§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are currently in receipt of family credit; and, of these, how many were advised in writing to return their books to central benefits branch because of the new regulations issued in October.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe number of families receiving family credit at 23 November 1989 was 14,131.
No family credit recipients were asked to return their order books because of the Family Credit, Housing Benefit and Income Support (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 which came into force on 1 October 1989 or because of the guidance from the chief adjudication officer issued recently on the interpretation of provisions in the main regulations on the treatment of expenses incurred in self-employed cases.
§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the new regulations in 127W respect of family credit applications which came into effect from 1 October, with reference to self-employed persons; and if he will make a copy available in the Library.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Family Credit, Housing Benefit and Income Support (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 which came into force on 1 October 1989 have been published and a copy is available in the Library. The regulations, which provide for payments of allowances to adopters under approved schemes to be disregarded in the calculation of income, cover but do not specifically refer to self-employed persons. Recent guidance for adjudication officers on the interpretation of provisions in the main regulations which deal specifically with self-employed cases has also been published and a copy is available in the Library.
§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the new regulations formulated in respect of family credit; and, of those whose books were requested for adjustment, how many received(a) an increase and (b) a decrease in allowance.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Family Credit, Housing Benefit and Income Support (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989, which came into operation on 1 October 1989, provide for payments of
Persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Acts 1974, 1976, 1984 and 1989 19741 1975 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 19892 Number of persons detained 0 8 908 938 1,309 1,459 1,717 843 Held for under 48 hours 0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 868 1,077 1,248 624 Held for over 48 hours and under 5 days 0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 350 295 394 197 Held over 5 days 0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 91 87 75 22 Charged under 48 hours3 0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 215 205 192 61 Charged over 48 hours and under 5 days3 0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 108 97 138 73 Charged over 5 days3 0 n.a. n.a. n.a. 35 41 43 13 Notes: n.a.—Not available. 1 The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974 came into force on 29 November 1974. 2 Information up to 30 June 1989. 3 Persons charged—not necessarily with scheduled offences. Comprehensive figures on the operation of the emergency provisions Acts are not available before 1975. Between 1984 and 31 March 1989, 3,589 individuals were arrested by the police using powers under section 11 of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 and detained for a maximum of 72 hours; 18 individuals were arrested by the police under section 13 of the Act; and 638 people were arrested by members of Her Majesty's forces under section 14 of the Act and held for a maximum of four hours (a number of whom were subsequently re-arrested under the PTA). In total, 655 individuals were charged with scheduled offences during the period as a result of these arrests. The powers under section 11 of the EPA were repealed in 1987.