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25 Feb 2003 : Column 485W—continued
Benefit Uprating
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent research has been conducted into benefit uprating methods; and what conclusions were drawn from recent reviews of uprating methods. [97684]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 13 February 2003]: We meet our statutory obligation by uprating benefits by the retail prices index (RPI) or Rossi (RPI less housing costs) to maintain their value in real terms.
RPI is a reliable measure of the impact of inflation on family budgets. Over 120,000 prices are collected every month, for a basket of goods and services covering the full range of consumers' expenditure. The basket is reviewed and updated annually to take account of changes in the pattern of expenditure. In addition, there is a programme of research into the methodology used in the RPI.
Benefits
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has issued to officials regarding (a) family birthday and (b) Christmas expenditure when calculating normal household expenditure for the purpose of assessing ability to repay overpayment of benefit. [98557]
Malcolm Wicks: No guidance has been issued specifically regarding family birthday or Christmas expenditure when calculating normal household expenditure for the purpose of assessing ability to repay overpayment of benefit.
If someone feels that the recovery rate of their overpayment is excessive, consideration can be given to their weekly outgoings to decide if recovery should be made at a lower rate. Basic necessities such as food, clothing or fuel costs are always taken into account when considering this.
Employer's Liability Compulsory Insurance
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the Employer's Liability Compulsory Insurance Review. [98596]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement I gave on 12 December 2002, Official Report, columns 23–24W.
25 Feb 2003 : Column 486W
Employment Development Fund
Mr. David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department plans to spend on the Employment Development Fund in each year from 2002–03 to 2004–05; what the purpose is of this fund; and if he will make a statement. [97350]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Employment Development Fund (EOF) was established to fund the delivery of employment policies, including the set up of Jobcentre Plus. As part of the 2002 Spending Review, the Department's settlement for the three year period from 2003–04 to 2005–06 subsumed the resources previously in the EDF.
The current expenditure plans of the Department for Work and Pensions are contained in Tables 1–11 of the 'Department for Work and Pensions Departmental Report—The Government's expenditure plans 2002–03 and 2003–04' (Command 5424), which is in the Library.
Independent Schools (Health and Safety)
Mr. Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions of independent schools have been made by the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last 10 years; and of the independent schools that have been prosecuted, what the results have been. [94382]
Mr. Nicholas Brown : A table showing prosecutions taken by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of schools which are not under local authority control, for the years 1996–2002, is given as follows. Data earlier than 1996–97 are not readily available.
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Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has for an invest to save bid to the Treasury for the computerisation of industrial injuries disablement benefit records; and if he will make a statement; [95513]
- (2) if he will estimate the cost of checking, and where necessary amending, industrial injuries disablement benefit records manually in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement; [95515]
(3) what estimate he has made of the likely costs of computerising industrial injuries disablement benefit records; and if he will make a statement; [95514]
(4) what plans he has to computerise industrial injuries disablement benefit claim records; and if he will make a statement. [95516]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Industrial Injuries Computer System holds personal information and payment details for around 342,000 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit customers. It allows users to register new awards, record clerical payments, and generate ongoing benefit payments.
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit already has a high degree of assessment accuracy and requires little in the way of maintenance of customer records. We have no current plans to develop the system further and have no recent estimate of the cost of doing so.
Information on the cost of checking and amending records manually is not available.
Injury Benefits
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications for injury benefits have been received pursuant to the NHS (Scotland) (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1998 (as amended) in each full year of their entry into force; and of those, what percentage have been successful upon (a) first application, (b) review and (c) appeal. [97914]
25 Feb 2003 : Column 488W
Mr. Nicholas Brown: [holding answer 13 February 2003]: This scheme is administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, an agency of the Scottish Executive.
Jobcentre Plus
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he intends to make to Jobcentre Plus regulations as a result of the evaluations of the ONE Programme. [99054]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: We have no plans to change the Jobcentre Plus regulations. The ONE evaluation has provided valuable information that we will use in the ongoing development of the Jobcentre Plus service.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects a new Jobcentre Plus office to be opened in Portsmouth; where it will be; how many staff it will employ; what its hours of operation will be; and if he will make a statement. [98095]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: We are progressively extending the new integrated Jobcentre Plus office network across the country over the next four years. These offices provide an active and responsive service to help people find jobs, and give advice on the full range of help and support available.
Plans are currently being developed to roll out the new integrated Jobcentre Plus service in Portsmouth. Partners and stakeholders were consulted about these plans in June and September 2002. Their comments are being taken into consideration in reaching final decisions, which will be announced in due course.
Medical Services
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of targeted audits carried out by medical services have been categorised as grade C; [98423]
- (2) how many targeted audits have been carried out on medical service reports in the last five years; [98424]
(3) what plans he has to reform the assessment procedures of targeted audits on medical assessments of claimants by Medical Services; and if he will make a statement. [98425]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: A total of 122,205 cases have been randomly audited since 1 September 1998, of which 5,134 were found to be C Grades, a proportion of 4.2 per cent.
The medical quality audit process has been shown to be robust and reliable, and there are no plans to change it. The Department is working with Medical Services to ensure that timely and robust remedial action is taken with doctors who fail to meet the required standards.
ONE Pilot Schemes
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people, broken down by client group, participated in the 'ONE' pilot schemes; and how many people in each client group obtained employment as a result. [91642]
25 Feb 2003 : Column 489W
Mr. Nicholas Brown [holding answer 20 January 2003]: Participation in ONE became mandatory from April 2000. During the period from April 2000 to April 2002, 457,976 jobseekers, 128,537 sick or disabled clients, 49,909 lone parents and 55,077 clients in other categories entered ONE.
Survey evidence from the ONE evaluation found that 41 per cent. of jobseekers, 25 per cent. of sick or disabled clients and 14 per cent. of lone parents, had moved into work of over 16 hours a week, four to five months after having begun their claim.
These figures correct those provided on lone parents in a previous reply to the hon. Member on 7 January which were taken from the ONE Management Information System which is less robust than the longer-term formal evaluation of ONE.
Further information on the employment effects of ONE has been published in DWP Research Report No 156 and DWP In-house Report No 88, copies of which are in the House of Commons Library. Final results from the ONE evaluation will be published on 31 January.
The majority of ONE offices will become fully integrated Jobcentre Plus offices by March 2003. The remaining offices will continue to provide an integrated service until they transfer as part of the Jobcentre Plus national roll out.
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of lone parents participating in the ONE programme have gained employment in (a) Scotland and (b) Fife. [93562]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The only ONE pilot in Scotland was a Basic Model pilot in Clyde Coast and Renfrew, and so lone parents in Fife did not participate in the ONE programme.
The ONE evaluation found that 20 per cent. of lone parents in the Basic Model of ONE had moved into work of over sixteen hours a week when they were interviewed between ten and eleven months after having begun their claim.
Evaluation findings are not available for individual ONE pilot areas so we cannot provide separate figures for the Scottish pilot.
Final results from the ONE evaluation, including the employment effects of ONE, were published on 31 January 2003 as DWP Research Report No 183, copies of
which are in the House of Commons Library.
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