§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will instruct the Highways Authority to issue instructions to the security firms they have hired in relation to his Department's road schemes not to instigate violence against demonstrators; [12814]
961W(2) what reports have been received by the Highways Authority in respect of violent incidents involving private security firms at Newbury; and if he will make a statement. [12762]
§ Mr. WattsI have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Harry Cohen, dated 2 February 1996:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent questions about security firms in general and the security firm involved with the Newbury Bypass.There have been a number of media articles about violent incidents involving security guards at Newbury and we are aware of the incidents where protestors appear to have assaulted security guards. But we have received no formal substantiated reports of such incidents and none have been reported to us by the Police, who are present on site at all times when the security firm's staff are present.It is a requirement of the Highways Agency that sub-contracted security firms are members of the British Security Industry Association and that they conform to British Standard 7499 covering static guards and mobile patrols; they are instructed to work within the law.
Table 1: Effect on recipients of means-tested benefits Number of recipients of: Family credit Housing benefit Council tax benefit Income support Tax allowance per child (under 16) No longer eligible (000) Taken1 out of tax (000) No longer eligible (000) Taken1 out of tax (000) No longer eligible (000) Taken1 out of tax (000) No longer eligible (000) Taken1 out of tax (000) £100 2— 10 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— £500 10 30 10 20 2— 20 2— 2— £1,000 20 60 10 30 2— 30 2— 2— 1Husbands and wives treated separately. 2Denotes estimates of less than 5,000. The total numbers of claimants no longer eligible for any means-tested benefit or taken out of tax cannot be obtained by adding together the estimates for each benefit. This is because claimants for one benefit are often also claiming one or more of the other benefits. It is only possible to provide figures for claimants of each benefit separately.
These estimates are based on data drawn from the 1991 1992 and 1993 Family Expenditure Surveys uprated to 1995–96 price and benefits levels. Income related benefit cases have been calibrated to those contained in the 1995 DSS Departmental Report.
Table 2: Effect on tax liabilities Tax allowance per child (under 16) Exchequer cost £ million Net cost1 £ million Married couples and single individuals taken out of tax (thousand) Average amount of unused child tax allowance2 £ per child £100 250 240 50 98 £500 1,200 1,150 200 465 £1,000 2,300 2,200 350 902 1Tax revenue cost less reductions in means-tested benefits. 2This is the average for those who have an unused allowance. These estimates are based on information projected from the 1993 Family Expenditure Survey and are therefore provisional.