bathing water quality in recent years, with 76 per cent. of identified waters now meeting European Community standards. Further planned capital investment of almost £3 billion should help to ensure that all bathing waters meet EC standards by the end of the century.
Action for Jobs
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what expenditure was incurred on the action for jobs campaign in 1987-88 in addition to printed material, television advertising, press advertising, radio advertising, outdoor advertising, regional campaigns, exhibition material and research.
Mr. Eggar : Expenditure of £194,000 was incurred on presentations in the action for jobs campaign in 1987-88, in addition to printed material, television advertising, press advertising, radio advertising, outdoor advertising, regional campaigns, exhibition material and research.
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Voluntary Organisations
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many final operational programme applications have been submitted to the European Commission from voluntary organisations in Wales.
Mr. Eggar : Operational programmes have not been submitted specifically by the voluntary sector in Wales. Operational programmes represent aggregated bids from all interested organisations to run groups of projects under particular European social fund priorities.
Wages Councils
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make it his policy to ensure the continued existence of wages councils ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Secretary of State's reply of 6 March to my hon. Friend the Member for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Evennett), Official Report, column 543.
Jobcentres
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will take action to prevent jobcentres from advertising vacancies at a rate of pay which is below the legal limit ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will take action to prevent jobcentres from advertising vacancies which do not specify the wages offered ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : The employment service became an executive agency on 2 April 1990. Mr. Mike Fogden, the Employment Service Agency's chief executive, will be replying in writing to the hon. Gentleman.
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Training Centre, Cardiff
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the answer of 9 July from the Secretary of State for Wales, what terms and conditions he has discussed, with Astra Training Services for building a new industrial training centre at Western avenue, Cardiff.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 12 July 1990] : No discussions have been held with Astra Training Services Ltd. on this subject. My Department is selling the freehold of the site, most of which is held by Astra on a three-year lease.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 9 July, if he has instructed King and Co. to convey any interest, leasehold or freehold, in any land at Western avenue to Astra Training Services for an industrial training centre.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 12 July 1990] : The leasehold interest in the site at Western avenue, Cardiff, was conveyed to Astra Training Services Ltd. on completion of the sale of the training business. Should Astra wish to acquire the freehold interest it would be in the same position as any other purchaser and would need to discuss any interest with the Department's agent, King and Company.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer of 9 July, what instructions have been given to King and Co. to dispose of his Department's leasehold interest in the skill centre buildings and associated land at Western avenue, Cardiff.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 12 July 1990] : The leasehold interest in the site at Western avenue, Cardiff, was conveyed to Astra Training Services Ltd. on completion of the sale of the training business.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to the reply from the Secretary of State for Wales of 9 July, what future plans he has for development of the Department's land and buildings at Western avenue, Cardiff after 1993.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 12 July 1990] : The land and buildings at Western avenue, Cardiff, are in the process of being marketed by King and Company. It will be for the purchaser to decide any future plans for development.
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