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Written Answers
25 JUNE 1981
the external services' current operations.
The reductions in planned expenditure decided in 1979 were met entirely from the capital provision in both 1980-81 and 1981-82. The Government have accordingly requested the BBC to make net savings in current services of about £3 million per annum -in forecast cash prices-from 1982-83 onwards.
The savings will involve a reduction of 58 hours per week out of a total of 726 hours of broadcasts in all languages, or about 8 per cent. The 24 hours a day of the BBC's World Service in English will not be cut and will be heard more clearly, as will the remaining vernacular
services.
Under the BBC's licence and agreement which this House has recently reviewed, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary is empowered to prescribe the languages and hours of external services programmes. He does so after taking into account the national interests and available funds. Funds are very limited and the External Services have already been exempted from the cuts on most Government spending plans announced last November.
In the difficult task of deciding which services to end we have looked first to the transcription services which are a net charge of nearly £1 million on the grant-in-aid. We recognise the value of providing to overseas broadcasting stations recordings in such fields as music, drama and entertainment, but we do not consider them essential. We have looked next to broadcasts to friendly neighbouring countries where Britain's voice is already well heard, namely French to France, and Spanish to Spain, Italian and Maltese. It was particularly hard to choose services to the Third world. We have chosen from each continent a service directed to one country or confined area only, namely Portuguese to Brazil, Burmese and Somali. In no case does the ending of the vernacular service imply any diminution of the excellent relations we enjoy with the country concerned. In all cases not only will the World Service in English continue-it will be heard more clearly as a result of the steps we plan to take to improve audibility.
The Government believe that the first priority must be to ensure that the BBC can be heard. If audibility is to be improved there must be a switch in resources from current to capital expenditure. In being asked to re-order its priorities, the BBC is being treated no differently from other publicly funded bodies which are currently facing the decisions required to manage within limited funds.
Assuming the required savings of some £3 million per annum are achieved by 1982-83 the Government would be prepared to contribute a substantially larger amount from 1983-84 onwards to meet the balance needed to implement the capital programme as planned.
EMPLOYMENT
Unemployed Young Persons (Military Training)
Mrs. Renée Short asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is yet able to make a further statement on plans for military training of unemployed young people under (a) the youth opportunities programme or (b) other recruitment programmes.
Mr. Peter Morrison: I have accepted the advice of the Manpower Services Commission that the training of
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unemployed young people by the Armed Services should not become part of the youth opportunities programme. I am now considering the matter further with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence.
SOCIAL SERVICES
Unmarried Mothers (Benefits)
Mrs. Renée Short asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has yet concluded his review of the procedures for dealing with unmarried mothers who claim benefit payments; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Chalker [pursuant to her reply, 16 June 1981, c. 328-29]: I have carried out a careful and detailed examination of these procedures following the concern that has been expressed by Ministers and on all sides of the House. I found that, for at least 20 years, questions seeking intimate information of a type needed for legal proceedings had been asked at the stage when arrangements were being made to interview the alleged father. At this point it could not be known whether legal proceedings would be necessary.
These procedures have now been changed. There will be three separate stages of interviewing. In future, detailed information about the mother's relationship with the alleged father will not be sought until the case is actually being prepared for proceedings under section 19 of the Supplementary Benefits Act. This will mean that, after the mother's benefit entitlement has been established, she will be interviewed to obtain only the minimum information needed to enable the allegation of paternity to be put to the alleged father. If he then denies paternity, or refuses to maintain the child, and as a result proceedings seem appropriate, the mother will be interviewed again and a written statement with the detailed information will be obtained.
Section 19 proceedings are affiliation proceedings and, as in all affiliation proceedings, paternity has to be proved to the satisfaction of the courts. A comprehensive statement of the evidence of the mother is, therefore, needed when a case is being prepared for proceedings. The information we ask for must necessarily be detailed and personal-it is the sort of information that a private solicitor would require if the mother were taking her own proceedings as she is, of course, free to do.
These changes in the procedures will significantly reduce the number of cases in which the detailed information is obtained—although these already represent only a small minority of the total number of cases involving unmarried mothers. Because the statement will be linked obviously to the question of proceedings, the changes will reduce misunderstanding about the reasons for asking for the information.
The revised instructions which are being issued to staff to give effect to those changes, re-emphasise that the mother should be advised that she does not have to provide information about the alleged father or her relationship with him, and that her benefit entitlement will not be affected in any way by her declining to answer any question about him.
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