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31 Mar 2003 : Column 593W—continued
Employment Action Teams (Portsmouth)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what data on working age employment rates in each ward of the Portsmouth area informed the selection of wards for employment action team status; and if he will make a statement; [104914]
- (2) where peripatetic employment action team advisers are based in the Portsmouth area; how regularly they use these locations; if he will estimate the number of users at each location; and if he will make a statement. [104941]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: Action Teams for Jobs focus on the most disadvantaged jobless people in the most employment deprived areas of the country. They target the wards within these areas which have the lowest overall employment rates and the highest rate of people claiming all benefits.
There are no Action Teams for Jobs based in the Portsmouth area. However, through Jobcentre Plus, we offer a wide range of help for jobless people in the city. For example, the New Deals have helped almost 3,000 people in Portsmouth move from welfare into work. This has played an important part in increasing employment and reducing unemployment in the city. Since 1997, the working age employment rate has risen to over 75 per cent. and remains above the national average, claimant unemployment has been cut by 60 per cent., and the number of people unemployed for 12 months or more has fallen by 90 per cent.
Benefit Payment Methods
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in the Havant constituency have migrated from over-the-counter benefit payments to automated credit transfer in each of the last 12 months. [104577]
Mr. McCartney: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on migration from "over the counter methods of payment" to payment directly into a bank or building society account is not recorded monthly. A comparison of the limited data available at 25 January 2003 with the same records from 2 November 2002, indicates that just under 100 pensioners in the Havant constituency have migrated at least one benefit from payment at a post office to payment directly into a bank or building society account. These figures will be influenced by people moving away from or into the area during the period of the comparison.
Benefit Statistics
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men aged 55 to 64 and (b) women aged 55 to 59 who are not in full or part-time employment (i) receive one or more benefit and (ii) are not in receipt of any benefit. [90823]
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Mr. Nicholas Brown: The available information is in the table.
| Total(77) | Benefit recipients(78) | Non-recipients(78) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men aged 55–64 | 1,100 | 900 | 300 |
| Women aged 55–59 | 700 | 300 | 400 |
(77) Figures are from the LFS—estimates have not been adjusted for the results of census 2001.
(78) Figures are based on the proportions of those out of work and receiving benefits from the FRS, applied to the figures from the LFS.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.
2. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
Sources:
Labour Force Survey (LFS) Summer 2001 to Spring 2002.
Family Resources Survey (FRS) 2001–02. Benefit-receipt is assessed at the individual level and includes all benefits in payment.
Burnt Oak Jobcentre
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the clients of Burnt Oak jobcentre live in Hendon constituency; what proportion of the total clientele of Burnt Oak jobcentre live in Hendon constituency; who was consulted about the jobcentre's proposed closure; in what way they were consulted; why the hon. Member for Hendon was not included in the consultation; when the jobcentre will close; why the hon. Member for Hendon was not informed of (a) the decision to close the jobcentre and (b) the date it was to be closed; if he will defer its closure to allow the hon. Member for Hendon to make representations; and if he will make a statement. [105037]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, Clare Dodgson. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Clare Dodgson to Mr. Andrew Dismore, dated 27 March 2003:
- As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning Burnt Oak Jobcentre and the creation of Jobcentre Plus facilities in your constituency. This falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of the Agency.
- As part of the rollout of Jobcentre Plus we are taking the opportunity to rationalise the estate previously occupied by the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. Burnt Oak Jobcentre did not have a customer base of jobseekers of its own but offered job broking facilities for people claiming benefits through Mill Hill Jobcentre and Wembley Jobcentre Plus as well as people already in employment.
- As part of the roll out of the full Jobcentre Plus service in Brent, Harrow & Hillingdon District, we examined alternative means to deliver our services rather than just through Jobcentres. These include Jobseeker Direct and the Jobcentre Plus website. We are also putting Jobpoints into Burnt Oak library and an outreach service at the local Careers Library. Employers will also be able to use the employer suite in Wembley Jobcentre Plus.
