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12 Dec 2005 : Column 1780W—continued

Winter Fuel Payment

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria were used to decide that the winter fuel payment (a) would not be means-tested and (b) would be paid to British pensioners overseas; and if he will make a statement. [37139]

Mr. Timms: The winter fuel payment is not means-tested because we want a simple and cost effective payment that ensures all pensioners can turn up their heating in the winter months without worrying about the cost.

The payment was introduced to help pensioners in Great Britain with their fuel bills. We are obliged under European law to continue paying the winter fuel payment to people who qualify for a payment in Great Britain and then move to another European Economic Area country or Switzerland.

Unemployment

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of economically inactive (a) men and (b) women are (i)aged 18 to 34, (ii) aged 35 to50 and (iii) aged 51 to 64 years; and how many of each sex in each age range have expressed an interest in working. [31628]

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is in the tables.
United Kingdom working age inactivity rates—summer 2005

	Working age inactive people		Proportion of all working age inactive people
Age	Male	Female	Male	Female
18–34	763,583	1,723,943	25	37
35–50	593,131	1,499,471	20	32
51–64	1,280,508	1,075,221	42	23
All working age	3,029,582	4,657,563	—	—

Note:
Figures are for the United Kingdom.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS





 
12 Dec 2005 : Column 1781W
 

Number of inactive people who have declared an interest in working in United Kingdom

	Male				Female
Age	Seeking work, unavailable to start	Percentage of working age inactive people	Would like work, not seeking	Percentage of working age inactive people	Seeking work, unavailable to start	Percentage of working age inactive people	Would like work, not seeking	Percentage of working age inactive people
18–34	41,808	5	189,956	25	68,864	4	431,438	25
35–50	22,842	4	224,237	38	40,080	3	398,055	27
51–64	9,121	1	250,207	20	8,347	1	173,699	16
All	102,323	3	752,151	25	149,462	3	1,079,660	23

Note:
Figures are for the United Kingdom.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, ONS

Work-based Learning

Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been allocated to work-based learning for unemployed adults in (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07 and (c) 2007–08 at (i) Level 1, (ii) Level 2 and (iii) Level 3. [33357]

Margaret Hodge: The amount allocated for Work-Based Learning for Adults (WBLA) and Short Intensive Basic Skills for this year is set out as follows:
WBLA/SIBS forecast expenditure 2005–06

	National forecast
WBLA	94,432,659
SIBS	11,626,851
Total	106,059,510

Notes:
1.Allocations for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 financial years are not yet available.
2.Figures exclude allowance payments, associated admin costs and nationally funded expenditure.
3.Allocations are not broken down by different levels of training.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus Financial Strategy Division

Wrexham Benefit Processing Centre

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone calls to the Wrexham Benefit Processing Centre concerning (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit were (i) unanswered and (ii) answered outside the length of time recommended by the Department since closure of the Rhyl Benefits Office. [34622]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 5 December 2005]: 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, dated 12 December 2005:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning how many telephone calls to the Wrexham Benefit Processing Centre concerning (a) Income Support (b) Jobseeker's Allowance and (c) Incapacity Benefit have gone (i) unanswered and (ii) answered outside the length of time recommended by the department since closure of the Rhyl Benefits Office. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

As you know, the processing of Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support and Incapacity Benefit, previously undertaken at Rhyl Social Security Office, transferred to the Wrexham Processing Centre at the beginning of August.

 
12 Dec 2005 : Column 1782W
 

The Processing Centre has a customer service target to answer telephone calls within 30 seconds and to answer 90% of all calls made. The tables below detail the average performance in the period from August to November.

	Total number of:			Percentage of calls
Benefit type	Inbound calls	Calls answered	Calls abandoned	offered which are answered
Income Support	87,781	79,660	8,121	91
Jobseeker's Allowance	30,677	27,974	2,703	91
Incapacity Benefit	44,092	41,063	3,029	93
Total	162,550	148,697	13,853	91

Benefit type	Average number of calls not answered within 30 seconds (percentage)
Income Support	47
Jobseeker's Allowance	27
Incapacity Benefit	34

Incoming telephone calls to the Processing Centre are monitored on a daily basis and extra staff have recently been allocated to both the Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance Teams, to process benefits and answer telephone calls. Additionally, we are currently training a number of extra Incapacity Benefit Processors, who are scheduled to take up post in early January. We are confident these steps will help us to significantly reduce the number of calls that are answered outside the customer service target of 30 seconds.

I hope this is helpful.

TREASURY

Child Benefit

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rates of child benefit were for (a) the first child and (b) subsequent children in each year since 1980–81; and if he will make a statement. [36184]

Dawn Primarolo: The rates of child benefit since November 1980 are shown in the following table:
£ per week

Date	First child	Other children	One parent benefit
24 November l980	4.75	4.75	3.00
23 November l981	5.25	5.25	3.30
22 November 1982	5.85	5.85	3.65
21 November 1983	6.50	6.50	4.05
26 November l984	6.85	6.85	4.25
25 November l985	7.00	7.00	4.55
28 July 1986	7.10	7.10	4.60
6 April 1987	7.25	7.25	4.70
11 April 1988	7.25	7.25	4.90
10 April 1989	7.25	7.25	5.20
9 Apr 1990	7.25	7.25	5.60
8 April 1991	(42)8.25	7.25	5.60
7 October 1991	9.25	7.50	5.60
6 April 1992	9.65	7.80	5.85
12 April 1993	10.00	8.10	6.05
11 April 1994	10.20	8.25	6.15
10 April 1995	10.40	8.45	6.30
8 April 1996	10.80	8.80	6.30
7 April 1997	11.05	9.00	(43)17.10
6 April 1998	11.45	9.30	(44)17.10
12 April 1999	14.40	9.60	17.10
10 April 2000	15.00	10.00	17.55
6 April 2001	15.50	10.35	17.55
10 April 2002	15.75	10.55	17.55
April 2003	16.05	10.75	17.55
April 2004	16.50	11.05	17.55

⁽⁴²⁾Higher rate for first child introduced
⁽⁴³⁾OPB merges with mainstream CHB to become CHB (Lone Parent)
⁽⁴⁴⁾From 6 July 1998 CHB (LP) ceased for new lone parents. Transitional Protection for existing recipients and some lone parents in receipt of other specified social security benefits.



 
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The rate for the first child has increased by 25 per cent. in real terms since 1997.

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