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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 9 July 1991
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Immigration
Mr. Darling : To ask the Attorney-General how much was claimed under (a) the legal advice and assistance scheme and (b) legal advice and assistance in respect of (i) immigration cases, and (ii) asylum cases in 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91.
The Attorney-General : Separate information is not available for the cost of legal advice and assistance for immigration or asylum cases. However, the amounts that were paid for advice and assistance, under the legal aid "green form" scheme for all immigration and nationality cases are set out in the table.
|£
------------------------------
1988-89 |781,532
1989-90 |1,681,960
1990-91 |2,652,727
Legal aid is also available for judicial review proceedings concerning immigration and asylum cases, but separate figures for the amount spent are not available.
Crown Prosecution Service
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Attorney-General whether he has received the Director of Public Prosecutions' report on the Crown prosecution service for the year 1990-91 ; and when the report will be laid before Parliament.
The Attorney-General : I have received the annual report from the Director of Public Prosecutions today, and have placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Woolwich Tax Model
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham of 2 July, when counsel, other than by affidavits, challenged the conclusions of the tax model in each court.
Mr. Maples : As I made clear in the answer to which my hon. Friend refers, the challenge to the conclusions of the tax model was contained in the affidavits which were put in evidence in all the courts up to the House of Lords.
Guest Houses
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase the numbers of Inland Revenue inspectors to ensure that all guest houses which should register for uniform business rates are encouraged to do so.
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Mr. Maude : There are no plans to increase the numbers of Inland Revenue staff specifically to deal with this matter. However, Her Majesty's Government aim to ensure that staff will be maintained at the level required to enable the valuation office to carry out its statutory duties.
Customs and Excise
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of all bonus schemes in operation in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise executive units.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Customs have one bonus scheme in operation in their executive units--the special bonus scheme. Special bonuses are used to reward exceptional performance in particularly demanding tasks or situations. They take the form of taxable, non-pensionable lump sum payments. The overall cost for running the scheme in each executive unit is restricted to 0.2 per cent. of the pay bill.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the quality of service performance indicators adopted by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise executive units since the reorganisation along next steps lines ; and separately identify those quality of service performance indicators already operative prior to the introduction of executive units.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Her Majesty's Customs and Excise set up 30 executive units on 1 April 1991. Their key performance indicators, expressed in aggregate for the 21 collection executive units, including those relating to quality of service, are listed in the published Customs and Excise management plan for 1991-92 to 1993-94. The previous year's management plan similarly identifies quality of service indicators operative prior to the introduction of executive units. Copies of these plans are in the House Library. The overall number of quality of service indicators more than doubled from 1 April 1991.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those new facilities for staff such as nurseries and health care schemes which have been introduced in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise since its reorganisation on next steps lines.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Her Majesty's Customs and Excise is developing its "Look After Your Heart" campaign and seminars for liaison officers from executive units are planned in September. The views of managers and staff are currently being sought towards a more positive departmental policy on smoking at work. Health screening exercises are being undertaken in two locations with another planned. A staff assistance programme is being developed, which will make health care advice available throughout the Department and stress management awareness training available where necessary.
Customs and Excise participates in 25 play schemes. The latest, in Glasgow, opens on 8 July. The Department's first on-site nursery was opened in Wembley in February and has facilities for 20 children. A further 20 places have recently been secured in a private nursery in Southend. Three other on -site nurseries are planned.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the last annual report for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise was published ; and when the next one is due.
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Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The report for the year ending 1989-90 was published on 10 October 1990. The report for 1990- 91 will be published in October.Inland Revenue Inspectors
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total number of Inland Revenue inspectors for each year since 1979.
