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28 Oct 2005 : Column 602W—continued
Employment Targets
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 12 September 2005, Official Report, column 2484W, on employment targets, when he expects to set the baseline. [20650]
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Margaret Hodge: We are still discussing the basis of the long term aim of an 80 per cent. employment rate with, among others, the Office for National Statistics.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what policies have been introduced to simplify the process of claiming incapacity benefit. [17731]
Mrs. McGuire: A number of measures have been introduced to simplify the process of claiming incapacity benefit, including changes to the permitted work rules, hospital down rating rules, the personal capability assessment process and the introduction of computer produced medical reports. We plan to extend and simplify the linking rules from October 2006.
We have recently set out our principles for welfare reform and will be publishing a Welfare Reform Green Paper in the near future.
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have claimed incapacity benefit in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham in each year since 1997. [19164]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the following table.
Notes:
1.Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
2.Claimants" include all incapacity benefit, severe disability allowance and national insurance credits only cases.
Source:
DWP Information Centre, 5 per cent. sample
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money has been claimed as incapacity benefit in Scotland since 2001. [19377]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the following tables.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 848 |
| 2001–02 | 838 |
| 2002–03 | 831 |
| 2003–04 | 809 |
| 2004–05 | 814 |
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| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 966 |
| 2001–02 | 931 |
| 2002–03 | 893 |
| 2003–04 | 846 |
| 2004–05 | 834 |
Notes:
1.Figures are based on data underlying the Country and Regional Analysis 2005.
2.Figures for 2004–05 are estimated using 2003–04 case load and average amounts.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2005, Official Report, column 2016W, on incapacity benefit, what proportion of the 29,000 people who left incapacity benefit over the last 12 months (a) had a closed certificate, (b) died or (c) transferred to a retirement pension. [19684]
Mrs. McGuire: The 29,000 figure represents the net reduction in claimant numbers between February 2004 and February 2005. As such, it is not possible to provide the breakdown requested.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Gravesham constituency are in receipt of incapacity benefit. [19808]
Mrs. McGuire: As at February 2005, there were 3,600 people claiming incapacity benefit or severe disability allowance in the Gravesham parliamentary constituency.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are waiting to receive incapacity benefits in (a) Gravesham and (b) Kent. [19810]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Income Support
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the revenue yield would be of restricting payments of lone parent income support to those with children below the age of 12; and if he will make a statement. [20021]
Margaret Hodge: On the assumption that these lone parents would claim earnings related benefits on another basis, the restriction of payments of income support to only those lone parents with children aged less than 12 years would not produce any direct savings.
Industrial Disease RbA12
Ms Angela C. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will extend industrial disease RbA12 to include frequent and repeated movements of hand and wrist as a cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. [20257]
Margaret Hodge:
The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), the scientific body that advises Ministers on the prescription of industrial diseases, is currently undertaking a review of work-related upper
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limb disorders and, in particular, is analysing the evidence in relation to repeated movements of the hand and wrist as a cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. Its report is expected in June 2006. A review of the evidence is already on the IIAC website. We will await IIAC's recommendations before making a decision on whether or not to extend the terms of prescription.
New Deal
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Workand Pensions how many people in Gravesham have gained employment through the New Deal programme. [19811]
Margaret Hodge: Up to the end of March 2005, 1,870 people had been placed into work through the New Deal programme in Gravesham.
1.Information on the numbers of people placed into work through new deal for disabled people and new deal for partners is not available at constituency level. 2.Latest available data is to the end of March 2005. 3.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
DWP Information and Analysis Directorate
Pathways to Work
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people on incapacity benefit have failed to attend their first work focused interview in each of the pathways to work pilot areas; and how many of these have received a sanction. [14329]
Margaret Hodge: It is not possible to be specific as to the number of people who have failed to attend their first work focused interview as this information is not available in the format requested.
In the period from April to June 2005 a total of 3,531 people in the seven pathways to work pilot areas failed to attend one of their mandatory work focused interviews, however we do not have the information as to whether this was their first work focused interview or a subsequent one.
Where there is a failure to attend a work-focused interview a letter is sent to the individual making the consequences clear and asking the customer to contact their adviser. Where no response is received, the department will, in cases where the client has a known mental health problem or learning disability, additionally undertake a home visit to ensure the individual understands the requirements placed upon him. The application of a sanction is a last resort. A reminder that a sanction can be applied is almost always enough to encourage someone to comply with the requirement to attend an interview.
