Written Answers
Mr Steven Raymond
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will confirm that on 28th December 1981 or thereabouts the board of visitors at Maidstone Prison decided that Mr. Steven Raymond should not be segregated for a further 28 days, and agreed instead to authorise a further 14 days segregation; whether on 11th January or thereabouts, when that period had expired, the board or its chairman agreed, at the request of the governor or otherwise, and if so at whose instigation, to renew segregation for another 48 hours; whether, towards the end of this period of 48 hours, the Secretary of State decided himself to renew segregation and caused the board of visitors to be notified of this decision.
Mr. Steven Raymond was segregated from other prisoners at Maidstone under Prison Rule 43(1) on 26th October. Authority for continued segregation was given by the board of visitors at appropriate intervals until 27th December when its authority was extended a further 14 days and subsequently, at the request of the governor, until 11th January. On 12th January the governor was given authority on behalf of the Secretary of State to segregate Mr. Raymond under Prison Rule 43(2) and the chairman of the board of visitors was informed. Arrangements are in hand to transfer Mr. Raymond elsewhere.
Heathrow Airport: Security Interrogation
asked Her Majesty's Government:Which foreign security services it permits, as a matter of routine, to interrogate British citizens at Heathrow Airport.
None. Security staff employed by El Al Israel Airlines are however allowed to interview passengers intending to board El Al flights from British airports in order to establish their bona fides. Passengers intending to board flights by British aircraft operators are not asked to undergo such interviews.
Control Of Pollution Act 1974: Implementation
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list those sections of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 which have not yet been brought into force, which sections they hope it will be possible to bring into force in the next two years, and which sections they now do not intend to bring into force in the foreseeable future, and whether they will make a statement.
Most of the provisions of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 have now been implemented in England and Wales.However certain sections of Part I of the Act remain unimplemented: Section 1 will be considered again when substantial progress has been made with waste disposal plans; the implications of implementing Sections 12 to 14 are currently under discussion with the local authority associations, and no decision has been taken on a date for implementation; and Section 24, on litter, will be implemented when circumstances permit. (Pending the implementation of Section 24, the Keep Britain Tidy Group has prepared the Keep Britain Tidy System for the use of local authorities.) Section 15 is the responsibility of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Most of the provisions of Part II are still outstanding, although Sections 43, 44, 49, 50 and 56 have been implemented. Her Majesty's Government are currently considering a programme of implementation. There will be an announcement as soon as possible.
Endangered Species: 1979 Report On Convention
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the report for 1979 on the Implementation in the United Kingdom of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species does not follow the format of reports produced by other parties to the convention, what steps are being taken to improve the correlation between the statistics published by the United Kingdom and other parties to the convention, and whether the United Kingdom's statistics and documentation on the convention are now up to date.
There is at present no standard format for these reports. Proposals for a format, which would differ only in minor ways from our present format, are under consideration by the parties. The convention secretariat already prepares a comparative study of annual reports. We expect to publish the report for 1980 later this year and to achieve further reductions in delay for subsequent years.
Means-Tested Benefits: Recipients
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will bring up to date the Parliamentary Answer showing the number of people drawing means-tested benefits (
Official Report, 10th June 1980, cols. 422–424) by giving the comparable figures for 1979 and 1980, and 1981 where these are available.
The information requested is shown in the table below. Comparable figures for 1981 are not yet available. It is not of course possible to add these figures together because some individuals receive more than one benefit.
| NUMBERS OF PEOPLE RECEIVING CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS IN GREAT BRITAIN, 1974–1980 | |||||||
| Thousands | |||||||
| 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | |
| Supplementary Benefit (1) | |||||||
| No. of claimants … … | 2,680 | 2,793 | 2,940 | 2,991 | 2,932 | 2,855 | 3,118 |
| No. of wives … … … | 538 | 564 | 614 | 611 | 584 | 561 | 621 |
| No. of children … … | 874 | 1,078 | 1,172 | 1,156 | 1,082 | 955 | 1,125 |
| All claimants and dependants | 4,092 | 4,434 | 4,725 | 4,759 | 4,598 | 4,370 | 4,863 |
| Family income supplement (2) | |||||||
| No. of claimants … … | 70 | 60 | 77 | 89 | 81 | 81 | 97 |
| No. of wives … … … | 32 | 28 | 42 | 51 | 44 | 36 | 44 |
| No. of children … … | 161 | 135 | 176 | 205 | 183 | 177 | 208 |
| All claimants and dependants | 261 | 223 | 295 | 345 | 308 | 294 | 349 |
| Rent rebates and allowances (3) | |||||||
| No. of rebates … … | 2,087 | 2,160 | 2,382 | 2,423 | 2,322 | 2,344 | 2,408 |
| No. of allowances … … | 333 | 400 | 616 | 614 | 565 | 540 | 543 |
| Rate rebates(4) | |||||||
| No. of rebates … … | 2,630 | 2,930 | 3,020 | 3,090 | 2,987 | 3,060 | 3,360 |
| Free school meals (5) | |||||||
| No. of children receiving free school meals: | |||||||
| in England and Wales … | 750 | 784 | 839 | 997 | 1,159 | 968 | 780 |
| in Scotland … … … | 130 | 122 | 117 | 118 | 156 | 143 | 123 |
| in Great Britain … … | 880 | 906 | 956 | 1,115 | 1,315 | 1,111 | 903 |
Notes:
(1) Supplementary Benefit: source—supplementary benefit annual statistical inquiry in November or December each year.
(2) Family income supplement: source—10 per cent, statistical sample at December of each year.
(3) Rent rebates and allowances: source—Department of the Environment, relating to October of each year. The figures include supplementary benefit recipients who received direct rebates and allowances up to 31st March 1974 and, except for recipients in Scotland from 1978, indirect rebates and allowances since that date. Estimates of family composition are not available.
(4) Rate rebate: source—Department of the Environment, relating to financial year beginning April of each year. The estimates are for the number of households receiving a rate rebate and include those few who may be receiving supplementary benefit for a short-term transitional period. The Scottish rating revaluation in 1978 resulted in a shift of the rate burden from the domestic sector to the industrial sector. Estimates of family composition are not available.
(5) Free school meals: source—Department of Education and Science census at October of each year in respect of England and Wales; Scottish Education Department census at January of each year in respect of Scotland. The figures are for numbers of children receiving free school meals at the stated dates in maintained schools; estimates of family composition are not available.
(6) All figures relate to Great Britain except where explicitly stated to the contrary and are rounded to the nearest thousand. Because of rounding component figures may not add up to the total.
House adjourned at sixteen minutes past ten o'clock.