House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Nov 2005 (pt 33)

30 Nov 2005 : Column 617W—continued

Income Support

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of income support recipients were disabled in (a) May 1997 and (b) May 2005; and if he will make a statement. [25258]

Mr. Plaskitt: There is no single legal definition of disability. However, a disability premium is payable to entitled income support claimants, this information is provided in the following table.
Income support claimants with a disability premium: Great Britain

All income support claimants Income support claimants with a disability premium Proportion (percentage)

May 1997 2,287,600 845,100 36.9

May 2005 2,140,500 1,115,700 52.1

Notes:
1.Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 100.
2.Percentages are given to one decimal place.
3.For comparison purposes, the 1997 figure excludes pensioners. Pensioners have not been able to claim income support since October 2003.
4.May 1997 figures have been derived by applying 5 per cent. proportions to 100 per cent. WPLS totals.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS)

	All income support claimants	Income support claimants with a disability premium	Proportion (percentage)
May 1997	2,287,600	845,100	36.9
May 2005	2,140,500	1,115,700	52.1

IT Projects

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many IT projects which cost over £1 million and were introduced since 1997 are in use in his Department. [26615]

Mr. Timms: Since its creation in June 2001 the Department for Work and Pensions has delivered a number of projects that involve IT and cost in excess of £1 million. The following lists those mission critical projects and programmes with a substantial IT content which have been delivered since June 2001.

Corporate Intranet

Customer Management System Phase 1

Digital Office Infrastructure

Managing Core Systems Estate

Modernising the Employment Service

Multi Function Server Replacement

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Payment Modernisation Programme

Pensions Credit

Pensions Forecasting

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the IT projects costing over £1 million in use in his Department and introduced since 1997 have been scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee; and if he will list them. [26620]

Mr. Timms: Since the creation of the Department for Work and Pensions in June 2001, the only IT project that has been the subject of a Public Accounts Committee scrutiny and report is the Benefit Payment Card project. The report was published on 12 November 2001.

Mental Health (Employment)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to tackle discrimination against people with mental health problems who are seeking work. [22067]

Mrs. McGuire: Many people with mental health conditions will be covered by the provisions in Part 2 of the Disability Discrimination Act which provide comprehensive protection against disability discrimination in recruitment and employment. These require an employer not to discriminate against disabled people for a reason related to their disability, but also to consider reasonable adjustments to job application or selection processes, and to premises, practices or procedures, if these would otherwise put a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage.

In addition, from 5 December 2005, under provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the requirement that a mental illness must be clinically well-recognised" before it can be regarded as an impairment under the DDA 1995 will be ended, making it easier for people with mental health illnesses to enforce their rights.

Around 40 per cent. of all people making a claim for incapacity benefits say that mental health is their main health barrier. Consequently, Pathways advisers have received specialist training in supporting customers with mental health conditions and our Condition Management programmes have a particular emphasis upon advising people on how to manage their condition in a work context.

New Deal (Accidents)

Ms Angela C. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many accidents have been recorded as occurring to new deal participants funded by his Department in each year since the new deal began, broken down by (a) fatal, (b) major and (c) those requiring over three days' absence. [28899]

Mrs. McGuire: I regret this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Reports sent to HSE under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and

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Dangerous Occurrences Regulations are not required to state whether an injured party was receiving training or experience under new deal schemes.

Obesity

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the impact of obesity on the disability pensions budget in the next 10 years. [28241]

Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available from which to make such an estimate.

Poverty

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were living in poverty in West Lancashire in each of the last 20 years for which figures are available. [27915]

Mr. Timms: The seventh annual Opportunity for all report, published recently, sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress.

