| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
31 Oct 2005 : Column 735W—continued
North Sea Oil Revenues
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenues his Department expects to receive from North sea oil for (a) 2005–06 and (b) 2006–07. [22312]
John Healey: Based on NAO audited assumptions in 2005 North sea oil and gas production revenues of £7.1 billion were projected for 2005–06 in this year's Budget (see table C8 of the 2005 report). Updated estimates will be included in the next pre-Budget report.
HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Departmental Consultation
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if he will list formal consultations being sponsored by the Commission; and what the (a) commencement date and (b) deadline for responses is in each case. [22573]
Nick Harvey: The Commission is not sponsoring any formal consultations.
Parliamentary Estate (Motion Sensors)
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many lights in (a) offices and (b) public spaces on the parliamentary estate are activated by motion sensors; and how many of these are set to turn on only when activated by motion. [23445]
Nick Harvey: The information is as follows:
(a) No office lights are activated by motion sensors. Experience has shown that the irregular working patterns of Members and staff make the use of motion sensors in office areas impractical.
(b) In public areas of the Palace some 20 per cent. of corridors and lavatories have motion sensors. They have recently been installed in the underground car park lift lobbies at levels 2–5. The sensors turn off lights when there is no motion for a set period. Elsewhere on the parliamentary estate there are movement sensor controls in the corridors at 7 Millbank and the Norman Shaw Buildings which turn off the lights when there is no movement. 1 Parliament Street and 1 Derby Gate have lighting control systems, which dim the lights in the corridors and common parts.
Parliamentary Information Management System
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the Parliamentary Information Management System search engine is to be made available to the public on the parliamentary internet site. [22545]
Nick Harvey: Decisions on whether the Parliamentary Information Management System search engine is to be made available to the public on the parliamentary internet site will be taken in the wider context of the production of the business case for the radical upgrade of the site recommended by the Modernisation Committee in its first Report of Session 2003–04 (HC 368) 'Connecting Parliament with the Public', and subsequently endorsed by the Commission in its reply to the Committee, and by the House on 26 January 2005. That business case is due to be completed by December 2005.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Council Tax Benefit
7. Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to make it easier to claim council tax benefit. [22508]
Mr. Plaskitt: We want support to be as automatic as possible for everyone entitled to council tax benefit, but pensioners are our first priority.
The Pension Service is already telephoning existing customers nationwide who do not appear to be getting council tax benefit and filling in a simple three page claim form on their behalf. All the customer has to do is sign it and send it to their local authority and we have already issued nearly 10,000 (9,957) such forms.
And, from December the Pension Service will take council tax benefit claims over the phone at the same time as new Pension Credit claims.
Child Support Agency
16. Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency about the Agency's strategic plan. [22521]
Mr. Plaskitt: I and Ministerial colleagues regularly meet the Agency's Chief Executive, Stephen Geraghty. And, as my right hon. Friend mentioned in response to an earlier question, Stephen Geraghty is in the process of reporting back on his fundamental review of the Agency's operations and service delivery.
Older Workers
17. Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received on discrimination against older workers. [22522]
Margaret Hodge:
We have received about 20 letters since 1 April 2005 concerning age discrimination against older workers.
31 Oct 2005 : Column 737W
In addition we have participated in several meetings and events, including our recent Pensions Debate, in which older worker issues and the forthcoming age discrimination regulations have been discussed.
Benefit Claimants
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many mentally ill people there are on incapacity benefit; and how many unemployed people there are on jobseeker's allowance; [18796]
(2) how many people have claimed incapacity benefits on the grounds of poor mental health in each of the last five years. [18834]
Mrs. McGuire: As at September 2005 there were 847,600 people claiming jobseeker's allowance in Great Britain. The most recent available incapacity benefits information is in the table.
Notes:
1. Figures are shown in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. 'Claimant' figures include all IB and SDA (including IB credits only cases).
3. All diagnoses are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, published by the World Health Organisation.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.
Council Tax
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners in Gravesham who have experienced increases in their council taxes since 1977 who are living in poverty. [20001]
Mr. Timms: It is not possible to state the number of pensioners in Gravesham whose income is below 60 per cent. of median household income because data is only collected at the regional level.
There are 3,915 recipients of the guarantee element of pension credit in Gravesham with weekly average award of £40.58, all of whom are entitled to 100 per cent. council tax rebate. Data on council tax rebate recipients are only available at the Government Office Region level.
Customer Management System
Jim Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what training needs have been identified for staff in Customer Management System on proposed changes to disability benefits; and what discussions on training have taken place with staff; [19273]
31 Oct 2005 : Column 738W
(2) what the rate was of (a) early retirement and (b) resignation on grounds of stress and ill health in Customer Management System in each of the last two years in each region and country of the UK; [19274]
(3) how many incidents of violence against staff working in Customer Management System have been reported in each of the last two years in each region and country of the UK expressed as a ratio of whole-time equivalent employees; [19275]
(4) what percentage of days were lost through sickness absence in Customer Management System in each of the last two years in each region and country of the UK; [19276]
(5) what the rate of staff turnover in the Customer Management System was in each of the last two years in each region and country of the UK. [19277]
Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lesley Strathie to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 31 October 2005:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions concerning the Customer Management System. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Your first question asked what training needs have been identified for staff working on the Customer Management System in relation to proposed changes to disability benefits, and what discussions on such training have taken place with those staff. In common with other policy or process changes, a learning needs analysis will be conducted once the nature of any changes to incapacity benefits has been finalised. This will ensure that any functionality changes to the Customer Management System will be covered by an appropriate learning solution. During the development of the learning solution, the staff who use the System will be consulted to ensure the training modules meet all the learning needs.
The Customer Management System is one of a number of IT systems Jobcentre Plus uses in the delivery of services to our customers. The system is not used by all of our staff. Whilst we do collect staff information of the type sought in your questions, for example on sickness absence and staff turnover, this information is not collected or kept separately for those of our staff who work with the System and those who do not.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |