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23 Apr 2004 : Column 706W—continued
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of disability living allowance have not been paid money due to them in (a) January, (b) February, (c) March and (d) April;
23 Apr 2004 : Column 707W
what the total sum is of such payments owed to claimants of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [167248]
Maria Eagle: We are not aware of any backlog of cases where entitlement has been determined and payments to customers are outstanding.
However the Department was aware of a technical problem with Direct Payments that affected some DLA customers on 6 and 7 April, which resulted in payments being delayed to the 8 April. This problem was related to the adjustments made to accommodate the need to advance payments over the Easter Bank Holiday. We are currently scanning the database to establish exactly the number of payments that were delayed. It is estimated that approximately 74,000 payments were affected.
Ethnic Minority Employment
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many ethnic minorities are employed in Jobcentres in each region in the UK, broken down by grade. [156124]
Maria Eagle: The information is in the following table. The figures are based on the number of staff who have responded to ethnic surveys. Participation in such surveys is on a voluntary basis.
(17) Denotes that the figure is less than 5.
Source:
Financial and Management Information System (FAMIS) Payroll and Rebus Payroll.
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23 Apr 2004 : Column 709W
Pension Forecasts
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will set out his plans for combined pension forecasts; in what sequence different groups will be issued with forecasts and over what timescale; how many forecasts he expects to issue for each group; and if he will make a statement. [166248]
Malcolm Wicks: The combined pension forecast service gives people a projection of retirement income that brings state pension together with their current private pension. The service is delivered through employers and pension providers.
By the end of March, a total of 1.12 million Combined Pension Forecasts had been issued. To date over 700 employers and pension providers have expressed an interest in participating in the service. By the end of 2005–06 we aim to have reached 6.3 million people.
We are not targeting particular groups with the combined pension forecast service. Rather we are encouraging all employers and pension providers to participate, currently on a voluntary basis. Additionally we are seeking reserve powers in the Pensions Bill so that, should the need arise, the provision of combined pension forecasts can be made a statutory requirement of pension schemes.
Rent Service
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what date has been set for The Rent Service to begin publishing information about local reference rents. [166816]
Mr. Pond: No date has been set for The Rent Service to begin publishing details of Local Reference Rents. The Local Housing Allowance for Pathfinder Local Authorities is published on a monthly basis by the participating local authorities, and is available on their websites.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Bali
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will revise his Department's advice against travel to Bali. [166993]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Travel advice for Indonesia is kept under close scrutiny and is based on objective assessments of the risks to British nationals. It reflects the current level of risk.
Civil Servants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list for each civil service grade within his (a) Department and (b) Department's executive agencies, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (i) gender, (ii) ethnic group and (iii) age group; and how many are registered disabled in each case. [166389]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: As at 1 October 2003 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff numbers were:
| Grade | Percentage female | Percentage declared minority ethnic | Percentage declared disabled | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMS 4 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12 |
| SMS 3 | 6.25 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 16 |
| SMS 2 | 8.08 | 0.73 | 1.47 | 136 |
| SMS 1 | 16.56 | 0.97 | 1.95 | 308 |
| SMS total | 13.35 | 0.85 | 1.69 | 472 |
| D7 | 20.73 | 1.55 | 0.52 | 193 |
| D6 | 27.05 | 1.29 | 0.72 | 695 |
| C5 | 22.34 | 1.95 | 2.13 | 564 |
| C4 | 35.98 | 2.88 | 1.68 | 1,248 |
| B3 | 49.08 | 6.48 | 2.21 | 1,312 |
| A2 | 61.51 | 12.24 | 2.91 | 1,169 |
| A1 | 46.29 | 14.24 | 3.26 | 337 |
| Total | 39.82 | 5.66 | 2.02 | 5,990 |
| Grade | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | A1 | A2 | B3 | C4 | C5 | D6 | D7 |
| 16–20 | 43 | 43 | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 21–25 | 114 | 190 | 86 | 53 | — | — | 1 |
| 26–30 | 42 | 180 | 187 | 152 | 16 | 65 | 4 |
| 31–35 | 23 | 185 | 404 | 279 | 44 | 124 | 17 |
| 36–40 | 19 | 180 | 226 | 280 | 102 | 145 | 32 |
| 41–45 | 19 | 132 | 142 | 156 | 102 | 96 | 40 |
| 46–50 | 21 | 86 | 87 | 108 | 109 | 96 | 29 |
| 51–55 | 26 | 87 | 87 | 105 | 113 | 91 | 29 |
| 56–60 | 21 | 66 | 74 | 100 | 76 | 73 | 40 |
| 61–65 | 9 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Grand total | 337 | 1,169 | 1,312 | 1,248 | 564 | 695 | 193 |
| Grade | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | SMS1 | SMS2 | SMS3 | SMS4 | Grand total |
| 16–20 | — | — | — | — | 89 |
| 21–25 | — | — | — | — | 444 |
| 26–30 | — | — | — | — | 646 |
| 31–35 | 8 | 1 | — | — | 1,085 |
| 36–40 | 50 | 2 | — | — | 1,036 |
| 41–45 | 81 | 13 | — | — | 780 |
| 46–50 | 76 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 646 |
| 51–55 | 53 | 43 | 7 | 7 | 648 |
| 56–60 | 40 | 45 | 6 | 4 | 545 |
| 61–65 | — | 2 | — | — | 70 |
| Grand total | 308 | 136 | 16 | 12 | 5,990 |
The FCO's only agency. Wilton Park reported the following figures at 1 April, 2004.
| Grade | Number |
|---|---|
| Al | 13 |
| A2 | 23 |
| B3 | 9 |
| C4 | 14 |
| C5 | 2 |
| D6 | 7 |
| D7 | 1 |
| SMS | 2 |
| Total employed | 71 |
| Total male | 23 |
| Total female | 48 |
| Ethnic origin | |
| White | 68 |
| Chinese | 1 |
| Anglo Indian | 1 |
| Anglo Caribbean | 1 |
| Disabled | 0 |
23 Apr 2004 : Column 711W
| Age | Al | A2 | B3 | C4 | C5 | D6 | D7 | SMS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16–20 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |
| 21–25 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 |
| 26–30 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 |
| 31–35 | — | 4 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 9 |
| 36–40 | — | 1 | — | 5 | — | 2 | — | — | 8 |
| 41–45 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | 5 |
| 46–50 | 1 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 9 |
| 51–55 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 17 |
| 56–60 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | 7 |
| 61–65 | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 |
| Total | 13 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 71 |
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