So the very large majority of these customers will have had their interview rebooked and will subsequently attend that interview (or it may be deferred where additional information comes to light that the timing of the interview is now inappropriate). Only in a very small percentage of cases is it necessary to impose a benefit sanction. This is because knowledge of potential sanctions incentivises people to attend their work focused interviews and the system's safeguards
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ensure that people do not lose benefit because of misunderstandings or an inability to comply with the requirements.
As a result of these measures it has only been found necessary to impose a sanction, at the end of the process, on 100 people out of the 3,500 failing to attend.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people on incapacity benefit have participated on the Pathways to Work pilots (a) in total and (b) each month; what the average duration of participation is; and how many in total have entered paid employment of 16 hours or more a week. [14331]
Margaret Hodge: The average time spent on pathways is just over 17 weeks.
By the end of June, there were 115,400 new claimantsin Pathways to Work areas. New claimants are expected to attend work focused interviews but their participation in work focused activities is voluntary. 21 per cent. choose to do so and of these, 14,600 have obtained a job. Information is not available as to how many of these have entered paid employment of 16 hours or more a week.
Information on how many people on incapacity benefit have participated in the Pathways to Work pilots is in the following table.
Notes:
1.Data is to the end of June 2005.
2.Includes customers making a new claim to incapacity benefit for whom pilot participation is mandatory and existing customers who have volunteered to take part.
Source:
Pathways to Work Evaluation Database.
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have left incapacity benefit since October 2003 in (a) the UK and (b) pathways
28 Oct 2005 : Column 607W
towork pilot areas to (i) enter paid work, (ii) claim jobseeker's allowance, (iii) claim retirement pension and (iv) to claim another benefit. [14334]
Margaret Hodge: Information is not available for the UK.
By June 2005 there were 115,400 new claimants in pathways to work areas. New claimants are expected to attend work focused interviews but their participation in work focused activities is voluntary. Twenty one percent. choose to do so and of these, 14,600 have obtained a job. Information is not available on whether these jobs are part-time or full-time. A measure of sustainability is not currently available for jobs obtained through the pathways pilots, but we expect to provide robust information as part of our comprehensive evaluation.
The available information for Great Britain and the pathways to work pilot areas is in the table.
Notes:
1.Figures are shown in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred.
2.'Destination' is the benefit claimed within 90 days of an IB/SDA claim terminating, or for SP, those approaching pension age at their claim end date.
3.'Other benefits' includes income support and pension credit. Claimants who are already receiving income support (IS)/pension credit (PC) in conjunction with their IB/SDA claim have not been included in this category.
4.The destination recorded has been allocated on a hierarchical basis, in the following order; JSA, SP, 'other benefits', 'other destination.' For example: If the claimant received JSA and also claimed IS within 90 days, they would be recorded in the JSA category of the table.
5.'Other destination' includes anyone who does not subsequently claim JSA, SP, IS or PC. This will include people who move into work, return to IB/SDA subsequently, die, or leave IB/SDA for any other reason.
6.'Pathways Areas' are Bridgend, Renfrewshire, Derbyshire, Gateshead and South Tyneside, Somerset, Essex, and East Lancashire.
Source:
Information Directorate, 5 percent samples.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with mental health problems on incapacity benefit have participated in the Pathways to Work pilots; and how many have entered paid employment of 16 hours or more each week. [14335]
Margaret Hodge: Information is available to June 2005 on the medical condition of 64,900 pathways participants. Of these, 23,600 (36 per cent.) are classified as having a mental or behavioural disorder.
There have been 3,300 pathways job entries for participants classified as having a mental or behavioural disorder.
28 Oct 2005 : Column 608W
Information is not available on the number of hours worked for pathways job entries.
Pathways to work Evaluation Database DWP Information Directorate
Sir Malcolm Rifkind: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have (a) taken part in an incapacity benefit Pathways to Work pilot and (b) obtained a sustained (i) part-time and (ii) full-time job through a Pathways to Work pilot. [14395]
Margaret Hodge: 115,400 people had made a new claim for incapacity benefits in Pathways to Work districts, from when the pilots started to the end of June. New claimants are requested to attend work focused interviews but they are not required to engage in work focused activities. Twenty-one per cent. have taken part in a menu of activities. For example, there have been 6,600 starts with a new deal for disabled people job broker, and 6,700 referrals to the condition management programmes.
A total of 14,600 people are known so far to have obtained a job. Information is not yet available on whether these jobs are part time or full time. It is too early in the life of the pilots to provide robust information on sustainability. That will form part of the evaluation.
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Pathways to work Evaluation Database
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