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10 Mar 2004 : Column 1557W—continued

Care Grants

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money has been allocated in care grants in each year since 1999 (a) in total for England and (b) broken down by local authority. [157370]

Mr. Pond: The available information for England is in the table.

Community Care Grant budget and expenditure for Englandsince 1999£

	Initial budget	Contingency Reserve allocation	Total allocation	Expenditure
1999–2000	77.14	0.34	77.48	77.38
2000–01	78.71	0.26	78.97	78.87
2001–02	80.95	0.21	81.15	80.62
2002–03	84.91	0.81	85.72	85.02
2003–04	92.72	0.36	93.08	—

Notes:

1. All figures are given in millions.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.01 million.

3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

4. The Contingency Reserve allocation for 2003–04 is the allocation so far this year.

Source:

DWP figures; Social Fund Policy Budget and Management Information System

The information is not available at local authority level.

Initial budgets and contingency reserve allocations are set at Social Fund/Jobcentre Plus district level. Information regarding all district initial budgets and contingency reserve allocations are available in the Library; this includes information regarding the impact of boundary changes made in 2002–03.

Council Tax Benefit

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are claiming Council Tax Benefit. [159916]

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Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested.

As at August 2003, 4,657,400 households were in receipt of Council Tax Benefit in Great Britain.

Source:

DWP Data 100 per cent. sample (figures rounded to nearest hundred).

Ministerial Speeches

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many speeches he made between 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004; and where a copy of each speech can be obtained. [156148]

Mr. Andrew Smith: I and members of the Government make a number of speeches on a wide range of domestic and international issues. Copies of my speeches are available on the Departmental website at www. dwp.gov.uk (contained within the Media Centre then Ministers Speeches).

Westminster Hall

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to have senior Ministers reply to debates in Westminster Hall. [159614]

Mr. Andrew Smith: I refer my hon. Member to the Written answer given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House on 8 March 2004, Official Report, column 1234W.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have requested application forms for winter fuel payments via e-mail in each year since the facility became available. [159851]

Malcolm Wicks: During the 2002–03 Winter Fuel Payment exercise there were 250 requests for a Winter

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Fuel Payment claim form via e-mail. To date for this winter 2003–04 there have been 410 requests for a Winter Fuel Payment claim form via e-mail.

Funding (Dorset)

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what grants were awarded to local

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authorities in Dorset by his Department in financial year 2003–04 that fall outside the revenue support grant. [156203]

Mr. Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local and Regional Government on 1 March 2004, Official Report, column 750W.

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HOME DEPARTMENT

"Reducing Crime, Changing Lives"

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met representatives of NAPO to discuss the implications of the Carter Report; and when he next plans to meet NAPO representatives on this subject. [155614]

Paul Goggins: As the Minister responsible for the Probation Service I meet at least twice a year with representatives of the relevant trade unions, including National Association of Probation Officers in the Ministerial Trade Union Forum. The last meeting was held on 17 December prior to the publication of Patrick Carter's report and the Home Office response, "Reducing Crime—Changing Lives".

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation took place, and for what period, on the plans contained in, "Reducing Crime, Changing Lives". [155840]

Paul Goggins: "Reducing Crime, Changing Lives" was published on 6 January. The closing date for responses was 3 March.

"The Old and the New" Report

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will implement the recommendations of the report The New and the Old from the Life in the United Kingdom Advisory Group. [159239]

Beverley Hughes: I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my right hon. Friend, Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 2 February 2004. Official Report, column WS13, and to the related papers deposited in the Library, which set out the steps we are taking to implement the recommendations of the report.

EU Accession States

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement by the Home Secretary on 23 February 2004, Official Report, columns 23–36, on immigration from the accession states, what assessment he has made of the impact of the policy on the recruitment of health care professionals to work in the UK. [158585]

Beverley Hughes: Relevantly qualified healthcare professionals from the EU accession states will be able to work in the United Kingdom after accession.

All nationals from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania who find work in the UK will be required to apply to register with the Home Office under the new 'Worker Registration Scheme' as soon as they find work. This should have no impact on the ability of the NHS to recruit health care professionals from EU accession states.

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) to whom and how often employers will be required to forward the number of EU accession citizens in their employ; whether employers

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will be permitted to charge the employee for such registrations; and whether employers will be fined if they fail to keep such information up-to-date; [156980]

(2) whether the issuing of a worker's registration certificate will enable a citizen of an EU accession state to look for work in the United Kingdom if employment is not already guaranteed; [156982]

(3) who will issue the registration certificate enabling EU accession nationals to work in the UK; and whether there will be a charge for such a certificate; [156992]

(4) when the work registration certificates enabling EU accession states citizens to work in the UK will begin to be issued; for how long such a certificate will enable the holder to seek work; and whether it will be necessary for such certificates to be re-applied for should the holder move to another part of the UK from that in which their initial employment was found. [156998]

Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary indicated in his statement to the House on 23 February 2003, Official Report columns 23–25, that, from 1 May, accession country nationals will have free movement across EU borders. They will not be required to apply for entry clearance to travel to the United Kingdom in search of work. With the exception of Malta and Cyprus, citizens of the new member states will need to register with the Home Office when they find a job in the UK, providing information about where and for whom they are working. Employers will be required to satisfy themselves that accession country nationals in their employ apply for and receive registration under this scheme.

The registration scheme will be run by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The Directorate is looking into whether all or part of the administrative costs of the scheme could be recovered through charges.

Registration under the scheme will be issued for 12 months, and within that period will be valid for as long as the worker is in the registered employment. The worker should apply to renew the registration if he or she finds a job with a new employer. Registration under the scheme will apply only to workers in the United Kingdom, not to those who are not working.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions he plans to introduce to prevent unwanted mass immigration after accession of Eastern European countries to the EU in May. [153097]

Beverley Hughes: Based on research and experience of previous accession, the Home Office does not expect migration from the accession countries after May 1 to be at levels which would damage the labour market. Measures to ensure we can both monitor the impact on the labour market and prevent access to work-seeking benefits, child benefit and housing support were announced by my right hon. friend the Home Secretary to the House of Commons on 23 February 2004, Official Report, columns 23–25, in which he outlined the regulations the Government will be bringing forward to ensure that income related benefits, housing support and child benefit are not abused.

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Accession state nationals who want to work in the UK will be required to register as a worker once they have found a job. This will allow the Government to very closely monitor the numbers of people coming to work in the UK.

In the unexpected event of a large influx of workers to the UK, which threatened the level of employment or standard of living in a particular region or occupation we would impose restrictions on workers.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have taken place between his Department and its counterparts in the new EU accession states regarding the security of peripheral EU borders. [157576]

Beverley Hughes: Home Office Ministers and officials have discussed the security of periphery EU borders with accession state counterparts on many occasions over the past 12 months (and longer), both bilaterally and within the EU framework. These discussions will continue during the lead up to formal accession in May and beyond.

Examples of these discussions include the recent bilateral meetings between my hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) and Polish and Hungarian counterparts; a joint UK-Finnish border management conference attended by all 13 accession and candidate countries; bilateral technical co-operation meetings with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Malta, Poland and Slovenia; a UK-hosted seminar on justice and home affairs issues attended by all accession states; and UK participation in border control projects in Malta and Poland.

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