---

27 May 2004 : Column 1801W—continued

Housing Benefit

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cumulative additional cost to his Department has been of housing benefit paid where council housing is transferred from councils to registered social landlords in each year from 1999 to 2000. [176267]

Mr. Pond: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave him on 20 May 2004, Official Report, column 1169W.

Income Support

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were receiving income support in each of the last 25 years, broken down by constituency within each region. [175130]

Mr. Pond: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Industrial Injuries (Appeals)

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Government's target time is from application to hearing for appeals concerning industrial injuries disablement benefit diseases; and what the average waiting time has been for those whose appeals are currently being heard. [175717]

Mr. Pond: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will reply to the hon. Member.

Letter from Christina Townsend to Mr. Tony Lloyd dated 27 May 2004:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question regarding the target time for hearing appeals concerning Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) diseases and the average waiting time for those whose appeals are currently being heard.

Our target for the 2003–2004 financial year was to hear appeals within an average of 13 weeks from receipt in our Service. Information on waiting times is not available in the format requested but I can advise you that the average waiting time for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit appeals was 15.9 weeks for the 2003–2004 financial year.

I hope that this is helpful.

Information and Communication Technology

Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his budget is for staff training in information and communication technology in this financial year. [173716]

Maria Eagle: The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies do not have a specific budget for training staff in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) during the current financial year. Resource is allocated to Learning and Development in general and includes an element in respect of ICT learning.

However, Jobcentre Plus, DWP's largest agency, has committed a budget of £400,000 for non-specialist staff to learn basic IT applications such as Word and Excel. All other ICT learning in the Department will be funded from the general Learning and Development budget.
 
27 May 2004 : Column 1802W
 

Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his targets are for improving the information and communication technology (ICT) skills base of staff within (a) his Department and (b) its agencies; and what method he uses to certify the competence levels achieved by staff receiving training in ICT. [173717]

Maria Eagle: DWP and its agencies do not have specific targets for improving the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills base of staff, but we are committed to ensuring staff have the skills and competence to do their jobs. Learning needs are identified on an individual basis through discussion between jobholders and their line managers. This process will increasingly be assisted by the development of a series of capability matrices which will enable individuals to define their learning needs and to identify the learning solutions by which they can meet them.

The standard Kirkpatrick model is used to evaluate learning and development in the Department, including an assessment of whether individuals have met the learning objectives of the course.

Scottish and National Vocational Qualifications (S/NVQs) in Information Technology are available to staff but these are not mandatory. In the business year 2003–04, 200 staff completed full awards in IT S/NVQ's. Of these, 16 were at level 1, 156 at level 2 and 28 were at level 3. Staff undertaking S/NVQ's are required to produce a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate the required level of competence.

Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the assessment made under the provisions of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 of the proposal to move Jobcentre Plus jobs out of London; and if he will   make a statement on the implications of the assessment. [175025]

Jane Kennedy: The draft Impact Assessment forms the basis for further consultation and is currently with London Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) representatives for their initial comments. Following receipt of their comments the intention is to circulate a further draft to a much wider range of stakeholders including all London MPs, the Greater London Authority, the Commission for Racial Equality, the London Development Agency, the Government Office for London and others.

Once the draft has been agreed, the final version will of course be made available and I will arrange for a copy of this document to be placed in the Library when it is published.

EU Worker Registration

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the fee for registering under the EU workers registration scheme (a) on Jobcentre Plus services and   (b) on illegal working; and if he will make a statement. [175032]

 
27 May 2004 : Column 1803W
 

Jane Kennedy: The UK Government support the free movement of people and workers within the EU—providing our citizens with the opportunity to work elsewhere, as well as allowing our economy to benefit from the productive potential of workers from the new member states.

The UK has one of the most successful and flexible labour markets in the EU with unemployment at its lowest level for 30 years. The UK labour market has upwards of 550,000 vacancies, and around 15 per cent. of UK trend economic growth depends on migration. Indeed studies show that migrants paid £2.5 billion more in taxes in 1999–2000 than they consumed in benefits and services. Hence the UK is well placed to absorb additional workers from accession states.

But just as UK nationals have the responsibility not to abuse our benefit and social protection system, so we would expect our neighbours and partners in the EU not to abuse the system. That is why we have allowed free movement of labour but brought in regulations to prevent exploitation of our benefits.

It costs £50 to register for the first time under the worker registration scheme. The fee has been set at this level to cover some of the administrative costs of running the scheme, in accordance with other charged services. Registration enables those nationals from the eight accession states who were working in the UK without authorisation prior to 1 May to regularise their status and move into the formal economy. We do not believe that a one-off fee of £50 will act as a deterrent to registration by them or by others arriving in the UK. Similarly, we foresee the introduction of this fee having no impact on the services provided by Jobcentre Plus.

Lung Diseases

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the most recent estimate is of the number of (a) deaths from mesothelioma, (b) cases of lung cancer attributable to asbestos, (c) deaths from asbestosis, (d) disablement benefit cases relating to asbestosis and (e) cases of disablement benefit for diffuse pleural thickening. [175957]

Jane Kennedy: There were 1, 848 deaths from mesothelioma in 2001 (the latest year for which data are available).

Lung cancers caused by exposure to asbestos cannot be individually distinguished from those due to other causes such as smoking. However, based on research evidence on the relative incidence of mesothelioma and lung cancer in specific occupational groups, it is estimated that there were between approximately 1,750 and 3,500 asbestos related lung cancer deaths in 2001.

There were 73 deaths in 2001 in Great Britain where the underlying cause of death was recorded as asbestosis.

Provisional figures for 2003 indicate that 650 cases of asbestosis and 400 cases of diffuse pleural thickening were identified through the Department for Work and Pensions Industrial Injuries and Disablement Benefit Scheme.
 
27 May 2004 : Column 1804W
 

---