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Specialised Disability Fund

Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale have gained work through the New Deal programme. [178533]

Jane Kennedy: 520 lone parents in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale have gained work through the New Deal for Lone Parents since the start of the programme in October 1998. Figures for lone parents who have gained work through other New Deal Programmes are not available.

Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale have benefited from (a) the New Deal for Lone Parents and (b) the New Deal for Partners since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [178534]

Jane Kennedy: Through the New Deal we have introduced a wide range of initiatives to help individuals improve their employment prospects by giving them the skills, support and confidence they need to move into work. From 12 April we enhanced the New Deal for Partners in order to offer partners taking part in that programme the same level of help and support as our successful New Deal for Lone Parents programme. Also from this April we have started to roll out Work Focused Interviews for Partners, offering greater support to partners of benefit recipients.

920 women have started New Deal for Lone Parents in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale since the beginning of the programme in October 1998, of whom, 490 have gained a job. Information on the number of women who have benefited from the New Deal for Partners is not available.

Mrs. Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior citizens in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale have benefited from the winter fuel allowance since 1997; and what percentage are (a) women and (b) of Asian origin. [178542]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of senior citizens in the Rochdale constituency who have benefited from a winter fuel payment in each year since 1999–2000 (including provisional figures for 2003–04) and identified by gender is in the table. Information relating to the 1997–98 and 1998–99 winters and ethnic origin is not available.
 
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	Payments made
	All	Men	Women	Percentage of women
1999–2000	14,285	5,495	8,785	61.5
2000–01	15,635	6,820	8,810	56.3
2001–02	15,685	6,965	8,720	55.6
2002–03	15,845	7,115	8,730	55.1
2003–04	15,795	7,085	8,710	55.1

Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run i.e. they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid via late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). Since most of the payments made in late payment runs are to people who are not receiving another benefit from DWP and whose claims had not been received by the qualifying week, most are to men aged 60.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. samples.

Sure Start

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Stoke-on-Trent North have received the Sure Start maternity grant. [177634]

Mr. Pond: The information is in the tables.
Sure Start maternity grants for area covered by Staffordshire Social Fund District

	Applications	Awards
2000–01	2,830	2,498
2001–02	3,502	3,024
2002–03 to October	2,659	2,221

Sure Start Maternity Grants for area covered by Staffordshire Jobcentre Plus District

	Applications	Awards
2002–03 from November	2,142	1,648
2003–04	5,504	4,199
2004–05 to May	961	680

Notes:
1. Stoke on Trent North parliamentary constituency was part of the Staffordshire Social Fund District. In November 2002, Staffordshire Social Fund District was combined with parts of Burton Social Fund District to form Staffordshire Jobcentre Plus District. The two areas for which data is given above are different, therefore the data is not comparable.
2. Sure Start maternity grants were introduced on 27 March 2000. There were no applications recorded in the Staffordshire district during 1999–2000
3. Data is given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Winter Fuel Allowance

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many senior citizens in Stoke-on-Trent North have benefited from the winter fuel allowance since 1997. [177623]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of senior citizens in Stoke-on-Trent North who received a winter fuel payment in each year since 1999–2000 (including
 
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provisional figures for 2003–04) is in the table. Information relating to the 1997–98 and 1998–99 winters is not available.

	Payments
1999–2000	14,525
2000–01	15,950
2001–02	16,101
2002–03	16,065
2003–04	16,090

Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
2. Please note that the figures for 2003–04 refer only to the main payment run i.e. they do not include the late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid via late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). However, since late payment runs are mainly in respect of non-system cases whose claim had not been received by qualifying week, they are heavily skewed towards men aged 60.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. samples.

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Stalybridge and Hyde received the winter fuel allowance; and how many receive the pension credit. [177685]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of pensioners in Stalybridge and Hyde who received a winter fuel payment for winter 2003–04 was 15,580. As at 31 May 2004, 4,530 households (5,430 individuals) in Stalybridge and Hyde were in receipt of pension credit.

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5. 2. The winter fuel payment figure includes only the main payment run—i.e. it does not include late payment run figures. We estimate that there are approximately 100,000 people in Great Britain paid via late payment runs (0.8 per cent. of all payments). However, since late payment runs are mainly in respect of non-system cases whose claim had not been received by qualifying week, they are heavily skewed towards men aged 60. 3. Individuals in receipt of pension credit include a small number of cases of couples where the partner is under age 60.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

All-postal Ballots

Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what procedures will be put in place to inform electors who have incorrectly filled in their postal ballot papers of their mistake. [178175]

Mr. Leslie: In the four all-postal pilot regions at the 10 June elections, the European Parliamentary and Local Elections (All-Postal) Pilot Order 2004 provided that where an incomplete declaration of identity was found within a ballot pack before noon on 8 June, the returning officer was required to return it to the elector, along with a letter explaining that a completed declaration was needed in order that the vote could be considered valid. If the elector then completed and returned the declaration before the close of poll, their ballot paper would be put forward to the count.

There was no similar requirement placed upon returning officer by the rules governing postal voting in the non-pilot regions.
 
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Postal ballot papers that were returned spoilt were dealt with at the counting of the votes in the same way as votes cast at a polling station. However, if an elector voting by post reported their ballot paper spoilt before returning it, arrangements were in place both in the pilot and non-pilot regions to allow the issuing of a replacement.

Mr. David Amess: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people were on the electoral roll in the four regions for which all-postal voting pilots were to be held for elections on 10 June. [178407]

Mr Christopher Leslie : As at December 2003, there were 14,083,004 people on the electoral roll for the four all-postal pilot regions which are the North East, East Midlands, Yorkshire & the Humber and North West.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in areas not subject to all-postal voting pilots who registered to vote by post at the elections to be held on 10th June in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland, (d) Essex and (e) Southend West. [178408]

Mr Christopher Leslie : Individual Electoral Registration Officers keep records of the number of postal voters in their registration area. For the elections on 10th June this year, in those regions not holding all-postal pilots, it was possible to apply for a postal vote at any time until Wednesday, 2 June and statistics are therefore still being compiled. I understand that the independent Electoral Commission are to publish details of the number of postal ballot papers issued and various other statistics relating to the European Parliamentary elections later this year. Available statistics show that at the 2001 General Election, 1,758,055 postal votes were issued in the UK in total.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what estimate he has made of extra costs arising from problems with distribution of ballot papers in regions for which all-postal ballots are being held for elections on 10th June. [178403]

Mr. Leslie : Returning officers have the contractual relationship with suppliers of ballot packs. They will be submitting claims for their costs of the all-postal ballots to the Elections Claims Unit in due course. When those claims have been received, it will be possible to make an estimate of any costs falling to Returning Officers arising from any problems with printing and distribution.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment will be made of the comparative outturn costs of all-postal ballots against (a) conventional ballots and (b) the prior assessments of all-postal costs; and what arrangements the Department will make to repay to local returning officers any unbudgeted expenditure. [178050]

Mr. Leslie: Returning Officers are required to submit their accounts to the Secretary of State within six months of the announcement of the results of the election. This will enable comparisons to be made with
 
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previous expenditure of elections in those areas and with other similar areas running conventional elections and against predicted costs.

The Electoral Commission will be reporting on the all-postal ballots within three months of the close of poll on 10 June. Their report will also include an assessment of the extent to which postal voting provides opportunities for savings in the costs of administering the election or any increase in such costs.

Unforeseen expenditure reasonably incurred to ensure the effective running of the all-postal ballots will be covered by central Government.

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