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20 Jun 2005 : Column 717W—continued
Social Fund Pilot (Wales)
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what conclusions he has drawn from the recent pilot in Wales of a new operating model for the Social Fund. [2142]
Mr. Plaskitt: The pilot of the Social Fund Standard Operating Model began in December 2004 in Newport and Caerphilly and is currently being evaluated.
Sure Start
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under what conditions the Sure Start maternity grant is paid; how many grants were paid out in each Government office region in each year since the start of the scheme; how much was paid out in total; and for what proportion of births it was paid. [3730]
Mr. Plaskitt: Sure Start maternity grant is payable to people, or partners of people, awarded income support, pension credit, income-based jobseeker's allowance, working tax credit (where the disability or severe disability element is included in the award) or child tax credit (where it is payable at a rate higher than the family element).
A claim may be made from the 29th week of pregnancy and up to three months after the baby is born. Claimants must have received advice from a health professional on the health and welfare needs of the child and, where a claim is made during pregnancy, maternal health.
The Sure Start maternity grant is also payable following adoption as long as the baby is not more than 12 months old and following the granting of a parental order in respect of a surrogate birth.
The available information is in the tables.
20 Jun 2005 : Column 718W
(8)Not yet available
Notes:
1.Sure Start Maternity Grants were introduced on 27 March 2000. The change from Maternity Payments was phased in gradually, with Sure Start Maternity Grants being available to claimants whose babies were expected, born, adopted or the subject of a parental order on or after 11 June 2000.
2.Data by Government office region (GOR) are not available for 2002–03 or 2003–04. Prior to 2002–03 a different district structure was in use.
3.Sure Start Maternity Grant awards are recorded in the GOR where they are administered. In 2004–05, a small area of the East Midlands GOR was administered for social fund purposes from a district within the North West GOR.
4.For a multiple birth, only one Sure Start Maternity Grant is awarded (with a payment being made for each baby). In the general population, the number of maternities resulting in twins is about 15 per 1,000 maternities (and triplets and higher order multiple births can be ignored). The number of babies for whom a Sure Start Maternity Grant was paid was estimated using this figure.
5.A claim for a Sure Start Maternity Grant can be made from the 29th week of pregnancy and up to three months after the baby is born. A grant paid in one year can therefore be for a birth in a different year.
6.The approximate percentage of births in a year for which a grant was paid is calculated as 100 x (the number of babies for whom a grant was paid in that year)/(the number of births in that year).
7.Numbers of awards are rounded to the nearest 100, expenditure to the nearest £0.1 million and the approximate percentage of births for which a grant was paid to the nearest whole number.
8.For 2004–05, the sum of the number of awards by GOR differs slightly from that for Great Britain due to rounding.
Sources:
Data on Sure Start Maternity Grants/Maternity Payments: DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.
Data on births: Office for National Statistics.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Concessionary TV Licences
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency are in receipt of the free television licence for over-75s. [5725]
James Purnell:
TV Licensing, who administer free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, the number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over receiving the winter fuel payment in the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency in 2004–05 was approximately 4,025, according to Department for Work and Pensions records.
20 Jun 2005 : Column 719W
Historic Rail Bridges
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the Department's policy is on seeking UNESCO status for historic rail bridges. [5653]
Mr. Lammy: For a site to be considered for inscription under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, it must first be included on a national tentative list of sites likely to be put forward by a State Party in future years. Railway structures were considered when the UK tentative list was revised in 1999 and the Forth Rail Bridge and the Great Western Railway were selected for inclusion.
Libraries (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff were employed on average in each library in London in each of the last five years. [5448]
Mr. Lammy: This information is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the number of library staff in post across London as a whole for the past 5 years 1 . This information is drawn from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Public Library Statistics Actuals. The CIPFA statistics show totals for individual library authorities. Copies are held in the House Library.
| Professional posts | All other posts | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 1,189 | 2,691 | 3,880 |
| 2000–01 | 1,156 | 2,681 | 3,837 |
| 2001–02 | 1,143 | 2,691 | 3,834 |
| 2002–03 | 1,111 | 2,824 | 3,935 |
| 2003–04 | 1,089 | 2,705 | 3,794 |
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many hours on average public libraries in each local authority in London were open in each of the last five years. [5449]
Mr. Lammy: The table shows for all authorities across inner and outer London the aggregated average number of opening hours per week for the last five years available. This information is drawn from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Public Library Statistics Actuals. The CIPFA statistics show figures for individual library authorities. Copies are held in the House Library.
| Hours | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 and over | 45–59 | 30–44 | 10–29 | Less than 10 | |
| 1999–2000 | 4 | 110 | 166 | 89 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 10 | 108 | 163 | 83 | 0 |
| 2001–02 | 12 | 121 | 160 | 72 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 17 | 139 | 149 | 56 | 1 |
| 2003–04 | 12 | 169 | 131 | 53 | 0 |
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Licensing (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications were made for licences to sell alcohol in each London borough in each month since June 2004. [5267]
James Purnell: This information is not available to my Department.
Statistical data on applications for licences to sell alcohol have traditionally been collected at three yearly intervals (for the last year of each period) using statistics collated by court or petty session division rather than by borough or other local authority area.
The last exercise conducted was for the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. As figures are not broken down by month it would not be possible to provide information on liquor licences from each petty sessional area in London for June 2004 without incurring disproportionate costs and no statistics are available from July 2004 onwards.
After the Licensing Act 2003 is fully implemented on 24 November, my Department will consider the adequacy of the present arrangements for collecting and collating central licensing statistics.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of licences to sell alcohol has been transferred to local authority licences in (a) each London borough and (b) London. [5268]
James Purnell: My Department does not hold this information, which is not collected centrally.
Licensing authorities, which are in the main local authorities, are responsible for dealing with applications for converting existing justices' licences for the sale of alcohol into premises licences and club premises certificates. Licensing authorities are also fully responsible for administering and enforcing the new regime, and for collating information on applications received and dealt with.
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