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27 Jan 2004 : Column 341W—continued
Child Maintenance
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of child support cases are being assessed using the (a) old and (b) new system for calculating child maintenance liability. [144851]
Mr. Pond [holding answer 18 December 2003]: 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 Ms Vera Baird dated 27 January 2004:
- In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
- You asked how many and what percentage of child support cases are being assessed using the a) old and b) new system for calculating child maintenance liability.
- As at 30 September the Agency held around 1 million cases within its systems. At that date around 30,500 cases (just over 3%) had calculations made under the new arrangements for calculating child maintenance liability. The balance refers to cases either progressing toward a calculation or assessment or to cases assessed in accordance with the previous arrangements.
Child Support
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress is being made with transferring individual child support cases which are still subject to the rules of the old system of child support to the new system; and if he will make a statement. [150994]
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.
Plans for transferring the old scheme caseload to the new scheme have yet to be finalised.
Citizenship Pension
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will commission further investigation into the effects of the proposal in the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs' Report, Aspects of the Economics of an Ageing Population, for a citizenship pension based on years of residence. [150395]
Malcolm Wicks: We are assessing the implications of the recommendations made by the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs in their report Aspects of the Economics of an Ageing Population and will respond in due course.
Civil Servants
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) Central London and (b) Greater London. [150276]
Maria Eagle: At 23 January 2004 the total space occupied by the Department for Work and Pensions in London is 286,569 square metres. This covers all the space we occupy within the London Government Office Region whose external border is the M25.
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This figure includes space that is used for offices for civil servants and that used to provide public caller facilities.
The space we occupy is not divided between Central and Greater London but is recorded according to which district it is located in.
The breakdown of space occupied by district is in the table.
| District | M(37) |
|---|---|
| Brent Harrow and Hillingdon | 28,403 |
| Central London(36) | 67,399 |
| City and East London | 22,061 |
| Lambeth Southwark and Wandsworth | 44,471 |
| North East London | 25,102 |
| North London | 18,683 |
| South East London | 16,162 |
| South London | 37,510 |
| West London | 26,778 |
| London Government Office Region | 286,569 |
(36) Central London includes the areas covered by the London Boroughs of Islington Camden, City of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
Notes:
The districts are Jobcentre Plus districts. Figures include space occupied by all DWP businesses.
Departmental Advertising
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the total expenditure on (a) information campaigns and (b) advertising was for his Department in each year since 1997; [146015]
- (2) what the total expenditure on information campaigns and advertising was for his Department for each year since 1997. [146007]
Maria Eagle: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001. Between that date and March 2003, the Department spent a total of £35,031,354 alerting people to their rights, responsibilities and entitlements through information campaigns. Of this sum, £18,788,328 was spent on advertising using television, radio, cinema and press media. Information broken down by year is in the table.
| Total publicity costs | Advertising costs | |
|---|---|---|
| June 2001 to March 2002 | 22,727,979 | 13,787,594 |
| April 2002 to March 2003 | 12,303,375 | 5,000,734 |
| Totals | 35,031,354 | 18,788,328 |
Notes:
1. Machinery of Government changes during the period 1997 to 2001 mean that like-for-like figures are not obtainable without disproportionate cost. During this time communications activity was accounted for under different systems in the agencies, Headquarters and the Department for Education and Employment, part of which transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions.
2. All costs exclude VAT
3. Advertising costs are total publicity costs excluding all production costs.
4. Information campaigns costing under £250,000 have not been included as a disproportionate cost would be incurred in compiling these figures.
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Departmental Staff
Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of staff employed within his Department are over 55 years of age; and what (a) number and (b) percentage of staff recruited over the last 12 months are over 55 years of age. [145985]
Maria Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Douglas Alexander) on 20 January 2004, Official Report, volume 416, column 1130–34W.
Departmental Staff Sickness
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) total number of days lost due to staff sickness and (b) average number of days off sick per member of staff in his Department and each of its executive agencies was in each of the last five years. [148850]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
| Department | Year | Working days lost | Working days available | Average number of workingdays Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSS | 1999–2000 | 1,057,549.2 | 22,086,808.8 | 12.0 |
| DSS | 2000–01 | 1,085,307.5 | 22,024,101.1 | 12.3 |
| DSS | 2001–02 | 1,039,208.8 | 22,895,495.2 | 11.3 |
| DWP | 2002–03 | 1,674,435.3 | 34,054,324.0 | 12.3 |
| Business | Working Days Lost | Working Days Available | Average Number of WorkingDays Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child Support Agency | 147,761.9 | 2,891,913.6 | 12.8 |
| Disability and Carers Service | 93,163.4 | 1,928,378.8 | 12.1 |
| Jobcentre Plus | 1,141,339.7 | 21,987,970.3 | 13.0 |
| Pension Service | 139,165.4 | 3,504,399.6 | 9.9 |
| Appeals Service | 12,099.3 | 237,570.5 | 12.7 |
Notes:
1. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was created in June 2001. Due to the migration of businesses into and out of the newly forming Department, and differences in calculation methods, figures for the Department as a whole are only available from April 2002.
2. The information in table 1 covers the years April 1999 to March 2002 relating to the former Department of Social Security (DSS), the main predecessor Department in place prior to the formation of DWP, and for DWP for April 2002 to March 2003.
