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30 Nov 2005 : Column 607W—continued
Benefit Payments
David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland receive a social security benefit. [30588]
Mr. Plaskitt: The most recent available information is in the tables.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study
Notes:
1.The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
2.Totals may not sum due to rounding.
3.All ages client group includes claimants of one or more of jobseeker's allowance, income support, incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, disability living allowance, carer's allowance, pension credit, bereavement benefit or widow's benefit, attendance allowance and state pension.
4.Passport benefits" are income support, income-based jobseekers allowance, and pension credit (guaranteed credit).
5.Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
6.Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
7.Overlaps exist between housing benefit and council tax benefit and all ages client group.
8.HB/CTB figures have been estimated for non-responding local authorities.
Source:
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Quarterly 100 per cent. sample, taken in May 2004
Child Support Agency
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made on the migration of existing cases with the Child Support Agency to the new maintenance system; and if he will make a statement; [19343]
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on progress being made towards transferring Child Support Agency cases on to the new system. [19505]
30 Nov 2005 : Column 608W
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Workand Pensions when he expects all Child Support Agency cases to be transferred to the new maintenance scheme. [20557]
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he estimates that all the Child Support Agency cases on the old system of maintenance calculation will have transferred to the new system of maintenance calculation; and if he will make a statement. [21584]
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when all Child Support Agency cases will be transferred to the new maintenance scheme. [27897]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Child Support Agency's Chief Executive, Stephen Geraghty, is currently undertaking a root and branch review of the agency. He will report to Ministers and we will make announcements shortly.
Mark Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what date all those paying child support will be on the new formula. [23097]
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children in the Kettering constituency have been supported by parental payments made through the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997. [23202]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available at constituency level.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many uncleared Child Support Agency cases are awaiting processing in West Lancashire. [27833]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available at constituency level.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of time staff at the Child Support Agency spent assessing levels of maintenance compared to enforcement and compliance activity in (a) 1988 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. [30000]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. Laws, dated 30 November 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 estimate he has made of the proportion of time staff at the Child Support Agency spent assessing levels of maintenance compared to enforcement and compliance activity in (a) 1988 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available.
The Agency does not collect information concerning the amount of time spent on assessing levels of maintenance compared with time spent on enforcement and compliance activities.
However, the Agency does collect information on the number of staff working on assessing levels of maintenance compared with enforcement & compliance activities. In October 2005, of the staff
- working in these areas, 56% were involved in activities that contributed to assessing levels of maintenance, and 44% in activities involving enforcement and compliance.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the reasons are for the extension of the contract with EDS until 2010. [30022]
Mr. Timms: The realigned contract between EDS and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) consolidates the contractual arrangements with EDS which the Department inherited from the Department of Social Security and Employment Service of the Department for Education and Employment, with a single end date of 2010.
The realigned contract will radically simplify both parties' administration costs and deliver efficiencies and cost savings. On average, over the next five years, the Department will be spending around £520 million a year on services delivered by EDS, compared to more than £700 million a year spent since the DWP was created. EDS prices will be regularly benchmarked so that the Department continues to receive competitive rates and value for money.
The contract also allows for the Department's entire IT infrastructure to be upgraded and will provide access to modernised IT which is easier to maintain and update than bespoke services.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of (a) harassment, (b) bullying and (c) discrimination have been reported to the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years. [30027]
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, dated 30 November 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 how many cases of (a) harassment (b) bullying and (c) discrimination have been reported to the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years.
The numbers of harassment, bullying and discrimination cases formally reported to the Agency in the last five years are as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 34 |
| 2001–02 | 49 |
| 2002–03 | 32 |
| 2003–04 | 44 |
| 2004–05 | 22 |
The nature of the complaints does not allow separation of the data into the constituent elements of harassment, bullying and discrimination.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff working for the Child Support Agency in each year since 2001 have been working for the agency for (a) more than five years, (b) more than two years, (c) more than a year and (d) less than a year. [30029]
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, dated 30 November 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 how many staff working for the Child Support Agency in each year since 2001 have been working for the Agency for (a) more than five years (b) more than two years (c) more than a year and (d)less than a year.
Note:
Columns 4 and 5 are subsets of column 3 in all years
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what factors he took into account when setting the case compliance target for the Child Support Agency new scheme for 2004–05 and 2005–06; [30594]
(2) what factors he took into account when setting the accuracy target for the Child Support Agency new scheme for 2004–05 and 2005–06. [30595]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Child Support Agency's targets for 2004–05 were set in the light of available information about performance during the first year of the new scheme. For 2005–06 the previous year's targets were rolled forward pending the arrival of the agency's new chief executive and his conduct of a root and branch review of the delivery of the child support service.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Gravesend constituency have received the correct level of payments from the Child Support Agency since its reorganisation in 2003; and what proportion of eligible Gravesend residents this represents. [19806]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available at constituency level.
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