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17 Jan 2005 : Column 776W—continued
Press Officers
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many press officers are employed in the Department. [206523]
Mr. Lammy: At 1 April 2004, my Department employed 14 press officers.
Stolen Property
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) if he will list the property belonging to his Department that has (a) been stolen and (b) been reported lost in each year since 1997, broken down by type of article; [206368]
(2) how many items of civil service property within his Department are unaccounted for, broken down by type. [205574]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested is as in the following table.
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WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of benefit fraud cases he estimates would be caught by the use of identity cards. [209030]
Mr. Pond: I refer my right hon. Friend to the written answer I gave the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 21 December 2004, Official Report, column 1723W.
Benefit Rates
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have been in hospital for more than a year live on the weekly benefit rate of £15.90; and what proportion suffer from mental ill-health. [207736]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested. However, such information as is available is set out in the table:
| Benefit type | Number of people on adjusted personal benefit rate |
|---|---|
| State pension and bereavement benefits | (15)7,030 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 8,000 |
| Income support | 3,500 |
| Incapacity benefit | 3,500 |
(15) This figure is an average of the September 2003 and March 2004 figures and includes approximately 2,100 recipients of pension credit.
Notes:
1. Figures for the number of people receiving state pension, in hospital over 52 weeks are from a 5 per cent. sample from the pensions strategy computer system at 30 September 2003 and 31 March 2004. pension credit figures are based on the proportion of the pensioner population who receive pension credit, as no data are currently available for those in hospital longer than one year.
2. Disability living allowance and attendance allowance are not paid if the benefit recipient is in hospital over four weeks, so have not been included. The unemployment supplement in industrial injuries disablement benefit is downrated but there are few cases where this applies and no cases where hospital downrating has been recorded.
3. The incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance admin data are from the Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance Quarterly Summary Statistics (four quarterly averages have been used) and the income support data are from the Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry.
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Child Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of children in poverty have been lifted out of poverty in each of the last seven years, broken down by (a) constituency, (b) county and (c) region. [207714]
Mr. Pond: Poverty is about more than low income; it also impacts on the way people live—their health, housing and the quality of their environment. The sixth annual "Opportunity for all" report (Cm 6239), published in September 2004, 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.
Specific information regarding low income for the United Kingdom is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 2002–03". Data are not available below the regional level and are only available as proportions at the regional level. It should be noted that the reporting of year on year changes in the regional low-income rates are not reliable.
"Measuring child poverty", published in December 2003, outlines the Government's measure of UK child poverty for the long-term. This new measure will begin from 2004–05.
All publications listed are available in the Library.
Departmental Credit Cards
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many credit cards for official expenditure are held by his Department. [206443]
Maria Eagle: As of 21 December 2004, there are 184 credit cards in issue for official expenditure.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of travel within the UK for the Department was in each year since 1997; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence. [206477]
Maria Eagle:
The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the table. DWP was formed in June 2001 from Department of Social Security (DSS) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment, including the Employment Service. Information for the period prior to June 2001 refers to the former DSS.
17 Jan 2005 : Column 779W
Notes:
1. Information provided includes travel costs for both Ministers and civil servants
2. Separate information for hotel accommodation and subsistence costs is only available from 2001–2002. For previous years, hotel accommodation costs are included within subsistence costs.
3. There were no costs for helicopter hire.
4. All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Department spent on first-class travel in each year since 1997. [206563]
Maria Eagle: The available information is in the table.
| Number of journeys | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 51,564 | 8,315,975 |
| 2003–04 | 45,289 | 7,082,711 |
Notes:
1. Information provided includes travel by both Ministers and civil servants.
2. Information is not available for the period prior to 2002–03.
3. The figures refer to first class rail travel in the UK and abroad. No first-class air journeys were made.
4. All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.
5. Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2004 is in the Library. Information on the financial year 2004–05 will be published as soon as possible at the end of the current financial year.
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, have been made by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip. [206662]
Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
Notes:
1. The information provided includes travel by both Ministers and civil servants.
2. Information is not available for the period prior to 2002–03 or for individual journeys.
3. All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.
4. Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 2 May 1997 to 31 March 2004 is in the Library. Information on the financial year 2004–05 will be published as soon as possible at the end of the current financial year.
17 Jan 2005 : Column 780W
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