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19 Jul 2005 : Column 1643W—continued

Incapacity Benefit

Mr. McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Wolverhampton South East constituency are in receipt of incapacity benefit. [10994]

Mrs. McGuire: As at February 2005, there were 4,600 incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance claimants in the Wolverhampton South East parliamentary constituency.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of people who did not receive the incapacity benefit to which they were entitled because they had incorrectly completed the initial application form in the last year for which figures are available. [12266]

Mrs. McGuire: The information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will list the organisations contracted by his Department to assess claims for incapacity benefit, broken down by region; [12951]

(2) if he will list the organisations responsible for the assessment of the performance of the organisations contracted by his Department to assess claims for incapacity benefit. [12952]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 18 July 2005]: No organisations have been contracted by the Department to assess claims for incapacity benefit. All such claims are assessed by Jobcentre Plus staff.

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated annual probability was of an (a) employed and (b) unemployed (i) man and (ii) woman remaining on incapacity benefit in each 12 month period since 1978–79. [13014]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The information is not available.

Jobcentre Staff (Attacks)

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobcentre staff have been the victims of offences of violence in each year for the last 10 years. [4945]

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
 
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Letter from Lesley Strathie to Mr. James Clappison, dated 19 July 2005:


Calendar yearAssaults
2000*291
2001*326
2002203
2003235
2004329




Notes:
1. Jobcentre Plus was set up on 1 April 2002, bringing together the former Department for Social Security's Benefit Agency (BA) and the Employment Service (ES);
2. data for the calendar years 2000* and 2001* reflects the combined figures for ES and BA. Data for the calendar years 2002–04 reflects total figures for Jobcentre Plus;
3. owing to a number of significant variables such as staffing levels, types and numbers of offices and methods of service delivery over the above period, year-on-year comparisons are not possible.




Lone Parents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of lone parents are in paid employment in each constituency in the UK, listed in descending order of percentage. [8267]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 4 July 2005]: The information is not available in the form requested. The available information on the number and percentage of lone parents in employment by region in descending order of percentage is in the following table.
Number and percentage of lone parents in employment

NumberPercentage
South West85,00066.4
South East120,00064.0
Eastern75,00060.4
Wales55,00059.8
East Midlands70,00058.4
Yorkshire and Humberside85,00057.5
West Midlands90,00057.4
Scotland90,00056.3
North West135,00055.1
North East45,00052.3
London125,00041.6




Note:
Numbers are rounded to nearest 5,000. Percentages are rounded to nearest percentage point.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, Autumn 2004.




Medical Examination Centres

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what level and type of medical qualification is required for a professional employed to conduct benefit claimants' medical examinations at a medical examination centre. [10079]


 
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Mrs. McGuire: Doctors appointed by the Medical Service are specifically trained in disability assessment medicine.

All doctors who carry out work for Medical Services have to be fully registered with the General Medical Council. In addition, they must satisfy specific recruitment criteria. They are required to have at least three years post-registration experience with a spread of experience in appropriate fields, for example, General Practice, Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, rehabilitation medicine and Psychiatry.

On appointment, they must undergo specific training, show evidence of competence and be approved on behalf of the Secretary of State by the Chief Medical Advisor to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Annual continuing professional training, agreed between Atos Origin and the Department, is mandatory for every doctor providing services to the Department.

New Deal

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for incorporating basic skills education into the Building on New Deal programme. [6654]

Margaret Hodge: Basic skills is a key element of the Building on New Deal (BoND) programme. It is planned that Advisers will work with customers to identify potential literacy, language or numeracy needs and, where such needs are identified, referral for an independent assessment of those needs will be offered.

The assessment will identify the customer's current level of skill and help determine the most appropriate provision to address those needs and improve skills.

The planned suite of provision offered to clients within BoND contains courses to help improve literacy and language skills to a level where customers are able to compete more effectively in the labour market.

Parliamentary Questions

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer written parliamentary questions reference (a) 3169, (b) 3160, (c) 3158, (d) 3157, (e) 3156 and (f) 3153. [9582]

Mr. Plaskitt: Replies were given to the hon. Member on 4 and 13 July.

Pathfinders Evaluations

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the next round of Pathfinders evaluations will be completed and published. [11703]

Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 14 July 2005]: We are about to publish further evidence from the local housing allowance pathfinder evaluation. The expected publication dates for the next and future evaluation summaries and reports is given in the table. All these documents will be placed in the Library when they are published.
 
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Interim summaries/reportsProvisional
publication date
Six month claimant report20 July 2005
Interim landlord summary20 July 2005
Interim landlord reportOctober 2005
Fifteen month operational stakeholder reportEnd November 2005
Fifteen month claimant summaryMid December 2005
Fifteen month claimant reportEnd March 2006
Final evaluation reports
Stakeholder and marketEnd October 2006
Claimants and landlordsMid December 2006


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