Previous Section Index Home Page

16 Feb 2006 : Column 2429W—continued

Customer Management System

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken for claimants to receive the first payment of benefits has been since the introduction of the Customer Management System computer system. [38385]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 December 2005]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Lesley Strathie:


BenefitTarget AACT (days)
Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)12
Income Support (IS)12
Incapacity Benefit (IB)19


AACT
October
2005
November 2005December 2005
Jobseekers Allowance15.415.614.7
Income Support11.611.711.6
Incapacity Benefit15.716.115.5

Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many planned job reductions in his Department depend on the successful implementation of the Customer Management computer system. [46828]


 
16 Feb 2006 : Column 2430W
 

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Lesley Strathie:

Departmental Estate

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) land and (b) property his Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if he will make a statement. [33250]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions does not own or rent any land.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not own any property, with the exception of one building in Hull where contracts have been exchanged and are due to be completed in February 2006.

The remainder of the Department's estate has been sold or transferred under a PFI partnership deal to Land Securities Trillium (LST) and in return for the payment of a unitary charge, LST is responsible for providing a full facilities management service across the estate. Therefore, the Department does not rent any properties.

A list of the estate sold or transferred to LST is not maintained by constituency but by Government office region and it has been placed in the Library.

This response excludes the Health and Safety Executive, an Executive non- departmental public body and the Rent Service, an Executive agency, as their records are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid by his Department in 2004–05 in rent for properties in (a) total, (b) each (i) region and (ii) nation of the UK and (c) London. [35947]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department's estate has been sold or transferred under a PFI partnership deal to Land Securities Trillium (LST) and in return for the payment of a unitary charge LST is responsible for providing a full facilities management service across the estate. Therefore, the Department did not pay any rent for properties in 2004–05.

This response excludes The Health and Safety Executive, an Executive non-departmental public body and The Rent Service, an Executive Agency, as their records are not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
 
16 Feb 2006 : Column 2431W
 

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the former (a) buildings and (b) land of (i) his Department and (ii) (A) non-departmental public bodies, (B) agencies and (C) independent statutory bodies for which his Department is responsible which have been sold since 7 May 1997; what the sale price of each (1) was at the time of sale and (2) is at current prices; and whether the money accrued was (x) retained by his Department and (y) claimed by the Treasury. [40143]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department's estate was sold or transferred under a PFI partnership deal to Land Securities Trillium (1ST) in 1998 and extended in 2003. The buildings and their base value are listed in a table that has been placed in the Library. HM Treasury, on behalf of the Department, received a total cash consideration of £350 million for the assets sold or transferred. The additional value of £105 million is being recovered through discounted facilities prices for the serviced accommodation.

The Department does not hold current market values for the properties and these could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
 
16 Feb 2006 : Column 2432W
 

The Department has sold two buildings outside of the PFI:

The Department sold one piece of land, at Alvaston Raynesway, which was transferred to LST under the PFI partnership deal for £947,671 in 1998. The Department does not hold a current market value for the land.

The vast majority of NDPB, agencies and independent statutory bodies are accommodated in the Department's own buildings and separate information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The exception is Remploy Ltd. (a NDPB) and The Rent Service and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) (which are agencies).

Remploy Ltd. has sold buildings and land but they are not able to provide a breakdown in the format requested without incurring disproportionate cost. The information in the table shows all year end disposals of all property and have been inflated using Retail Price Index (RPI) from March in the respective year of disposal. All proceeds have been retained by Remploy.
Property
disposals(Total
proceeds to)
DateRetail Price Index
@ disposal
Proceeds receivedRetail Price Index indexed proceedsCurrent price
Y.E. 31 March 1998March 1998160.8432,00088,000520,000
Y.E. 31.March 1999March 1999164.12,034,000366,0002,400,000
Y.E. 31 March 2000March 2000168.41,556,000233,0001,789,000
Y.E. 31 March 2001March 2001172.2503,00063,000566,000
Y.E. 31 March 2002March 2002174.52,975,000326,0003,301,000
Y.E. 31 March 2003March 2003179.92,583,000197,0002,780,000
Y.E. 31 March 2004March 2004184.61,130,00055,0001,185,000
Y.E. 31 March 2005March 2005190.52,571,00042,0002,613,000
30 November 2005193.6

The Rent Service has provided a nil return.

In January 2005, HSE sold the land and buildings of the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL) site at Broad Lane Sheffield as part of the PFI arrangements for a new site for the laboratory at Harpur Hill, Buxton. Receipts, of approximately £6 million, were recycled back into the scheme. HSE does not track property prices and is therefore unable to assess the current value.

In July 2005, HSE sold a Crown freehold building known as Royal Exchange Building, Sheffield for £530,000, the same as the net book value of the property. There was therefore no gain or loss on disposal. The cash sale provided additional capital spending for HSE. HSE does not track property prices and is therefore unable to assess the current value. HSE has not sold any land.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) land and (b) property his Department owns in Southend West constituency. [41759]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department's estate has been sold or transferred under a PFI partnership deal to Land Securities Trillium (LST) and in return for the payment of a unitary charge LST is responsible for providing a full facilities management service across the estate. Therefore the Department does not own any (a) land or (b) property in the Southend West constituency.

This response excludes The Health and Safety Executive, an Executive non-departmental public body, and the Rent Service, an Executive agency, as their records are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) land and (b) property is owned by his Department in Castle Point. [42901]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department's estate has been sold or transferred under a PFI partnership deal to Land Securities Trillium (LST) and in return for the payment of a unitary charge LST is responsible for providing a full facilities management service across the estate. Therefore the Department does not own any (a) land or (b) property in the Castle Point constituency.

This response excludes The Health and Safety Executive, an executive non- departmental public body, and the Rent Service, an Executive agency, as their records are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
 
16 Feb 2006 : Column 2433W
 


Next Section Index Home Page