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15 Jul 2004 : Column 1265W—continued
Departmental Estate
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what has been the total floor space area of buildings owned or leased by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies for each year from 1997 to date. [181398]
Jane Kennedy: The information that is available about floor space is held at departmental level only and is provided in the following table.
A detailed record of the size of the former DSS estate is available since 1 April 1998, when the estate was re-measured and agreed under contractual terms following its transfer to our private sector partners, LandSecurities Trillium (LST), under the PRIME (Private sector Resource Initiative for the Management of the Estate) PFI contract.
Information about the size of the former Employment Service estate is available only from April 2004 subsequent to a further detailed measuring exercise undertaken when the PRIME PFI contract was extended to include the former Employment Service estate. Information prior to this date is not available and can be constructed only at disproportionate cost.
| Departmental (estate) DSS | April: | PRIME(25) M(26) | Non PRIME(26) M(26) | Total size (million m(26) rounded) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSS | 1998 | 1,600,000.00 | 115,000.00 | 1.715 |
| DSS | 1999 | 1,575,253.08 | 112,000.00 | 1.687 |
| DSS | 2000 | 1,564,627.26 | 110,000.00 | 1.675 |
| DSS(27) | 2001 | 1,569,265.98 | 108,000.00 | 1.677 |
| DSS | 2002 | 1,589,457.00 | 107,000.00 | 1.696 |
| DSS | 2003 | 1,627,182.03 | 105,000.00 | 1.732 |
| DWP | 2004 | 2,481,539.62 | 108,000.00 | 2.590 |
(25) PRIME space is occupied under the terms of the PRIME PFI contract and includes space occupied by Other Government Departments (OGDs) within DWP buildings.
(26) Non PRIME space is where DWP has a part occupation in the building of another Government Department not managed by LST.
(27) The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001.
Disability Discrimination Act
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated regarding (i) the extent to which blind and partially sighted people are excluded from paid employment in the UK and (ii) the attitudes of employers and service providers towards blind and partially-sighted people. [182538]
Maria Eagle: This Department is responsible for a programme of research in respect of disability and employment, including research that produces findings on people who are blind or partially sighted. In addition, the Department undertakes regular analysis of the Labour Force Survey in order to calculate employment rates for visually impaired people.
"Disability in the Workplace: Employers' and Service Providers' responses to the DDA in 2003 and preparation for 2004 changes" by Roberts et al (DWP Research Report Series no. 202) asked employers about their attitudes towards employing someone with impaired vision; this research suggested that employers
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attitudes towards this group tended to be relatively negative, compared to other groups. A copy of this report is in the Library.
The Government are committed to increasing employment rates for all disabled people, and blind and partially-sighted people have full access to the services of Jobcentre Plus. However, we recognise that more needs to be done to raise awareness of employers' responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act; we are conducting a wide-ranging campaign to raise awareness among employers and service providers of current and forthcoming duties and to highlight the benefits that disabled employees can bring to a business.
Pension Credit (Northampton, North)
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Northampton, North are in receipt of the pension credit. [183753]
Malcolm Wicks: At the end of June, 4,035 pensioner households in Northampton, North, comprising 4,900 individuals, were in receipt of pension credit.
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest five.
2. The figure for individuals in receipt of pension credit includes a small number of partners under age 60.
Environmental Sustainability
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department have spent on water and sewerage services for each year from 1997 to date. [181396]
Mr. Pond: Expenditure for water and sewerage services for the Department since it came into being in 2001, including all its agencies, is given in the following table:
| Water | Sewerage | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 1,403,739 | 1,853,059 |
| 2002–03 | 1,527,777 | 1,893,489 |
Note:
It is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown by agency, due to multi-occupancy buildings.
The figures for 2003–04 are in the process of being finalised and will be placed in the Library in due course.
The Department continues to report its progress on the Water Service targets within the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government estate within the annual Sustainable Development in Government Report. Copies of the report can be found on the Sustainable Development in Government website.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which non-office sites within his Department's estate have been identified as being likely to provide opportunities for significant water savings. [181448]
Mr. Pond:
The whole of the Department for Work and Pensions' estate is designated as office based. This information is reported in the Sustainable Development
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in Government Second Annual Report 2003, copies of which can be found on the Sustainable Development in Government website.
Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many businesses with more than five employees are not complying with legislation on the provision of employees with access to a stakeholder pension. [182074]
Malcolm Wicks: The requirement to designate a stakeholder pension scheme applies to all firms with five or more employees who do not provide their workforce with access to a company pension scheme that would otherwise exempt them. Estimates of the number of firms who were compliant with the requirement to designate have previously been based on cumulative quarterly data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) these figures have now become out of date.
More recent data from the 2003 Employers Pension Provision Survey and from the DTI Small Business Service has enabled us to update our estimate of the level of compliance with the requirement for employers with five or more staff to offer their workers access to a stakeholder pension scheme.
On the basis of these we estimate that some 70,000 employers may not be compliant with the requirement to designate a stakeholder pension scheme at any one time 1 .
We will continue to work with employers so they are aware of the important role they play in helping their employees provide for their retirement. If this proves unsuccessful we will consider further measures.
1 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000 firms
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many businesses have been (a) prosecuted and (b) successfully prosecuted for failing to provide employees with access to a stakeholder pension. [182130]
Malcolm Wicks: The great majority of employers are complying with the requirement to designate a stakeholder pension scheme. The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) has taken a proactive approach, engaging with employers to encourage them to comply with the law, rather than resorting to legal proceedings. Civil sanctions (fines) are only considered where there is a serious breach or the employer is considered to be deliberately evading the law.
So far Opra has only needed to fine two employers. One of these employers has asked Opra for a review of the decision. The review has yet to take place.
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