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Disability Benefits
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if recipients of Severe Disablement Allowance will be compelled to attend work-focused job interviews through the Single Gateway to Work. [66245]
Angela Eagle:
Through the Single Work-Focused Gateway we want to offer help to the widest range of people possible--no one should be denied the offer of help and assistance.
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Attendance at a Personal Adviser interview will be a condition of receiving benefits for claimants of working age who are out of work including those claiming Severe Disablement Allowance. However, this requirement may be waived or deferred in appropriate cases.
Ms Blears:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the responses to the consultation document on disability benefits. [66708]
Mr. Bayley:
Consultation on our proposals for the reform of benefits for disabled people ended on 8 January and 342 responses have been received. Just over half came from organisations representing disabled people, at both national and local level, from local authorities, and from the insurance industry. Most of the remaining responses came from individuals. Nearly 50 hon. Members submitted responses, many from their constituents. The All Party Disablement Group also submitted a response. We thank hon. Members and all those who took the time and trouble to respond to the consultation document and can assure them that we are studying the responses carefully.
A list of the organisations who responded has been placed in the Library. Copies of the list and copies of specific responses are available, excluding those that requested confidentiality, on request from the Disability Benefits Consultation Team, Department of Social Security, 6th Floor, The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what rules or guidance his Department has to govern the (a) formal and (b) informal interaction between his civil servants and commercial lobbyists. [66217]
Mr. Timms:
I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer from my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 27 July 1998, Official Report, column 4.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the services that will be available to a disabled person attending an interview through the Single Work-focused Gateway announced on 13 January; and how these differ from those under the Single Gateway to Work announced in "A New Contract for Welfare: The Gateway to Work" (Cm 4102). [66200]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
For clients of working age accessing the benefit system, including people with disabilities, the work focused interview with a personal adviser will consist of an in-depth investigation of individual needs and an exploration of ways to overcome any barriers that prevent participation in the labour market. The adviser will access information on a wide range of options available locally and provide a personalised calculation of potential in-work income. The aim will be to draw up and agree a tailor-made plan of steps which the individual can take.
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The personal adviser will help people gain access to relevant services. Thus, for disabled people, it may be appropriate to seek the advice and support of a disability employment specialist or to get some kind of mentoring support.
The announcement on 13 January was that £79 million has been made available from the Invest to Save budget to finance the piloting of the Single Work Focused Gateway described in "A New Contract for Welfare: The Gateway to Work" (Cm 4102), which are thus one and the same.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have entered the New Deal Gateway in the Hart district council area since its inception; and how many took up each New Deal option. [65296]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
It is not possible to provide separate figures for individual towns or council areas.
The latest Government Statistical Service figures for the Guildford Unit of Delivery, which covers Hart, show that to the end of October 1998 (a) 461 young people had entered the Gateway and 126 have secured unsubsidised employment; (b) 69 had joined one of the four options: 14 on the Employment option; 9 on the Voluntary Sector option; 3 on the Environment Task Force; and 43 on the Full-Time Education and Training option. 150 young people were on the Gateway, 22 had left New Deal to claim other benefits, 19 had gone to other known destinations and 75 had gone to unknown destinations.
Mr. Geraint Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many job centres are fully accessible for the disabled; and what percentage have the equipment and trained staff to offer a gateway interview to disabled people. [65086]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Geraint Davies, dated 19 January 1999:
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Mr. Dobbin:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department for what reasons the courts and other authorities are not able to take action when one parent takes unilateral action in preventing the other parent from having contact with their child. [65880]
Mr. Hoon:
Contact arrangements normally work best when both parents are willing to co-operate, and in approaching the enforcement of contact orders the courts will seek to secure this. But the courts can, and will, enforce orders granting a parent contact with a child, including imprisonment as a last resort. Courts take their decisions in the best interests of the child and in the light of all the evidence and the particular circumstances of each case.
Jane Griffiths:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what powers he has to reduce the closure period of official decennial census records; what representations he has received requesting the reduction of the closure period of official decennial census records; and if he will instruct the Public Record Office to reduce the closure period of official decennial census records to 75 years. [65913]
Mr. Hoon:
The Lord Chancellor has powers under section 5(1) of the Public Records Act 1958 to reduce the closure period of official records with the approval, or at the request, of the Minister primarily concerned.
The Lord Chancellor has received a number of representations from family historians requesting a reduction in the closure period of official decennial census records.
The Lord Chancellor does not intend to change the existing closure period, which corresponds to the guidelines established in the White Paper Open Government of 1993 (Cm 2290). This assigned a 100-year closure period for decennial census returns on the grounds that they consisted of documents supplied in confidence the disclosure of which would constitute a breach of good faith.
The intention of the Minister primarily concerned with the decennial census returns, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, was expressed in a written answer to Lord Teviot on 14 October 1997, Official Report, House of Lords, columns 138-39.
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As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply direct to your question regarding the number of Jobcentres that are fully accessible for the disabled; and what percentage have the equipment and trained staff to offer a gateway interview to disabled people. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
It may be helpful if I explain that for the last three years the Employment Service has carried out an annual audit of progress on its planned programme of works to improve the accessibility of Jobcentres to people with disabilities. This is to ensure that we comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act within the timescales set. The audit indicates whether our buildings have wheelchair access, loop hearing aid facilities and disabled toilets.
The latest audit results showed that from a total of 1180 premises, 93% have wheelchair access for clients. The remaining offices offer alternative arrangements to clients with special needs--either arranging interviews at a nearby office with disabled access or by visiting the clients in their homes.
In addition, 64% of Jobcentres have toilet facilities for disabled people and 72% have loop hearing facilities. We expect these proportions to increase to 66 and 90% respectively by April 1999 as part of our planned improvement programme.
With regard to the percentage of offices which have staff trained to offer New Deal gateway interviews to disabled people, I can confirm that we are normally able to provide such a service in all of our offices.
I hope this is helpful.
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