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SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Fund
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish his annual report on the Social Fund for 1999-2000 and the Social Fund Commissioner's annual report. [130673]
Angela Eagle: The Secretary of State's annual report on the Social Fund for 1999-2000 (Cm 4755) was published today and has been laid before Parliament.
The report records that total gross expenditure in 1999-2000 was £612 million. This included, 219,000 non-repayable grants and 1,950,000 interest free loans together worth £556 million and funeral, maternity and cold weather payments totalling £56 million. In addition, around 10 million people in over 7.5 million older households received winter fuel payments worth around £760 million.
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The Social Fund Commissioner's annual report has also been published today and copies placed in the Library.
Appointments (Women)
Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of the (a) paid and (b) unpaid appointments which he has made to non-departmental public bodies since 1 May 1997 were women. [129854]
Mr. Rooker: The Government are committed to increasing the representation of women in public life. In support of this, the Department has drawn up an action plan for increasing the number of women and ethnic minorities holding public appointments. The latest plans, together with the Government's overall plan, were published on 24 May 2000 in "Quangos: Opening up Public Appointments 2000-03", copies of which are in the Library.
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Since 1 May 1997, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made a total of 57 paid appointments, including reappointments, of which 40 per cent. were women.
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Similarly, there were 158 unpaid appointments made and 30 per cent. of these were women. The information is set out in the table.
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| Number of paid appointments | Number of unpaid appointments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name of non-departmental public body | Male | Female | Male | Female |
| Central Advisory Committee on War Pension | -- | -- | 5 | 4 |
| Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board | 7 | 10 | -- | -- |
| Industrial Injuries Advisory Council | 11 | 2 | -- | -- |
| Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority | 5 | 4 | -- | -- |
| Social Security Advisory Committee | 8 | 6 | -- | -- |
| War Pensions Committees | -- | -- | 106 | 43 |
| Pensions Compensation Board | 2 | 1 | -- | -- |
| Pensions Ombudsman | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | 34 | 23 | 111 | 47 |
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Benefit Fraud Inspectorate
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of Braintree district council. [130672]
Mr. Rooker: The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate report has been published today in respect of Braintree district council and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
The report provides recommendations aimed at helping the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as their respective counter fraud activities.
Inspectors found the Benefits Section at Braintree placed a strong emphasis on achieving high levels of speed and efficiency, which compared favourably against the performance of other councils. However, concern is noted that the high priority given to processing claims speedily had been at the expense of ensuring that all payments were secure and valid.
The BFI considered the security of Braintree's benefits system needs to be strengthened in three areas: full compliance with the Verification Framework; fraud investigation; overpayment recovery and classification.
The report notes that Braintree had introduced the Verification Framework eight weeks before Inspectors arrived for the on-site inspection. Although it was still early days, the report notes signs that its introduction was already paying off, by uncovering claims with undeclared income and capital. This was contributing to a reduction in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit expenditure. The council had also introduced other new security initiatives including the "Do Not Redirect" mail scheme and was using a Remote Access Terminal to access information from the Department and Benefits Agency.
The report illustrates that the council is committed to customer service in their speed of processing claims for benefit. It is encouraging that they have also committed themselves to the Verification Framework which provides a minimum set of standards for ensuring that payment of benefit is made to the right person in circumstances that are checked for correctness.
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My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for their proposals in response to the findings and recommendations of the BFI.
Mr. Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will publish the inspection report of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate in respect of Eden district council. [130674]
Mr. Rooker: The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate report has been published today in respect of Eden district council and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
The report provides recommendations aimed at helping the council address weaknesses and to improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as their respective counter fraud activities.
The BFI reports that Eden District Council had a strong commitment to ensuring benefit payments were paid promptly and overpayments recovered wherever possible. The report notes a reasonable standard of verification was being applied to claims and Inspectors anticipated further improvement once the impact is felt of the council's implementation of the Verification Framework.
Inspectors had a number of concerns, which included a lack of information that was necessary to support the council's benefit operations. It is reported that the combination of this and inadequate targets, measurements and procedural guidance meant that management were taking organisational decisions based on insufficient information. In addition minimal management checking provided little assurance that fraud and error was being prevented from entering the council's benefit system.
The report illustrates that the council is committed to customer service in their speed of processing claims for benefit. It is encouraging that they have also committed themselves to the Verification Framework which provides a minimum set of standards for ensuring that payment of benefit payment is made to the right person in circumstances that are checked for correctness.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for their proposals in response to the findings and recommendations of the BFI.
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New Deal
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many employees of his Department and its agencies have been recruited from the New Deal; and what percentage of total staff this represents. [129145]
Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 6 July 2000, Official Report, column 286W.
This Department has recruited 467 New Deal employees as at 1 April 2000. This represents approximately 0.5 per cent. of total staff.
Standard Interest Rate
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to update the standard interest rate used by his Department to include lenders not currently covered in the calculation. [129474]
Mr. Bayley: There are no plans to alter the method of calculating the Standard Interest Rate.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to reduce the three month delay in changes in the standard interest rate used by his Department. [129450]
Mr. Bayley: We have no plans to change the current arrangements, which give effect to changes as quickly as is practicable. Once the information is received from the Office for National Statistics of an alteration in the interest rates, the Department immediately sets in motion the procedures, to amend the relevant computer systems, and legislation. On the last two occasions that the standard interest rate was changed, in April and June 2000, it took six working days and five working days respectively from the date the Department received notification of the change in rates, to the date that regulations were laid. Regulations are laid at least 21 days in advance of their coming into force to allow for proper Parliamentary procedures to be followed. The same timetable applies when the standard interest rate increases as when it decreases.
Attendance Allowance
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the single organisation responsible for pensioners and pensions policy will have responsibility for attendance allowance. [128860]
Mr. Rooker: We will set out our plans for the new pensions organisation in due course.
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