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17 Jun 2003 : Column 153W—continued
Gun Amnesty
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the results of the gun amnesty. [118758]
Caroline Flint: Final figures from police forces will be available shortly. We will use these to publish a detailed breakdown of the items handed in. Latest police estimates indicate that over 40,000 guns were handed in during the amnesty, along with nearly a million rounds of ammunition.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Dangerous Driving
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to promote legislation to increase maximum sentences for offences where motorists kill or injure others through reckless or dangerous driving. [115995]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Northern Ireland Office published a consultation paper on road traffic penalties on 10 March of this year; the consultation period lasts three months and will end on 9 June 2003. In total, the paper makes some 25 recommendations dealing with various road traffic issues; among these are proposals to increase the maximum penalties for causing death or grievous bodily injury by dangerous driving or by careless driving while under the influence of alcohol from 10 to 14 years. A report of recommendations will be published in the autumn and legislation will follow when parliamentary time allows.
17 Jun 2003 : Column 154W
WORK AND PENSIONS
Adviser Discretion Fund
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by the adviser discretion fund in each month since July 2001; and what the projected cost is over the next 12 months. [110913]
Mr. Browne: From 7 April, the Fund has been extended to people who have been in receipt of benefit for six months or more. Payments from the Fund are awarded on a discretionary basis to help people overcome barriers that prevent them from applying for or taking up a job. An increase in the number of awards is expected because of the extended eligibility.
The Adviser Discretion Fund is one of a number of programmes managed locally to meet individual needs of individual customers. As such no separate budget for the Fund is set and the amount spent will depend on local circumstances. Therefore, we do not have a figure for the projected cost of the Adviser Discretion Fund over the next 12 months.
Information on awards made through the Adviser Discretion Fund since July 2001 is in the table.
| Month/Year | Number of awards | Value of Awards(£) |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | ||
| July | 4,331 | 215,216 |
| August | 7,086 | 399,327 |
| September | 8,821 | 525,822 |
| October | 9,594 | 565,114 |
| November | 12,327 | 787,215 |
| December | 7,660 | 491,621 |
| 2002 | ||
| January | 11,524 | 693,955 |
| February | 13,432 | 783,235 |
| March | 19,242 | 1,226,270 |
| April | 15,562 | 1,254,727 |
| May | 21,014 | 1,528,999 |
| June | 15,869 | 1,094,076 |
| July | 16,976 | 1,145,953 |
| August | 17,818 | 1,377,355 |
| September | 18,433 | 1,196,375 |
| October and November(4) | 28,781 | 2,599,520 |
| December | 7,149 | 664,354 |
| 2003 | ||
| January | 19,695 | 1,767,733 |
| February | 19,482 | 1,774,501 |
| March | 20,538 | 1,881,413 |
| Total | 295,334 | 21,972,781 |
(4) Information for the months of October and November 2002 is not available separately.
Source:
July 2001 to September 2002—clerical count of Adviser Discretion Fund cases.
October 2002 to March 2003—taken directly from information input to the LMS computer system.
Angel Group
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the properties acquired by the Angel Group and its subsidiaries from the Department and its agencies, and the (a) dates and (b) costs of their acquisition. [118834]
17 Jun 2003 : Column 155W
Malcolm Wicks: The Department has not sold any properties to the Angel Group.
Asbestos
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the actions his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; if he has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if he will make a statement. [117704]
Mr. Browne: Plans are in place to ensure that this Department will be fully compliant with the new Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work (CAW) regulations 2002 by the required date of 21 May 2004. A programme to carry out the required surveying and risk assessment work is due to begin this summer. The cost of compliance has not been estimated. Asbestos registers have been held for some time for individual buildings and condition inspections of known asbestos are carried out at least annually. There are regular checks are to ensure compliance with relevant legislation.
Employment Action Teams
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) where peripatetic employment action team advisors are present across the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency; how regularly they use these locations; and if he will estimate the number of users at each location; [115531]
- (2) what internal estimates of working age employment rates in each ward of the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency informed the selection of wards for employment action team status. [115532]
Mr. Browne: The outreach location used by the Middlesbrough Action Team for Jobs in the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency is in the Hemlington Initiative Centre, Cass House Road. Action Team Advisers attend the Centre twice a week and, on average, see 10 clients on each visit.
In 2001, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland was chosen as an Action Teams for Jobs area because the local authority was ranked as one of the 30 with the lowest labour market participation in Great Britain.
The selection of wards within the area to be covered by the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency was based on the proportion of the working age population not in employment. The wards targeted had a working age employment rate of 58.5 per cent. or below at the time of selection.
The office for National Statistics does not produce employment rates down to individual wards from the Labour Force Survey. For this specific purpose a one off exercise was carried out to calculate data at ward level in Action Team areas. At ward level there is a larger margin of error and so a combination of data, including benefit recipient data, was used to rank wards in Action Team Local Authority Districts.
17 Jun 2003 : Column 156W
The following table shows the employment rates for wards in the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency derived from this exercise.
| Constituency Wards | Employment Rates |
|---|---|
| Park End | 44.8 |
| Easterside | 46.3 |
| Hemlington | 56.0 |
| Stainton and Thornton | 58.4 |
| Newham | 79.1 |
| Marton | 82.1 |
| Nunthorpe | 87.6 |
Source:
Jobcentre Plus
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 7 March 2003, Official Report, column 1259W, on the Health and Safety Executive, what the total pay costs incurred by the Health and Safety Executive were in each year since 1997. [113385]
Mr. Browne: The information requested is given in the table.
| Financial Year | £000s |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 116,074 |
| 1997–98 | 117,762 |
| 1998–99 | 119,633 |
| 1999–2000 | 124,339 |
| 2000–01 | 130,234 |
| 2001–02 | 136,323 |
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many inspectors were employed by the Health and Safety Executive's Field Operations Directorate in each of the last 10 years. [117130]
Mr. Browne: The information is in the table:
| Total | |
|---|---|
| 1 April 1993 | 932.5 |
| 1 April 1994 | 941.5 |
| 1 April 1995 | (5)864.5 |
| 1 April 1996 | (6)793.4 |
| 1 April 1997 | (7)779.8 |
| 1 April 1998 | 783.3 |
| 1 April 1999 | 852.5 |
| 1 April 2000 | (8)898.3 |
| 1 April 2001 | (9)954.3 |
| 1 April 2002 | 954.5 |
Notes:
(5) New Treasury rules for calculating figures for staff working part-time came into operation at 1.4.95;
(6) From 1.4.96 HSE divisions were restructured;
(7) During 1996–97 there were transfers of posts between Safety Policy Directorate, Chemical and Hazardous Installations Divisions, Field Operations Directorate, Nuclear Safety Directorate and Offshore Safety Division following the Review of Senior Management;
(8) Reorganisation of HSE 1 April 2000
(9) Field Operations Directorate and HM Railway Inspectorate brigaded May 2000
17 Jun 2003 : Column 157W
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact the recently announced cut in the budget of the Health and Safety Executive will have on its performance. [117132]
Mr. Browne: There has not been a cut in the budget of the Health and Safety Executive. The SR2002 settlement provided for an increase in the HSC/E's resource budget of £4 million in 2003–04, £4 million in 2004–05 and £2 million in 2005–06. HSE's capital budget has been increased by £60 million to cover the on-balance sheet PFI deal for the replacement of HSL's laboratories.
The Health and Safety Commission has been determining its priorities for 2003–04 onwards. Resources are being focused on targets and objectives so that resource is allocated according to risk and where HSC/E can have most impact in reducing risk.
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