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Housing Benefit
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average payment to a landlord in respect of housing benefit for a one-bedroom property was in (a) Angus, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Glasgow, (d) Aberdeen, (e) Dundee, (f) Newcastle, (g) Leeds and (h) London in each of the last five years. [67328]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost was of housing benefit paid in (a) Angus and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years. [67321]
Malcolm Wicks: The available information is in the table.
| Angus | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | —(27) | 907 |
| 1996–97 | 10 | 967 |
| 1997–98 | 12 | 1,014 |
| 1998–99 | 13 | 1,039 |
| 1999–2000 | 14 | 1,054 |
(27) Not available.
Notes:
1. Data for Angus relate to the Angus council area. This unitary authority was created on 1 April 1996 and comparable data are not available for the previous year.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.
3. Figures are consistent with those published in the Chancellor's Budget Report, April 2002.
Source:
Final audit returns made by local authorities to DWP.
Benefit Payments
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons in receipt of retirement pension, in each parliamentary constituency in (a) Scotland and (b) Wales receive payment of their benefits (i) directly into their bank accounts and (ii) through local sub-post offices. [58125]
8 Jul 2002 : Column 760W
Mr. McCartney: The table sets out information on how retirement pensioners in parliamentary constituencies in Wales and Scotland are paid. It is not possible to say exactly how many people receive their payments at a post office because some people choose to pay a girocheque directly into a bank/building society account.
The information supplied is a snapshot during September 2001 and separates payments made by order book and girocheque, which are normally cashed at Post Offices, and payments made directly into bank/building society accounts by means of automated credit transfer (ACT).
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State Earnings-related Pension Scheme
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many letters have been issued to those people who will be affected by the reduction in SERPS on the sliding scale; and on what basis those people were identified. [60620]
Mr. McCartney: Up to and including 27 May 2002, 2,907,190 letters have been sent to people who will be affected by the reduction in SERPS on the sliding scale.
People were identified from their date of birth held on the National Insurance Recording System (NIRS2).
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Older People
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he will (a) assume the title of champion for older people and (b) chair the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Older People. [62000]
Mr. McCartney: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions looks forward to taking up the title of champion for older people. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister will publish a list of Cabinet Committees and their membership shortly.
Compensation Recovery Unit
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administrative cost of the coal section of the Compensation Recovery Unit was in 2001. [62553]
Maria Eagle: The administrative cost to the Compensation Recovery Unit of processing miners' compensation cases during the financial year 2001–02 was £1,171,497. The total amount recovered in the same period was £15,424,590.
New Deal (Ambition)
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 12 November 2001, Official Report, column 570W, how many participants in the New Deal have received training through Ambition IT Initiative since January. [64355]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Ambition initiatives are demand-led, and are aimed at training disadvantaged people for good quality jobs. The availability of jobs is key to their success. In the latter part of 2001 there was a reduction in the global workforce in the IT sector as a number of key companies scaled down their operations. At the same time, a number of American companies which employ people in the UK froze recruitment as a result of the events of 11 September. The Ambition:IT initiative was consequently put on hold in December 2001 so that the Department could conduct a review of the skills requirements of the IT sector in the UK.
The review has concluded that the demand for people with IT skills is now most acute in the public sector. The programme has therefore been refocused on this sector and we now expect to start new deal participants in training from this autumn.
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