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20 Mar 2006 : Column 124W—continued

Work Permits

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were issued to individuals working in sport in each of the last five years; and in which (a) sports and (b) area of employment the individuals concerned were employed. [58476]

Mr. McNulty: The following table shows the total number of work permits issued to individuals working in sport in the last five years. Listed as the occupations individuals were employed in and the specific areas within the sport.

Occupation code	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	Total
American football coach	10	7	13	7	0	37
American football player	67	8	17	59	0	151
American football technician	1	1	0	5	0	7
Basketball coach	6	3	4	5	1	19
Basketball development officer	1	0	0	0	0	1
Basketball player	75	75	105	91	75	421
Boxer	23	9	18	19	19	88
Boxing coach	0	1	0	1	1	3
Coach (other)	52	46	50	42	15	205
Commentator	0	3	4	6	5	18
Cricket coach	21	16	27	34	24	122
Cricket player	409	524	507	421	328	2,189
Cricket player/coach	0	0	0	58	121	179
Football manager/coach	0	0	1	0	0	1
Football player	53	49	52	49	49	252
Groom	285	149	515	424	43	1,416
Gymnast	2	1	0	2	0	5
Gymnasts coach	26	22	16	16	18	98
Hockey coach	2	4	3	2	4	15
Hockey player	1	7	6	7	14	35
Ice hockey coach	4	4	2	2	2	14
Ice hockey player	64	82	61	45	50	302
Ice skater	1	0	0	0	1	2
Ice skater coach	2	0	0	0	0	2
Jockey	8	1	5	6	7	27
Jockey (work rider)	16	5	3	1	2	27
Kabbadi player	0	0	0	72	81	153
Lacrosse development officer	36	38	44	46	48	212
Lacrosse player	0	0	0	0	0	0
Martial arts	2	9	4	7	12	34
Motor sports driver	19	18	19	13	17	86
Other sports related occupation	29	71	92	100	24	316
Polo groom	0	0	0	354	698	1,052
Polo player	53	105	101	104	100	463
Polo trainer	30	60	57	64	26	237
Presenter	2	1	0	0	0	3
Racquet sport coach	0	0	0	6	8	14
Racquet sport player	7	10	3	4	1	25
Rugby league coach	4	3	3	1	6	17
Rugby league player	51	50	50	36	48	235
Rugby union coach	6	10	5	12	6	39
Rugby union player	62	68	35	42	52	259
Snooker player	17	18	15	1	7	58
Snow sports related occupation	0	4	1	0	0	5
Speedway	37	34	31	29	10	141
Water sports related occupation	1	3	3	4	6	17
Wrestler	0	0	1	8	4	13
Total	1,485	1,519	1,873	2,205	1,933	9,015

 
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Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is available to people seeking (a) work permits and (b) visas to come to the UK to take up employment in sport. [58477]

Mr. McNulty: There is comprehensive guidance available for people seeking a work permit. There is a specific set of guidance for sports and entertainment with a detailed section on employment in sport. This guidance is maintained and updated twice yearly and can be obtained in a hard copy from a distribution centre or from the Work Permits (UK) website www.workingintheuk.gov.uk.
 
20 Mar 2006 : Column 126W
 

For sports people who are wishing to come to the UK temporarily to take part in a competition it may not be necessary to obtain a work permit. Guidance on this can be found on the immigration and nationality directorate website www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk.

For sports people who wish to apply for a visa there is hard copy guidance from UKvisas in the UKvisas booklet on work permits, and electronically in the diplomatic service procedures on the UKvisas website www.ukvisas.gov.uk.
 
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WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what cost benefit analysis he has conducted of the Access to Work scheme; and if he will make a statement. [56899]

Mrs. McGuire: In 2004–05 around 32,000 people benefited from Access to Work compared with fewer than 13,000 in 1997–98, when the budget was £14.6 million compared to £60 million in 2006–07.

For every individual helped by Access to Work there is a net benefit to the Exchequer of almost £1,400.

For every individual helped by Access to Work there is a net benefit to the Economy of almost £3,000.

