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22 Jan 2003 : Column 381W—continued
Employment Zone Model
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy), of 13 January, Official Report, column 393, on the economically inactive, if he will make a statement on the Government's plans for the future of the employment zone model. [91615]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The performance of the 15 employment zones is encouraging, and they have already helped over 29,000 long-term unemployed people from deprived areas move into work.
From October 2003 we are extending the employment zone approach to lone parents and New Deal returners in existing zone areas. We want to see how well the employment zone approach translates to this wider client group. From April 2004 we also intend to test a multiple provider approach in some employment zone areas.
We are continuing to look at the lessons we can learn from employment zones and how these can be put to use in the longer term.
Jobs Transition Service
John Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the work of the Jobs Transition Service. [89050]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: We have introduced the Rapid Response Service, formerly known as the Job Transition Service, to provide support for people affected by redundancies and help them make the transition into sustainable new jobs. The nature of the help provided by the service is tailored to the needs of the individuals, the employer and the local labour market. This can include offering information, advice and guidance to those affected, help with jobsearch, facilitating retraining where necessary or developing customised retraining programmes. People affected by redundancy can also have early access to Jobcentre Plus programmes such as the New Deals and Work Based Learning for Adults.
In Scotland the Rapid Response Service builds on and complements the work already undertaken by the Scottish Executive's Partnership Action for Continued Employment (PACE) initiative. Training provision for individuals involved in a large scale redundancy in Scotland is normally met by PACE partnerships or Training for Work (TfW). However, the Rapid Response Service can provide specific, job-focused training in cases where TfW or PACE partnership support is not appropriate. The Rapid Response Service also provides its full range of non-training services in cases of major redundancies in Scotland.
By December 2002, the Rapid Response Service nationally had provided support to over 200 companies and made its services available to over 67,000 people facing redundancy.
22 Jan 2003 : Column 382W
New Deal
Mr. Clelland : To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne and (b) Gateshead have been assisted by the New Deal. [89530]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The available information is in the table.
| Newcastle upon Tyne(17) | Gateshead(17) | |
|---|---|---|
| New Deal for Young People (from January 1998) | 7,930 | 4,570 |
| New Deal 25 plus (from July 1998) | 6,560 | 3,260 |
| New Deal for Lone Parents (from July 1998) | 1,710 | 1,140 |
| New Deal 50 plus (Employment Credit claims) (from April 2000) | 440 | 370 |
(16) Up to end of September 2002.
(17) Local authority areas.
Note:
The information is not available at local authority level for the New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for Partners.
Source:
New Evaluation Database.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, refs 88095, 88096 and 88138, on the New Deal Environment Task Force, if he will list the amount of the under spend in each financial year to 2002–03; [89862]
- (2) pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, refs 88095, 88096 and 88138, on the New Deal Environment Task Force, if he will list the other welfare to work initiatives that have been supported by the under spend against the original assumptions for the Environment Task Force; and if he will list the (a) additional amount spent as a result of the under spend on the Environment Task Force, (b) planned total spending and (c) actual expenditure in each financial year to 2002–03 for each such initiative. [89870]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: Information on under spends and their re-allocation is not available for individual New Deal Options, because while records are kept on the annual expenditure on each New Deal for Young People Option, annual budgets are not allocated on that basis. The purpose of the New Deal is to help young people move into work by meeting their individual needs. Therefore, an overall budget is allocated to Jobcentre Plus districts, which is then used as required to meet this objective.
My answer of 19 December to the hon. Member, Official Report, column 1031W, refers to expenditure and under spends across the New Deal for Young People which have been re-allocated to support other welfare to work initiatives. For example, at the time of the 1998 Budget, it was estimated that £2.620 billion Windfall Tax would be spent on the New Deal for Young People by March 2002. Actual expenditure on the programme during this period was £1.190 billion, freeing funds for new initiatives such as Action Teams for Jobs and the permanent establishment of the New Deals.
Information on the allocation of the Windfall Tax to welfare to work initiatives is in the pre-Budget report published in November 2002. This is available in the Library.
22 Jan 2003 : Column 383W
Ms Christine Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people in the City of Chester have been helped into jobs by the New Deal. [90281]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: Up to the end of September 2002, the New Deal had helped nearly 400,000 young people into work, including 374 in the City of Chester.
Pension Income
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average pension income was in each year since 1997. [93077]
Mr. McCartney: The average incomes of pensioners is in the table.
| Average pension income | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | All pensioner units | Pensioner couples | Single pensioners |
| 1997–98 | 196 | 280 | 143 |
| 1998–99 | 201 | 285 | 148 |
| 1999–2000 | 209 | 291 | 155 |
| 2000–01 | 215 | 301 | 160 |
Notes:
1. All incomes are £ per week and at 2000–01 prices.
2. The average incomes quoted are net incomes before housing costs, which measures the net incomes before a reduction for the cost of housing.
3. Pensioners are defined as: single (no-cohabiting) people over state pension age (65 for men and 60 for women) and couples (married or cohabiting) where the man, who is defined as the head of the couple is aged 65 and over.
Source:
Pensioners' Incomes Series, 2000/1
Sickness Absence
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days were lost due to sickness absence in the Department in 2002. [90535]
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working days were lost due to illness in his Department in (a) 2002 and (b) each of the preceding five years. [90742]
Mr. McCartney: The information is not available in the form requested. Statistics for the DWP are available from April 2002.
The number of days lost due to sickness absence between 1 April 2002 and 30 November 2002 is 1,113,333.9 days. Using this figure, the average number of working days lost due to sickness for this period equates to 12.2 days per person.
Statutory Instruments
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many statutory instruments were issued by the Department of Social Security in each calendar year since its formation; and how many have been issued by his Department since June 2001. [89848]
Angela Eagle: The information is in the table.
22 Jan 2003 : Column 384W
| Year | Statutory instruments issued | |
|---|---|---|
| Department for Social Security | ||
| 25 July 1988 to 31 December 1988 | 26 | |
| 1989 | 61 | |
| 1990 | 83 | |
| 1991 | 83 | |
| 1992 | 85 | |
| 1993 | 73 | |
| 1994 | 72 | |
| 1995 | 80 | |
| 1996 | 145 | |
| 1997 | 90 | |
| 1998 | 61 | |
| 1999 | 90 | |
| 2000 | 110 | |
| 1 January 2001 to 7 June 2001 | 70 | |
| Department for Work and Pensions | ||
| 8 June 2001 to 31 December 2001 | 38 | |
| 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 | 98 | |
Thames Gateway
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the extra resources required to support the growth and development of new communities in the Thames Gateway area; what discussions he has had with other Government Departments in relation to supporting the growth and development of new communities in the Thames Gateway; and what resources he has allocated to support the growth and development of new communities in the Thames Gateway. [90426]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: We are supporting deprived areas in the Thames Gateway through a variety of initiatives designed to help people furthest from the labour market find and keep jobs. These include the new deal for communities, action teams for jobs, employment zones, and the minority ethnic outreach service. The costs of this work are met from the overall budgets for these programmes.
We are working closely with partners in these Thames Gateway areas to ensure that the problems faced by people in the poorest communities are tackled in an intensive and co-ordinated way.
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