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27 Feb 2003 : Column 709W—continued
Correspondence
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam, reference Smith/PostOfficeCard/140203/MP. [99454]
Malcolm Wicks: I have replied to the hon. Member today.
Crisis Loans
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what value of crisis loans
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were paid to benefit recipients experiencing delays in the administration of their benefits in each year since 1997. [99559]
Malcolm Wicks: We recognise that many people making a claim to benefit will be in need of immediate financial support. To avoid unnecessary hardship, discretionary payments on account of benefit (interim payments) can be made where a claim has not been determined but the decision maker is satisfied that the basic conditions of entitlement for the benefit are likely to be met. The amount of any interim payment is automatically recoverable from the main benefit when it is awarded.
Crisis Loan alignment payments can be made to people awaiting their first payment of benefit which is paid in arrears, or their first payment of wages. Crisis Loans made to people awaiting benefit payments will cover their needs until their first benefit pay-day, following which full or interim payments of benefit can be made. In the main, these payments are made to people of working age (as pensioners are generally paid in advance). Information is not collected separately on the number or value of alignment payments made to people awaiting a first payment of benefit.
The available information is in the table. The figures show the total number and value of Crisis Loan alignment payments made, including those made to people awaiting payment of their first wage.
| Number of payments | Expenditure (£million) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 398,731 | 17 |
| 1998–99 | 433,851 | 20 |
| 1999–2000 | 474,076 | 23 |
| 2000–01 | 476,936 | 24 |
| 2001–02 | 486,031 | 27 |
Notes:
1. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £million.
2. Awards including alignment payments may include other items.
3. Technical problems with the Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System mean that figures for 1997–98 and 1998–99 may be subject to a margin of error of 5 per cent. to 10 per cent. and should therefore be treated as a guide only.
Sources:
Annual Reports by the Secretary of State on the Social Fund 1997–98 to 2001–02; and the Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System
Industrial Action/Sickness Absence
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working days have been lost in his Department and its predecessors due to (a) industrial action and (b) illness in (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000, (iv) 2000–01, (v) 2001–02 and (vi) 2002–03. [97844]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 12 February 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil, Mr. David Laws, on 12 February 2003, Official Report, column 803–04W.
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Widowers' Benefits
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on widowers' benefits. [97546]
Malcolm Wicks: Bereavement Benefits were introduced on 9 April 2001, and for the first time extended support to both widows and widowers following the death of a spouse. These new benefits concentrate the help available where it is most needed; on immediate needs and on families with children.
The Bereavement Payment is a lump sum payment of £2,000 payable immediately to help with costs arising on bereavement. Widowed Parent's Allowance is a weekly benefit payable to widowed parents who satisfy the qualifying conditions. In addition Bereavement Allowance is a weekly benefit payable, for 52 weeks following widowhood, to widows and widowers aged 45 and over without dependant children.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Civil Servants
Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many civil servants have been employed by (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental bodies in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [92412]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley South on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 333–4W).
Computer Crime
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in 2001–02; and on how many occasions computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (i) within and (ii) outside his Department. [97564]
Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established on 29 May 2002. During the period 29 May 2002 to 31 December 2002 there were: (a) no recorded cases of computer hacking, (b) no recorded cases of computer fraud, and (c) one reported case of computer theft.
Computer Misuse
Mr. Webb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases of computer misuse there were in his Department in each of the last five years, broken down by each category of misuse; and how many of those cases resulted in disciplinary action. [93041]
Mr. Leslie: Coinciding with the creation of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 29 May 2002, a new policy was introduced dealing with the use/misuse of the Office's ICT resources. This policy was brought to the attention of staff in an Office Bulletin and is contained within the staff handbook.
No cases of misuse have been raised since the introduction of the new policy.
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Council Housing
Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proposals he has to increase the standard of living conditions in areas of council housing. [98463]
Mr. McNulty: As set out in "Sustainable communities: building for the future" launched by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 5 February (copies of which are available in the Library) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investing £2.8 billion over the next three years to improve council housing and reforming the way targets are delivered to make all social housing decent by 2010.
Alongside this, funds have been provided for 'liveability' (£201 million), neighbourhood wardens (£50 million), groundwork (£40 million) and 'Community Enablers' (£27 million), all of which will contribute to improving living conditions in areas of council housing. Proposals for tackling anti-social behaviour will be set out in a White Paper and Bill planned for this year.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what improvements have been made to council houses since 1997; and how much has been invested in council housing in each year since 1997. [98464]
Mr. McNulty: The resources provided by central government to support housing investment by local authorities in England since 1997–98 are tabled below. The table also gives figures for the amount of capital expenditure by authorities on the council housing stock. The number of council houses which failed to meet the decent standard fell from 1.9 million in 1996 to 1.2 million in 2001. Around half of this reduction resulted from transfers to housing associations, where extensive improvement programmes will have been agreed as part of the transfer, Right to Buy sales and demolitions.
| Central Government support for housing capital(27) | Capital spend by authorities on council housing | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 926 | 1,563 |
| 1998–99 | 1,211 | 1,660 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,252 | 1,569 |
| 2000–01 | 1,891 | 1,816 |
| 2001–02 | 2,377 | 2,120 |
| 2002–03 | 2,474 | (28)2,505 |
| 2003–04 | 2,686 | Not yet available |
(27) Includes housing credit approvals, the Major Repairs Allowance, Arms Length Management Organisation resources and support for Disabled Facilities Grants and Cash Incentive Schemes.
(28) Planned expenditure
Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council houses have been sold since 1997; and how many council houses there are in the UK. [98465]
Mr. McNulty: Information on the total number of council house sales in the United Kingdom up to March 2002 is currently incomplete. However, between April 1997 and March 2002 it is estimated that there were approximately 706,000 council house sales in Great Britain, about 380,000 of which were transfers to registered social landlords. Latest available estimates of
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dwelling stock in the United Kingdom are as at 31 March 2001, when some 3,684,000 dwellings were rented from local authorities; the corresponding estimate for Great Britain was 3,558,000.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of and how many council stock properties are classified as non decent in (a) Hull, (b) the East Riding and (c) North East Lincolnshire. [99059]
Mr. McNulty: Local authorities provide estimates of the number and proportions of homes they own that are non decent in their Business plans. The figures provided in the plans submitted in July 2002 are as follows.
| Non-decent dwellings* | % of stocknon-decent | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingston upon Hull | 27,640 | 80 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 5,260 | 43 |
| North East Lincolnshire | 3,000 | 33 |
* Estimates rounded to the nearest 10
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to (a) provide funding and (b) allow councils to tackle repair and improvement backlogs, if tenants vote to stay with the council. [99056]
Mr. McNulty: There are two routes—Arms Length Management Organisation and the Private Finance Initiative—through which local authorities can access additional resources to bring their council housing up to a decent standard by 2010. Substantial increases in the resources available for both these programmes were announced earlier this month in our action programme "Sustainable communities: building for the future". The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has just completed a Review which identified ways of making these programmes more effective. The main findings were set out in the publication Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future.
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