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9 Feb 2005 : Column 1568W—continued
Sure Start
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Pendle have received the Sure Start maternity grant. [214837]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested; the available information is in the table.
Notes:
1. SSMGs were introduced on 27 March 2000. The very small number of cases for 1999–2000 has been excluded for data protection reasons.
2. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency, but only by District.
3. Pendle parliamentary constituency is part of East Lancashire Jobcentre Plus District, which was previously called Greater Manchester Lancashire Social Fund District.
4. Data is given for all awards, irrespective of whether the award was made to the mother or her partner.
Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.
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Thalidomide Trust
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will alter the rules relating to income support so as to allow recipients of grants from the Thalidomide Trust to spend such grants on ongoing household expenses without losing their income support entitlement; [211186]
(2) if he will alter the rules relating to (a) income support, (b) care funding and (c) the Independent Living Fund to allow recipients of grants from the Thalidomide Trust to take their full entitlement to such grants at the beginning of the year without losing their entitlement to those benefits. [211187]
Mr. Pond: Payments to beneficiaries of the Thalidomide Trust are treated in the same way as other personal injury payments for income-related benefits, including income support. Capital that is placed in trust for an individual can be disregarded. Income from an individual's trust can also be disregarded as long as the income is used for items other than food, ordinary clothing or footwear, household fuel, rent or rates, certain housing costs or water charges other than day-to-day living expenses. These items are provided for by income-related benefits.
The Independent Living Funds broadly follow income support policy on this issue. Independent Living Fund payments are intended to provide for personal care and domestic assistance. Therefore, income from an individual's trust can be disregarded as long as no part of the income is used for personal care or domestic assistance.
The financial assessment for residential accommodation is assessed by local authority social services, taking into account the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide issued by the Department of Health. Payments from the Thalidomide Trust are taken into account in the same way as they are for assessing income-related benefits.
For home care charges, social services have a minimum requirement to follow the Fairer Charging for Home Care and other non-residential social services guidance, issued to local authorities by the Department of Health in 2001, but can be more generous if they wish.
We recently received representations regarding the treatment of payments to the Thalidomide Trust's beneficiaries, and to ensure the matters raised receive the appropriate consideration, a meeting has been arranged with the Director of the Thalidomide Trust.
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Winter Fuel Payment (Stockton, South)
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people in each electoral ward in Stockton, South constituency claimed winter fuel allowance in 2003–04; and how many have claimed the allowance in 2004–05; [214722]
(2) how many people in each ward of Stockton, South claimed winter fuel allowance in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [215302]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of people in each electoral ward in Stockton, South who received a winter fuel payment in winter 2003–04 is in the following table. Figures are not yet available for winter 2004–05 but we expect the numbers to be similar.
Notes:
1. All wards based on census wards—those current as at April 2003.
2. WFP data is the latest currently available, winter 2003–04.
3. All benefit counts at ward level are rounded to a multiple of 5.
Source:
IAD Information Centre
Workstep Scheme
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many programmes under the Workstep Scheme have (a) failed their audit and (b) been subject to re-audit. [212123]
Maria Eagle: Up to the 27 January 2005, 76 Workstep providers have been inspected by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI). Of those, 41 providers failed their ALI inspection, 15 have been re-inspected and of those re-inspections, 12 passed, one failed and two are waiting to be informed of the outcome. A further 19 re-inspections are scheduled to be completed in the coming year.
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost per client of the Workstep scheme was in the last period for which figures are available. [212124]
Maria Eagle: During 2003–04, the Workstep programme received £189.2 million of Government funding and supported 31,632 disabled people, representing an average cost of £5,981 per supported employee.
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent changes have been made in the provision of funds for training for the Workstep programme; and if he will make a statement. [212126]
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Maria Eagle: There has been one recent change to Workstep funding arrangements. From 1 April 2004, the payment to providers for each participant in a Workstep placement was increased to £400 per calendar month for all participants working 21 hours or more per week. This change ensured that providers received the same monthly amount for those people new to Workstep as they did for those carried forward from the old Supported Employment programme.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Housing
8. Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses he expects will be built in the Southend area under his plans for housing development in the south-east of England. [214876]
Phil Hope: It will be for the current review of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England to determine how many homes should be built in the Southend area.
10. Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase investment in modernising publicly owned homes. [214878]
Keith Hill: Since 1997, investment in existing council homes has been significantly increased. By 2004 councils were spending 13 per cent. more in real terms than 1997. In addition £6 billion has so far been made available to set up Arms Length Management Organisations and Private Finance Initiatives. £5.3 billion has been levered in from the private sector through stock transfer.
11. Mr. Love: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to build more affordable accommodation over the next five years. [214879]
Keith Hill: Sustainable Communities: Homes for All" sets out the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's plans to deliver more affordable housing over the next five years. Measures include assisting over 80,000 first time buyers and keyworkers to achieve their home ownership aspirations, and through investment and efficiency savings to deliver 75,000 social rented homes by 2008.
12. Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on housing allocations for the south-east. [214880]
Keith Hill: Housing allocations are currently set out in Regional Planning Guidance for the south-east (RPG9), published in March 2001, and partially updated during 2004.
There is a statutory planning process for reviewing the housing figures. At this stage the South East England Regional Assembly is responsible for examining alternative spatial options for the future development of the south-east. It would not be right for us to pre-empt the outcome of their consultation and the Examination in Public that will follow. Therefore Government will not make a statement about revised housing figures at this stage.
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14. Mr. Cummings: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to improve the quality of existing homes. [214882]
Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has set a target to ensure all homes in the social sector meet the decent homes standard by 2010, and to increase the proportion of vulnerable households living in decent homes in the private sector. We are implementing policies to achieve this target.
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable houses were built in (a) Plymouth and (b) Devon in 2004. [213981]
Keith Hill: The total number of affordable homes provided in 2003–04 through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP), the transitional Local Authority Social Housing Grant and Starter Home Initiative for Plymouth and Devon (including Plymouth and Torbay) are tabled:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Devon | 457 |
| Of which: Plymouth | 81 |
Source:
Housing Corporation
These figures include acquisitions and refurbishments as well as new build.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the affordable housing schemes funded in Milton Keynes in each of the last three years indicating (a) the numbers of units in each location and (b) how many units in each scheme are for key workers. [215271]
Keith Hill: During the three-year period between 2001–02 to 2003–04 there were a total of 1,152 affordable dwellings funded in Milton Keynes at a cost of £23,090,000 of which 516 were for key workers. In addition, funding of £14,959,000 has been allocated for the 2004–06 period, which is expected to fund 881 affordable dwellings of which 330 should be for key worker provision.
A detailed breakdown of schemes and funding for each year has been made available in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many non-decent council homes there are in Crosby; and how many there were in 1997. [214593]
Keith Hill:
The information requested is submitted to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister according to housing authority areas rather than districts within an area. Crosby is a district of Sefton. In 2004 Sefton reported to have 7936 non-decent council homes. Figures are not available for 1997, as the Decent Homes Standard was not introduced until 2001.
9 Feb 2005 : Column 1573W
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