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4 Oct 2004 : Column 1795W—continued
WORK AND PENSIONS
Back-To-Work Bonus
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the back to work bonus of £1,000 is payable to unemployed people starting up their own business. [188323]
Maria Eagle: The Back to Work Bonus is payable to all customers aged under 60 in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support and in part time work. This includes people who are moving off benefit in order to start their own business.
To be eligible to apply for a Back to Work Bonus when moving into work that takes them off benefit, a person must have met the qualifying conditions and have been working part time and declaring their earnings. Half of the declared earnings after the appropriate disregard has been applied are accrued. The minimum that can be paid is £5 and the maximum £1,000. The amount the customer receives is dependant on the amount of earnings that has accrued from their part time work.
Jobcentre Plus
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what changes in the number of civil service jobs have arisen from the introduction of Jobcentre Plus offices; and how many jobs have been contracted out to independent service providers; [189414]
(2) what the refurbishment budget for Jobcentre Plus offices is. [189416]
Jane Kennedy:
The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
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Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 29 September 2004:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply direct to your questions about the changes to the number of Civil Service jobs arising from the introduction of Jobcentre Plus offices, contracting out of jobs, and the costs of the refurbishment programme. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
In our customer-facing offices the number of Civil Service staff has increased as a result of the introduction of the Jobcentre Plus service. This is largely due to the increased advisory activity aimed at helping more customers return to work. For 2003/04 the increase to the headcount was estimated at 4,350, and for 2004/05 a further 1,200. These increases in staff numbers have not resulted in posts being contracted out to independent service providers.
The budget for the estates refurbishment programme is £550m.
As you may be aware, on the 16th September 2004, the Secretary of State made a written statement about the impact of the Department for Work and Pensions Efficiency Programme on meeting the government's efficiency challenge. This includes our plans to centralise benefit processing and contact centres.
I hope this is helpful.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he proposes to update assessed average rental values used in the calculation of entitlement to housing benefit. [188682]
Mr. Pond: Claims received from those in the private rented sector will generally be referred to the local Rent Officer for a rental valuation to determine the housing benefit claim. The market evidence that is used to compare properties for the purpose of making these valuations is updated on an ongoing basis by the Rent Service.
In nine pathfinder areas, we are testing a reform of housing benefit for tenants in the private rented sector, called the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). This is a flat-rate allowance based on broadly average market rents in the area for each size of property, and the rates are set by the Rent Officer. Once an LHA rate has been calculated, it will apply to all properties within that particular area and so will not have to be calculated separately for each property. LHA rates are updated monthly in line with any changes to market rents in the area, and are supplied to the relevant local authority. The local authority is then required to publish these figures.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit claimants there are in each (a) county, (b) metropolitan authority, (c) London Borough and (d) unitary authority in England. [188987]
Maria Eagle: The information has been placed in the Library.
New Deal (Mitcham and Morden)
Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) people, (b) lone parents and (c) people with disabilities in Mitcham and Morden have gained work through the new deal. [189358]
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Jane Kennedy: The available information is in the table.
| People into work though new deal | |
|---|---|
| Total | 2,000 |
| New deal for young people | 850 |
| New deal 25-plus | 580 |
| New deal for lone parents | 460 |
| New deal 50-plus | 110 |
Notes:
1. Information is not available at constituency level for new deal for disabled people and new deal for partners.
2. All data is to the end of June 2004 apart from new deal 50-plus which is to the end of March 2003 and is the number of new deal 50-plus employment credit starts.
3. In April 2003, the new deal 50-plus employment credit was replaced by the by the 50 plus element of the working tax credit.
4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
DWP Information and Analysis Directorate.
Pensioners (Mitcham and Morden)
Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average change in income for pensioners in Mitcham and Morden has been from pension credit; and what the total sum paid to pensioners in the constituency in pension credit has been to date. [189336]
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available.
In August 2003 there were 2,500 pensioner households in Mitcham and Morden receiving an average amount of £62.25 a week in Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).
This is not directly comparable with an average amount for pension credit since there are differences between pension credit and MIG that are attributable to a variety of factors. Following the introduction of pension credit in October 2003, some elements of the support previously provided through MIG are now provide through local authority funding for people in care homes, and through tax credits for children. In addition, average pension credit awards are expected to be lower than MIG because a savings credit of up to £15.51 (single) or £20.22 (couples) is available for people with modest incomes above the guarantee level who previously received nothing from MIG.
In August 2004 there were 3,365 pension credit claimants in Mitcham and Morden receiving an average amount of £51.86.
The total sum of pension credit paid to pensioners in Mitcham and Morden between 6 October 2003 and 31 August 2004 is £7.1 million.
Recycling
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the latest available 12 month figures are for the proportion of the Department's redundant documentation, waste paper and card that is recycled; and if he will make a statement on the Department's recycling policy. [188695]
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Mr. Pond: The latest figures for waste are for 2003–04. The following figures show the total amount of waste generated from DWP offices (where data is available) and the amount of that waste that is recycled. All our recycled waste shown in this table is paper or cardboard, although other currently unmeasured recycling takes place on furniture and fluorescent tubes.
| Tonnes | |
|---|---|
| Total Waste Arisings | 25,834 |
| Total Paper/Card Recycled | 13,015 |
The Department is working to reduce the total amount of waste that it produces, by developing Waste Minimisation plans within each area of the business. At the same time, In accordance with its Sustainable Development Policy Statement, the Department is working with our Estates Partner (Land Securities Trillium) to extend existing recycling facilities for paper products, increase recycling of estate based waste, and consider the potential for recycling other waste streams such as plastics and aluminium cans.
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