Mr. Maude : The table sets out the total numbers of Inland Revenue staff in the Department's inspector grades at 1 April for each year since 1979.
|Number
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1979 |6,551
1980 |6,561
1981 |6,516
1982 |6,396
1983 |6,379
1984 |6,530
1985 |6,462
1986 |6,572
1987 |6,852
1988 |7,116
1989 |7,512
1990 |7,816
1991 |8,155
Departmental Bills (Payments)
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he proposes to extend his Department's standing instructions to all Government Departments on the timing of the payment of bills to small businesses and local authorities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : The standing guidance to Government Departments on the timing of the payment of bills, which is set out in "Government Accounting", the Treasury's guide on accounting and financial procedures, does not apply to the payment of bills by local authorities, which are responsible for their own policy in this matter.
Small Businesses
Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has completed his investigation of the treatment of small businesses by the banks ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maples : My officials and officials at the Bank of England are looking at banks' interest rates and charges to small businesses, and how lending policies are being applied. Once the facts have been fully established and considered, a statement will be made in due course.
Child Care
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he accepts the estimates provided by the Campaign for Tax Relief on Child Care of the costs and benefits to the Exchequer of extending tax exemption to all legal employer-assisted child care ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 8 July 1991] : The Government do not accept the TRAC estimates as they are based on a number of questionable assumptions about the likely behavioural response to extending tax relief for child care, and appear to take no account of some relevant factors.
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Public Information
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the reference numbers of documents held in the file T160/763/F14755 ; and if he will, in each case, state the other file or files in which copies are retained.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 8 July 1991] : The Treasury has found no record which would enable it to establish what documents were on the file or what reference numbers, if any, they may have had.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Parliamentary Groups
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what funds his Department grants annually to (a) the Franco-British parliamentary group, (b) the British-German parliamentary group and (c) the British-American parliamentary group ; and when these amounts were last revised.
Iraq
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek a debate in the UN on the report by Michael Priestly on the health consequences to Iraq of continued international sanctions.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The UN Security Council will conduct its next review of the sanctions on imports by Iraq in August, as provided for in Security Council resolution 687. The Council's discussions will no doubt be informed by the findings of the UN mission led by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan which is currently visiting Iraq.
Non-proliferation Regimes
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the report prepared by Zachary S. Davis of "The Congressional Research Service on Non-proliferation Regimes : A Comparative Analysis of Policies to Control the Spread of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons and Missiles", released on 1 April by the United States Library of Congress.
Falkland Islands
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much land in the Falklands is now owned by Falkland islanders ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : With the recent purchase by the Falklands Islands Government of four farms previously owned by the Falkland Islands company, Falkland islanders, or their Government, now own about 95 per cent. of land in the islands.
Gabon and Congo
Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements he proposes to make for the protection of British interests in Gabon and Congo after the closure of British embassies in those countries.
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Mrs. Chalker : Following the decision earlier this year to close our embassies in Libreville and Brazzaville, the Governments of Gabon and Congo have been informed of our intentions and both embassies will close by the end of July. The protection and promotion of British interests in these countries will in future be the responsibility of the British embassy in Kinshasa. Accreditation will shortly be sought for our ambassador in Kinshasa to be concurrently ambassador (non-resident) in Gabon and Congo.NORTHERN IRELAND
Curriculum Council
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what sums have been expended to the latest available date by the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council on the printing and circulation of its guidance material to the teaching profession.
Dr. Mawhinney : To the end of June this year, the cost of publication and distribution of guidance materials produced by the Northern Ireland Curriculum Council to the teaching profession was £182,365.
Intergovernmental Talks
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who will chair the third strand of the talks involving the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland Governments and the constitutional political parties of Northern Ireland.
Mr. Brooke : I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the statement that I made in the House on 3 July 1991, Official Report, columns 319-20.
As the talks that were held on the basis of my statement of 26 March 1991 have now concluded without the third strand having commenced, this question does not arise.
