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1 Nov 2004 : Column 119W—continued
Incapacity/Severe Disablement Benefit
Mr. Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of invalidity benefit prior to 12 April 1995 were transferred to incapacity benefit and have been continuously in receipt to the present date, broken down by (a) age, (b) gender, (c) region and (d) diagnosis group. [190906]
Maria Eagle: As at 31 May 2004, a total of 781,300 incapacity benefits claimants began their claim on or before 12 April 1995.
The requested breakdown of the available information has been placed in the Library.
1. The figure in the answer above has been rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. It is based on a 5 per cent. sample, and therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 3. The figure includes all those who were in receipt of invalidity benefit, sickness benefit, non-contributory invalidity pension or national insurance credits only, prior to 13 April 1995 and who have remained continuously in receipt of incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance or national insurance credits only up to 31 May 2004.
IAD Information Centre 5 per cent. sample
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering the appeal system for incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance in each year since 1997. [191679]
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Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Norman Egan to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 1 November 2004:
The Secretary of State has asked Christina Townsend to respond to your question regarding the cost of administering the appeal system for Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance in each year since 1997. Christina is away from the office at the moment and I have been asked to reply.
The information you have requested is only available from 2001 and is attached in the table below. Please note that we do not hold exact figures for each benefit type, so the amounts quoted are calculated on average administrative and judicial costs, including overheads.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 8.2 |
| 2002–03 | 9.5 |
| 2003–04 | 11.6 |
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was per appellant of each hearing of an appeal against the withdrawal or denial of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance in each year since 1997. [191680]
Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Norman Egan to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 1 November 2004:
The Secretary of State has asked Christina Townsend to respond to your question regarding the cost per appellant of each hearing of an appeal against the withdrawal or denial of Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance in each year since 1997. Christina is away from the office at the moment and I have been asked to reply.
The information you have requested is only available from 2001 and is attached in the table below. Please note that we do not hold exact figures for each benefit type, so the amounts quoted are calculated on average administrative and judicial costs, including overheads.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 222 |
| 2002–03 | 235 |
| 2003–04 | 243 |
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance who entered paid employment in 2002–03 registered for the 52 week linking rule; and how many of them reclaimed benefit under the terms of the rule in the following 52 weeks, broken down by (a) age and (b) region. [191681]
Maria Eagle:
The available information is in the tables.
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(24) Numbers are based on very few sample cases and will be subject to a high degree of sampling variation. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only.
Notes:
1. Figures are based on 5 per cent. samples, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
3. Incapacity benefit claimants include those getting national insurance credits only.
4. Claimants do not need to register for the 52 week linking rule, it is applied automatically.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. Samples.
Job Centres
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which job centres are to be closed in north Wales; which job centres will remain open; and what the timescale is for those remaining open to become Jobcentre Plus. [190675]
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.
Letter from David Anderson to Chris Ruane, dated 1 November 2004:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning the closure of Jobcentres in North Wales. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The Jobcentre Plus District of Wrexham and North Wales Coast covers the four counties of Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy. Under the current Service Delivery Plan, the new Jobcentre Plus integrated service should be delivered from the following locations:
All offices scheduled under the current plan to deliver this service will be fully converted by the end of March 2006. The work will be phased to minimise the disruption to our customers whilst the conversion work is undertaken.
The following Jobcentre sites will remain open until the sites delivering the new service have been fully enhanced and Flexible Service Delivery is in operation across the four counties:
The Jobcentre Plus District of North West Wales and Powys covers the three counties of Ynys Mon, Gwynedd and Powys. This District already delivers the new integrated Jobcentre Plus service from offices in the following locations:
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