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Freedom of Information
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie): The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs has today laid before both Houses and published the Annual Report on bringing into force those provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which are not yet fully in force. The Government is committed to bringing the Freedom of Information Act fully into force in January 2005. This report details what action has been taken as well as what arrangements are being made for the coming year. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
Departmental Expenditure Limit
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. Christopher Leslie): Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) covering the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Northern Ireland Court Service and The National Archive will be increased by £5,280,000 from £3,124,514,000 to £3,129,794,000 and the administration costs limit will
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be increased by £27,600,000 from £805,243,000 to £832,843,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:
| Change | Voted | Non-voted | New DEL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource | -23,167 | 1.119,370 | 1,955,276 | 3,074,646 |
| Capital | 27,051, | 117,893 | 11,016 | 128,909 |
The change in the Department for Constitutional Affairs resource DEL is the net effect of:
RfR1
Take-up of end-year flexibility of £2,293,000 administration costs; a transfer of £65,504,000 resources, of which £19,534,000 is administration costs from the Home Office in relation to the Criminal Justice System reserve; a virement of £103,722,000 resources, of which £1,069,000 is administration costs to reflect payments to the Department for Education and Skills in relation to Machinery of Government; a transfer of £502,000 administration costs from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; a transfer of £573,000 administration costs from HM Treasury in relation to the Invest to Save Budget; net transfers of £451,000 resources from the Home Office; a transfer of £24,000 administration costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Provision of £18,528,278,000 (resource) and £100,000 (capital) transferred from the Scotland Office to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (RfR2), resulting in a transfer of £18,527,903,000 in respect of the net cash requirement. This is for administration costs of the Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate General, provision for the Boundary Commission for Scotland and a grant to the Scottish Consolidated Fund, as part of the machinery of government changes announced by the Prime Minister on 12 June.
There has also been a transfer of £425,000 administration costs to the Scottish Executive.
Provision of £9,306,641,000 (resource) and £766,000 (capital) transferred from the Wales Office to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (RfR3), resulting in a transfer of £9,307,313,000 in respect of the net cash requirement. This is to enable the Secretary of State for Wales to assign the administration costs of the Wales Office and grant to the National Assembly for Wales, as part of the machinery of government changes announced by the Prime Minister on 12 June.
As a result of all changes there is an increase in Total Net Cash Requirement of £1,084,485,000.
The change in the Northern Ireland Court Service resource DEL is the net effect of:
A transfer of £5,000,000 administration costs into resource.
The change in The National Archive resource DEL arises from: the take up of £1,000,000 administration costs from end year flexibility.
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The change in the Department for Constitutional Affairs capital DEL is the net effect of:
Take-up of end-year flexibility of £14,510,000 capital costs; a transfer of £9,695,000 capital costs from the Home Office in relation to the CJS Reserve; and a transfer of £111,000 capital from HM Treasury in relation to the Invest to Save Budget.
The change in The National Archive capital DEL is the net effect of: take up of end year flexibility of £1,869,000 resources.
