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Social Affairs Council
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Social Affairs Council meeting on 20 November. [61787]
Mr. Andrew Smith: I attended the Council of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers in Brussels on 20 November.
The Council discussed the Commission's draft European Employment Guidelines for 1999 and the draft Joint Report on member states' implementation of their National Employment Action Plans in 1998.
The Presidency circulated the first draft of its own revised version of the Guidelines and undertook to produce a further draft for discussion at the joint ECOFIN/Social Affairs Council on 1 December in the light of any comments by member states.
The Guidelines and Joint Report will be put to the European Council for agreement in Vienna on 11-12 December.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the activities of Members
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of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and London assemblies will constitute paid employment for the purposes of Access to Work support. [61046]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
This has not yet been determined.
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the consultation on the new teacher induction arrangements. [61786]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
We received 569 responses to the consultation document from schools, local education authorities, teacher training institutions, teacher unions and other professional organisations. I am pleased to announce that there was almost universal support for the introduction of a structured induction programme for new teachers along the lines we proposed. I have placed a summary of the main outcomes of the consultation in the Library.
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the 12 areas to pilot the Single Work Focused Gateway. [61788]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security and I have decided on twelve areas to pilot the Single Work Focused Gateway.
From June 1999, Essex South East, Warwickshire, Clyde Coast & Renfrew and Lea Roding (East London) will be the first pilot areas. From November 1999 Somerset, Buckinghamshire, Gwent Borders and Calderdale & Kirklees will test the benefits call centre technology can bring to the Gateway process. At the same time, private or voluntary sector providers will be invited to lead pilots in Suffolk, North Nottinghamshire, Leeds and North Cheshire to test out whether they can bring extra value through innovative approaches to the Gateway.
These twelve pilot areas will play a vital part in the development of a new welfare state based on rights and responsibilities--work for those who can and support for those who cannot. They will also be at the forefront of providing the excellent service to clients that we are determined to provide.
The Single Gateway marks a step change in our welfare system. Currently, our system puts clients in boxes, depending on whether they are unemployed, lone parents, carers or face illness or disability. Under the Gateway, after an initial 'registration and orientation' phase, all clients will be allocated a personal adviser. The adviser will be responsible for working with individual clients to establish their individual needs and provide them with the help they need to become independent and move towards work. Of course, for some clients--such as the recently bereaved--it may not be appropriate to have an initial focus on work. In these cases, the personal adviser will keep the case under review and contact the client at a more appropriate stage to discuss their needs. The
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Gateway will be the cornerstone of our philosophy for welfare reform--work for those who can, support for those who cannot.
Local authorities will be invited to work with the Employment Service and Benefits Agency to provide a seamless and responsive service to all benefit clients.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance his Department provides to health and social services to ensure that rehabilitation services for people with acquired brain injury are provided at a time when they are most likely to prove beneficial; [60906]
Mr. Milburn:
The Department accepts the need for specialised rehabilitation services for people recovering from brain injury. It commissioned a study on the subject, the National Traumatic Brain Injury Study, which was published in April 1998. Officials are now working on the production of guidance outlining management models for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. Consultation on the guidance will take place with the National Health Service and the voluntary sector.
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the President of the Council what steps she has taken to establish the millennium compliance status of essential suppliers to central Government. [61135]
Mrs. Beckett:
It is the responsibility of individual departments to work with their suppliers to obtain compliance information. As part of the quarterly monitoring exercise, central government departments and agencies are asked to report on the steps they have taken and progress made in establishing the millennium compliance of their essential suppliers. The individual returns from the last quarterly review were published on 9 September and are available in the libraries of the House. The returns from the next quarterly review will be published shortly.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will introduce a trigger in the benefits system to ensure that those who are not in receipt of income support at the time of disability living allowance being awarded are invited to claim income support. [60917]
Mr. Timms:
There are no current plans to invite claims to Income Support (IS) when an award of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) has been made. DLA provides a contribution towards the extra costs associated with disability. When a claim to DLA is received from a
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customer there is insufficient data to indicate whether the customer would be entitled to IS. However, the leaflet issued with DLA award notices contains information about other benefits, including Income Support.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to means-test disability living allowance. [60918]
Mr. Timms:
We have concluded and made clear in the Green Paper "New Ambitions for our Country: A New Contract For Welfare" (Cm 3805) that Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance will remain universal, national benefits and as such they will not be subject to a means test.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has for benefits for those who are severely disabled and are older than 20 years of age. [60915]
Mr. Timms:
The proposals for the reform of Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) as set out in the Consultation Paper--"Support for Disabled People", would apply to new claims only. Existing SDA recipients aged 20 or over at the point of change would be protected and continue to receive benefit as now. Under the new arrangements, people who become severely disabled after the age of 20 would no longer be able to claim SDA.
