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8 Mar 2006 : Column 1537W—continued
South Atlantic
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what forces are (a) available and (b) scheduled to be available in the next 12 months in the South Atlantic; and at what level of readiness. [55988]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 7 March 2006]: Our forces are sufficient to protect the UK's Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic. Assets deployed include fighter and refuelling aircraft, air defence, infantry troops and various maritime and support units. These are supplemented by routine deployments from time to time. They are at varying degrees of readiness appropriate to their role. Force levels are kept under review. There are no plans to change our commitment over the next 12 months.
Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to (a) generate annual efficiency gains in logistics and procurement by modernising business processes, (b) generate annual savings in its back office through rationalisation and information-enabled business change, (c) make better use of its assets and manpower to meet security threats, (d) improve the defence information infrastructure, (e) improve the Defence estate, (f) improve the management of the fleet of military vehicles and (g) improve the healthcare of service personnel; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets. [52924]
John Reid: Baselines are typically either the position at April 2004 or the centrally agreed financial planning assumptions for the years 2004–05 to 2007–08 made in the Ministry of Defence's Short Term Plan 2004. More information can be found in the Department's Efficiency Technical Note which was published in December 2005.
Good progress has been made in meeting the department's targets, with over £740 million of efficiencies delivered to the end of December. This includes over £280 million-from the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme; £90 million from procurement reform, including travel modernisation; over £20 million from Whole Fleet Management; £40 million from Defence Information Infrastructure; £10 million from Joint Personnel Administration; £180 million from force capability changes; £20 million from estates modernisation; and over £80 million from improving the quality of healthcare.
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Efficiencies will be re-invested in the Department's budget, in line with the Defence priorities set out in the Future Capabilities Command Paper, published in July 2004, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Asset Ownership
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what statistics the Government collect on the equality of asset ownership; [56037]
(2) whether the Government collect statistics on the (a) dynamics and (b) persistence of asset poverty. [56038]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
Statistics on the Distribution of Personal Wealth are available on the website of HM Revenue and Customs (at www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal_wealth/menu.htm). An additional source of statistics on the distribution of household savings and assets is the Family Resources Survey published by the Department for Work and Pensions (available from www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/frs/index/publications.asp).
There are a number of other Government sponsored surveys which carry questions on some elements of wealth but there is as yet no comprehensive survey of UK data on wealth, savings and debt. The Office for National Statistics, together with other Government Departments, is planning to undertake a comprehensive household wealth and assets survey. This new survey will directly measure household assets, liabilities and wealth in Great Britain.
Benefit Processing Centres
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are used in making decisions on the (a) number and (b) location of benefit-processing centres in London. [48984]
Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what criteria are used in making decisions on the (a) number and (b) location of benefit processing centres in London. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
During the late 1980s benefit processing work for a number of offices in London was moved to centres in Glasgow, Makerfield and Belfast as part of a work relocation project. Over the last two years we have progressively centralised the remaining processing work for London mainly in three new centres based in Hackney, Ilford and Stratford as part of the roll out of our new Jobcentre Plus service. The centralisation of this work is now almost complete with around 96 per cent. of benefits processed in one of the six centres.
The aim has been to locate the remaining benefit processing work in as few sites as possible to maximise efficiency, while ensuring the best use of our existing estate and expertise. The key criteria used in determining the number and location of these new centres were therefore:
Centralisation of Benefit Delivery is a key part of the modernisation of our business and will provide a much more effective use of resources and more importantly a much improved and more consistent level of customer service.
Buncefield Inquiry
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the interim conclusions of the inquiry into the Buncefield fire; and if he will place these interim conclusions in the Library. [55116]
Mrs. McGuire: I have placed a copy of the Buncefield Investigation Progress Report in the Library. The report describes the incident of 11 December 2005 and the response to it. It sets out what the investigation has determined so far about the likely nature of the explosions and fire that occurred, but contains no conclusions about how they occurred. This information is not yet available. The investigation is continuing its work to identify the root causes of the incident, including establishing exactly how the flammable mixture that gave rise to the explosions was able to form. Further information will be published as it emerges from the investigation.
Child Support Agency
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the contractor who supplied the Child Support Agency's updated IT system has fulfilled the obligations set out in the procurement contract. [53738]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
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, whether the contractor who supplied the Child Support Agency's updated IT system has fulfilled the obligations set out in the procurement contract.
