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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will set out including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc figures.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

19 March 2001

Answered on

19 March 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will set out including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [149123] Mr. Chris Smith: Morecambe and Lunesdale has received £3,023,777 from the national lottery since 2 May 1997. In addition, a grant worth over £12,000 has been made from the new opportunities fund out of school hours child care programme. The recipient project, the Bentham community association, will provide for 16 after-school places, and 16 holiday club places for children aged 5 to 11-years-old. The places will be in two primary schools in High Bentham, Lancaster. Sixteen millennium award winners have been identified from Morecambe and Lunesdale and between them they have received grants totalling £42,103. English Heritage awarded a grant of £5,000 to Lancaster city council towards a development appraisal for the Victoria Pavilion (formerly the Winter Gardens), Morecambe. This is towards a total cost of £14,795 excluding VAT. The final report is awaited and is expected to provide a strategy for future use and development. More Music in Morecambe has received three awards from the National Foundation for Youth Music. This was £8,500 for Singing Challenge, £184,000 to repair musical instruments donated to the organisation as part of Youth Music's instrument amnesty and £145,000 for the North Lancashire youth music action zone. The zone will provide a range of music opportunities to young people throughout the north-west. The creative industries have impacted on the area and this is exemplified through the development of initiatives to support professional artists living and working in Morecambe and Lunesdale. There is now an active network of artists within Lunesdale who have benefited from support through Leader II funding in partnership with neighbouring authorities. Lancashire Library Authority (which includes Morecambe and Lunesdale libraries) was part of a consortium which received an award of £215,992 from the DCMS/Wolfson public libraries challenge fund's 2000-01 programme to support reader development work in libraries. There were 18 partners in the consortium-- North West Libraries Book Promotion Partnership--it is not possible to say what proportion of funding is being spent in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. There are of course other initiatives in the wider context of Lancashire which may have an effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. These are: Under the Space for Sport the Arts (SSA) scheme, a £130 million capital programme made up of £75 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund and £55 million from Sport England, the Arts Council of England and the third round of the New Opportunities Fund, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen LEAs have been allocated £1.75 million and £1.25 million respectively towards providing improved facilities for sport and arts in primary schools which can also be used by the wider community. Liverpool, Manchester, Cumbria, Knowsley, Salford, Rochdale, Trafford, Wirral and St. Helens LEAs have also been allocated SSA funding which means a potential inward investment of up to £22 million in the north-west region for sport and arts facilities in primary schools under this programme. Morecambe and Lunesdale constituents will benefit from equipment to be purchased by the New Opportunities Fund cancer programme. Across the whole of the North West NHS Region, over £10 million will fund: nine linear accelerators; four MRI scanners; five trailers for breast screening equipment; six ultrasound machines for breast screening; and 27 pieces of x-ray breast screening equipment. By December 2000, over 2,000 teachers (approximately one in five) in the Lancashire LEA had signed up for training as part of the New Opportunities Fund ICT Training for Teachers scheme. The North West Arts Board has received an additional £493,877 from the Arts Council this year to support arts and cultural activity across the region. Creative industries projects involve a collaborative venture between Lancaster and neighbouring Objective II designated areas to establish support services and networking opportunities for creative industries SMEs. Information on the national lottery is in accordance with the information supplied to the Department by lottery distributors for the national lottery awards database.

Date

19 March 2001

Reference

149123; 365 c53-4W

House

House of Commons

Dept for Education and Employment

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Education and Employment

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

13 February 2001

Reference

149121; 363 c91W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Social Security

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect of his Department's policies and actions on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since 2nd May 1997. - Inc figures and ref to "Opportunity for all - One year on: making a...

