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18 Sept 2003 : Column 959W—continued
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Capita
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many local authorities use Capita and their software package Academy; [129173]
- (2) how many local authorities who use Capita and their software package Academy for Housing Benefit have made complaints to the Department. [129171]
Mr. Pond: I have been asked to reply.
The seven local authorities who contract out their benefit administration with Capita are Bexley, Blackburn with Darwen, East Cambridgeshire, Havant, Mendip, West Devon and Westminster. A further 65 local authorities have stated that they use Capita's Academy software package.
We have received no complaints from local authorities using Capita or their Academy software. Local authorities have complete autonomy to select and contract with the provider of their choice.
Civil Service
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many jobs under the remit of his Department in (a) the core Department, (b) non-departmental public bodies, (c) executive agencies and (d) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by his Department and other such organisations, are located in (i) Scotland, (ii) each region in England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) overseas, broken down by (A) whole-time equivalent jobs and (B) the percentage per individual department, body or organisation. [127310]
Yvette Cooper: In response to parts (a) and (c), I refer the hon. Member to Table D of the annual publication "Civil Service Statistics", which covers permanent staff numbers (FTE basis) for each Government Department and their respective executive agencies. Table D shows civil servants by regional distribution.
18 Sept 2003 : Column 960W
Copies of the publication are available in the Libraries of the Houses. The last edition, based on April 2001 data, was published in June 2002. The next edition, based on April 2002 data, was published on 24 July 2003.
Alternatively, this information is available at the following address on the Cabinet Office Statistics website: http://www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics/css.htm.
In response to part (b) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Executive NDPBs.
| Government Office region | Whole-time equivalents | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| London | 593 | 23.3 |
| South East | 270 | 10.6 |
| South West | 378 | 14.9 |
| West Midlands | 189 | 7.4 |
| East Midlands | 145 | 5.7 |
| Eastern | 144 | 5.7 |
| North East | 105 | 4.1 |
| North West | 279 | 11 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 249 | 9.8 |
| Wales | 192 | 7.5 |
| Total | 2,544 | — |
Castle Vale Housing Action Trust
79 posts all in West Midlands Region
| Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| London | 86 | 19.6 |
| South East | 146 | 33.3 |
| North East | 78 | 17.8 |
| North West | 112 | 25.5 |
| West Midlands | 17 | 3.9 |
| Total | 439 | — |
| Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 58.26 | 10.2 |
| London | 324.95 | 57.1 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 41.16 | 7.2 |
| North West | 61.10 | 10.7 |
| South West | 42.74 | 7.5 |
| West Midlands | 40.74 | 7.2 |
| Total | 568.9 | — |
Liverpool Housing Action Trust
79 posts all based in North-West Region
Standards Board for England
96 posts based in London (96 per cent.), 4 people based in Yorkshire and Humberside—4 per cent.
Stonebridge Housing Action Trust
74 posts all based in London Region
Tower Hamlets Housing Action Trust
12 posts all based in London Region
In response to part (d) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
18 Sept 2003 : Column 961W
Residential Property Tribunal Service
83 whole time equivalents (a regional breakdown is problematic as the Rent Assessment Panel areas do not correspond with the Government Office regions)
| Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| East | 18 | 12 |
| East Midlands | 11 | 7 |
| London | 25 | 17 |
| North East | 10 | 7 |
| North West | 21 | 14 |
| South East | 17 | 12 |
| South West | 16.5 | 11 |
| West Midlands | 17 | 11 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 13 | 9 |
| Total | 148.5 | — |
Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England
15 posts, all full-time and all based in London
Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales
3.6 whole-time equivalent posts and all based in Wales
| Number | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| Groundwork | ||
| East of England | 23 | 1.2 |
| East Midlands | 257 | 13.5 |
| London | 128 | 6.7 |
| North East | 101 | 5.3 |
| North West | 535 | 28.1 |
| South East | 99 | 5.2 |
| South West | 55 | 2.9 |
| West Midlands | 318 | 16.7 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 253 | 13.3 |
| (i) Wales | 98 | 5.7 |
| (ii) Northern Ireland | 22 | 1.1 |
| Total | 1,899 | 99.7 |
Note:
The figures are for headcount not whole-time equivalent jobs
LEASE (The Leasehold Advisory Service)
12 whole time equivalent posts all based in London
Climate Change
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on climate change talks he has had since January 2003. [129450]
Phil Hope: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister discusses a wide range of issues, including climate change, in meeting foreign visitors, colleagues and others.
