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Disability Rights Commission
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress has been made in establishing the Disability Rights Commission. [109139]
Ms Hodge: There has been good progress in establishing the Commission since the Bill to set it up received Royal Assent in July 1999. I expect it to open its doors for business on 25 April this year. The chair, the commissioners and the chief executive of the Commission have all been appointed. Recruitment of the Commission's staff is under way. The DRC's main office in Manchester is being fitted out.
Higher and Further Education
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to expand access to higher and further education. [109134]
Mr. Blunkett: The Government are committed to widening access to post-secondary education as part of their strategy to create a ladder of lifelong learning. We have already funded an additional 800,000 places in further and higher education through the current Comprehensive Spending Review.
This week I announce the development of the new two year foundation degrees and a new framework for vocational qualifications, both in institutions and in the workplace.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when an official from his Department last visited the Lytham St. Anne's High Technology School. [109133]
Ms Estelle Morris: Officials from the Department last visited the school on 18 September 1996.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what change there has been in processing times for Disability Living Allowance claims in the past year. [108746]
Mr. Bayley: The administration of the Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Mr. Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Colin Breed, dated 16 February 2000:
17 Feb 2000 : Column: 661W
Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his written answer of 4 February 2000, Official Report, columns 748-49W, how many lone parents under the New Deal for Lone Parents broken down into (i) targeted and (ii) non-targeted groups, (a) were issued with initial invitation letters, (b) booked initial interviews with personal advisers, (c) attended initial interviews,
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(d) agreed to participate in the programme, (e) were referred to Employment Service programmes or other training, (f) obtained jobs following participation and (g) have increased their hours of work following participation. [109503]
Angela Eagle:
Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
17 Feb 2000 : Column: 661W
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question. You asked what change there has been in processing times for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claims in the past year.
For your information the average processing time for the past year (1999) has been 40 days as against the average for 1998 of 35 days.
I hope that this is helpful.
| Prototype phase 1 (July 1997-October 1998) | Phase 2 (April 1998-October 1998) | Results for the National Programme (October 1998-November 1999) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target group | Non-target group | All lone parents | Target group | Non-target group | |
| Initial invitation letters issued | (8)50,612 | 0 | (8)-- | 443,710 | 0 |
| Initial interviews booked | 7,198 | 1,981 | 21,647 | (9)69,982 | 62,149 |
| Initial interviews attended | 6,289 | 1,818 | 15,193 | 61,033 | 51,536 |
| Number agreeing to participate | 5,561 | 1,741 | 12,889 | 54,659 | 45,838 |
| Number entering education | 300 | 75 | 2,569 | 4,405 | 3,961 |
| Jobs obtained | 2,473 | 920 | 2,878 | 18,949 | 13,756 |
| (Number of these obtained by part-time workers increasing their hours) | (10)(355) | -- | (487) | (829) | (401) |
(8) The number of letters issued during phase 1 and 2 cannot be divided into separate figures because these phases ran concurrently from April 1998 to October 1998. Letters were only issued to target group lone parents.
(9) This figure is taken from internal management information and so has not been validated in the same way as other figures for the National Programme.
(10) The number of lone parents who were working part-time before obtaining work of over 16 hours cannot be split into target and non-target group for phase 1.
Notes:
1. The results for phase 2 of NDLP are not available split into the target and non-target groups on/training.
2. In some cases it was not recorded whether the lone parent was either from the target or non-target group. The figures shown in the table are only those definitely recorded as in one group or the other. Consequently the sum of these figures do not always equal the total number of lone parents at each stage.
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Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents, under the New Deal for Lone Parents, have (a) been issued with initial invitation letters, (b) booked initial interviews with personal advisers, (c) attended initial interviews, (d) agreed to participate in the programme, (e) been referred to Employment Service
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programmes or other training, (f) obtained jobs following participation and (g) have increased their hours of work following participation. [108001]
Angela Eagle
[pursuant to her reply, 4 February 2000, c. 748-50W]: The information is in the table.
17 Feb 2000 : Column: 661W
| Results for the National Programme (October 1998-November 1999) | Prototype phases 1 and 2 (July 1997-October 1998) | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial invitation letters issued | 443,710 | 50,612 |
| Initial interviews booked | (11)134,948 | 30,826 |
| Initial interviews attended | 112,570 | 23,300 |
| Number agreeing to participate | 100,500 | 20,191 |
| Number entering education/training | 10,630 | 2,944 |
| Jobs obtained | 32,710 | 6,271 |
| (Number of these obtained by part-time workers increasing their hours) | (1,230) | (842) |
Note:
This figure is taken from internal management information and so has not been validated in the same way as other figures for the National Programme.
17 Feb 2000 : Column: 661W
Minimum Income Guarantee
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the additional annual cost of the Minimum Income Guarantee in (a) 2005, (b) 2010, (c) 2020 and (d) 2050 if annual increases are in line with earnings assuming (i) one in three, (ii) one in four and (iii) one in five pensioners qualify for income support. [109588]
Mr. Rooker:
Estimates for the cost of the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) for the years shown are not available. This is because it is extremely difficult to obtain accurate projections of the future level and distribution of income and assets.
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Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the cost of abolishing the shared residency requirement for housing benefit; what assumptions underlie his estimate; and if he will make a statement. [110063]
Angela Eagle:
We are unable to estimate with any accuracy the cost of abolishing the Single Room Rent restriction. There is insufficient quantitative information on how this group responded to the change, and without this information we cannot estimate the behavioural effects of reversing the change.
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Mr. Maclennan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the (a) cost in real terms and (b) resulting increase in pensions, of raising pensions to the level they would have reached if the link between pensions and the rise in earnings had never been broken. [110415]
Mr. Rooker:
If the link uprating the basic State pension by the higher of earnings or prices had not been broken the rate for a single pensioner would be £97.45 per week from April 2000. The gross cost of increasing the basic retirement pension to this level in 2000-01 would be £17.2 billion. The net cost would be £13.5 billion.
Notes:
1. The Retail Prices Index (all items) and the Average Earnings Index Whole Economy (Non Seasonally Adjusted) have been used as published by the Office for National Statistics.
2. From April 1994 the basic rate of Retirement Pension has been increased by 50p to reflect VAT on fuel.
3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 pence at each uprating.
4. Costs are rounded to the nearest £100 million.
5. Costs include benefits whose rates are linked by statute to the rate of basic Retirement Pension (RP).
6. The figure of £97.45 per week refers to the full Category A rate; other rates of basic RP have been assumed to increase pro-rata.
7. Gross costs are estimated by the Government Actuary's Department. Net costs have been estimated using the Policy Simulation Model.
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