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Social Security

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

13 February 2001

Answered on

13 February 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect of his Department's policies and actions on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since 2 May 1997. [149122] Mr. Rooker: The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to our overall objectives of: Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10; Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and, Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners. These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report, "Opportunity for all--One year on: making a difference" (CM4865, September 2000) sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done. Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than constituency level data, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in Morecambe and Lunesdale since May 1997. We are spending an additional £7 billion a year on support for families and children. This includes significant increases in child benefit, which will be worth £15.50 a week for the eldest child and £10.35 a week for other children from 9 April 2001: nationally about 7 million families receive child benefit, and in Morecambe and Lunesdale 10,850 families benefit. We have launched the New Deals to help lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over 50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since August 1998 the number of people claiming Jobseekers' Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,323,600 to 1,044,900; in Morecambe and Lunesdale the number has reduced from 2,300 in to 1,900. The number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased over the same period from 955,000 to 909,200 nationally. In Morecambe and Lunesdale the number has increased from 1,400 to 1,500. Next year we will be spending £4.5 billion a year extra in real terms on pensioners as a result of our policies. The Winter Fuel Payment has continued to tackle fuel poverty. Last winter, around 10 million pensioners, of whom 18,900 were in Morecambe and Lunesdale, benefited from the payment. We have now extended the scheme to include eligible people from age 60 so that even more older people will benefit. This winter, households that qualify will receive an increased payment of £200. The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) targets the poorest 1.6 million pensioner families, 2,800 of whom live in Morecambe and Lunesdale. These pensioners will benefit from our alignment of all MIG rates from April 2001, giving single pensioners at least £92.15 each week--a real increase of £12.45 for the poorest pensioners.

Date

13 February 2001

Reference

149122; 363 c124-5W

House

House of Commons

Dept for Education and Employment

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, what steps he has taken to ensure that good quality affordable childcare is available in (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale and (b) the United Kingdom. - Includes figures.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Education and Employment

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

12 February 2001

Answered on

12 February 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he has taken to ensure that good quality affordable child care is available in (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale and (b) the United Kingdom. [148963] Ms Hodge: The National Child Care Strategy aims to ensure that affordable, accessible, quality child care is available in every neighbourhood. The Working Families Tax Credit offers help with child care costs to lower income families. £170 million is also being made available until the end of 2003 through the New Opportunities Fund to help start up out of school hours care. By 2003-04, the Department's investment in child care will have trebled from £66 million in this financial year to over £200 million. The Government also intend to make a further £155 million available over the next three years from the New Opportunities Fund. This extra investment will be largely targeted in disadvantaged areas and on childminders. Through the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative, we expect to create 45,000 child care places, in up to 900 new 50-place nurseries. Around 50,000 out of school hours clubs in disadvantaged areas are expected to achieve extra start-up support. The Morecambe and Lunesdale area is eligible for the new support being made available for disadvantaged areas. 145,000 childminder places and 450 childminder networks will have been started up by 2004. New child care places for 546,000 children have been created between April 1997 and September 2000. Taking into account turnover, this has helped an extra 343,000 children. As part of the Strategy 150 Early Years and Child Care Development Partnerships (EYDCPs) have been set up across England{1} to develop new child care places and maintain existing ones across the whole of their local area. Since April 1999 Lancashire EYDCP has created child care places for 487 children in the Morecambe and Lunesdale area and, taking into account turnover, this has helped an extra 125 children. Lancashire EYDCP is assisting the DfEE in a pilot programme to test innovative approaches to combining early education with care throughout the day. The project is based in the Morecambe and Lune Valley areas and focuses on establishing a partnership between early education providers and the voluntary and private sectors and childminders leading to a co-ordinated seamless child care and early education service for children and families. One of the aims of the project is to help meet the needs of families for whom lack of transport is a barrier to accessing child care, and will include the provision of a mobile nursery facility to operate in rural areas.

Date

12 February 2001

Reference

148963; 363 c43W

House

House of Commons

Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc tables and figures.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

