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14 Jul 2005 : Column 1262W—continued
Social Landlords
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the registered social landlords which have broken (a) a rent guarantee made to
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tenants and (b) Housing Corporation rent guidelines since 1998; and how many homes were affected in each case. [11157]
Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 8 June 2005, Official Report, columns 560–62W. Only those registered social landlords which have received housing from local authorities as part of the large scale voluntary transfer programme have made rent guarantees to tenants.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the registered social landlords which have been put under supervision by the Housing Corporation; how many homes each is responsible for; and what the duration of the supervision period is in each case. [11162]
Yvette Cooper: The information cannot be provided in the form requested. The Housing Corporation's regulatory regime was set up in the late 1970s and records held do not date back this far. The corporation holds information on resolved supervision cases from 2000 onwards but the information does not identify stock figures at the time of supervision. It also holds information on current supervision cases, which does identify stock figures. This information has been made available in the Library of the House.
Water Supply
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has (a) sought and (b) received from Sutton and East Surrey Water plc regarding its ability to meet the future demand for water supply arising from the proposed increase in new housing completions in their catchment area. [12197]
Yvette Cooper: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has neither sought or received such representations. Water companies from across the South East and the Environment Agency are working with the South East England Regional Assembly to consider future water supply requirements as part of the process of preparing the South East Plan.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefit Fraud
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of benefit fraud cases involved the claimant using a false name in the last period for which figures are available. [6849]
Mr. Plaskitt: Precise figures are not available. The Counter Fraud Investigation Service (CFIS) which investigates the majority of benefit fraud does not keep a separate record of such cases.
The National Investigation Service (NIS) whose investigations focus on the most serious benefit frauds secured 175 convictions in 2004–05 for cases involving false identities. We estimate that half of these cases involved using false identities in order to claim benefit and half were attempts simply to obtain national insurance numbers.
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In 2004–05 the Department and local authorities together conducted a total of 13,261 successful prosecutions for benefit fraud.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls there were to the benefit fraud hotline in each month of the last year for which figures are available. [8187]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the table:
Note:
The number of calls made includes all calls registered as hitting the telephone system including calls not answered e.g. where the caller may have hung up before being answered.
Source:
National Benefit Fraud Hotline
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total budget for the benefit fraud hotline was for each year since the service commenced. [8189]
Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the table.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 1,086,000 |
| 2002–03 | 959,277 |
| 2003–04 | 957,977 |
| 2004–05 | 1,192,843 |
Notes:
1.Figures include goods, services and staffing costs.
2.The national benefit fraud hotline (NBFH) commenced in August 1996. Information around budget allocation is available only from year ending 2001–02. Prior to this NBFH fell under BA Security", and figures on funding and budget costs are no longer available.
3.The operational costs of administering the national benefit fraud hotline include the costs of administering the report-a-cheat-online service. These costs cannot be separated.
Source:
National Intelligence Unit and Resource Management and IT
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much fraudulently-claimed benefit was recovered as a result of calls made to the benefit fraud hotline in each year since the service commenced. [8190]
Mr. Plaskitt:
The information requested is not available.
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Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many convictions have resulted from calls to the benefit fraud hotline in each year since the service started. [8215]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 335 |
| 2000–01 | 492 |
| 2001–02 | 703 |
| 2002–03 | 706 |
| 2003–04 | 619 |
| 2004–05 | 655 |
Note:
Full information on the number of convictions resulting from calls to the national benefit fraud hotline is available only from April 1999.
Source:
Fraud Information by Sector system
Benefits (16-hour Rule)
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the 16-hour rule on measures to encourage people on benefits to take-up training opportunities; and what discussions he has had with colleagues in other departments on the subject. [9108]
Mr. Plaskitt: The part-time (16-hour) study rule is used to determine whether certain courses are part-time or full-time. People opting to study full-time in both higher and further education are the responsibility of the education system.
However, we recognise the need to increase the skills of jobseekers to meet the needs of their local labour market and currently fund various training schemes and employment programmes that are targeted towards those at a disadvantage in the labour market. The new deals and work based learning for adults are examples of this and participants receive a training allowance equivalent to their benefit and, in most circumstances, a top-up payment.
