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Forth Rail Bridge
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her oral answer of 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 6, what
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discussions she has had with the British Tourist Authority on the impact on tourism of maintenance problems concerning the Forth Rail Bridge. [26557]
Dr. Howells: I have not had discussions on this as transport is a devolved matter for the Scottish Executive.
Channel 5
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if it is her policy that Channel 5 should be available to all terrestrial analogue television users in the United Kingdom. [28861]
Dr. Howells: It was clear at its inception that the fifth channel could not be available in all parts of the United Kingdom because of spectrum constraints. I do not expect analogue terrestrial Channel 5 services to be extended to all analogue terrestrial television users because our priority is to use available spectrum for developing digital terrestrial television.
Regional Museums
Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she plans to meet the Council for Museums and Libraries to discuss the funding of regional museums, with specific reference to those in north-east England. [26182]
Tessa Jowell: My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Arts will shortly be meeting Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, the Chairman of Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, to discuss the report by the Regional Museum Task Force "Renaissance in the Regions: a new vision for England's museums" which was published last October.
The report makes recommendations for a new framework for museums and galleries in England's regions, including the north-east.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the reformed Child Support Agency has a section dedicated to counter fraud work; and what the budget is of that section for the first year of operation. [22892]
Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Frank Field, dated 10 January 2002:
- The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply.
- Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
- You asked if the reformed Child Support Agency has a section dedicated to counter fraud work; and what the budget is of that section for the first year of operation.
- We have set up sections dedicated to counter fraud as part of the implementation of changes to child support legislation. These units investigate cases where individuals appear to have deliberately
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- provided incorrect or misleading information. They also consider cases where information might properly be referred for investigation elsewhere.
- The budget for this section in its first year was £3.5 million.
- I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the extent of benefit fraud through the use of bank accounts set up by members or supporters of Shariah and Al Muhajaroon. [26772]
Malcolm Wicks: We are implementing our strategy to tackle fraud and error by tightening up the system and making sure that, from the first claim, the right benefits are going to the right people. Due to the nature of fraud, it is not possible to give an estimate of the level of fraud committed by particular groups or their supporters.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent in total on the Targeting Fraud website. [27760]
Malcolm Wicks: It is not possible to provide a specific cost for the Targeting Fraud website, as it was built and is maintained on the departmental web server from existing resources.
Shareholders
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the adult population owned one or more shares in (a) the latest year for which figures are available and (b) each year since 1997. [25292]
Malcolm Wicks: The information available is in the table:
| Stocks/shares | Stocks/shares/unit trusts/PEPs/ISAs | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 22 | 27 |
| 1998–99 | 21 | 27 |
| 1999–2000 | 20 | 29 |
| 2000–01 | 19 | 32 |
Notes:
1. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure, Council Tax Band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and to variability in non-response.
2. Questions on assets are a sensitive part of the FRS questionnaire and have relatively low level of response, and hence higher levels of imputation, compared to other parts of the survey. Responses are imputed in around one in 10 cases. Evidence also suggests some under reporting of capital by respondents.
3. The final column of the table shows the percentage of adults reporting one or more of the categories: stocks and shares, unit trusts, PEPs and ISAs.
4. The results are for financial years.
Source:
Family Resources Survey (FRS)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will provide a breakdown of share ownership by occupational status for the most recent date available. [26140]
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Malcolm Wicks: The information available is in the following table:
| Occupation | Stocks/ shares | Stocks/shares/unit trusts/PEPs/ISAs |
|---|---|---|
| Undefined | 33 | 32 |
| Managers and administrators | 16 | 15 |
| Professionals | 11 | 11 |
| Associate professionals and technical | 9 | 9 |
| Clerical and secretarial | 10 | 11 |
| Craft and related | 6 | 6 |
| Personal and protective service | 4 | 5 |
| Sales | 3 | 4 |
| Plant and machine operatives | 4 | 4 |
| Other occupations | 2 | 3 |
| Total percentage of adults | 19 | 32 |
Notes:
1. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and to variability in non-response.
2. Questions on assets are a sensitive part of the FRS questionnaire and have relatively low level of response, and hence higher levels of imputation, compared to other parts of the survey. Responses are imputed in around one in 10 cases. Evidence also suggest some under reporting of capital by respondents.
3. The final column of the table shows the percentage of adults reporting one or more of the categories: stocks and shares, unit trusts, PEPs and ISAs.
Source:
Family Resources Survey 2000–01
Child Support Agency
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the final maintenance assessment accuracy figure is for the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997. [24211]
Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. David Willetts, dated 10 January 2002:
- The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply.
- Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
- You asked what the final maintenance assessment accuracy figure is for the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997.
- The information requested is in the attached table.
- Until this year our target measured the accuracy of our assessments to the nearest penny and required us to revisit the whole of the current assessment, including those elements which may have been in place for some considerable time. The measure therefore reflected historical mistakes rather than our current performance.
- The target for this year focuses on improving the accuracy of the last action we have taken on a case. On that basis our achievement last year was 78.5%. We have continued to focus on accuracy and so far this year we have further improved that figure to 82.8%.
- I hope this is helpful.
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| Achievement against the cash value accuracy target for the last four years | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
| Target | 85 | 75 | 78 | 78 |
| Achievement | 85.6 | 77.2 | 70.5 | 67.4 |
Source:
Agency Annual Reports 1999–2000 and 2000–01
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