9 February 2001

Answered on

9 February 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [149125] Ms Beverley Hughes: The constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale has benefited from a range of Government initiatives since 2 May 1997, including: Capital allocations for housing _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year £ million 1997-98 1.8 1998-99 3.0 1999-2000 3.4 2000-01 3.9 2001-02 4.4 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. By 2001-02, the resources made available to support Lancaster city council's housing capital investment programme will have more than doubled since the Government came to power. It is for the local authority to determine where within its boundary these resources are invested. Single regeneration budget SRB Round 1--Turning the Tide: Morecambe This is a seven-year strategy to halt decline and build tourism through the comprehensive regeneration of an area in the town centre. The scheme builds on pre-existing housing schemes and extends to business, training and environmental projects. SRB total is £4.3 million, of which £2.7 million since 1997-98. SRB Round 5--Luneside regeneration This seven-year scheme aims to tackle dereliction and draw private investment into key sites in Lancaster. It addresses deprivation through linked programmes of enterprise support, training and community development. SRB total is £4.997 million It is not possible to identify the exact proportion of this figure allocated to areas within the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. Local transport plans _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year £ million 1997-98 {1}11 1998-99 {1}8 1999-2000 {1}10 2000-01 {2}11 2001-02 28 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} These figures are for Lancashire country council's transport policies and programmes allocation {2} This figure is from Lancashire county council's provisional local transport plan settlement It is not possible to determine exactly how much of these amounts has been spent on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. The constituency has benefited from Lancashire county council's integrated transport policies. European funding The Government have secured European funding for Morecambe under the North West Objective 2 programme for 2000-06. It is not possible to state the amounts involved because the programme has yet to be launched. Local government finance settlement The following figures show the Government grants to Lancaster county council and Lancaster city council as part of the local government finance settlement. The information for general grant (revenue support grant, national non domestic rates, and damping grants) is a follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year £ million Lancaster city council 1997-98 11.028 1998-99 11.015 1999-2000 11.283 2000-01 11.671 2001-02 12.236 Lancashire county council 1997-98 -- 1998-99 578.211 1999-2000 601.844 2000-01 628.203 2001-02 644.494 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. These figures have not been adjusted to make year on year comparisons possible. There is no figure for 1997-98 because Lancashire county council was undergoing reorganisation. It is not possible to determine the exact amounts allocated by the two councils to the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency.

Date

9 February 2001

Reference

149125; 362 c730-1W

House

House of Commons

Home Office

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc figures and ref to Home Office annual report 1999-2000 in Library.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Home Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

9 February 2001

Answered on

9 February 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [149127] Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office annual reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office annual report 1999-2000, is available in the Library. The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested although set out below are examples relating to the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency or the immediate locality: Under the crime reduction programme, the following amounts have been awarded to Morecambe and Lunesdale: reducing burglary £53,600 (Morecambe close circuit television (CCTV) £144,000 Schemes reducing burglary initiative--a project under round one of the reducing burglary initiative was awarded £53,600 to tackle burglary in the Morecambe area. An application for further funding for the Morecambe area under round three has been received and is currently under consideration. The initiative has a lot of partnership working between the police and other agencies and is based around the following interventions: Alarms Improved Fencing in the area Improved Lighting CCTV--two schemes were awarded a total of £144,000 under the first round of the CCTV Initiative. The West End scheme in Morecambe, awarded £84,000 proposed four cameras to complement the existing camera covering shopping facilities and residential properties. The scheme intends to tackle vehicle crime, violent crime and burglary, in tandem with the alleygating scheme, which will force offenders onto main thoroughfares with CCTC coverage. The Cable Street scheme in Lancaster, awarded £60,000 proposed three cameras to cover the northern area of Lancaster town centre, to add to the 12-camera system also in operation. The scheme proposed to reduce fear of violent crime, reduce vehicle crime and burglary, as well as addressing the problem of anti-social behaviour. More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Morecambe and Lunesdale to a greater or lesser extent. For example: 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established; racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998: the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000; and good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.

Date

9 February 2001

Reference

149127; 362 c744-6W

House

House of Commons

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc ref to http://www/fco.gov.uk/directory/dynpage.asp?page=108.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

8 February 2001

Reference

149126; 362 c627W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Social Security

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what steps he has taken to reduce (a) benefit fraud and (b) housing benefit fraud in Morecambe and Lunesdale. - Includes figures.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Social Security

