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20 Apr 2004 : Column 443W—continued
Higher Education
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he will take in response to the findings and recommendations of the Scottish Executive's Phase 3 Higher Education Review. [165959]
Mrs. McGuire: Higher Education in Scotland is a devolved matter. It is therefore for Scottish Ministers to consider the findings of the 3rd Phase Scottish Higher Education Review to inform the 2004 Spending Review.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Pensions and Benefits (Direct Payments)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in the Portsmouth South constituency drew their (a) benefits including war pensions and (b) retirement pensions at (i) post offices and (ii) banks and building societies, in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [165353]
Chris Pond: The information is not available in the format requested. However, information available on pensioners (women over 60 and men over 65) as at 31 December 2002 and 31 December 2003 in the Portsmouth South constituency receiving benefit payments collectable at a post office and by direct payment into bank and building society accounts, is in the tables.
| Payments into Bank/Building Society Accounts | Payments through Post Office | |
|---|---|---|
| December 2002 | 3,995 | 9,330 |
| December 2003 | 5,725 | 8,045 |
| Payments into Bank/Building Society Accounts | Payments through Post Office | |
|---|---|---|
| December 2002 | 5,790 | 6,640 |
| December 2003 | 6,135 | 5,410 |
Included in payment through the post office are customers paid into Post Office card accounts and customers paid by girocheque. Girocheques are encashable either at a post office or they can be paid into
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a bank or building society account. These figures do not include war pensions and child benefit customers as these accounts are the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence and Inland Revenue respectively.
Some customers who are paid direct into an account can also collect their payments in cash at post offices through the wider range of banking services now available at the post office. There is no data available on the number of benefit claims collected in this way.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take up of direct payment has been. [166230]
Chris Pond: Key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment are available in the Library, updated every four weeks.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) to how many benefit claimants the Department has sent personal invitation letters to open a Post Office Card Account; and how many of these are in receipt of state pensions; [166011]
(2) how many benefit claimants have completed the Post Office Card Account application forms at post offices; and how many of these are in receipt of state pensions; [166012]
(3) how many benefits claimants are being paid by the Department directly into Post Office card accounts; and how many of these are pensioners. [166082]
Chris Pond: Key figures on the progress of conversion to Direct Payment are available in the Library, updated every four weeks.
Post Office Limited have advised that as at 31 March 2004 over 2.1 million Post Office card accounts had been opened. The Post Office does not break these figures down into individual benefit groups therefore specific data for pensioners is not available.
The number of Department for Work and Pensions benefit accounts being paid into a Post Office card account as at 20 March 2004 is 679,355 of which 172,345 are Retirement Pension accounts.
As many customers have already provided their account details it is expected that the figures for Direct Payment into Post Office card accounts will quickly rise, as customers existing methods of payment expire, and they move over to payment being made direct into their nominated account.
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff are employed by his Department to call members of the public who have yet to sign up for electronic payment of their benefits into bank or Post Office accounts. [165709]
Chris Pond: The conversion process normally consists of one or more mailings sent directly to the customer, followed by a phone call if there is no response to the letter(s). If the customers' telephone number is not available then a further letter asking them to contact the Department may be issued.
Approximately 150 of the staff employed by the Customer Conversion Centre are involved in making outbound calls. This is just part of the range of tasks undertaken by the Customer Conversion Centre aimed
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at assisting over 14 million customers to convert to Direct Payment before order books are phased out in 2005.
New Deal for Lone Parents
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many women in Birkenhead have benefited from the (a) New Deal for Lone Parents and (b) New Deal for Partners since 1997; and if he will make a statement; [166508]
(2) how many lone parents in Birkenhead have gained work through the New Deal programme. [166511]
Jane Kennedy: The New Deal is working. Over one million people have been helped into work since its inception. On New Deal for Lone Parents alone there have been almost 460,000 entrants to the programme and over 240,000 of the lone parents participating have found work.
Statistics for New Deal for Partners are not available at constituency level. The information requested on the number of women benefiting from New Deal for Lone Parents is in the table.
| Number of New Deal Participants (4) | Number of New Deal Starts (5) |
|---|---|
| 1,310 | 1,630 |
Source:
New Deal evaluation Database, Information and Analysis Directorate, DWP.
Notes:
(4) All figures relate to individuals who have started each programme.
(5) An individual may have had more than one start over the period.
Seven Hundred and Forty lone parents have gained work through the New Deal for Lone Parents in Birkenhead. Information on the family circumstances of the participants of other New Deals is not available.
Mr. Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents in Wirral South have gained work through the New Deal programme. [166632]
Jane Kennedy: 210 lone parents have gained work in Wirral South through New Deal for Lone Parents.
Information on how many lone parents have gained work through other New Deal progammes is not available.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will break down by geographical area the information given in the latest Office of National Statistics' Statistics on the New Deal immediate destinations of people leaving the New Deal for Young People (Table 4) and the enhanced New Deal 25 plus (Table 5); [166351]
(2) in the latest Office of National Statistics' statistics on the New Deal, if he will break down by benefit to which individuals moved, the information given in the
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column on transfers to other benefits in Table 5 of the Immediate Destination on leaving the enhanced New Deal 25 plus; [166379]
(3) if he will break down by benefit to which individuals moved, the information given in the column on other benefits in Table 4 of the Immediate Destination on leaving the New Deal for Young People in the latest Office of National Statistics's Statistics on the New deal. [166380]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 19 April 2004]: Latest information on the immediate destinations of people leaving New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus, broken down by Jobcentre Plus region, has been placed in the Library.
A further breakdown of immediate destinations on leaving New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25plus is not available. Work is currently underway examining our data sources and systems, exploring the possibility of linking these to provide information such as that requested.
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