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20 Jan 2005 : Column 1062W—continued
Health and Safety Offences
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for health and safety offences under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in each year since 1974. [209014]
Jane Kennedy: The numbers of employees prosecuted and convicted for offences under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in each of the last eight years, in cases following HSE investigations, are as follows:
| Number of employees | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prosecuted | Convicted | |
| 1996–97 | 10 | 10 |
| 1997–98 | 12 | 11 |
| 1998–99 | 13 | 12 |
| 1999–2000 | 17 | 13 |
| 2000–01 | 15 | 14 |
| 2001–02 | 22 | 17 |
| 2002–03 | 19 | 15 |
| 2003–04 (18) | 25 | 19 |
(18) Figures for 2003–04 are provisional.
Notes:
1. Attempting to obtain previous years' figures would incur disproportionate cost. Similar figures for local authority cases are not available from the (voluntary) local authority returns on health and safety enforcement.
2. Year refers to operational year which runs from 1 April to 31 March.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many company directors have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for health and safety offences under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in each year since 1974. [209015]
Jane Kennedy: The number of company directors or other senior corporate officers prosecuted and convicted for offences under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in each year since 1974 in each of the last eight years, in cases following HSE investigations, are as follows:
| Number of individuals | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prosecuted | Convicted | |
| 1996–97 | 17 | 15 |
| 1997–98 | 6 | 5 |
| 1998–99 | 9 | 9 |
| 1999–2000 | 17 | 12 |
| 2000–01 | 16 | 15 |
| 2001–02 | 16 | 11 |
| 2002–03 | 18 | 9 |
| 2003–04(19) | 12 | 10 |
(19) Figures for 2003–04 are provisional.
Notes:
1. Attempting to obtain previous years' figures would incur disproportionate cost. Similar figures for local authority cases are not available from the (voluntary) local authority returns on health and safety enforcement.
2. Year refers to operational year which runs from 1 April to 31 March.
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Housing
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will grant to board members of housing associations and trusts a state benefit waiver having the effect of disregarding remuneration they receive as a result of their service on a housing association board. [209138]
Mr. Pond: Income related benefits, such as income support, income based jobseekers allowance and pension credit, are intended to help people whose resources are insufficient to meet their day-to-day living expenses. Any remuneration paid to board members is treated in the same way as other types of earnings and attracts the normal £5, £10 or £20 earnings disregard. However, expenses are fully disregarded where the expenses were incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in the performance of the board members duties.
Housing benefit and council tax benefit are payable to people on low income, whether or not they are in remunerative work. However, as with the other income related benefits, remuneration for housing association board members is treated the same as all other earned income; everything in excess of standard disregards is taken into account.
For those in receipt of incapacity benefit, which is normally paid to people who are incapacitated by the effects of their illness or disability, the permitted work rules introduced in April 2002 will apply. Incapacity benefit recipients are now able to earn up to £20 a week for an unlimited period, or, from 1 October 2004, work for less than 16 hours and earn up to £78 a week for 26 weeks.
We have no plans to change the way in which this type of income is treated.
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representatives serving on housing association and trust boards have had benefits cut as a result of such service in the last 12 months. [209139]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
New Deal
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Stoke-on-Trent have found work through new deal programmes since they were introduced. [209899]
Jane Kennedy: The new deal has been very successful in helping more than 1.2 million people into work including 6,350 in Stoke-on-Trent.
Information on numbers helped into work by each new deal programme is listed in the following table.
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Notes:
1. All data is to September 2004, except for new deal 50 plus which is to March 2003.
2. New deal for disabled people and new deal for partners is not available at parliamentary constituency level.
3. Totals may not sum as figures for each year are rounded to the nearest 10.
4. Programmes were introduced as follows: new deal for young people January 1998, new deal 25 plus July 1998, new deal for young people October 1998, new deal 50 plus April 2000.
Source:
New Deal Evaluation Database, DWP Information and Analysis Directorate
Nuclear Industry
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he last discussed with the chief inspector for the Nuclear Industry Inspectorate the impact of the dispute with Prospect. [208303]
Jane Kennedy: I have not discussed directly with the acting chief inspector of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) the impact of the HSE pay dispute on the work of NII, but I have received advice from him. In his opinion the dispute has not resulted in a less than adequate level of nuclear regulatory oversight to date.
I am keeping the matter under discussion at my regular meetings with senior officials from the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent proposals he has made to end the dispute with Prospect in the nuclear industry. [208304]
Jane Kennedy: The dispute between the Health and Safety Executive and Prospect came about as a result of the 2003 pay award. I am advised by the Executive that the 2004 pay negotiations with the trade unions are underway—with both sides keen to reach an agreed settlement and end the dispute with Prospect as soon as possible. There are still issues to resolve but both sides believe that this year's negotiations have been productive. The trade unions are considering a revised offer made by HSE on 10 January and the two sides intend to meet again by the end of January.
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what restrictions data protection legislation places on the issuing of personal invitation documents for a Post Office card account for child benefit. [208871]
Dawn Primarolo:
I have been asked to reply.
20 Jan 2005 : Column 1065W
The Inland Revenue takes its obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 very seriously. The Department's procedures for issuing invitations to apply for a Post Office card account comply with the provisions of the Act.
Pensioners
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women were in receipt of the state retirement pension in the Easington constituency in each of the last five years. [208986]
Malcolm Wicks: The numbers of state pension recipients in the parliamentary constituency of Easington for March 2000 to March 2004 are shown in the following table:
| March: | Male recipient | Female recipient |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6,000 | 9,600 |
| 2001 | 5,900 | 9,500 |
| 2002 | 5,900 | 9,400 |
| 2003 | 6,000 | 9,200 |
| 2004 | 6,000 | 9,300 |
Notes:
1. Figures are taken from a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a high degree of sampling variation.
2. Data is rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant Office for National Statistics postcode directory.
4. Figures show all people getting a state pension i.e. a category A, B, C or D state pension or graduated retirement benefit.
Source:
IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. sample as at 31 March for the years shown.
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