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

8 February 2001

Answered on

8 February 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he has taken to reduce (a) benefit fraud and (b) housing benefit fraud in Morecambe and Lunesdale. [148965] Mr. Rooker: After years of neglect, we are getting to grips with Social Security fraud. We are implementing a strategy to tighten up the system and make sure that from the very first claim, the right benefits are going to the right people at the right time. We have set ourselves firm targets to reduce the losses from fraud and error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance by 25 per cent. by March 2004, and 50 per cent. by March 2006. We have saved more than £150 million over two years by cross-checking departmental records with information from other Government departments. More than 22,000 people were sanctioned or prosecuted in 1999-2000, an increase of nearly 60 per cent. on the previous year. We published figures last November which showed that losses from fraud and error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance had fallen for the first time, a saving of around £60 million. We continue to invest to help local authorities root out Housing Benefit fraud. We have provided over £100 million since 1998 so that local authorities can implement the verification framework which protects the gateway to benefit by setting out minimum standards for collecting evidence before claims are paid. Over 350 councils are now using the Royal Mail scheme to stop benefit cheques being re-directed from the address they have been claimed for. Our £2 million programme to make better use of IT has given 404 local authorities on-line access to essential benefit information held on departmental systems, reducing the scope for fraud and error. We are now building on this through the integrated inquiry service, which will give authorities access to further information to help combat fraud, including the Department's database of National Insurance numbers. Our new anti-fraud incentive scheme is being phased in from April and will make the gateway to Housing Benefit more secure, putting the focus on prevention as well as detection. The new scheme sets out the anti-fraud activities we expect local authorities to undertake, and it introduces new financial rewards for authorities that act to prevent fraud from happening in the first place. These are just some of the measures that have already started to make a significant reduction in fraud and error in areas such as Morecambe and Lunesdale. These will be further strengthened by the new measures proposed in the Social Security Fraud Bill currently before Parliament.

Date

8 February 2001

Reference

148965; 362 c697-8W

House

House of Commons

Treasury

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the estimated number of families in Morecambe and Lunesdale failing to claim working families tax credit; how many families in Morecambe and Lunesdale have benefited from the working families tax credit. - Inc ref to answer to my hon. Friend the...

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Treasury

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

8 February 2001

Reference

362 c681-2W; 148971;148970

House

House of Commons

Dept of Social Security

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, how many pensioners in Morecambe benefit from (a) the winter fuel allowance, (b) free television licences and (c)the minimum income guarantee. - Includes ref to 31 January 2001 at 362 c238W and 5 February 2001 at 362 c364W.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Social Security

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

8 February 2001

Reference

148969; 362 c696-7W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Trade and Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Includes figures.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Trade and Industry

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

7 February 2001

Reference

149124; 362 c558W;362 c559W

House

House of Commons

Treasury

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Morecambe and Lunesdale constitutency, the effects of his Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997. - Inc figures.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Treasury

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

1 February 2001

For answer on

7 February 2001

Answered on

7 February 2001

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency, the effects of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [149088] Miss Melanie Johnson: Morecambe and Lunesdale, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, is benefiting from the long-term action we have taken to build economic stability and secure high and stable levels of growth and employment. Since the general election, claimant unemployment in the constituency has fallen by 935, or 33 per cent., youth unemployment is down by 88 per cent., and long-term unemployment has fallen by 66 per cent. Macroeconomic stability is being complemented at the microeconomic level by the Government's policies to ease the transition from welfare into work and to make work pay. To the end of November 2000, the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds had helped 1,080 young people in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency gain valuable skills and experience--564 (52 per cent.) of whom had moved into employment. The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), introduced in October 1999, is helping to make work pay for low and middle income families. In August 2000, 2,100 families in the constituency were benefiting from WFTC. The Government are also committed to developing policies which enable all pensioners to share in the country's rising prosperity. As a result of the recent pre-Budget report, all pensioners, including 18,600 in Morecambe and Lunesdale, will receive an above- inflation increase in the basic state pension from April 2001. Single pensioners will receive an extra £5 a week, and couples will receive an extra £8 a week. All pensioners aged 75 or over have also been entitled to a free TV licence since November 2000--including around 12,000 in Morecambe and Lunesdale.

Date

7 February 2001

Reference

149088; 362 c620W

House

House of Commons

Treasury;Office for National Statistics

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many workers are estimated to benefit from the minimum wage in (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale and (b) the United Kingdom. - Text of letter from Len Cook of the Office for National Statistics and inc ref to http://www.statistics.gov.uk/nsbase/themes/labour-market/nmw -lowpay-tables.asp.

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Treasury

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

6 February 2001

Reference

362 c493W; 148962

House

House of Commons

Dept of Social Security

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, how many pensioners in Morecambe and Lunesdale benefit from the minimum income quarantee; and what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency who fail to claim the minimum income guarantee. - Including figures...

Asked by

Geraldine Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Social Security

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

5 February 2001

Reference

149132; 362 c364W

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

Type

House

Session

Year

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

Publisher