Information on the number of pensioners in low income is not available below regional level. The following table gives estimates for the number of pensioners in relative low income and absolute low income in the North West.
Number of pensioners living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of GB median income in the North West and Merseyside (in millions) based on three year rolling averages (relative low income)

Before housing costs After housing costs

1994–95 to 1996–97 0.26 0.31

1995–96 to 1997–98 0.27 0.32

1996–97 to 1998–99 0.29 0.33

1997–98 to 1999–00 0.29 0.32

1998–99 to 2000–01 0.28 0.30

1999–2000 to 2001–02 0.27 0.28

2000–01 to 2002–03 0.28 0.27

2001–02 to 2003–04 0.28 0.26

Number of pensioners living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 GB median income held constant in real terms in the North West (in millions) based on three year rolling averages (absolute low income)

Before housing costs After housing costs

1994–95 to 1996–97 0.30 0.35

1995–96 to 1997–98 0.28 0.33

1996–97 to 1998–99 0.27 0.31

1997–98 to 1999–00 0.26 0.27

1998–99 to 2000–01 0.23 0.22

1999–2000 to 2001–02 0.20 0.17

2000–01 to 2002–03 0.18 0.14

2001–02 to 2003–04 0.16 0.12

Notes:
1.Figures are provided using a three-year rolled average, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year on year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. Due to this, the absolute and relative figures in 1996–97 to 1998–99 will not necessarily match. In circumstances such as a change in trend, rolled-averages will show less variation than single year estimates.
2.The estimates use the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI). Income is net of income tax and council tax, and adjusted for household size and composition.
3.Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10,000.
Source:
Family Resources Survey (FRS)

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	Before housing costs	After housing costs
1994–95 to 1996–97	0.26	0.31
1995–96 to 1997–98	0.27	0.32
1996–97 to 1998–99	0.29	0.33
1997–98 to 1999–00	0.29	0.32
1998–99 to 2000–01	0.28	0.30
1999–2000 to 2001–02	0.27	0.28
2000–01 to 2002–03	0.28	0.27
2001–02 to 2003–04	0.28	0.26

	Before housing costs	After housing costs
1994–95 to 1996–97	0.30	0.35
1995–96 to 1997–98	0.28	0.33
1996–97 to 1998–99	0.27	0.31
1997–98 to 1999–00	0.26	0.27
1998–99 to 2000–01	0.23	0.22
1999–2000 to 2001–02	0.20	0.17
2000–01 to 2002–03	0.18	0.14
2001–02 to 2003–04	0.16	0.12

Railways (Health and Safety)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) technical and financial contracts, (b) technical consultants used on a call-off basis and (c) financial consultants used on a call-off basis by (i) the Health and Safety Commission, (ii) the Health and Safety Executive relating to railway matters since 1 November 2003; what the nature of the assignment for each consultant was; and what the value of work done by each consultant was. [25701]

Mrs. McGuire: In addition to all the rail-related work commissioned by the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC) Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and undertaken by HSE's own internal Health and Safety Laboratory, since 1 November 2003, HSE has engagedthe following external technical and financial consultants:

Name of consultant
Nature of the assignment Value of the work (£000)

University of Newcastle Comparison of the Hatfield and alternative UK rails using models to assess the effect of
residual stress on crack growth 55,000

Bombardier Storage of carriages at Adtranz, Crewe—Hatfield derailment 315

NRPB Survey into the radiological impact of the normal transport of radioactive material by rail 22

Deloitte and Touche⁽⁴⁹⁾ Evaluation of HSE's Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Gas, Offshore and
Rail charging regimes⁽⁴⁹⁾ ⁽⁴⁹⁾214

University College London Analytical work in support of the HSC Working Group to examine risk to rail users from
road vehicles obstructing the railways 7

⁽⁴⁹⁾The rail element was a component of a larger HSE study.

Name of consultant	Nature of the assignment	Value of the work (£000)
University of Newcastle	Comparison of the Hatfield and alternative UK rails using models to assess the effect of residual stress on crack growth	55,000
Bombardier	Storage of carriages at Adtranz, Crewe—Hatfield derailment	315
NRPB	Survey into the radiological impact of the normal transport of radioactive material by rail	22
Deloitte and Touche⁽⁴⁹⁾	Evaluation of HSE's Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Gas, Offshore and Rail charging regimes⁽⁴⁹⁾	⁽⁴⁹⁾214
University College London	Analytical work in support of the HSC Working Group to examine risk to rail users from road vehicles obstructing the railways	7

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of the health and safety implications of recent rail incidents. [26071]

Derek Twigg: I have been asked to reply.

The Health and Safety Executive, the Government's regulator for rail safety, makes an assessment of all safety-related incidents to determine whether to take enforcement action and/or whether there are lessons to be learnt.

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