Under the original contract for Child Support Reform IT services, EDS was required to design, build, finance and operate the new Child Support computer system (CS2) to meet the Child Support Agency's requirements. It has been well reported the new system did not function as well as expected. The Department continues to work with EDS to improve the performance of the system.
In August 2005, the Department further addressed CS2 issues as part of a general realignment of its IT contracts with EDS. Under this realignment EDS will complete the CS2 system as specified, including correcting all agreed defects at no additional cost. Operationally, the live system is now more stable than it was in 2003 and its performance is currently meeting all contracted service level targets.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average number of staff hours spent by the Child Support Agency on assessing a case is under (a) old and (b) new rules. [53740]
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Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency staff members are allocated to tactical clearance teams at each Child Support Agency centre; and what performance targets have been set for such teams. [54239]
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 information requested.
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, how many Child Support Agency staff members are allocated to tactical clearance teams at each Child Support Agency centre; and what performance targets have been set for such teams.
The table below contains the number of staff allocated to each tactical clearance team by business unit:
Business unit | Number of staff working in tactical clearance teams as at January 2006 |
|---|---|
| Eastern | 29 |
| Midlands | 31 |
| South East | 14 |
| Scotland and North East England 23 | |
| South West | 7 |
| Wales and North West | 31 |
| Total | 135 |
Notes:
1. Figures are provided as full time equivalents.
2. The table does not include staff doing GB child support work in Belfast, as they are employees of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
There are currently three performance targets used by the tactical clearance teams. All three targets are associated with the closing of cases and are as follows:
Cases referred to the Agency by Jobcentre Plus where the non-resident parent is either unknown or unidentifiable. The target is 6.66 closures per day per full time member of staff.
Cases referred to the Agency by Jobcentre Plus which cannot be progressed on the new computer system without a technical intervention. The majority of these cases are appropriate for closure and the target is 6 closures per day per full time member of staff.
Cases where the parent with care was in receipt of a prescribed benefit, has subsequently ended the benefit claim and has agreed that their case can be closed. The target is to close 14.3 cases per day per full time member of staff.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed as part of the Child Support Agency contingency team in Liverpool and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system; and how many of them were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 18 months for which figures are available. [54241]
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 information requested.
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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, how many staff were employed as part of the Child Support Agency contingency team in Liverpool and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system; and how many of them were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 18 months for which figures are available.
The Contingency Team in Liverpool supports the six Child Support Agency centres by answering calls remotely which require access to the legacy Child Support computer system (CSCS). The Contingency Team call-handlers do not deal with calls relating to the new CS2 computer system.
The attached table shows the number of staff employed as part of the Contingency Team in Liverpool at the end of each of the last 18 months.
(19) Full-time equivalent.
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Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total number of staff employed in each of the six Child Support Agency call centres was in the UK; how many staff in each call centre were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 24 months for which figures are available; and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system. [54243]
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 information requested.
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 the total number of staff employed in each of the six Child Support Agency call centres was in the UK; how many staff in each call centre were assigned to the legacy Child Support computer system at the end of each of the last 24 months for which figures are available; and how many were assigned to the new CS2 system.
There is a National Helpline team situated in each of the Agency's six centres. The attached table shows the number of National Helpline staff in each of these teams.
Staff on the National Helpline multi-task between the legacy Child Support Computer System and the new CS2 system according to customer demand.
Note:
The figures are whole-time equivalent and include management and support staff in addition to call-handling staff.
8 Mar 2006 : Column 1543W
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006, how many of his Department's staff he intends to transfer internally to the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement plan; when he expects those transfers to occur; and whether they will be (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory. [54455]
Mr. Plaskitt: 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 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 pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15th February 2006 how many of his Department's staff he intends to transfer internally to the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement Plan; when he expects those transfers to occur; and whether they will be (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory.
A key part of the Operational Improvement Plan is to increase Agency staffing levels by 1,000 in order to address backlogs of work. The Agency is seeking to maximise the contribution made towards achieving this increase in its headcount by transferring in existing staff from other parts of the Department, together with their existing accommodation. Discussions are currently taking place to establish the number of staff who would be available to transfer to the Agency from other DWP sites. Precise numbers have yet to be agreed. It is anticipated that most staff who transfer across to the Agency would do so on a voluntary basis but the need for some managerial redeployment cannot be discounted at this stage.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006, how many new staff, excluding staff transferred from within his Department, he intends to employ within the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement Plan. [54456]
Mr. Plaskitt: 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 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 pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006 how many new staff excluding staff transferred from within his Department he intends to employ within the Child Support Agency as part of the Operational Improvement Plan.
