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18 Apr 2006 : Column 436W—continued

Press Coverage

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions since 1 April 2003 he has complained to the Press Complaints Commission about the coverage in the press of (a) Ministers or officials and (b) his Department; and how many of these complaints were upheld. [47090]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department has made no such complaints during this period.

Press Officers

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on press officers in each year since 1996–97, broken down by grade. [42769]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department of Social Security, the former Department for Education and Employment and the Employment Service. Information prior to 2001 is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The information regarding grade is not available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Costs

	Cost (£)
2001–02	816,725
2002–03	1,739,935
2003–04	1,146,255
2004–05	1,533,703

Number of press officers employed

	National press officers(197)	Regional press officers(197)
2001–02	21	0
2002–03	16	13
2003–04	20	20
2004–05	19	23

⁽¹⁹⁷⁾ The number of staff is the number in post at 31 March each year.
Note:
The costs are based on average salaries for the year and take into account the actual number of press officers and changes in post each month.

Regulatory Reform Orders

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many regulatory reform orders his Department has laid before Parliament in each of the last five calendar years. [46808]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department has laid before Parliament two regulatory reform orders during the last five years, as set out in the following table.

	Title	Initial scrutiny start	Outcome
2001	None	—	—
2002	The Regulatory Reform (Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979) Order 2002	14 January 2002	Made
	The Regulatory Reform (Carer's Allowance) Order 2002	17 December 2001	Made
2003	None	—	—
2004	None	—	—
2005	None	—	—

 
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Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting the civil service work force reductions targets for his Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review; and whether these savings count towards the agreed efficiency target for his Department set out in the review. [52803]

Mrs. McGuire: On the basis of current average wage costs the efficiency headcount reduction of 30,000 net, the Department forecasts savings of around £698 million per annum at the end of March 2008. The actual savings will be influenced by factors such as the grades of staff remaining in the Department once the headcount reductions have been achieved. The savings achieved by March 2008 will count towards the agreed efficiency target for the Department.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what interim targets he has set for achieving (a) the agreed efficiency target for his Department and (b) the civil service work force reductions targets for (i) gross reductions in posts, (ii) net reductions in posts and (iii) relocations for his Department, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review; what the baseline figures are against which these interim targets are assessed; on what dates they will take effect; and by what dates these interim targets are intended to be met. [52913]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department has not set interim targets for achieving the financial or headcount targets for the Department's overall efficiency targets but does monitor progress towards the achievement of its targets against indicative profiles by year and by business area. The baselines for the relocation of posts was zero and the baseline for the gross and net headcount reductions was 132,550 in Full Time Equivalent posts as defined in the current counting methodology. Financial savings were defined by the Department's financial allocations as set out in the Spending Review 2004 White Paper.

Volunteering

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the role of voluntary groups and volunteering in helping move people from benefits into work. [60011]

Margaret Hodge: Volunteering is one of the key ways an individual can build up confidence and gain valuable work-related skills after a period out of work. People on incapacity benefits can already undertake unlimited voluntary work for charities and voluntary organisations and we intend to extend this provision to the new employment and support allowance. The recent Russell Commission report on youth action and engagement recommended that young people on benefits and their families should not suffer a financial barrier when they volunteer. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office are working together to communicate existing rules more effectively to volunteer-involving organisations, local authorities and young people.
 
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Voluntary groups undertake a very important role in helping people into work. Jobcentre Plus has recently carried out a stock take of its current and planned non-contractual partnerships with voluntary and community sector organisations. The findings show that nationally Jobcentre Plus has a relationship with over 1,900 voluntary organisations. We provide information for them about our services, policies and programmes through local liaison, our customer representative Forum programme, and our magazine for advisers, intermediaries and other advisers, Touchbase. We also consult widely with key national voluntary sector organisations in shaping our policies and services.

Through these partnerships, Jobcentre Plus customers can access confidential advice and support on issues such as housing, redundancy, job matching, health, various forms of rehabilitation, citizenship courses, debt counselling, and child care.

Winter Fuel Allowance

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the cost of the winter fuel allowance was in 2005; and what the total cost has been since the scheme was established; [63432]

(2) what the total cost of the winter fuel allowance in the Walsall borough (a) was for 2005 and (b) has been since the scheme started. [63612]

Mr. Timms: The information is in the following table.
£ million, cash terms

	Winter fuel allowance paid in Great Britain	Winter fuel allowance paid in Walsall
1997–98	191	n/a
1998–99	194	n/a
1999–2000	759	4
2000–01	1,749	8
2001–02	1,681	8
2002–03	1,705	8
2003–04	1,916	9
2004–05	2,475	11
2005–06	1,994	n/a
Total	12,664	n/a

Notes:
1. Breakdowns at borough level are only available from 1999–2000 to 2004–05.
2. Figures for 2004–05 include age-related payments, for people aged 70 or over, which cannot be separated from winter fuel payments.
3. Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.
4. The figure for the total amount spent in 2005–06 is estimated outturn- the outturn figure and a figure for Walsall will be available later in the year.
5. The DWP expenditure tables can be viewed on the internet at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp
Source:
DWP Expenditure tables, consistent with Budget 2006, and accounting data from DWP Information Directorate.

World Cup (Complimentary Tickets)

Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complimentary tickets his Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. [63912]

 
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Mrs. McGuire: My Department has received no complimentary tickets for any games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

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