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7 Mar 2006 : Column 1348W—continued
Child Support Agency
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the Child Support Agency about delays in passing on payments already collected due to computer failure; what steps the Agency is taking to put this matter right; and if he will make a statement. [26116]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 8 November 2005]: 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.
In reply to your 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 discussions he had had with the Child Support Agency about delays in passing on payments already collected due to computer failure; what steps the Agency was taking to put this matter right; and if he would make a statement.
Where a payment has not been issued by the system a manual payment can be requested. The Agency has a process for manual payments which has reduced delays in issuing such payments to clients. In such circumstances, a hold is placed on the computer system to prevent it from releasing the funds pending recovery and adjustment of the accounts. Further investigation is taking place to ensure the system is effective.
Claim Forms
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment has been made of the merits of providing one claim form which can serve as the passport to other benefits rather than requiring a new claim form to be completed for each separate benefit application. [55520]
Mr. Timms: The Department recognises that simplifying the claims processes has benefits for our customers. The Pensions Transformation Project is currently transforming Pension Service operations, introducing technology that will allow customers to transact more of their business in a single telephone conversation—eliminating the need for them to provide the same information more than once.
Since 5 December 2005, customers who contacted the Pension Credit Application Line (PCAL) have also been able to make a claim for housing benefit and council tax benefit (HB/CTB) at the same time by answering a few additional questions. This allowed PCAL staff to complete a new three page HB/CTB claim form which is sent to the customer who only has to check the details, sign and date it before returning it to their local
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authority in the prepaid envelope provided. Under this new arrangement customers only need to supply verification of their income and savings once, to The Pension Service.
By the end of this year, new processes will be in place to allow new applications for state pension and pension credit in one phone call.
Cold Weather Payments
Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid in cold weather payments to households in Bath and North East Somerset in respect of winter 2005–06. [54403]
Mr. Plaskitt: No cold weather payments have been paid so far to households in Bath and North East Somerset in respect of winter 2005–06.
Employment Advisers (GP Surgeries)
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the private and voluntary sector organisations with which he has held discussions with on (a) placement of work advisers in general practitioner surgeries, (b) provision of work focused interviews for pathways to work and (c) provision of work focused interviews for lone parents. [51737]
Margaret Hodge: We have met with a range of people and organisations and will continue to do so as we develop our welfare reform strategy. The private and voluntary sector will have a key role to play in supporting our commitment to help people on incapacity benefits to access jobs. We published our proposals in a Green Paper; A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work", in January this year.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people received (a) an adult dependant addition and (b) an age addition for incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance in each year since 1995; and what percentage of the overall number of (i) claimants and (ii) beneficiaries that represents in each year; [48426]
(2) what the average amount of the (a) adult dependant addition and (b) age addition paid to beneficiaries of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance was in each year since 1995. [48427]
Mrs. McGuire: Information is not available prior to 1997. The available data has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what is his latest estimate of the likely (a) incapacity benefit and (b) severe disabled allowance caseload in each year to 2018 (i) if current policy arrangements continue and (ii) if the reforms proposed in the Green Paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work are implemented. [51959]
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of incapacity benefit claimants in each year up to 2016; and if he will make a statement. [54984]
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Margaret Hodge: The Department is currently reviewing its incapacity benefits caseload forecasts, including making them comparable to 100 per cent. administrative data instead of the less reliable 5 per cent. sample used previously. The latest forecasts on this basis will be available at the Budget.
The Green Paper set out our proposed measures to significantly reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits. These measures include improvements to workplace health, reform of the gateway, increased support for claimants and removing the perverse incentives in the system.
While it is difficult to model the precise impact of all these measures, the Green Paper set out our aspiration to reduce the number claiming incapacity benefits by one million over the course of a decade through the combined efforts of the Government, employers, local authorities and health professionals.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what discussions he has had in the past 12 months with private and voluntary sector organisations on the provision of supported employment opportunities for incapacity benefit claimants; [51966]
(2) if he will list the meetings officials from his Department have had with representatives from the social enterprise sector in each of the last five years; and who the representatives were in each case; [51967]
(3) what discussions he has had with social enterprises regarding the proposals in the Green Paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work. [51968]
Margaret Hodge: Ministers and officials have held numerous discussions with private, voluntary and social enterprise organisations on a number of issues including supported employment and the Green Paper on Welfare Reform. Indeed such discussions have played an important part in the development of our proposals and will continue to be important through the consultation and beyond.
Information on meetings officials have had with representatives from the social enterprise sector in each of the last five years; and who the representatives were in each case could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what circumstances incapacity benefit claimants will be required to engage in work-focused activity prior to 2008. [51979]
Margaret Hodge: The current requirement for incapacity benefit claimants is that they take part in an interview with a personal adviser to discuss their work plans eight weeks after they make a claim to benefit. In the Pathways to Work pilots areas, most new claimants are required to attend a further five interviews. From February 2005, the first seven Pathways to Work pilot districts began to extend some requirements to existing customers, who are expected to attend three interviews at six week intervals.
The Pathways to Work pilots have already shown significant success in getting people off benefit and into work. As set out in the green paper A new deal for
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welfare: Empowering people to work we aim to invest further in Pathways to Work, extending the approach to every part of Britain by 2008.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants were women in the latest period for which figures are available. [56273]
Mrs. McGuire: As at 31 August 2005, there were 2,766,200 people claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. Of those, 1,161,800 or 42 percent. were women.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of people likely to be claiming incapacity benefit in 2008 (a) in total and (b) who will be retired by 2018. [56737]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department is currently reviewing its incapacity benefits caseload forecasts, including making them comparable to 100 per cent. administrative data instead of the less reliable 5 per cent. sample used previously. The latest forecasts on this basis will be available at the Budget.
The Green Paper set out our proposed measures to significantly reduce the number of people claiming incapacity benefits. These measures include improvements to workplace health, reform of the gateway, increased support for claimants and removing the perverse incentives in the system.
While it is difficult to model the precise impact of all these measures, the Green Paper set out our aspiration to reduce the number claiming incapacity benefits by one million over the course of a decade through the combined efforts of the Government, employers, local authorities and health professionals. The paper did not set a formal target.
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