---

23 Oct 2003 : Column 707W—continued

Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects job points to be installed in (a) Burnt Oak Library, (b) Hendon Job Centre and (c) Mill Hill Job Centre; and if he will make a statement. [133062]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Andrew Dismore, dated 23 October 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the installation of Jobpoints in Burnt Oak Library, Hendon and Mill Hill Jobcentres. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

I can confirm that a Jobpoint is scheduled to be installed in Burnt Oak Library on 28 October 2003. The availability of the Jobpoint in the Library will be publicised in local Jobcentres through posters and leaflets and leaflets will also be issued to customers using the library. To further publicise the new Jobpoint service an official launch is planned later this year in December.

Jobcentre Plus staff currently visit the Library every two weeks to provide face to face advice and jobsearch assistance. This will continue after the Jobpoint has been installed.

Hendon already has eight Jobpoints, which were installed in May 2001. Mill Hill also already has eight Jobpoints, which were installed in November 2001.

I hope this is helpful.

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representations he has received in the last 12 months opposing the closure of local Jobcentre Plus offices; which organisations submitted these representations; and if he will make a statement. [113260]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Paul Holmes dated 28 July 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning representations to the Secretary of State regarding the closure of local Jobcentre Plus offices. This falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

23 Oct 2003 : Column 708W

During the past 12 months, there have been forteen represenations in the form of parliamentary questions or letters to the Secretary of State from MPs expressing concern about the delivery plans of Jobcentre Plus and specifically about the closure of offices. In addition to responding to these representations in writing, both the Minister of State for Work, Nick Brown, and the Project Director for Jobcentre Plus, Jeremy Groombridge, met with a number of MPs to give assurances about the level of service that will be provided.

At the Jobcentre Plus District level, managers have and will continue to consult with the widest possible range of people about the service they are planning to provide. Local advice and welfare groups, local authorities and MPs are essential sources of guidance in this matter. Any representions resulting from this consultation process are collated by District Managers.

Jobcentre Plus is delivering a radical change in the way that benefits and employment services are provided to people of working age. By 2006, there will be around 1,000 newly integrated offices across the country which will provide customers with a 'one-stop' service for benefits, advice and jobs. Over 250 offices are offering this new service already and 8 out of 10 customers tell us they are satisfied with all elements of the new service.

These new Jobcentre Plus services are customer focussed. The new offices enable customers to make enquiries about both their benefits and employment opportunities in the same place. Our new telephone contact centres mean that customers can make enquiries about both benefits and jobs without even having to come into one of our offices. The introduction of new technology is also enabling people to find the information they need about jobs and training via the Internet and our new Jobpoints. Jobpoints are not just being placed in Jobcentre Plus offices, they are also being placed in other public places such as libraries and supermarkets. All of these developments are making it easier for our customers to take advantage of the services we provide.

I hope this is helpful.

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job points there are in prisons in the UK. [133953]

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Tony Cunningham, dated 23 October 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many Jobpoints there are in prisons in the UK. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

23 Oct 2003 : Column 709W

We have piloted a new scheme placing Jobpoints in four prisons to establish if this will assist prisoners in finding jobs. These were installed between July and October 2002 and have proved to be successful. Jobpoints were distributed as follows:

HMP Featherstone: 1 Jobpoint

HMP Hollesley Bay: 1 Jobpoint

HMP Lewes: 2 Jobpoints

HMP Swansea: 2 Jobpoints

We are planning to install Jobpoints in a further ten prisons in late spring/early summer 2004.

I hope this is helpful.

Liability Insurance

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Office of Fair Trading on the introduction of compulsory notice renewal periods for liability insurance; and if he will make a statement. [127832]

Mr. Browne: We continue to be in discussion with the Office of Fair Trading on all aspects of Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance. In relation to renewals the Government were pleased to see the introduction by the Association of British Insurers and the British Insurance Brokers' Association of new guidance to insurers and brokers on renewals. The guidance included a recommendation for providing policy holders with at least 21 days notice of their renewal terms. In the first instance the Government will look to see the response of the industry to this guidance.