3. Figures have been provided for DSS and DWP for each full operational year since 1999. Sickness absence information for the current year, April 2003 to March 2004, will be available in spring 2004.
4. The information in table 2 relates to the DWP businesses for the period April 2002 to March 2003.
5. The number of working days lost and working days available recorded for the DWP businesses in table 2 do not match the total figures for DWP in table 1. This is because the figures in table 2 relate only to the current DWP businesses.
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Disability Living Allowance
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 15 December 2003, Official Report, column 690W, on disability living allowance, how many claimants are aged under 60 years in each case. [147778]
Maria Eagle: The numbers of DLA claimants, under 60 years of age in the geographical areas requested, are contained in the tables. Since the earlier answer was given, figures for the quarter ending 31 August 2003 have now become available and are set out in the tables.
| All | Under 60 | 60 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 18.7 | 12.5 | 6.2 |
| Higher rate care and higher rate mobility | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| Higher rate care and lower rate mobility | 0.9 | 0.9 | — |
| Higher rate care only | *0.3 | *0.2 | *0.1 |
| Middle rate care and higher rate mobility | 3.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Middle rate care and lower rate mobility | 2.5 | 2.3 | *0.2 |
| Middle rate care only | 0.6 | 0.6 | *0.1 |
| Lower rate care and higher rate mobility | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Lower rate care and lower rate mobility | 0.9 | 0.7 | *0.2 |
| Lower rate care only | 1.2 | 1.0 | *0.3 |
| Higher rate mobility | 3.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
| Lower rate mobility | 0.9 | 0.7 | *0.2 |
| All | Under 60 | 60 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 |
| Higher rate care and higher rate mobility | *0.3 | *0.2 | *0.1 |
| Higher rate care and lower rate mobility | *0.2 | *0.2 | — |
| Higher rate care only | *0.1 | *0.1 | *0.1 |
| Middle rate care and higher rate mobility | *0.4 | *0.2 | *0.2 |
| Middle rate care and lower rate mobility | *0.4 | *0.3 | *0.1 |
| Middle rate care only | *0.1 | *0.1 | — |
| Lower rate care and higher rate mobility | *0.3 | *0.1 | *0.1 |
| Lower rate care and lower rate mobility | *0.2 | *0.1 | *0.1 |
| Lower rate care only | *0.2 | *0.2 | — |
| Higher rate mobility | *0.3 | *0.1 | *0.2 |
| Lower rate mobility | *0.1 | *0.1 | — |
| All | Under 60 | 60 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 281.2 | 172.0 | 109.2 |
| Higher rate care and higher rate mobility | 45.1 | 26.5 | 18.6 |
| Higher rate care and lower rate mobility | 13.2 | 11.8 | 1.4 |
| Higher rate care only | 3.7 | 3.1 | 0.6 |
| Middle rate care and higher rate mobility | 45.5 | 21.9 | 23.6 |
| Middle rate care and lower rate mobility | 34.1 | 30.0 | 4.1 |
| Middle rate care only | 8.8 | 7.5 | 1.3 |
| Lower rate care and higher rate mobility | 34.9 | 18.1 | 16.7 |
| Lower rate care and lower rate mobility | 13.1 | 10.7 | 2.4 |
| Lower rate care only | 17.6 | 12.4 | 5.2 |
| Higher rate mobility | 54.0 | 21.3 | 32.7 |
| Lower rate mobility | 11.1 | 8.6 | 2.6 |
27 Jan 2004 : Column 345W
| All | Under 60 | 60 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 2,526.7 | 1,587.5 | 939.2 |
| Higher rate care and higher rate mobility | 385.4 | 227.8 | 157.6 |
| Higher rate care and lower rate mobility | 113.7 | 102.5 | 11.2 |
| Higher rate care only | 41.4 | 35.8 | 5.6 |
| Middle rate care and higher rate mobility | 372.6 | 189.4 | 183.2 |
| Middle rate care and lower rate mobility | 294.2 | 263.4 | 30.8 |
| Middle rate care only | 103.7 | 90.8 | 12.9 |
| Lower rate care and higher rate mobility | 344.7 | 183.8 | 160.9 |
| Lower rate care and lower rate mobility | 110.6 | 89.2 | 21.4 |
| Lower rate care only | 190.8 | 136.7 | 54.2 |
| Higher rate mobility | 467.5 | 188.3 | 279.2 |
| Lower rate mobility | 102.1 | 80.0 | 22.1 |
Source:
IAD Information Centre.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost would be of increasing the upper age limit on claiming disability living allowance to (i) 70, (ii) 75 and (iii) 80 years; what estimate he has made of the likely number of beneficiaries; and what take-up assumptions are made in this calculation. [150450]
Maria Eagle: The requested information is not available. The effect of increasing the upper age limit for claims to Disability Living Allowance would be to enable people aged 65 and over to claim and qualify for the mobility component and the lowest rate care component of the allowance. Entitlement to these and the other components of the allowance can be reliably established after a claim has only been made and the mobility and care needs of the customer assessed. There are no reliable data available on which estimates could be made of the number of people aged 65 and over who might be entitled to either the mobility component or the lowest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance if they were to make a claim. The higher and middle rate care components of Disability Living Allowance have the same entitlement conditions as Attendance Allowance which is available to people aged 65 and over when they claim help with their disability-related extra costs.
27 Jan 2004 : Column 346W
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