We are currently working with the Learning and Skills Council to make greater use of their provision and, from September 2006, will be piloting the adult learning option. The pilot will be aimed at people whose lack of skills is the barrier preventing them from getting a job. Pilot participants will undertake full-time learning and receive a training allowance.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what definition the Child Support Agency uses of the term sensitive case; how many cases the Sensitive Case Team has dealt with in each year since its establishment; how many times unauthorised access to sensitive cases has been detected; and how many checks have been made on sensitive cases. [2013]
Mr. Plaskitt:
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr.Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
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Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 14 July 2005:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what definition the Child Support Agency uses of the term sensitive case; how many cases the Sensitive Case Team has dealt with in each year since its establishment; how many times unauthorised access to sensitive cases has been detected; and how many checkes have been made on sensitive cases.
Within the Child Support Agency all Nationally Sensitive cases are dealt with by a team located in Falkirk. Sensitive cases are those cases that require special handling in order to restrict access to information and to protect the account from unauthorised amendments. Sensitive cases cover a wide range of circumstances including partners at risk of violence, people on witness protection, transsexuals and VIPs.
A yearly breakdown of the number of Nationally Sensitive cases is unavailable. However, there are currently 410 live cases, of which 238 are on the old scheme and 172 on the new scheme.
Since the inception of the Nationally Sensitive Case team within the Child Support Agency there have been no instances of unauthorised access to these cases detected. Information is not available as to how many checks have been carried out on Nationally Sensitive cases. However, they are all subject to 100 per cent checking which means that every time the case is actioned it is checked to ensure the Nationally Sensitive marking is still relevant.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much compensation has been sought from EDS by the Child Support Agency; how much has been received; and on what grounds compensation has been sought; [3632]
(2) if he will list payments (a) made to and (b) withheld from EDS for the new Child Support Agency computer system. [3866]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 14 July 2005:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You also asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much compensation has been sought from EDS by the Child Support Agency; how much has been received; and on what grounds compensation has been sought. You also asked the Secretary of State to list payments (a) made to and (b) withheld from EDS for the new Child Support Agency computer system.
The Department has not sought compensation from EDS as such. The Child Support Agency contract with EDS allows the Department to adjust payments according to the degree of IT functionality delivered and the level of service received against targets. We have previously reported in response to a Parliamentary Question on 18 November 2004, Official Report, column 1,874W that payments made to EDS between 3 March 2003 and 19 September 2004 under the Child Support Reform contract amounted to £62.08 million. During the same period the Department withheld £12.1 million as a result of service and performance issues.
The Department is currently in financial negotiations with EDS about the payments which should be made in total for the Child Support Agency computer system. I regret that I am unable to
- provide specific detail in relation to payments made and withheld since 19 September as the release of this information could prejudice commercial interests.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people in (a) the UK and (b) St. Albans are still waiting to be moved to assessment under the new Child Support Agency regulations; and what assessment he has made of the time taken for the transition to be completed; [5099]
(2) what the average level of overpayment has been by parents in St. Albans who are being assessed under the old Child Support Agency regulations whose cases have not yet been re-evaluated under the new regulations; and if he will make a statement. [5100]
Mr. Plaskitt: Although at the end of May 2005 there were around 955,000 cases being progressed under the old scheme in Great Britain information about the number of people waiting to be moved to the new scheme is not available. This is because not all of these cases will be appropriate to move to the new scheme. For example, this figure includes cases which involve payment of arrears where there is no on-going liability for maintenance.
Unfortunately information is not available at constituency or local authority level.
Those customers who have not been transferred to the new system are neither overpaying nor underpaying. Non-resident parents currently assessed under the old scheme are still liable to pay child support for their children in accordance with the legislation that applies to them.
We have recently appointed a new chief executive and as a priority have asked him to carry out a wide ranging review of the Agency's operations and structures. He will be reporting his findings to us in the summer and will set out his proposals to improve the Agency's performance, including the transfer of cases to the new system.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he was first informed that there would not be enough storage space on the new Child Support IT system for all cases; and what action he has taken to ensure that there will be. [8742]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 14 July 2005:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he was first informed that there would not be enough storage space on the new Child Support IT system for all cases; and what action he has taken to ensure that there will be.
The new IT system (CS2) will have sufficient storage space for all cases, and we are not aware of any storage capacity limitations that will affect the Child Support Agency's ability to support its caseload on the new system.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress there has been in agreeing a clear definition of system availability for the new child support system with EDS. [9331]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 14 July 2005:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what problems there have been agreeing a clear definition of system availability for the new child support system with EDS.
System availability is covered clearly in the Child Support Reform contract between the Department and EDS. Within that contract reference is made to when the system is not available. Unavailability" is defined as users being unable to access the system or unable to work correctly because the system is not working to agreed specification (requirements). The system" is defined as all of the listed components of the EDS IT solution for Child Support Reform.
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