A key part of the Operational Improvement Plan is to increase Agency staffing levels by 1,000 in order to address backlogs of work. It is anticipated that there will be a significant requirement for new recruitment into the Agency in order to achieve this increase in headcount and address forecast levels of natural wastage. The precise levels of new recruitment will not be known until the numbers of staff available to transfer from other parts of the Department have been finalised.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of (a) lone parents and (b) lone parents in receipt of benefit are in receipt of child support maintenance. [56770]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 7 March 2006]: Evidence from the Families and Children Study 2003, shows that (a) 30 per cent. of all lone parents receive maintenance and (b) 16 per cent. of lone parents who are not working or work under 16 hours a week (not all of whom will be on benefit) are in receipt of maintenance.
The Families and Children Study may under report maintenance receipts especially where the lone parent is on benefit and the non resident parent pays the money to the Child Support Agency.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been collected in child maintenance for each year since 1997. [56774]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 7 March 2006]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
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, how much has been collected in child maintenance for each year since 1997.
The total amount of maintenance collected by the Child Support Agency, and recorded in the Agency Annual Accounts in each financial year since 1996–97 is shown in the table.
| Total Maintenance Collected (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 585.41 |
| 2003–04 | 580.27 |
| 2002–03 | 572.55 |
| 2001–02 | 528.45 |
| 2000–01 | 502.55 |
| 1999–2000 | 460.68 |
| 1998–99 | 392.38 |
| 1997–98 | 306.16 |
| 1996–97 | 213.21 |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the monthly figures were for the Child Support Agency of (a) applications received, (b) applications cleared, (c) first payments made, (d) first child maintenance premium payments made, (e) cash compliance, (f) case compliance and (g) the ratio of costs to maintenance collected between January and December 2005. [41386]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
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 the monthly figures were for the Child Support Agency of (a) applications received (b) applications cleared (c) first payments made (d) first child maintenance premium payments made (e) cash compliance (f) case compliance and (g) the ratio of costs to maintenance collected between January and December 2005.
The latest available information in answer to parts (d), (e) and (f) can be found in the Child Support Agency's Quarterly Summary Statistics which is published on the DWP website, a copy of which can be found in the House library. The information requested can be found in the following tables:
(g) The Child Support Agency accounts for 2005/06 will not be compiled and audited until the financial year end. For this reason I am unable to provide you with the ratio of costs to maintenance collected for the period requested.
Notes:
1. An application is defined as cleared if a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a maintenance collection method has been set up and agreed with the non resident parent; a case has been identified as being subject to a reduced benefit decision, claiming good cause, as a change of circumstances to an existing case, as opposed to a new application, or has been closed.
2. Cases in which a maintenance direct arrangement has been facilitated have been included in addition to first payments of maintenance via the collection service, as the former also represent a positive outcome generated for the parent with care by the agency.
3. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether the application of servicemen's exemption from the Child Support (Enforcement and Collection) Regulations 1992 will be reconsidered in the current review of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement; [54890]
(2) what recent discussions have taken place with the Ministry of Defence concerning the deduction of Child Support Agency payments from the salaries of serving members of the armed forces. [54891]
Mr. Plaskitt:
The Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 do apply to service personnel. The only area of difference is that the Agency issues Deduction from Earnings Requests for service personnel rather than Deductions from Earnings Orders, but both work in broadly the same way.
8 Mar 2006 : Column 1546W
The Child Support Agency and DWP officials meet with Ministry of Defence officials at Agency-run employer forum's, to discuss a range of issues including deductions of child support from pay.
Sir David Henshaw is consulting widely on the redesign and will consider concerns raised during this process.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the £90 million allocated to improving the Child Support Agency's performance. [56769]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 7 March 2006]: The Operational Improvement Plan sets out the actions that will be taken to stabilise and improve Agency performance in the short term. It commits to significant improvements through more effective use of enforcement powers, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of the Agency and increasing debt recovery.
To support the plan, £90 million has been made available from the Department's existing resource over the next three years, with a further £30 million available to contract out some of the Agency's debt recovery.
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