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13 Jul 2004 : Column 1063W—continued
Jobseeker's Allowance
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of recipients of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit and (d) severe disablement allowance who found work made a subsequent claim for one of those benefits in the following six months broken down by (i) all adults, (ii) adults aged 16 to 24, (iii) adults aged 25 to 49 and (iv) adults aged 50 years to state pension age in the last period for which figures are available. [181112]
Mr. Pond:
The available information is in the tables.
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| Number of claimants ending their claim to | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobseeker's allowance | Incapacity benefit | Severe disablement allowance | |
| All ages | 746.1 | 23.5 | 0.6 |
| Claimant aged 16–24 | 231.0 | 0.9 | (8)0.1 |
| Claimant aged 25–49 | 413.6 | 13.3 | 0.5 |
| Claimant aged 50 and over | 101.5 | 9.3 | — |
| People returning to benefit within six months of ending their claim to | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobseeker's allowance | Incapacity benefit | Severe disablement allowance | |
| All ages | 37.6 | 16.8 | (8)16.7 |
| Claimant aged 16–24 | 43.1 | (8)23.3 | n/a |
| Claimant aged 25–49 | 35.6 | 15.9 | (8)16.0 |
| Claimant aged 50 and over | 33.3 | 17.4 | n/a |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| All ages | 884,900 |
| 16–24 | 135,800 |
| 25–49 | 409,500 |
| 50 and over | 339,600 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| All ages | 31.1 |
| 16–24 | 43.5 |
| 25–49 | 37.9 |
| 50 and over | 18.0 |
n/a = Percentage is not applicable, as at least one of the corresponding caseloads is nil or negligible.
(8) Numbers are based on very few sample cases and will be subject to a high degree of sampling variation.
Notes:
1. Caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands. Percentages are given to one decimal place.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only.
3. JSA figures are based on persons who were receiving Income-based or contribution-based JSA when their claim terminated. National Insurance credits only cases are not included.
4. JSA numbers show the number of people who have left JSA on finding work, working on average 16 hours per week or more, and on taking up the New Deal Employers Option.
5. Incapacity benefit figures are based on persons receiving either long-term or short-term incapacity benefit, and exclude credits only cases.
6. Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance terminations shown are those recorded as "returning to work" and therefore figures may not directly correspond to those finding work.
7. All income support terminations are shown as the reason for leaving benefit is not known.
8. A person is counted only once in each period, regardless of the number of times they claim and subsequently leave each benefit.
9. Age is given at the point the claim terminates.
10. End dates of IS claims are not collected, therefore the claim end dates for IS claimants are estimated. Persons returning within six months will therefore be a six month period from the estimated end date.
11. "—" signifies nil or negligible.
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Ministerial Air Travel
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list for each year since 1997 the number of miles flown by each Minister on official departmental business. [181858]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for 2003–04 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for (a) Ministers and (b) staff in his Department in the latest year for which figures are available. [182114]
Maria Eagle: For the latest year available (2003–04) there was no ministerial travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. In the same year the total cost for departmental staff travel, between these two locations, was £230,269.50.
Since 1999, the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for 2003–04 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly. All ministerial and civil service travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers, and Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Library.
National Insurance Numbers
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on issuing national insurance numbers to people who have (a) entered the country illegally, (b) overstayed their permitted time and (c) not been granted indefinite leave to remain. [180776]
Mr. Pond:
The allocation of a national insurance number (NINO) is dependent upon certain employment and benefit-related criteria. An individual resident in the UK must register for a NINO if they have never
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registered before, are aged 16 or over, are employed and/or self employed, or are not employed but wish to be and would benefit from paying class 3 voluntary contributions.
Possession of a NINO does not constitute proof of the right to work, and the onus for establishing right to work rests with employers. The 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act prohibits the use of illegal migrant labour and requires employers to carry out certain specified document checks on prospective employees. The NINO is only acceptable as evidence of entitlement to work if produced in combination with other specified documents. Alternatively, job applicants can demonstrate their entitlement to work by producing specified secure documentation, such as the British passport, EEA passports and other foreign passports endorsed to show the holder can work in the UK.
We have well established processes in place to notify Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate where it becomes apparent that an individual requesting a NINO has immigration restrictions. This process protects the benefit systems from undue loss when a person's immigration status excludes the right to access public funds and provides the Immigration Service with up to date information on the individual.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate his Department has made of the number of inaccurate national insurance numbers in the NINO database; [182073]
(2) if he will make a statement on the progress of data cleansing in the national insurance number database; [182112]
(3) how many false national insurance numbers have been discovered by his Department in each year since 1997. [182072]
Mr. Pond: The Department continually monitors the national insurance number (NINO) system to ensure its integrity and improve its accuracy.
We have made no estimate of the current number of inaccurate NINOs held on the Departmental Central Index (DCI). In 2001, the Department completed an analysis of the DCI database to improve its integrity and, as a result, over 200,000 duplicate NINOs were removed from the system. The process of analysing our databases to identify and remove inaccurate, duplicate and fraudulent NINOs has continued as part of our commitment to reduce fraud and error.
Information about the number of cases of false NINOs discovered by this Department is not available as data is not collated centrally.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers on the Departmental Central Index related to people (a) now deceased, (b) who live abroad and receive no benefits, (c) who live abroad and receive benefits and (d) aged under 16 years in each year since 1992. [182140]
13 Jul 2004 : Column 1067W
Mr. Pond: Information about how many national insurance numbers on the Departmental Central Index (DCI) are related to people who live abroad, whether or not they receive benefits, is not collated centrally. However, analysis carried out in 2003 indicates that there are about 5.5 million accounts relating to individuals who live abroad but are not in receipt of benefit, and about 1 million accounts for individuals who live abroad and are in receipt of benefit.
The available information about the number of records relating to deceased people, and persons under 16 years of age is in the tables.
Date | Number or records people relating to deceased (million) |
|---|---|
| July 2002 | 14 |
| September 2003 | 14.5 |
| March 2004 | 15 |
Notes:
1. Recent analysis indicates that there are a further 1.5 million accounts relating to deceased persons but where the date of death is not recorded on DCI.
2. Information relating to deceased records is only available from July 2002.
Source:
Departmental Central Index.
| Number allocated | |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 8,914,206 |
| 1993 | 2,935,916 |
| 1994 | 824,127 |
| 1995 | 784,349 |
| 1996 | 757,768 |
| 1997 | 746,190 |
| 1998 | 716,786 |
| 1999 | 702,221 |
| 2000 | 681,562 |
| 2001 | 657,224 |
| 2002 | 628,887 |
| 2003 | 661,860 |
Notes:
1. Accounts on DCI for those under 16 are referred to as child reference numbers.
2. Child reference numbers were introduced in 1992.
Source:
Departmental Central Index.
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