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16 Jun 2003 : Column 98W—continued
Personnel Issues
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees have been seconded from Capita to the Department and its predecessors since 1997; for how long they worked in the Department; and what positions they held. [115624]
Maria Eagle: No employees have been seconded from Capita to the Department for Work and Pensions, or to the for Department of Social Security and the Employment Service, since 1997.
Single Equality Body
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what assessment he has made of the benefits of a federal model for the Single Equality Body for promoting equality and fairness for people with disabilities; [118199]
- (2) if he will ensure that disability will continue to have high priority in the primary legislation which will create the Single Equality Body. [118200]
Maria Eagle: We are still considering responses to the consultation document "Equality and Diversity—Making it happen" on future institutional support for equality legislation including the submission from the Disability Rights Commission. We will be making a statement on the broad shape of future arrangements in due course. The challenge for Government is to ensure that whatever decisions are made deliver a structure which serves the needs of all people covered by equality legislation including disabled people.
Social Fund
Mr. Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Social Fund claims there were in each (a) region and (b) nation of the UK since 1996; and how many were successful. [113065]
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Malcolm Wicks: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Social Security Fraud
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were (a) cautioned and
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(b) prosecuted for social security fraud in each year since 2000; how much was involved; what were the penalties; and if he will make a statement. [118077]
Malcolm Wicks: Information is not held centrally on the value of fraud where a prosecution or sanction has been applied. The available information is in the table.
| 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWP | Local authority | Total | DWP | Local authority | Total | DWP | Local authority(10) | Total | |
| Custodial sentences(10) | 660 | (10)— | (10)— | 650 | (10)— | (10)— | 470 | (10)— | (10)— |
| Community sentences(10) | 2,700 | (10)— | (10)— | 3,070 | (10)— | (10)— | 2,810 | (10)— | (10)— |
| Other sentences(10) | 8,040 | (10)— | (10)— | 7,470 | (10)— | (10)— | 5,990 | (10)— | (10)— |
| Total successful prosecutions | 11,400 | 1,110 | 12,510 | 11,180 | 1,700 | 12,880 | 9,270 | 1,691 | 10,961 |
| Cautions | 7,840 | — | 7,840 | 7,030 | 1,470 | 8,500 | 7,080 | 2,435 | 9,515 |
| Administrative penalties | 7,710 | 550 | 8,260 | 6,520 | 1,131 | 7,651 | 7,190 | 1,605 | 8,795 |
| Total | 26,950 | 1,660 | 28,610 | 24,730 | 4,301 | 29,031 | 23,540 | 5,731 | 29,271 |
(10) Breakdown not available
Notes:1. Local authority figures are available for first three quarters of 2002–03 only.
2. Imprisonment, Young Offenders Institute, or custodial and fine.
4. Absolute discharge, conditional discharge, compensation only, admonishment, fine, community rehabilitation, suspended sentence, supervision order, Young Offenders Institute, attendance centre, unknown.
5. Cautions were made available to local authorities as a sanction from the start of 2001–02
6. Figures for financial year 2000–01 are taken from local authority management information returns. It is possible that there could be some double counting with DWP data if there were cases which involved a joint prosecution.
7. Management information data for financial year 2000–01 is not available for all local authorities. The total for Great Britain includes estimates for local authorities that have not responded. These estimates are based on historical and regional data. This type of estimate is standard practice in reporting totals where there have been non-respondents. The figures for financial year 2000–01 have been rounded to two significant figures.
8. Information for 2001–02 is from a count of prosecutions and sanctions completed by all local authorities; this data is collected from local authority subsidy returns. Subsidy data may differ from management information data (shown for financial year 2000–01) at local authority level; however, analysis shows a high level of consistency between the two data sources at national level.
9. The DWP figures are from the Fraud Information By Sector database, which shows completed cases commenced in the relevant period. Due to the elapsed time between commencement of an investigation and completion of a prosecution there are cases that are inserted into previously completed data for earlier periods. All DWP totals are therefore correct at the time when quoted but subject to adjustment at a later date
10. In accordance with National Statistics Guidelines all DWP figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Due to rounding process totals may not agree.
Whistleblowers Hotline
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls have been made to the Department's Whistleblowers Hotline in each year since its introduction, broken down by category; and what action has been taken on those cases. [112647]
Malcolm Wicks: The Whistleblowers Hotline was set up in December 2000 and can be used by any member of staff who wants to report wrongdoing anywhere in the Department but who does not want to report their concerns through the usual channels.
The categories of cases reported to the Department's Whistleblowers Hotline, and detailed in the table below, are categorised using the criteria set out in the Public Interest (Disclosure) Act 1998.
The Act is designed to protect workers from suffering detriment by their employer if the worker has made a qualifying disclosure as defined within the Act.
The Departmental group which manages the hotline service is independent of local management. All concerns raised are considered by this group and referred for further investigation to the appropriate authority whether inside or outside the Department.
| Category | 1 December 2000 to 31 March 2001 | 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 | 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal offence committed | 15 | 15 | 20 |
| Breach of legal obligation | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Miscarriage of justice | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Danger to health and safety | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Damage to the environment | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Concealment of any of the above matters | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 24 | 22 | 32 |
The Department only started tracking outcomes of investigations in October 2002.
The Department takes all allegations of wrongdoing by staff very seriously. It carriesout probing enquiries to determine whether the allegation is substantiated and if appropriate, takes disciplinary or other action. In instances where criminal offences have occurred the individual can also be prosecuted
Winter Fuel Allowance
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland received the winter fuel allowance for the 2002–03 winter, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary
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constituency; and what percentage these figures represent of the total numbers eligible for the allowance in each local authority and constituency. [117100]
Maria Eagle: Around one million people in Scotland received a winter fuel payment for the winter of 2002–03. Information broken down by constituency and local authority is not yet available but figures for 2001–02 are given in the tables. Most, but not all, people aged 60 and over are eligible for a winter fuel payment. The majority of entitled people receive their payments automatically but some have to claim and, because of this, we cannot provide a percentage of eligible people who received a payment.
Notes:
Figures are in thousands and have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
Figures may not sum due to rounding.
Source:
Matching Intelligence Data Analysis Service winter fuels payment 2001–02 exercise
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| Thousand | |
|---|---|
| All | 996.4 |
| Aberdeen City | 39.1 |
| Aberdeenshire | 40.7 |
| Angus | 23.9 |
| Argyll and Bute | 20.5 |
| City of Edinburgh | 82.7 |
| Clackmannanshire | 9.0 |
| Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 6.3 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 35.2 |
| Dundee City | 30.5 |
| East Ayrshire | 24.0 |
| East Dumbartonshire | 22.0 |
| East Lothian | 19.2 |
| East Renfrewshire | 17.8 |
| Falkirk | 28.3 |
| Fife | 70.2 |
| Glasgow City | 108.1 |
| Highland | 43.3 |
| Inverclyde | 17.3 |
| Midlothian | 15.4 |
| Moray | 17.6 |
| North Ayrshire | 27.8 |
| North Lanarkshire | 57.0 |
| Orkney Islands | 4.2 |
| Perth and Kinross | 30.5 |
| Renfrewshire | 34.0 |
| Shetland Isles | 3.8 |
| South Ayrshire | 26.4 |
| South Lanarkshire | 58.2 |
| Stirling | 16.6 |
| The Scottish Borders | 24.9 |
| West Dumbartonshire | 18.2 |
| West Lothian | 23.8 |
Note:
Figures are in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred.
Figures may not sum due to rounding.
Source:
Matching Intelligence Data Analysis Service winter fuels payment 2001–02 exercise 100 per cent. data.