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16 Jan 2006 : Column 1037W—continued
Carers
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to enhance the rights of carers. [37908]
Mrs. McGuire: This Government are the first ever to recognise the contribution and concerns of all carers formally and is supporting carers on a number of fronts through the work of several Departments.
The principle of fair outcomes for women and carers is central to the National Pensions Debate that the Government launched earlier this year.
The Department for Work and Pensions held a specific event focusing on women and pensions on 7 November, following the publication of the Government's report Women and pensions: The evidence". The report provides a compendium of evidence that highlights the key influences on the level of women's retirement income, including consideration of the impact of parenthood and family caring responsibilities on pension entitlement.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what basis applications for additional assistance for carers wishing to take a break in their care provision are selected for means-testing. [41721]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 12 January 2006]: I have been asked to reply.
A service that enables a carer to take a break from caring is viewed as a service for the cared for person. Carers cannot be charged for community care services provided to the people they care for. If the council charges for short break services, it is the service user who must be financially assessed.
Carers can only be charged for services they receive as a result of a carer's assessment under the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000. It is for local authorities to determine their own charging policy for non-residential services for both carers and service users. For residential care, they must charge the service user in accordance with statutory regulations.
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Child Care
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what role his Department has inthe regulation of child care; and if he will make a statement. [42120]
Margaret Hodge: The regulation of child care in England is the responsibility of Ofsted, under the policy direction of the Department for Education and Skills. The Department for Work and Pensions has no role in the regulation.
Regulation of child care in Scotland and Wales is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly respectively.
Civil Service Relocation (Scotland)
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many departmental civil service jobshave been relocated to Scotland in each year since 2001. [32261]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 28 November 2005]: A total of 50 posts have been relocated to Scotland from London and the South East as part of the Lyons Review of Public Sector Relocation. These relocations have taken place since June 2003. Information prior to this date is not available.
Claimant Behaviour
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on findings of research projects (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated by his Department on the efficiency of benefit sanctions in influencing claimant behaviour. [36726]
Mr. Plaskitt: Our administration database tells us that 14 per cent. of jobseeker's allowance customers are referred to a decision maker for consideration of a sanction. In total only 4 per cent. of customers are actually sanctioned. This would suggest that the threat of the application of sanctions leads the majority to comply with the conditions of receiving jobseeker's allowance. New evidence from a commissioned evaluation on jobseeker's allowance sanctions will be published in early 2006. This will help to shed light on customer understanding and knowledge of jobseeker's allowance sanctions.
In the case of lone parents, new research findings, to be published on 19 January 2006, will provide qualitative evidence on the efficiency of benefit sanctions for lone parents in influencing claimant behaviour.
Due to the low volumes, no evaluation has taken place of the efficiency of benefit sanctions in the pathways to work pilots.
Child Support Agency
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of maintenance applications to the Child Support Agency have been determined within (a) 22 weeks and (b) 12 months in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [10146]
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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 requested information.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 16 January 2006:
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 percentage of maintenance applications to the CSA have been determined within (a) 22 weeks and (b) 12 months in each of the last 5 years for which figures are available?
The information requested can be found in the attached tables. Recent improvements in management information for new-scheme cases allows the Agency to provide more meaningful information on the time taken to clear new scheme applications, which was published for the first time in the Departments Child Support Agency Quarterly Statistical Supplement on the DWP website on 27 October 2005.
It should be noted that, a new-scheme application is defined as determined (or cleared) if the case is closed, a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a payment arrangement is in place, the Parent with Care is identified as claiming Good Cause or subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision, or the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case.
For old-scheme cases on the old computer system (CSCS), the Agency is only able to measure clearances up to the point of closure or maintenance assessment.
As the definition of a clearance is slightly different for old and new-scheme cases, the numbers presented below are therefore broadly, but not directly, comparable.
I recognise that performance in this area is unsatisfactory, and that there is a need for real improvement in the near future. To this end, I am currently presenting proposals to Ministers aimed at making the Agency more effective in its role of ensuring that non resident parents take financial responsibility for their children.
| Application received | Percentage of maintenance applications cleared within: | |
|---|---|---|
| March to February: | 22 weeks | 12 months |
| 2000–01 | 34 | 56 |
| 2001–02 | 42 | 65 |
| 2002–03 | 52 | 70 |
| Application received | Percentage of maintenance applications cleared within: | |
|---|---|---|
| March to February: | 22 weeks | 12 months |
| 2003–04 | 46 | 64 |
| 2004–05 | 46 | — |
Notes:
1.Figures are rounded to the nearest whole per cent.
2.Figures for the new scheme exclude cases which have been progressed and cleared clerically and 161,000 potential applications that had come via the Jobcentre Plus interface (80,000 of which had been cleared and 81,000 which were still outstanding as of September 2005) and for which no management information is currently available.
3.It is not currently possible to provide figures in relation to old scheme cases received prior to the introduction of the new scheme, but migrated to the new IT system (CS2) prior to the application being cleared.
4.Comparable data are not available for the percentage of applications received between March 2004 and February 2005 that were cleared in 12 months as a full 12 months has not yet elapsed since the end of this period.
16 Jan 2006 : Column 1040W
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of non-resident parents have paid the full maintenance as determined by the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [10147]
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 requested information.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 16 January 2006:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of non-resident parents have paid the full maintenance as determined by the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years for which figures are available. I have provided the figures for the percentage of non-resident parents who have paid the full amount of maintenance as requested by the Agency, for the last five years for which data is available. These figures present a view as at August in each year the most recent point in time for which comparable information in earlier years is available.
The figures provided in the table for August 2004 and 2005 include both new and old scheme, on both systems.
Note:
New scheme was introduced 3 March 2003 but reliable data for the six months to August 2003 is currently not available for new and old scheme cases on the new computer system.
To place these figures into context, it should be noted that, whilst only 46 per cent. of non-resident parents paid their maintenance liability in full over the quarter ending August 2005, the Agency obtained a payment from 70 per cent. of cases in which maintenance was due via the collection service, with the remainder of non-resident parents, not taking any financial responsibility for their children. Where any such payment was obtained, on average, 90 per cent. of the amount due was collected.
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