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21 Jul 2005 : Column 2013W—continued

EDS

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes have been agreed in relation to the (a) accuracy and (b) quality of data and management information supplied by EDS in response to the internal audit recommendation of 2004–05; and what led to the recommendation. [1989]

Mr. Plaskitt: The internal audit recommendation followed a review of the Performance Management, Management Information and Data Warehouse of the new Child Support System. This issue was also identified in the Work and Pensions Select Committee report on the Child Support System (Second report of the session 2004–05 HC 441. I refer the hon. Member to the Government's response to this report (HC477) and specifically the response to the first recommendation, which relates to management information.

Employers' Liability Insurance

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received concerning employers' liability insurance. [13989]

Mrs. McGuire: We have received no recent representations concerning employers' liability insurance.

English Wine

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ensure that English wine is made available at dinners, receptions and parties he hosts at which hospitality involving wine is appropriate (a) during the EU presidency and (b) generally; and if he will make a statement. [9156]

Mr. Plaskitt: On all issues of hospitality the primary consideration is one of Value for Money. All departmental organisers of EU presidency events have been advised of Cabinet Office guidance which encourages the provision of British food and drink where possible.

Group 4

Mr. Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department and public bodies and agencies for which he is responsible on security contracts with Group 4 Securicor in 2004–05; and if he will list (a) the nature and location of services provided and (b) the start and end dates of such contracts. [13523]

Margaret Hodge: The Department and its public bodies or agencies have had no expenditure with Group 4 Securicor on security contracts in the past year.

Home Responsibilities Protection Scheme

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many carers in (a) Scotland and (b) the
 
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Lanark and Hamilton East constituency have participated in the Home Responsibilities Protection Scheme in each year from 2001; and if he will make a statement. [14059]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available at constituency level. Such information as is available is in the table.
Carers in Scotland eligible for home responsibilities protection

	Number
2001–02	309,000
2002–03(12)	500,000
2003–04(12)	465,000

⁽¹²⁾ The figures for 2002–03 and 2003–004 are provisional.
Source:
1 per cent. sample of the Lifetime Labour Market Database of the National Insurance Records System

These figures represent the number of people for whom HRP is available if they do not achieve a qualifying year for state pension purposes through national insurance contributions. They do not represent the numbers who need HRP in order to qualify for a full basic state pension.

Honours

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials currently in the Department received honours in the recent Queen's Birthday Honours List; and at what rank of honour. [5111]

Mrs. McGuire: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 22 June 2005, Official Report, column 1059.

Housing Benefit

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people have used the rapid claims procedure for housing benefit in each year since its introduction, broken down by region; [5441]

(2) what percentage of new housing benefit recipients in each year since 1997 had to (a) fill in more than one form and (b) attend more than one office in order successfully to complete their claim, broken down by region. [5444]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not collected. Local authorities provide details of the number of new claims made to housing benefit and council tax benefit, but are not required to provide details of the type of claim forms received.

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many housing benefit claims were outstanding on average in each year since 1997, broken down by region. [5454]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the table.
Average number of claims outstanding in each Government Office Region; 2000–01 to 2004–05

Government Office Region	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
East Midlands	52,414	31,346	34,377	50,943	18,764
Eastern	66,383	47,811	31,817	52,888	42,869
London	154,426	75,947	131,966	89,734	67,282
North-east	38,189	35,045	27,555	58,937	10,771
North-west	140,411	38,100	75,383	49,153	29,240
Scotland	67,348	62,659	63,599	62,680	29,474
South-east	117,054	63,838	39,174	88,327	27,539
South-west	85,895	32,218	36,425	153,382	21,492
Wales	102,592	27,980	39,297	51,279	24,776
West Midlands	60,002	31,892	45,498	76,722	29,432
Yorks and Humberside	122,778	73,130	71,210	292,469	28,311
National total	1,007,492	519,966	596,299	1,026,513	329,948

Notes:
1.Not all LAs have returned data in every quarter, so the reported figures are the weighted averages of those that have returned figures.
2.Local authorities may not use the same method of counting.
3.Data is not available prior to 2000.
4.Prior to 2004–05 the count included both new and renewal claims, after this point existing claims were no longer renewed.
Source:
Local Authority (LA) quarterly statistical returns





 
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Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many landlords renting accommodation to housing benefit recipients were prosecuted for breaching environmental standards in each year since 1997, broken down by region. [5489]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available because it is not collected by centrally.

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of administering housing benefit was in each year since 1997. [5492]

Mr. Plaskitt: The cost of administering housing benefit cannot be separated from the cost of administering council tax benefit; joint claims are usually administered together.

The available information is in the table.
Costs to local authorities of administering housing benefit and council tax benefit for the years 1997–98 to 2003–04;Great Britain

	Million
1997–98	516
1998–99	526
1999–2000	597
2000–01	613
2001–02	654
2002–03	693
2003–04	765

Notes:
1.These figures should not be regarded as the exact cost because it is not always possible for local authorities to accurately separate their HB/CTB administration costs from other expenditure.
2.2003–04 is the latest year for which information is available.
Source:
Local authority reported expenditure.

Health and Safety Executive

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the Health and Safety Executive campaign Government Setting an Example. [13979]

Mrs. McGuire: The Government Setting an Example programme was designed to develop best practice on health, safety and sickness absence within Government
 
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Departments. The Health and Safety Executive has now brought this work together with its priority programme on the health services into a public services programme.

This supports the work of the ministerial taskforce on health, safety and productivity by working with management and employee representatives to focus on the key causes of work related sickness absence across the public sector.

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