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28 Oct 2004 : Column 1376W—continued
Pensioner Poverty (Scotland)
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners are estimated to be living below the poverty line in Scotland. [193617]
Malcolm Wicks: Poverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. The sixth annual "Opportunity For All" report (Cm 6329) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy.
Statistics for Scotland on numbers of people living in low income are published by the Scottish Executive. These show that, in 2002–03 180,000 pensioners in Scotland were living in households with income below 60 per cent. of the Great Britain median on a before housing costs basis.
Notes:
1. Data from the Family Resources Survey.
2. Estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error, and to remaining variability in non-response which is not corrected by the grossing regime.
3. Income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household). The median relates to the middle-ranked individual.
Job Centres
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many clients attended each Jobcentre due for closure in North Wales in each of the last 10 years; and what replacement service will be put in place after closure of these offices. [190880]
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.
28 Oct 2004 : Column 1378W
Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 28 October 2004:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning how many clients attended each Jobcentre due for closure in North Wales in each of the last ten years; and what replacement service will be put in place after closure of these offices. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
I am unable to state the exact number of callers to each of the Jobcentres expected to close covering the last ten years. Information showing the weekly average number of clients registering for Jobseeker's Allowance in each of the last ten years ending in August is shown in the table below.
| 1994–95(15) | 1995–96 | 1996–97(15) | 1997–98(15) | 1998–99(15) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cefn Mawr | — | — | — | — | — |
| Conwy | — | — | — | — | — |
| Denbigh | — | — | — | 323 | 285 |
| Holywell | 666 | 621 | 574 | 374 | 325 |
| Llangollen | — | — | — | — | — |
| Llanrwst | — | — | — | — | — |
| Prestatyn | — | — | — | 299 | 323 |
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | 346 | 334 | 334 | 274 | 262 |
| Barmouth | 380 | 378 | 389 | 286 | 247 |
| Beaumaris | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999–2000(15) | 2000–01(15) | 2001–02(15) | 2002–03(15) | 2003–04(15) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cefn Mawr | — | — | — | 140 | 120 |
| Conwy | — | — | — | 120 | 112 |
| Denbigh | 271 | 239 | 191 | 192 | 178 |
| Holywell | 284 | 250 | 199 | 186 | 185 |
| Llangollen | — | — | — | — | 146 |
| Llanrwst | — | — | — | 98 | 70 |
| Prestatyn | 358 | 258 | 242 | 193 | 179 |
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | 236 | 241 | 189 | 156 | 146 |
| Barmouth | 199 | 169 | 180 | 137 | 148 |
| Beaumaris | — | — | — | — | 30 |
(15) 1 September to 31 August.
Separate records are not available for some of the very small sites as their figures are included in their parent office. Each of these customers is expected to attend the Jobcentre every fortnight for an interview about their job search activity and they represent most of the traffic into the offices.
Work is currently in progress to develop options for Flexible Service Delivery in the locations where offices will close. This work will be undertaken in partnership with MPs, Assembly Members and other relevant stakeholders to tailor these options to meet the needs of the local community.
I hope this is helpful.
Job Losses (Incapacity)
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of individuals who lost jobs in 2003–04 as the result of suffering pain. [194076]
Maria Eagle: The requested information is not available. Data on individuals who lost their jobs as a result of suffering pain is not collected.
State Retirement Pension
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 19 October 2004, Official Report, column 638W, on pensions, for what reasons the introduction of equal treatment for men whose wives die before reaching state pension age has been delayed until 2010; and what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing this change before 2010. [193987]
Malcolm Wicks: The introduction of equal treatment for widowers from 2010 forms part of the package to equalise state pension age including husbands being entitled to a basic state pension on their wife's national insurance contributions thereby ensuring that all of the provisions could be funded.
The gross costs of introducing the widowers' change is in the table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 7 |
| 2006–07 | 7 |
| 2007–08 | 8 |
| 2008–09 | 8 |
| 2009–10 | 8 |
Notes:
1. Costs are in 2004–05 prices to the nearest £1 million and show the combined increase in expenditure on basic state pension and additional state pension.
2. It is assumed the policy would be introduced from 2005 onwards.
3. We are unable to estimate the costs net of income related benefits and tax reliably as the numbers involved are small and there are limitations in our ability to model the impact of the change.
28 Oct 2004 : Column 1379W
Work Preparation Programmes
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have entered (a) an Access to Work programme, (b) a Work Preparation programme and (c) Workstep in each year since 2001 have re-entered those programmes or other employment and training programmes later, broken down by (i) age and (ii) region. [191701]
Maria Eagle: Information is not collected on the numbers of people who receive support through these programmes more than once, or who subsequently enter other employment and training programmes.
CABINET OFFICE
Disabled People
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will publish research carried out by the Downing Street Strategy Unit into life chances for disabled people; and if she will make a statement. [194305]
Mr. Milburn: In June 2004, the Strategy Unit published an interim analytical report from its project, "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People". A final report from the project will also be published in due course.
Government Websites
Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of Government websites meet the Disability Discrimination Act 1995's guidelines on web accessibility; and if she will make a statement. [193571]
Ruth Kelly: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes no reference to web accessibility. However, the Disability Rights Commission's supporting "Code of Practice on Rights of Access—Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises" (published in 2002), makes it clear that any website owner as a service provider must take all reasonable measures to have their service usable by disabled people. This Code of Practice does not provide or recommend any particular web accessibility guidelines.
In 2001 the Government adopted the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines". Since the publication of the "Guidelines for UK Government Websites" in 2002, the Cabinet Office has promoted web accessibility extensively to both the public sector web management community and their contractors.
The Cabinet Office does not hold statistics on the percentage of Government websites that meet the accessibility guidelines. Earlier this year the Disability Rights Commission conducted a formal investigation. Its report showed that levels of accessibility awareness in the Government web community were high: around
28 Oct 2004 : Column 1380W
49 per cent. of websites in the Government sector fully achieved the basic level of accessibility, compared to 19 per cent. of all websites in all sectors surveyed.
It is now a condition of owning a .gov.uk domain name that the "Guidelines for UK Government Websites", regarding accessibility, apply.
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