Lone Parents

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the value of accrued entitlements to the child maintenance bonus among lone parents in receipt of income support; and if he will make it his policy to preserve accrued entitlements to the child maintenance bonus once the new child support rules are applied to all families. [132487]

Mr. Pond: The information on the value of accrued entitlements to the child maintenance bonus among lone parents on income support is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

An extended period of one month, rather than the usual 14 days, to meet the work condition for the payment of child maintenance bonus has been put in place for cases transferring to the new child support scheme. To go further would require the maintenance of a substantial number of records for an indefinite period, thereby increasing administrative costs.

The child maintenance bonus was a feature of the old child support scheme, introduced in 1997 to give parents with care receiving income support or income-related Job Seeker's Allowance the benefit of up to £5 a week of the maintenance paid, when they returned to work. In the new scheme, the bonus will be replaced by the child maintenance premium, which will ensure that up to £10 a week of the maintenance that is paid will pass to the parent with care, while she is still on benefit. We estimate that the annual cost of child maintenance premium will be more than four times that which would have been spent in a year on a continued child maintenance bonus scheme.

23 Oct 2003 : Column 710W

Pension Credit

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Hendon (a) are receiving pension credit, (b) are entitled to pension credit but not yet claiming it, (c) are receiving pension savings credit, (d) are entitled to pension savings credit but not yet claiming it, (e) received free eye tests in the last year for which figures are available, (f) received free TV licences in the last year for which figures are available and (g) will be entitled to winter fuel payment (i) at the standard rate and (ii) at the higher rate for older pensioners in 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [134038]

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested about Pension Credit is not yet available in the format requested.

As at May 2003 there were 3,000 Minimum Income Guarantee claimants in the Hendon constituency. Around half of all pensioner households will be eligible for Pension Credit and stand to gain on average £400 a year (around £7 a week). We intend from November to publish monthly reports on the progress of Pension Credit take-on, which will include information on the number of applications. (1–4)

The number of sight tests paid for by the national health service for those aged 60 and over in Barnet, Enfield and Haringay health authority for the year ending 31 March, 2003 was 54,780. (5)

The information requested about TV licences and Winter Fuel payments is not available in the format requested, such information as is available is as follows.

The number of people aged 75 and over, in receipt of a key benefit as at 31 May 2003 in Hendon was 6,600. These people would be eligible to receive a free TV licence. (6–8)

The number of people in Hendon who received a Winter Fuel payment for Winter 2002–03 was 17,715 and we expect the number to be around the same for 2003–04. Of that figure 4,055 were over age 80 and therefore would be eligible to receive an additional payment. (9–11)

Notes:


1. Source: IAD Information Centre.

2. The number for MIG refers to benefit units where the claimant and/or their partner are aged 60 or over.

3. The figure for the number of MIG claimants is based on a 5 per cent. sample and therefore subject to sampling variation.

4. This figure has been rounded to the nearest hundred and quoted in thousands.

5. The total number of sight tests paid for by the NHS for this constituency was 146,380.

6. Source: IAD Information Centre 5 per cent sample

7. TV licence figures based on 5 per cent. data taken from the Client Group Analysis of the population over State Pension age as at 31 May 2003, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. These figures are expressed in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred.

8. As only one TV licence is required per household, the number of free TV licences issued may be lower than the number of people entitled to one. Some households may contain more than one person aged 75 and over and not all households with a person aged 75 or over will have a television.

9. Source: IAD Information Centre 100 per cent. sample

23 Oct 2003 : Column 711W

10. Winter Fuel Payment figures taken from the Matching Intelligence Data Analysis Service Winter Fuels Payment 2002/2003 exercise 100 per cent data. 100 per cent data figures are rounded to the nearest five.

11. Key benefits are Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Minimum Income Guarantee and State Pension.

---