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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 28 February 2005
WORK AND PENSIONS
New Deal (Nottingham)
15. Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the new deal in Nottingham, North. [218096]
Jane Kennedy: The new deal has succeeded in helping more than 1.2 million people into work, including more than 3,000 people in Nottingham, North. It has helped to reduce long-term adult unemployment by 82 per cent. and long-term youth unemployment by 68 per cent. in my hon. Friend's constituency.
Attendance Allowance (Coventry)
16. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Coventry receive attendance allowance. [218097]
Maria Eagle: Some 8,200 people in Coventry were receiving attendance allowance on 31 August 2004.
Income-related Benefits
17. Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the latest take-up rates for income-related benefits. [218098]
Malcolm Wicks: Office for National Statistics data for the period 2002–03 were published on 8 February. The figures predate the introduction of pension credit. Nearly 1.8 million households were getting the minimum income guarantee in October 2003, but by December last year, over 2.6 million households—over 3.2 million individuals—were getting pension credit.
The latest departmental estimates for pension credit show that, in 2004–05, take-up is over 80 per cent. for those on the guarantee element, and could be as high as 90 per cent. for single women pensioners entitled to the guarantee element.
Welsh Language
18. Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of services in Welsh provided by third parties acting on behalf of his Department. [218100]
Jane Kennedy:
DWP has adopted the principle that in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice in Wales it will treat the English and Welsh languages on a basis of equality. Some services are delivered through contracts with third parties or partnerships involving other Government Departments or the Voluntary Sector. In all such cases we ensure that our contractors and partners understand and abide by the provisions of the DWP Welsh Language Scheme. An assessment of services in Welsh forms part of the
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Department's standard contract monitoring processes and any failings identified will be dealt with under the terms of the individual contract.
Child Support
19. Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the operation of the Child Support Agency. [218101]
Mr. Pond: We have acknowledged problems with the new IT system. The agency is working with EDS to resolve the problems. Work to stabilise the system is under way and it has already brought about improvements. We expect the remedial work to be completed later this year.
However, it is important that we remember that it is the responsibility of parents to support their children and there is nothing to stop them making their own arrangements to do so.
Departmental Staff (Wales)
21. Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from (a) the National Assembly for Wales and (b) local authorities in Wales regarding the proposed closure of his Department's offices in Wales. [218104]
Jane Kennedy: We have received a number of representations from Assembly Members and local authorities.
But the service we provide is not just about offices; and our innovative approach means that our customers, including sick and disabled people, no longer have to visit an office to access many of our services.
Massive investment of over £2 billion over four years since 2002 means that we can deliver more responsive services with fewer offices and with a more modern approach.
Incapacity Benefit
22. Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his plans for reforms of incapacity benefit; and what estimate he has made of the number of people who will find work as a result of his plans. [218105]
Maria Eagle: We have recently set out our plans for fundamental reform of incapacity benefits in our Five Year Strategy. We want to create a new framework of support for people who can return to work and offer greater security to those who face the greatest obstacles to doing so.
Our aim is to have the key elements of the package in place by 2008, but this will be dependent on being able to roll out Pathways to Work nationally first. We cannot yet make an estimate of the numbers who find work as a result of these reforms.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proposed changes to the linking rules for existing receivers of incapacity benefit formed the basis of his Department's five year strategy. [215054]
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Maria Eagle: As set out in the Department's five year strategy we are taking the opportunity to review a range of aspects of the linking rules with a view to improving their effectiveness in encouraging people on incapacity benefits to try a return to work.
We are considering proposals for change from a number of sources from both inside and outside the Department. We have agreed to look at the feasibility of making the incapacity benefit linking rules more flexible, for example by allowing automatic registration and a faster return to work after using the linking rules. We aim to make them simpler, less restrictive and easier to understand and use.
Employment
Mr. David: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his Department's progress towards full employment. [218088]
Jane Kennedy: Since 1997 the number of people in work in the UK has risen by more than 2 million and the employment rate to 74.9 per cent., one of the highest figures on record.
However, we aim to go further—our long-term aspiration is to reach an employment rate of 80 per cent.—by maintaining economic stability and building on the success of our welfare reforms.
Access to Work Programme
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have received (a) full and (b) partial grants from the Access to Work programme in each year since its introduction; and if he will make a statement. [209714]
Maria Eagle: Access to Work is a specialist disability programme which was introduced in 1994. It provides practical advice and support to help disabled people enter or stay in paid employment. The support is aimed at overcoming work related obstacles resulting from disability. It does this through a system of grants towards the cost of providing support. The amount of support available to any individual will depend on their work related needs resulting from disability. Grants made under the programme are not specifically categorised as full" or partial"
Information on the number of people helped each year since Access to Work was introduced is in the table.
Note:
New beneficiaries are people who receive Access to Work Assistance for the first time ever within the financial year. Existing beneficiaries are people who received Access to Work assistance in a previous financial year, and continue to receive financial support. Existing beneficiaries in 1994–95 are people who were transferred to Access to Work from other programmes.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus internal Management Information
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