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Prison Visiting

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is a limit on the number of children who may visit a parent in prison. [162279]

Paul Goggins: There is no limit on the number of children who are able to attend social visits in prisons. However, prisons with fixed, rather than freestanding furniture in their visits halls sometimes experience difficulties in accommodating larger families together. In these instances, there is an expectation that establishments will be flexible and make appropriate arrangements to assist them.

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on visits to prisoners in Highpoint prison by more than three of their children at any one time. [162280]

Paul Goggins: The prisoner visits booking system currently in use at Highpoint prison allows for one main visitor over 18 years old, two further visitors over the age of 10 and up to four children under the age of 10. A new system is shortly to be introduced which will raise the number of children able to visit to nine.

Youth Offending Teams

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total budget allocated to youth offending teams is for (a) drugs and (b) alcohol programmes in 2003–04. [162612]

Paul Goggins [holding answer 22 March 2004]: In 2003–04 the Youth Justice Board paid £8.5 million in grant support to Youth Offending Teams for substance misuse work, which includes drugs and alcohol problems. It does not set separate amounts for each type of problem.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Association of British Insurers

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ask a third party to examine the accuracy and impartiality of the information the Association of British Insurers is collating on the separation of long tail disease risk and accident risk, as referred to in his Department's Second Stage Report on the review of Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance. [163200]

Mr. Browne: As well as the Government's consideration of this work we understand that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) is consulting with a wide range of third parties including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Benefits Reforms (Scotland)

Mr. Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had concerning the introduction of Jobcentre Plus to Scotland. [160271]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Roy, dated 25 March 2004:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning what discussions have taken place concerning the introduction of Jobcentre Plus to Scotland. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

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Jobcentre Plus came into existence as a national organisation at the beginning of April 2002. The Benefits Agency and Employment Service ceased to exist at the same time. The new service is being rolled out across England, Wales and Scotland on a district by district basis. Nearly 400 integrated Jobcentre Plus offices are now operating across the country, 33 of which are in Scotland. Integrating the whole of the former Employment Service and Benefits Agency's services for people of working age and creating the national network of Jobcentre Plus offices will not be completed until 2006.

During 2002–2003, 23 offices were successfully introduced across Grampian, Moray, Orkney and Shetland District and Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Argyll and Bute District. Implementation is ongoing in Glasgow, Lothian and Borders and Tayside Districts. Rollout planning schedules are at an advanced stage for the remaining Districts; Ayrshire Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, Fife, Forth Valley and Dunbartonshire Highlands and Western Isles and Lanarkshire. Our aim is to complete rollout of Jobcentre Plus throughout Scotland by 2006.

As each district starts to plan for the introduction of the new integrated Jobcentre Plus, service delivery arrangements are shared with local stakeholders, MPs and others. The service delivery arrangements are shared at the initial proposal stage, amended to take account of comments received where appropriate, then shared again when approval for the plans has been given. This is an integral part of the planning process for the introduction of the Jobcentre Plus service across England, Wales and Scotland.

District Managers are provided with a list of suggested stakeholders for this initial planning stage. These include; local MPs/MEPs/MSPs/Members of the National Assembly of Wales, Local Authorities, programme providers/service delivery partners, employers, Citizens Advice Bureaux, and welfare rights organisations. This list is not exhaustive and each District Manager may identify their own local stakeholders.

As part of the consultation process District Managers may also canvass the opinions of their customers and any comments they provide will be used as part of the planning process. We also take account of views expressed by stakeholders representing groups such as unemployed workers and pensioners. Any concerns or issues raised by these groups as a result of the consultation process will be addressed at district level and are fed in to each district's planning before the final decision is made for roll out of Jobcentre Plus in that district.

Jobcentre Plus managers at all levels maintain close contact with many local and national organisations representing our client base. This enables continuous feedback concerning the services that we provide before, during and after the roll out of the new Jobcentre Plus services.

Company Stakeholder Pension Schemes

Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on action taken in relation to companies who are unable to find an insurer to set up a company stakeholder pension scheme with. [163132]

Malcolm Wicks: The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) is responsible for regulating compliance with the requirement for employers to offer access to stakeholder pension schemes.

Opra has not found any cases, or received any reports, of employers being non-compliant with the requirement because they could not find a suitable stakeholder pension scheme provider. Opra is satisfied that there is an adequate number of schemes open to employers, so no specific action is required. Opra is monitoring the position.

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If an employer is required to designate a stakeholder pension scheme for their employees they should first check the register of stakeholder pension schemes on Opra's website which will give addresses of providers. This also gives details of restrictions on membership and availability to designate.

Departmental Policies (Hackney)

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the impact of his Department's policies on the constituency of Hackney, North and Stoke Newington since 1997. [162290]

Mr. Browne: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001; since then, we have undertaken a fundamental overhaul of the welfare system, transforming it from a passive organisation paying out benefits to an active system that fights poverty, creates opportunity and helps people become self-sufficient and independent.

We are making a significant contribution to the Government's objective of eradicating child poverty in 20 years and halving it within 10, and there are now half a million fewer children in relative low income than there were in 1997. Child Benefit is now worth £16.05 a week for the eldest child, compared to only £11.40 in 1997, benefiting 13,200 families in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington.

Through Jobcentre Plus, we are promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age. The number of people in work is at historically high levels of over 28.27 million. Unemployment in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington has halved and long-term unemployment has fallen by over 75 per cent.

Our New Deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, disabled people, the over 50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. Nationally over 1,029,000 people have been helped into work by the New Deals, and over 9,500 have been helped into work in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington.

We want all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement and to share fairly in the rising prosperity of the country, and our first priority has been to help the poorest pensioners. The Government will be spending an extra £10 billion in 2004–05 on pensioners as a result of measures introduced since 1997; this is £6 billion more than an earnings link would have given them. Almost half the extra spending, around £5 billion, is going to the poorest third of pensioners.

Pension Credit, introduced from October 2003, provides a contribution to a guaranteed minimum income for those aged 60 and over and, for the first time, those over aged 65 and over may be rewarded for modest savings and income. Around 4,559 pensioner households in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington are already benefiting from Pension Credit, with an average award of £69.81 per week.

We know that older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty, and this winter (2003–04) we have made available a Winter Fuel Payment of £200 for each eligible household to help with their fuel bills. In

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addition, the introduction of the 80 plus annual payment gives an extra £100 to households where there is someone aged 80 or over. So far 10,120 older people in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington have received a payment this winter; of those 1,865 have received the 80 plus annual payment.

On 17 March, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his Budget statement, announced a £100 pension payment to households with someone aged over 70, to help with council tax bills.

Some 8,900 pensioners in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington benefited from the above inflation increase in the rate of basic state pension from April 2003. Those over 75, of whom we estimate there are about 3,700 in Hackney, North and Stoke Newington, may also qualify for free TV licences.

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