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12 Nov 2003 : Column 384W—continued
Legal Aid
Ms Keeble: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much was paid out in (a) immigration and asylum legal aid and (b) total legal aid in (i) England and (ii) the East Midlands in each year since April 2000. [133180]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 29 October 2003]: Legal aid payments are made by the Legal Services Commission, and for criminal legal aid in the higher courts, by the Court Service. Information about such payments will include work done outside the area and will also include payments to practitioners based outside the area. It is therefore not possible readily to identify separately payments relating to work done within a particular region. The figures given for the East Midlands are therefore estimates based on payments processed by the relevant Legal Services Commission Area Office and Court Service Office. Legal aid expenditure for immigration and asylum 1 for the whole of England and Wales, compared to the East Midlands was as follows:
| England and Wales(26) | East Midlands | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 81.1 | 2.1 |
| 2001–02 | 129.4 | 3.1 |
| 2002–03 | 176.2 | 4.4 |
Expenditure for all legal aid for the whole of England and Wales compared to the East Midlands was as follows:
| England and Wales(26) | East Midlands | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 1,664.4 | 102.6 |
| 2001–02 | l,716.9 | 103.5 |
| 2002–03 | 1,908.6 | 117.8 |
(25) Expenditure for immigration and asylum are the latest estimates and may differ slightly from previous figures given.
(26) Legal aid is administered nationally by the Legal Services Commission and the Court Service within England and Wales. In order to reduce the inaccuracies of regional estimates, payments made by offices within Wales have been included.
Magistrates Courts (Merseyside)
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the collection of fines imposed by magistrates courts on Merseyside. [137376]
Mr. Leslie: The performance of the Merseyside Magistrates Courts (MCCs) in the collection of fines has not been satisfactory. However, there has been a steady improvement in the performance of the MCC over the last 12 months indicated by an 8 per cent. point increase from 31 per cent. in the corresponding quarter one figure in 2002–03. Merseyside MCC is one of the 12 MCCs that has been selected as needing support in driving up fine enforcement performance, and is now part of a Targeted Interventions Project.
Work-related Stress
Dr. Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many cases
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of work related stress have been reported in his Department in each of the last three years; how much compensation has been paid to employees; how many work days have been lost due to work related stress, and at what cost; what procedures have been put in place to reduce work related stress, and at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [136857]
Mr. Lammy: Detailed sick absence statistics are derived from medical and self-certificates, which are completed by staff or their GPs. While certain illnesses, such as "depression", "anxiety", "general debility" and even "stress" may be indicated on certificates, it is not possible to determine levels of "work-related stress". Consequently, we have no details on the number of working days lost due to work-related stress or the cost to the Department.
However, we know from recent staff opinion surveys that undue stress at work is a problem for some staff. To deal with this we have introduced a range of stress management courses for both managers and non-managers. Our in-house Welfare service is fully trained, and ideally placed, to deal with issues involving work-related stress.
My Department introduced a wide range of work-life balance policies during 2001, enabling staff to adopt more effective working patterns to better balance their work and home life. My Department won the Opportunity Now National Public Sector award earlier this year for these policies.
We have a legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for all our staff and, under the Government's Revitalising Health and Safety initiative, we are committed to meeting targets for reducing the number of working days lost generally to work related injuries and illnesses.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Automated Credit Transfer
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library the conclusions of research undertaken by departmental analysts prior to the introduction of benefit payment by automatic credit transfer. [137480]
Mr. Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the Department of Social Security research report no. 146; Payment of pensions and benefits: A survey of social security recipients paid by order book or girocheque, available in the Library.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets have been set for the payment of benefits by automated credit transfer; and if he will make a statement on the progress towards these targets in each benefit category. [137746]
Mr. Pond: The Department has a published Public Service Agreement target that by 2005, 85 per cent. of customers will have their benefits paid by Direct Payment.
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Key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment are available in the Library updated every four weeks.
Benefit Overpayments
Mr. Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many requests he received to waive recovery of benefit and grant overpayments in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of these were granted. [137316]
Mr. Pond: Between April 2002 and March 2003 we received 689 requests to waive recovery of benefit and grant overpayments, of which 85 were granted.
Benefits Appeals
Mr. Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases taken to a benefits appeal tribunal were upheld where the central issue related to partial sight or blindness in each of the last five years. [137315]
Mr. Pond: This is a matter for Christina Townsend Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will reply to the hon. Member.
Letter from Christina Townsend to Mr. Mike Wood, dated 12 November 2003:
- The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question regarding the number of cases taken to a benefits appeal tribunal which were upheld where the central issue was related to partial sight or blindness in each of the last five years. Unfortunately we do not record cases broken down by partial sight or blindness across benefits; the information is therefore not available.
- I am sorry that I cannot be more helpful.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when existing Child Support Agency cases will be transferred to the new assessment system. [137000]
Mr. Pond: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) on 16 September 2003, Official Report, columns 696–97W.
Civil Servants
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many civil servants in the Department achieved personal bonus targets in 2002–03; and what the total value of personal bonus targets was. [132796]
Maria Eagle: The Department does not operate a personal bonus target scheme. However, we estimate that approximately 110,000 staff achieved a level of performance during 2002–03 to qualify for a performance bonus as part of the forthcoming 2003 pay settlement. The settlement has not yet been finalised, but expenditure on performance bonuses last year amounted to £24.75 million.
Correspondence
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to the letter dated 3 October from the hon. Member for Banff and
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Buchan to the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Pond) regarding his constituent, Ms E. Verney, of Cruden Bay. [137582]
Mr. Pond: I replied to the hon. Member on 7 November.
Disability
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received regarding access to different modes of transport by disabled people. [137912]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
The Department receives correspondence both from individuals and organisations on all aspects of transport policy as it relates to disabled people.
We also invite comments, both in our regular dealings with disability organisations and through public consultation, on new proposals to improve access for disabled people to public transport.
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