Election Costs
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much it cost to run the European elections in Scotland in 1999. [130461]
Mrs. McGuire: I have been asked to reply as the conduct and funding of parliamentary elections in Scotland is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Scotland. The estimated cost of the European parliamentary election in Scotland in 1999 was £6.7 million.
18 Sept 2003 : Column 962W
Fire Service
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon), 30 June 2003, Official Report, column 33W, whether his statement that there will be no reduction in response to 999 calls as a result of modernisation of the Fire Service applies to all fire brigades. [130693]
Mr. Raynsford: The statement made by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister applies to all fire brigades.
Housing
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department's latest estimate is of the number of people in housing need and accepted as such by their local housing authority in each London borough. [130021]
Keith Hill: Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their waiting lists (excluding tenants awaiting a transfer) as at 1 April on their Annual Housing Investment Programme returns. Their activities under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) are reported on their quarterly PIE housing returns to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The latest available information reported by London boroughs is in the table.
| London boroughs | Households on the Housing Register1 April 2002 | Statutorily homeless households—number accepted as eligible, unintentionally homeless and in priority need April to June 2003 |
|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 2,668 | 155 |
| Barnet | 7,030 | 301 |
| Bexley | 3,487 | 104 |
| Brent | 14,746 | 304 |
| Bromley | 3,592 | 236 |
| Camden | 8,147 | 331 |
| City of London | 623 | 10 |
| Croydon | 6,890 | 261 |
| Ealing | 8,289 | 348 |
| Enfield | 7,264 | 318 |
| Greenwich | 6,876 | (36)— |
| Hackney | 8,930 | (36)— |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 6,044 | (36)— |
| Haringey | 12,585 | (36)— |
| Harrow | 3,992 | 85 |
| Havering | 1,888 | (36)— |
| Hillingdon | 6,041 | 216 |
| Hounslow | 6,369 | 179 |
| Islington | 8.161 | (36)— |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 8,294 | 127 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 3,971 | 95 |
| Lambeth | 14,228 | 364 |
| Lewisham | 15,368 | 368 |
| Merton | 4,361 | 54 |
| Newham | 13,942 | 417 |
| Redbridge | 5,671 | 203 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 3,763 | 92 |
| Southwark | 6,164 | 425 |
| Sutton | 1,653 | 81 |
| Tower Hamlets | 7,837 | 438 |
| Waltham Forest | 10,283 | 300 |
| Wandsworth | 3,923 | 241 |
| Westminster | 3,709 | 316 |
(36) Data not reported.
As local authorities have different practices for compiling and managing housing registers/waiting lists, direct comparisons between authorities can be misleading.
Sources:
ODPM: Housing Investment Programme (HIP) annual returns
ODPM: P1E housing activity quarterly returns
18 Sept 2003 : Column 963W
Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 15 September 2003, ref 129308, when he expects to allocate funds to Colchester's Arms Length Management Organisation; and how much will be allocated. [131011]
Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will confirm the funding for Colchester's Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) once the Housing Inspectorate notifies us that it has awarded the ALMO at least a 2* (good) rating. The inspection is currently planned to begin in February 2004. The conditional allocation for 2003–05 is £13.44 million.
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the local authorities which are six months or more behind paying Housing Benefit; and how many local authorities who are six months or more behind payment use Capita and their software package Academy. [129172]
Mr. Pond: I have been asked to reply.
We collect average processing times, by local authority, for Housing Benefit claims. The data provided by local authorities for the year ended 31 March 2003, and published on the our Housing Benefit website, www.dwp.gov.uk/housing benefit, show that on average no local authority took longer than six months to process new claims.
Average processing times for local authorities whose Housing Benefit administration is contracted out to Capita and who use Academy software, range from 26 days to 131 days. Actual clearance times for individual cases within the average are not collected centrally.
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