However, around 70 per cent. of those currently receiving SDA also receive Income Support (IS) and it is likely that the same proportion would continue to qualify for IS following the introduction of the proposals. This group would, therefore, see no change to their overall level of income. Disability Living Allowance is also available to help with the additional costs of disability.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what plans he has for the relative levels of (a) disability living allowance and (b) incapacity benefit; and what decisions he has made about the minimum level of each; [60914]
Mr. Timms:
Disability Living Allowance and Incapacity Benefit are awarded where specific entitlement conditions are met. There is no relationship between the relative levels of the benefits. There are no plans to change the amounts of the benefits, but they will continue to be reviewed as part of the normal uprating process.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many current recipients of (a) incapacity benefit and (b) invalidity benefit who are aged under state pension age, are receiving occupational or personal pensions of (i) £0.01 to £9.99, (ii) £10 to £19.99, (iii) £20 to £29.99, (iv) £30 to £39.99, (v) £40 to £49.99, (vi) £50 to £59.99, (vii) £60 to £69.99 and (viii) £70 or above per week. [60922]
Mr. Timms:
Information is not available in the format requested. Such information that is available is in the table.
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(2) if he will review the way in which services for people with acquired brain injuries are co-ordinated. [60908]
(2) what plans he has for the future level of incapacity benefit. [60888]
| £ per week | Occupational pensions | Personal/other pensions | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01-9.99 | 42 | 23 | 53 |
| 10-19.99 | 41 | 13 | 52 |
| 20-29.99 | 36 | 5 | 40 |
| 30-39.99 | 43 | 3 | 45 |
| 40-49.99 | 53 | 3 | 55 |
| 50-59.99 | 47 | 6 | 52 |
| 60-69.99 | 50 | 1 | 52 |
| 70 or more | 290 | 4 | 293 |
Notes:
1. Incapacity Benefit replaced Sickness Benefit and Invalidity Benefit in April 1995. All existing recipients at that date became Incapacity Benefit recipients.
2. Figures include 11,000 Severe Disablement Allowance recipients.
3. Other pensions includes Widows, Trade Union and Friendly Society pensions and Annuities regulated by the Pensions Act 1995 but not purchased with tax relieved pension savings.
4. Some Incapacity Benefit recipients will receive both occupational and personal/other pensions. Aggregating occupational and other pension income causes some cases to be shifted into a different band, consequently the total in the third column is not the sum of the first two.
5. Figures include a number of former Invalidity Benefit recipients above State pension age who were able to elect to remain on benefit for up to 5 years. From April 1995 Incapacity Benefit is not payable above State pension age.
6. No existing recipient of Incapacity Benefit at the point of change will have their entitlement affected by the proposal to take some account of occupational and personal pension income above £50 a week in assessing future Incapacity Benefit claims.
Source:
1996-97 Family Resources Survey
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the criteria for the award of incapacity benefit and disability living allowance; and in what circumstances a person may be awarded both. [60889]
Mr. Timms: Incapacity Benefit is a contributory benefit to help replace the income of people unable to work because of an illness or disability. It is paid to people who have the necessary National Insurance contributions and who pass the appropriate test of incapacity.
Disability Living Allowance is a non-means-tested, non-contributory benefit which can be claimed by people aged under 65 for extra care or mobility needs arising from their disability.
Both benefits may be paid if the conditions for entitlement are satisfied. Entitlement to one does not affect, and is not dependent on, entitlement to the other.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if carers who have not made national insurance contributions in the recent past will be refused incapacity benefit, but will be eligible for disability living allowance. [60913]
Mr. Timms:
Carers currently have to pay a minimum amount of National Insurance contributions at some point prior to the claim, in order to qualify for Incapacity Benefit. This will continue to be the case in the future. However, as we made clear in our consultation paper "A New Contract for Welfare: Support for Disabled People" we are planning to modify the proposed new contribution test so that carers who received Invalid Care Allowance
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are not disadvantaged because they were unable to pay contributions due to their caring responsibilities in one of the two tax years before the claim.
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