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Recruit

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of leavers from the

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employment option of the New Deal in the pilot areas for Recruit found jobs (a) following the introduction of Recruit and (b) in each of the two years prior to the introduction of Recruit. [35162]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The main objective of the pilots is to help small businesses use the Employment Option, and changes in the proportion of leavers into jobs will be influenced by a range of factors, not just Recruit.

A full evaluation of the pilot, will begin in April, and will provide a better picture of the impact of Recruit on employers and New Deal clients in the pilot areas. The pilot started in 19 areas in April 2001 and will continue until June 2002. Up to the end of December 2001, Recruit had helped 1,667 clients into work.

The information requested on the initiative is in the table.

Proportion of New Deal employment option clients leaving to known destinations who entered jobs (Percentage)
April 1999—March 200071
April 2000—March 200169
April 2001—December 200169

Source:

New Deal Evaluation Database


In addition, we know from research that over 50 per cent. of those leaving New Deal for unknown destinations take up work.

Advertising

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the expenditure was per campaign for the five most expensive media advertising campaigns his Department undertook in the past five parliamentary Sessions including the current parliamentary Session in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland; and for the last two parliamentary Sessions and the current Session, when each advertising campaign (i) began and (ii) ended in (A) Scotland, (B) England, (C) Wales and (D) Northern Ireland; [37401]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Development

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how often the Department has applied the special urgency provisions in paragraph 22 of Circular 18/84 (Development by Government Departments) to a development by the department; and if he will make a statement. [38714]

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Mr. Darling: According to available records the special urgency provisions in paragraph 22 of Circular 18/84 (Development by Government Departments) have never been invoked by this department.

House of Lords' Judgment

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he (a) has taken and (b) intends to take following the judgment in the case of Chief Adjudication Officer (Respondent) v. Stafford and another (Banks) (Appellant) given in the House of Lords on 29 June 2001. [39460]

Malcolm Wicks: We have been considering carefully the terms of the judgment, which confirmed that term-time workers are not eligible for Jobseeker's Allowance. A change in the law to extend eligibility to term-time workers would not necessarily be appropriate, given that Jobseeker's Allowance is intended to support those who are out of work and looking for a job rather than those in employment. We shall nevertheless continue to consider this matter, in the light of the judgment and other possible means of support.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many part-time employment agency workers registered for jobseeker's allowance in the last 12 months; [39426]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows. The national average time taken to clear a new claim to jobseeker's allowance (JSA), as at January 2002, is 9.7 days. The national target is to clear JSA claims within 12 days.

Winter Fuel Payment

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) received and (b) were eligible to receive the winter fuel payment in (i) 1999, (ii) 2000 and (iii) 2001 broken down by (A) gender and (B) constituency. [38336]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 28 February 2002]: Information is available only on the number of people who received winter fuel payments. Details of the number of recipients in winters 1999–2000 and 2000–01, broken down by sex and constituency, have been placed in the Library. Numbers relating to this winter are not yet available.

The figures for 1999–2000 exclude men aged 60–64 (and a small number of others) who became eligible for winter fuel payments from 2000–01 onwards. These people are entitled to claim retrospectively for previous years and the majority have already done so. Unfortunately it is not possible to relate these claims to specific years.

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Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the Jobcentre Plus offices which (a) have and (b) have not closed circuit television in operation. [40274]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information requested is as listed. Whether an office has CCTV depends on whether this was recommended in the risk assessment for that office.












































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Risk assessments have been carried out for each of the new Jobcentre Plus offices. Following consultation with the local union health and safety representatives, all of the recommendations of each risk assessment have been implemented in full.

Carers

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of carers allowance have lost it on reaching pensionable age in each year since 1997; and what assistance he gives to pensioner carers. [40566]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of cases where payment of invalid care allowance has ceased to customers who have attained pensionable age is as follows:

YearNumber
19976,070
19986,143
To 30 September 1999(33)4,877

(33) The figures are not available for periods after September 1999 due to a change in recording statistics.


Proposals are before the Parliamentary Deregulation Committees, which, if accepted, will allow carers, aged 65 or over to claim invalid care allowance for the first time. This will allow some carers to receive invalid care allowance and many more to have access to the carer premium, payable with the minimum income guarantee, which is currently worth £24.40 a week.

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