- We wrote to stakeholders, including local MPs, about the closure of Burnt Oak Jobcentre on 28 June 2002 asking for comments on the service delivery plan for Brent, Harrow and
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- Hillingdon District by 19 July 2002. We wrote again confirming our plans on 17 September 2002. Burnt Oak Jobcentre closed on 21 March 2003.
- I hope this is helpful.
Child Support Agency
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what has been the cost to the Exchequer of the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997. [105781]
Malcolm Wicks: The figures are in the table.
| Year | Administration costs of the Child Support Agency |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 225.220 |
| 1998–99 | 230.534 |
| 1999–2000 | 260.333 |
| 2000–01 | 250.046 |
| 2001–02 | 285.468 |
Notes:
1. The figures are drawn from the Annual Reports and Accounts of the Child Support Agency for the years 1997–98 to 2001–02.
2. The figures represent:
For 1997–98 and 1998–99; the total operating costs for the year
For 1999–2000 and 2001–01; the net operating costs
For 2001–02; the net administration costs
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Costs increased by 26.8 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2001–02. By comparison, in the period from May 1997 to February 2002, the number of live cases with full maintenance assessments rose by 94.5 per cent. from 530,400 to 1,031,800.
Departmental Fraud
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money has been lost by his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies through (a) fraud and (b) theft in each year since 1996–97. [92477]
Malcolm Wicks: Information in the exact form requested is not available. Such information that is available is shown in the following two tables.
The following table is an extract from the Department for Work and Pensions Annual Fraud Return to HM Treasury. It shows losses due to confirmed internal fraud only.
No information is available relating to internal fraud in non-departmental public bodies.
| 2001–02 | 2000–01 | 1999–2000 | 1998–99 | 1997–98 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits Agency | 208,823 | 44,309 | 389,874 | 430,780 | 918,790 |
| Employment Service | 1,045,977 | — | — | — | — |
| Contributions Agency | — | — | — | 1,824 | 2,572 |
| War Pensions Agency | — | 3,583 | 1,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Information Technology Services Agency | — | — | 8,325 | 10,942 | 20,959 |
| Department of Social Security HQ | — | — | 8,317 | 0 | 0 |
| Child Support Agency | 4,111 | 9,200 | 8,950 | 418 | 57 |
| Departmental Directorates | 620 | 14,019 | — | — | — |
| Appeals Service | 203 | — | — | — | — |
| Total Departmental Losses | 1,259,734 | 71,111 | 416,966 | 443,964 | 942,378 |
The following table, based on calendar years, is a summary of information already provided in response to earlier PQs.
No information is available relating to theft in non-departmental public bodies.
| 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits Agency | — | 24,700 | 2,900 | 24,400 | 26,300 | 39,900 |
| Employment Service | — | 89,500 | 55,100 | — | — | — |
| Contributions Agency | — | — | — | 7,100 | 12,900 | 13,100 |
| War Pensions Agency | — | 160 | 0 | 7,000 | 1,200 | — |
| Information Technology Services Agency | — | — | 6,500 | 23,400 | 16,200 | 4,600 |
| Department of Social Security HQ | — | — | 21,100 | 60,500 | 57,700 | — |
| Child Support Agency | 23,400 | 211,700 | 71,700 | 58,700 | 58,000 | 82,300 |
| Job Centre Plus | 441,700 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pensions Service | 5,100 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Departmental Directorates | 79,900 | 125,100 | — | — | — | — |
| Appeals Service | 10,500 | 8,800 | 3,000 | — | — | — |
| Total departmental losses | 560,600 | 459,960 | 160,300 | 181,100 | 172,300 | 139,900 |
Notes:
1. Departmental Directorates were formed in 2000.
2. Contributions Agency transferred to Inland Revenue from April 1999.
3. Department of Social Security HQ was subsumed into Departmental Directorates in 2000.
4. The Information Technology Services Agency (ITSA) ceased to be an executive agency in April 2000.
5. 2001 and 2002 relate to the Department for Work and Pensions, previous years to Department of Social Security only.
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