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26 Jan 2004 : Column 100W—continued
Child Support Agency
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what powers the Child Support Agency has in making deductions from earnings orders against army personnel. [145678]
Mr. Pond: None. However, the Agency can ask Her Majesty's forces to use their discretionary powers to make deductions from the pay of Service personnel.
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are taken by the Child Support Agency to verify the financial status of a resident parent who has a new unmarried partner in cases where the non-resident parent has applied for departures in CSA maintenance. [147835]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to John Barrett, dated 26 January 2004:
- In reply to your recent Parliamentary questions about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
- You asked what steps are taken by the Child Support Agency to verify the financial status of a resident parent, who has a new unmarried partner, in cases where the non-resident parent has applied for departures in CSA maintenance.
- In all cases falling under the "old scheme" where the resident parent (that is, the parent with care) is not receiving a prescribed benefit or Tax Credit, the Agency will seek to verify that parent's financial circumstances. Specifically we will ask the parent with care for evidence of their earnings and any other income, as well as their housing costs. We will do this whether or not the parent with care has a partner and whether or not the non-resident parent has applied for a departure.
- It may help you to know that, under the "old scheme", if the parent with care has a partner, the Agency will ask for verification of that partner's income only if they share a child. This is because the only relevance of the partner's income is in determining whether we should make full allowance for the shared child in the parent with care's exempt income, or whether the partner can contribute to the support of the child. Under the revised Child Support scheme the Agency does not take into account the financial circumstances of the parent with care in any way.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the projected date is for moving all existing child support cases to the new computer system. [149472]
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Mr. Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1092W.
Disability Living Allowance
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of applicants for disability living allowance assessed by a Benefits Agency Medical Service doctor were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful in their applications in 2003. [148450]
Maria Eagle: The numbers of DLA New Claim decisions made, which have included an Examining Medical Practitioner's Report as part of the evidence used, are set out in the following table.
| Number (percentage) | |
|---|---|
| Total decisions including an EMP report in the evidence used | 126,760 |
| Awards | 56,780(45) |
| Refusals | 69,980 (55) |
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
Source:
100 per cent. MIS data
Figures include awards made as a result of new claims only. Figures are for January to November 2003 as December 2003 figures are not yet available.
Incapacity Benefit
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to review the requirement for persons who have (a) chronic mental health problems and (b) chronic physical conditions to undergo (i) IB50 and (ii) personal capability assessment. [149715]
Maria Eagle: The Personal Capability Assessment, which includes completion of IB50 self-assessment where relevant, is an effective method of determining a person's functional ability.
The IB50 self-assessment questionnaire has been designed to give people the opportunity to provide information about their problems, mental or physical, that they feel the decision maker should take into account in relation to functional assessment.
People with a severe mental illness are exempt from the Personal Capability Assessment, and procedures have been developed so that people who meet the exemption criteria are identified at the earliest possible stage. Any cause of incapacity which may include a mental health problem triggers a request for a report from the person's GP or medical specialist. People who are exempt are not required to complete a self-assessment IB50.
We have no plans to change these arrangements at present.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to improve access for incapacity benefit claimants to personal capability assessment tests by introducing peripatetic surgeries in rural areas. [149716]
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Maria Eagle: Under the contract for provision of Medical Services, SchlumbergerSema must ensure that customers are not required to travel for more than ninety minutes by public transport, on a single journey, for an examination, unless previously agreed with the customer; SchlumbergerSema will pay all reasonable and actual expenses to customers who attend for an examination and apply for reimbursement.
Information leaflets are provided to customers, advising them to contact the Client Help desk if they expect to experience difficulties in travelling to the Medical Examination Centre. Under certain circumstances, SchlumbergerSema will authorise the refund of taxi fares if agreed in advance with the Client Help desk; domiciliary visits can also be arranged, where it is determined that a customer is unable to travel on medical grounds.
We have no plans to change these arrangements at present.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeal tribunal decisions on incapacity benefit appeals have been challenged by social security offices in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the United Kingdom in each of the last two years; and how many challenges were successful in each case. [148746]
Maria Eagle: Decisions of tribunals may be appealed on a point of law to Social Security Commissioners. The numbers of tribunal decisions appealed in incapacity benefit cases in the last two years are in the tables.
| Scotland | Elsewhere in the UK | |
|---|---|---|
| Decisions appealed | 7 | 11 |
| Successful | 7 | 8 |
| Unsuccessful | 0 | 3 |
| Scotland | Elsewhere in the UK | |
|---|---|---|
| Decisions appealed | 11 | 34 |
| Successful | 5 | 13 |
| Unsuccessful(16) | 1 | 6 |
| Result awaited | 5 | 15 |
(16) Figure for elsewhere in the UK includes one appeal withdrawn.
Note:
Successful appeals include decisions set aside by a tribunal chairman and those found by a Social Security Commissioner to be erroneous in law.
New Deal
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have taken part in the New Deal for Musicians in each year of the programme's existence. [147952]
Mr. Browne: The information requested is in the table.
26 Jan 2004 : Column 103W
| Year | Total in year |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,515 |
| 2000 | 3,484 |
| 2001 | 4,015 |
| 2002 | 2,859 |
| 2003(17) | 1,590 |
| Total | 13,463 |
(17) Up to 28 August 2003
Source:
New Deal for Musicians Database
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) his Department and (b) JobCentrePlus are employed in administering the New Deal for Musicians. [147953]
Mr. Browne: There is no separate administrative resource allocated specifically to New Deal for Musicians as it is delivered as part of the wider New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been placed in sustainable employment by the New Deal for Musicians; and what percentage that represents of the total number of people taking part in the programme. [147954]
Mr. Browne: Since November 2002 New Deal for musicians has been adopted as part of the mainstream New Deals; New Deal for young People and New Deal 25plus. The successful job outcomes of New Deal for Musicians therefore contribute to the total data of those two programmes as appropriate.
Separate statistical information on the number of New Deal for Musicians participants finding sustainable jobs is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the annual cost is of the New Deal for Musicians (a) this year and (b) for each year of the programme's existence. [147955]
Mr. Browne: The estimated cost of the three year New Deal for Musicians national pilot was £9 million. Annual costs are not available for this period. The spend on New Deal for Musicians for 2002–03 is £3.1 million and 2003–04, to December 2003, is £2 million.
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