The increases will be offset by inter-departmental transfers, increases to Appropriations in Aid, take up of End Year Flexibility entitlements and a charge to the DEL Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Departmental Expenditure Limit
The Minister for Work (Mr. Desmond Browne): Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary Supplementary Estimate, the Department for Work and Pensions DEL will be increased by £351,387,000 from £7,877,303,000 to £8,228,690,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £273,071,000 from £5,778,936,000 to £6,052,007,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:
| New DEL | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change | Voted | Non-voted | Total | ||
| Resource | 348,526 | 6,434,129 | 1,883,292 | 8,317,421 | |
| Capital | 0 | 27,066 | 1,602 | 28,668 | |
| Depreciation*2,861 | -116,685 | -714 | -117,399 | ||
| Total | 351,387 | 6,344,510 | 1,884,180 | 8,228,690 | |
* Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:
- an increase in provision of £86,000,000 (administration costs) and £222,000,000 (other current) under the End Year Flexibility Scheme;
an increase in provision of £70,000 (administration costs) as a result of a transfer from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for local Public Services Agreements;
a transfer of provision of £5,750,000 (other current) to the Department for Education and Skills for costs incurred by the Adult Learning Inspectorate on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions;
an increase in provision of £18,294,000 (grants) as a result of a transfer from the Scottish Executive for expenditure on Administration Subsidy;
an increase in provision of £2,000,000 (administration costs) as a result of a transfer from the Department for Transport for the costs of Cullen;
an increase in provision of £11,500,000 (other current) as a result of a transfer from the Department for Education and Skills in respect of Basic Skills training courses and work carried out by Job Centre Plus;
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an increase in provision of £1,000,000 (administration costs) due to a drawdown from the Capital Modernisation Fund for the Supported Employment Programme;
a transfer of provision of £137,000 (administration costs) to Department for Education and Skills for Sure Start;
a transfer of provision of £4,386,000 (administration costs) to the Department of Health for the administration costs of additional financial assessments;
a transfer of provision of £399,000 (administration costs) to the Scottish Executive for the administration costs of additional financial assessments;
a transfer of provision of £395,000 (administration costs) to the Welsh Assembly for the administration costs of additional financial assessments;
a transfer of provision of £9,000 (administration costs) to the Ministry of Defence for the telecom costs of the Veteran's Agency Helpline;
an increase in provision of £1,946,000 (non budget) following a transfer from the Department for Education and Skills;
a transfer of provision of £690,000 (administration costs) to the Department for Education and Skills in respect of Caxton House, Rent and Premises Services;
a transfer of provision of £170,000 (administration costs) to the Department for Education and Skills in respect of the costs of Detached National Experts;
a transfer of provision of £30,000 (administration costs) from the Department for Education and Skills in respect of the Family and Children Survey;
a transfer of provision of £13,000 (other current) to the Home Office in respect of the costs of withdrawal of benefits research;
an increase in provision of £17,635,000 (administration costs) for the Makinson Bonus scheme.
Jobcentre Plus
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Chris Pond): On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) follow-up inspection report on Jobcentre Plus' relationship with local authorities was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
In September 2001, the BFI published its report on the then Benefits Agency's relationship with local authorities and made 49 recommendations to address weaknesses in benefits administration and counter-fraud activity, and improve closer working with local authorities. Since then the Benefits Agency has become part of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus came into existence in April 2002 bringing together parts of the Benefits Agency and the whole of Employment Service. This resulted in significant changes to the organisational structure since the first BFI inspection.
It is important that Jobcentre Plus works closely with local authorities to ensure that:
- the processing of benefit claims and their ongoing maintenance are made as simple and speedy as possible with the minimum of duplication. The fullest possible sharing of information helps ensure that customers receive the highest attainable levels of service;
information that could lead to the identification of fraud and error is routinely shared so that joint action can be taken to eliminate overpayments;
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the welfare of customers, and staff of local authorities and Jobcentre Plus, is protected by the sharing of good working practices and regular exchange of information.
Particular improvements highlighted in the report include the recruitment of Regional Fraud and Programme Protection Managers to work closely with local authorities and the successful roll out of electronic transfer of data systems. Both local authorities and Jobcentre Plus reported this had a positive impact on the relationship.
The BFI did find that many of the 49 recommendations from its earlier report had not been carried out. Specific areas identified for improvement
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included training staff in liaison duties, ensuring that joint working with local authorities features sufficiently in business plans and securing better management information at a national level on joint working performance. However, the report found that there was variation in performance, with some Jobcentre Plus offices making greater effort than others in their relationships with local authorities.
The report finds examples of good practice and some improvements since the first inspection. However, the report makes 45 recommendations to help Jobcentre Plus address the weaknesses and to further improve the working relationship with local authorities.
Jobcentre Plus is announcing its Action Plan for dealing with the BFI's recommendations, and is to set up a Senior Steering Group, including local authority representation, to oversee the implementation of the BFI's recommendations and report progress to Ministers on a quarterly basis.