Disability Manifesto
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is his policy towards the recommendations of the "Disability Manifesto : An Agenda for the 1990s", a copy of which has been sent to him, which relates to his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney [Holding answer 3 July 1991] : The Government remain committed to developing care in the community. The regional strategy for the health and personal social services in Northern Ireland and the recent policy paper "People First", which charts the way forward for community care in the 1990s, both identify improvements in attitudes and services which need to be made to enhance the quality of life for disabled people. They both stress the importance of assessing individual people's needs and targeting services to help them to live in their own homes for as long as possible and to participate fully in the life of the community. Stemming from "People First", the Department of Health and Social Services has recently issued detailed guidance requiring health and social services boards, from 1 April 1991, to put in place new complaints procedures which will ensure the formal investigation of all complaints or representations about community care services made by individuals or by anyone on their behalf.
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From April 1993, comprehensive assessment arrangements will be introduced covering the community care needs of all people who are vulnerable through aging or disability. The guidance on complaints procedures required boards not only to publish the new arrangements but to ensure that any relevant information is made available in an appropriate format to sensorily handicapped or homebound people. The guidance on assessment and care management will similarly be publicised and, in providing for the appointment of a representative of the disabled person, will enable any problems in communication faced by the disabled person to be addressed.Government support was given to the introduction of the Disabled Persons (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 on the understanding that it would be brought into effect in stages as resources permitted. On 1 April 1991, sections 5 and 6 of the Act and parts of sections 4, 8 and 11 were brought into force. These provisions require health and social services boards to assess the needs of disabled people for certain social welfare services, and the ability of their carers to provide appropriate care. Boards are also required, in association with education and library boards, to ensure that young disabled people have a smooth transition from full-time education to adult life. Substantial resources have been made available to boards to enable them to implement these provisions.
With the introduction of these sections, Northern Ireland is now fully in line with Great Britain as far as the implementation of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 is concerned. The intention is to maintain this position of parity. Of the provisions of the 1989 Act still to be brought into effect, sections 1 and 2 provide for the appointment of an authorised representative either by the disabled person concerned or by the relevant health and social services board. Section 3 requires the relevant board to give a disabled person or his authorised representative the right to make representations about his need for services, to provide on request a written statement on the assessed need for services and to respond to representations about any such statement.
The implementation of these sections has been overtaken by the wider developments in the community care field. In particular, the far-reaching proposals in "People First" embody the spirit of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Act. These, and the other broadly-based developments described above, reflect the Government's continuing drive towards substantial improvements in community care services in Northern Ireland and its commitment to provide the resources necessary to achieve this goal.
Recommendations on public transport
The Government have a strong policy commitment to improve transport facilities for disabled people in Northern Ireland. The Transport (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 enables the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland to grant aid the provision of transport services and facilities for the disabled. The Government fund and are represented on the transport advisory committee set up by the Northern Ireland Council on Disability. The Government will also subsidise dial-a- ride operations in Northern Ireland, initially for north and west Belfast. Ulsterbus/Citybus and Northern Ireland Railways are working to improve the accessibility of public transport services to the disabled
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through suitable facilities at bus and rail stations and the provision of appropriate features on buses and rolling stock. Recommendation on AccessThe Northern Ireland building regulations dealing with facilities for disabled people are currently being revised. The proposals will be issued for consultation later this year. They will be based on those currently being finalised in England and Wales which cover all new public buildings and some extensions, including many of the categories of buildings mentioned in the manifesto such as leisure and recreational facilities, health service centres, and also shops, libraries, and so on.
The training and employment agency in Northern Ireland provides an employment assessment, guidance, training and placement service for people with disabilities. The service has recently been reorganised with the introduction of a disablement advisory service. Disablement employment advisers, based throughout Northern Ireland, provide local facilities and develop links
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with area health and social services boards for the progression of people with disabilities from medical rehabilitation to employment-related services. They actively promote good employment practices with employers and, wherever possible, seek to provide employment and training opportunities alongside able-bodied workers.EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
School Terms
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much time is spent in school by children in (a) England and Wales, (b) Japan, (c) Germany and (d) France.
Mr. Fallon : International comparison cannot be precise. The figures in the table compare the number of hours of weekly attendance at school and the number of weeks in the school year.
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