Access to Work is administered by 11 Regional Access to Work Business Centres, each of which is responsible for its own part of the total budget. The Business Centres ensure value for money by arranging local contracts for goods and services, the details of which are given to disabled customers as required.

Benefits (Coventry)

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Coventry, South received (a) widow's benefit, (b) housing benefit, (c) council tax credit and (d) income support in each year since 1997. [58908]

Mr. Plaskitt: Widows benefit is not available broken down geographically prior to 1999. Housing benefit and council tax benefit figures are not available broken down by parliamentary constituency; local authority figures have been provided.

The available information is in the tables.
Widows benefit and bereavement benefit claimants in the Coventry, South parliamentary constituency: each August 1999to 2005

	Widows Benefit	Bereavement Benefit
August 1999	400	n/a
August 2000	400	n/a
August 2001	400	n/a
August 2002	300	100
August 2003	300	100
August 2004	200	100
August 2005	300	100

n/a=figures are not applicable.
Notes:
1.Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.
2.Bereavement Benefit, which replaced Widows Benefit for new claims, was introduced in April 2001.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent.




Housing benefit and council tax benefit caseloads: Coventry city council; each August from 1997 to 2005.

	Housing benefit	Council tax benefit
August 1997	26,200	37,900
August 1998	25,700	36,800
August 1999	24,300	33,100
August 2000	23,300	33,500
August 2001	21,400	31,100
August 2002	21,100	30,400
August 2003	21,200	29,900
August 2004	21,500	30,800
August 2005	21,600	32,100

Notes:
1.The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
2.Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
3.Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
4.Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
Source:
Housing benefit and council tax benefit management information system quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in August 1997 to August 2005.




 
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Income support claimants (excluding minimum income guarantee) in the Coventry, South parliamentary constituency; each August from 1997 to 2005

	Number
August 1997	4,200
August 1998	4,400
August 1999	4,100
August 2000	4,200
August 2001	4,200
August 2002	4,100
August 2003	4,200
August 2004	4,100
August 2005	3,900

Notes:
1.Figures for August 1999 to August 2005 are from the DWP 100 per cent. Work and Pensions longitudinal study, whilst figures for August 1997 and August 1998 are derived by applying 5 per cent. proportions to 100 per cent. totals.
2.Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
3.Income Support figures exclude minimum income guarantee (MIG); pension credit replaced MIG on the 6 October 2003 and ended IS entitlement to customers aged 60+. Pension credit cases are not included in the figures in the table.
Source:
DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) and DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. samples.

Departmental Procurement

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to achieve savings in procurement processes within (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he has responsibility in the last three years. [51992]

Mrs. McGuire: The steps taken by the Department for Work and Pensions to achieve savings in procurement processes are delivered through a commercial strategy that applies to the entire Department, its agencies and associated non-departmental public bodies (NDBPs). The steps include:

collaborating and sharing best practice on procurement with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and across the public sector. The Department leads cross-Government deals for stationery and postal services and recently successfully led procurement for public sector-wide frameworks for travel services including rail, air/ferry, car hire, hotels and conferences;

expanding use of purchasing cards and e-commerce to improve the efficiency of the purchasing process. 80 per cent. of low value purchasing transactions are now processed electronically and all low value transactions will be traded electronically by 2007;

 
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a programme to develop procurement skills, with 75 per cent. of staff in specialist procurement posts CIPS qualified and the introduction of a Delegated Procurement Authority (DPA) to ensure all procurements are supported by suitably trained and experienced staff; and

strategic relationship management of key suppliers such as EDS, BT, Land Securities Trillium and Royal Mail Group. A supplier performance index is being introduced for all key suppliers.

Through these steps and others the Department has made the biggest contribution of all Departments to support OGC in exceeding its SR00 and SR02 PSA targets. The Department has reported improving procurement Value For Money (VFM) gains for the last four years. In 2004–05 it reported procurement VFM gains of £326.4 million to OGC; this was 7.6 per cent. of the Department's total commercial spend of £4,289 million and 29.5 per cent. of the total reported by all Departments.

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