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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 13 March 2006
WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefit Payment Methods
18. David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with interested parties on the successor arrangements to the Post Office card account for the payment of pensions and benefits. [57335]
Mr. Plaskitt: The bulk of the discussions have, quite properly, been with Post Office Ltd. and we have been talking to them about this since last summer. The first meeting on this was in fact instigated by the former chief executive of Post Office Ltd. (David Mills). The meetings have covered a number of issues, including the DWP pilots which have been running over the last few weeks. We also advised the National Federation and Postwatch before the pilots started.
Once these have been analysed, the results will be shared with Post Office Ltd., and thereafter, I anticipate further discussion with customer groups and others, as is normal practice.
Pension Schemes
19. Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the shortfall in private pension schemes. [57336]
Mr. Timms: Pension fund deficits can be estimated in a number of ways.
In July 2005 the consultation document on the Pension Protection Levy estimated that as at September 2004 the aggregate deficit, on a Pension Protection Fund basis, was £134 billion.
In October 2005 the pensions regulator estimated that, as at December 2004, the aggregate deficit measured by FRS 17 accounting standards was £130 billion.
New Deal
20. Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on his Department's report, a new deal for welfare: empowering people to work. [57337]
Margaret Hodge: We have already had discussion with many hundreds of stakeholders, including disability organisation, employers, providers, lone parent organisations and providers of employment services. Since the launch of the Welfare Reform Green Paper we have distributed over 3,500 versions to interested parties.
In the coming month we will be hosting events which specifically focus on our key proposals. Many organisations and individuals are writing to us. We
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intend to publish a report on the consultants and we will of course have regard to representations as we draw up our legislative proposals.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people have been assisted by the new deal in Coventry, South; and if he will make a statement. [56757]
Margaret Hodge: The new deal for young people has helped to virtually eradicate long term youth unemployment and has been successful in helping nearly 650,000 young people into work. Information on the numbers of young people helped by the programme in Coventry, South is in the following table:
| Individuals starting new deal for young people(1) | Individuals into work through new deal for young people(2) |
|---|---|
| 2,180 | 1,290 |
(1) Latest data to the end of November 2005.
(2) Latest data to the end of August 2005.
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate.
Incapacity Benefit
21. Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many servicemen and ex-servicemen claim incapacity benefit; and if he will make a statement. [57339]
Margaret Hodge: Information on customer's previous or current employers is not held on incapacity benefit claims.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) pursuant to his oral statement of 24 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1305–12W, on the Welfare Reform Green Paper, what the baseline year is for measuring the target to reduce the number of people on incapacity benefit by one million over 10 years; [51950]
(2) what estimate he has made of the proportion of existing incapacity benefit claimants who will flow off benefit and into work following the introduction of the proposals outlined in the Green Paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work; [51953]
(3) whether he plans to set targets for existing incapacity benefit caseload reduction by geographical area; [51954]
(4) whether he plans to set a public service agreement target for the reduction of incapacity benefit claimants by one million by 2018; [51956]
(5) what impact he expects the measures proposed in the Green Paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work to have on the existing (a) incapacity benefit and (b) severe disablement allowance caseload. [51958]
Margaret Hodge:
The Green Paper set out our proposed measures to significantly reduce the number of people claiming and receiving incapacity benefits. These
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measures included 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 these measures at this early stage, the Green Paper set out our aspiration to reduce the number of claimants of incapacity benefits by one million over the course of a decade through the combined efforts of the Government, employers, local authorities and health professionals. More precise measures will be established in due course.
Ability to Work (Assessment)
22. Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of whether changes are required to the medical assessment process of an individual's ability to work. [57340]
Margaret Hodge: The current personal capability assessment focuses entirely on an individual's limits to functional capabilities, as a way of determining eligibility for benefit. It gives no regard to a person's capabilities.
In our Green Paper on Welfare Reform, we set out our plans for transforming the assessment into a much more constructive and proactive process, focusing not just on what an individual can't do but on what they can do as well. We will identify the barriers preventing an individual from returning to work and the types of support and intervention needed to overcome those barriers. We will also identify those people whose illness or disability limits them so severely that it would be unreasonable to expect to engage in work-related activity at that point in time. They will be entitled to a higher rate of benefit.
Ambition Programme
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many unemployed people have participated in the Ambition programme in each month since its commencement; how many people are participating in the programme; and if he will make a statement; [44728]
(2) how many previously unemployed people participating in the Ambition programme have been identified as still working in the same sector 26 weeks after gaining a job, broken down by sector; and if he will make a statement; [44729]
(3) what assessment the Department has made of the Ambition programme since its introduction; what plans there are to continue with the programme; and if he will make a statement. [44730]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 23 January 2006]: 8,357 people participated in the time-limited Ambition programmes.
Information on the total number of people participating on the programme at any one time is not collected however the average number of starters per month, by sector, is in the table.
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Source:
Employer Services Division, Department for Work and Pensions.
Ambition Retail, IT and Construction have now come to an end and Ambition Energy and Health will end in March.
There are currently 331 people participating on the Ambition programme, of which 225 people are undergoing training with Ambition Energy, and 106 people with Ambition Health.
The number of people who secured a within 13 weeks of completing training and who were still working in the same sector after 26 weeks is set out in the following table.
Source:
Employer Services Division, Department for Work and Pensions
Courses for Energy and Health are still running, therefore final retention figures will not be available until late in 2006.
The Ambition programme has shown that the collaborative approach adopted in working with industry and sector based partners has been highly successful. The programme has met its aims of supporting people into employment while at the same time developing new approaches to training and facilitating closer links with the key sector partners.
We published an Ambition report last year Ambition: identifying best practice for demand-led approaches" GHK Consulting, DWP Research Report 264, 2005, which is in the Library. We will ensure that successful aspects of the Ambition programmes are incorporated into policies and programmes.
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