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Liability Orders

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many liability orders under Section 33 of the Child Support Act 1991 and Child Support Regulations 1992 have been sought (a) in the UK, (b) within Hertfordshire and (c) within St. Albans in each year since 1995; and how many of these were successful. [78401]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 26 June 2006:

In reply to your recent parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders under Section 33 of the Child SupportAct 1991 and Child Support Regulations 1992 have been sought (a) in the UK (b) within Hertfordshire and (c) within St. Albans in each year since 1995; and how many of these were successful.

Information about the total number of liability order applications and those successfully granted is only available from the period since March 1998. Due to the format in which this information is gathered it is not possible to provide details at the requested county or town level. Therefore information has only been provided at UK level.

	Liability orders applied for	Liability orders granted
1998-99	3968	2033
1999-2000	4207	2532
2000-01	3584	1755
2001-02	3166	1427
2002-03	5540	2383
2003-04	6719	3885
2004-05	7773	7247
2005-06	11926	10273

During 2003 a full review of enforcement activity within the Child Support Agency was undertaken. The recommendations which were implemented started to show a marked improvement in performance during 2004-05 and particularly last year 2005-06.

I hope you find this response helpful.

Means-tested Benefits

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of each of his Department’s means-tested benefits in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [75915]

Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the following tables.

26 Jun 2006 : Column 59W

Income support (IS) and IS minimum income guarantee (MIG) caseloads: Great Britain each November 1997 to 2005
November	All IS	MIG	Non-MIG
1997	3,956,100	1,673,700	2,282,400
1998	3,842,000	1,614,500	2,227,500
1999	3,843,900	1,591,300	2,252,600
2000	3,928,900	1,669,800	2,259,200
2001	3,985,500	1,727,000	2,258,500
2002	3,994,800	1,750,500	2,244,300
2003	2,232,800	13,000	2,219,800
2004	2,177,900	10,800	2,167,100
2005	2,136,700	9,600	2,127,100

Pension credit caseloads: Great Britain each November 2003 to 2005
November	Number
2003	2,084,700
2004	2,629,580
2005	2,708,050

Income based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA(IB)) caseloads: Great Britain each November 1997 to 2005
November	Number
1997	1,041,300
1998	951,200
1999	856,300
2000	743,400
2001	663,500
2002	635,300
2003	599,300
2004	565,700
2005	647,900

Housing benefit (HB) and council tax benefit (CTB) caseloads: Great Britain each November 1997 to 2005
November	HB	CTB
1997	4,546,650	5,393,820
1998	4,382,390	5,221,710
1999	4,147,870	4,959,480
2000	3,900,620	4,674,580
2001	3,818,400	4,608,390
2002	3,796,260	4,577,690
2003	3,806,590	4,666,910
2004	3,943,900	4,897,500
2005	3,975,230	4,993,000
Notes: 1. PC/HB/CTB figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. IS/JSA(IB) figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. HB/CTB figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated. 4. HB figures exclude any extended payment cases. 5. CTB figures exclude any second adult rebate cases. 6. JSA(IB) figures and IS figures for November 1997 and 1998 are derived by applying 5 per cent. proportions to 100 per cent. WPLS data and are therefore subject to sampling variation. 7. Some JSA(IB) claimants may also have entitlement to benefit via the contributory route. 8. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 9. Pension credit replaced MIG on 6 October 2003 10. Overlaps between benefits have not been removed. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS); Information Directorate 5 per cent. samples; and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in November 1997 to November 2005.

Newcastle Jobcentre Plus Action Team

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the budget for the Newcastle Jobcentre Plus Action Team is for 2006-07; what the budget was in each of the last two years; which programmes the team supported in 2005-06 and 2006-07; and what geographical areas each programme covered. [75219]

26 Jun 2006 : Column 60W

Mr. Jim Murphy: Action Teams aim to engage communities, mainly through outreach and find individual solutions for both employers and clients.

The Newcastle Action Team covers the Newcastle city area and has supported a number of local programmes. Some examples of these programmes are: Sure Start; Newcastle City Council Work Finders; Job Educational Training and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); Mental Health Matters; the Prison Service; Disability North; and Connexions.

Details of the allocated budget for the Newcastle Action Team are in the table.

	Allocated budget (£)
2006-07 (April to 30 September 2006)	697,000
2005-06	1,044,000
2004-05	1,044,000

The funding for 2006-07 is less than for previous years as the Action Team programme is due to finish at the end of September 2006. Many of the practices and ideas developed by Action Teams have been integrated into Jobcentre Plus mainstream programmes and services. Examples include outreach work in local communities and the greater discretionary funding that is available to advisers.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to question 42540 tabled by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds on 11 January 2006, on telephone helplines. [71699]

Mrs. McGuire: I replied to the hon. Member on16 June 2006, Official Report, columns 1480-81W.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to Question (a) (i) 64505, (ii) 64521, (iii) 64507, (iv) 64504, (v) 64520, (vi) 64519 and (vii) 64508 on pension credit, (b) (i) 64500 and (ii) 64495 on sickness absence, (c) (i) 64498 and (ii) 64499 on rehabilitation services and (d) 64501 on benefit helplines tabled by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds on 12 January. [71726]

Mrs. McGuire: Replies have been given to the hon. Member for all of the questions as follows:

64495 on 11 May 2006, Official Report, column 497W

64504 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1003W

64505 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1003W

64507 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1004W

64508 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1003W

64520 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1004-05W

64521 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1003-04W

64498 on 24 May 2006, Official Report, column 1803W

64499 on 24 May 2006, Official Report, column 1803W

64519 on 7 June 2006, Official Report, column 1488W

64501 on 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 914W

64500 on 16 June 2006, Official Report, column1476W

26 Jun 2006 : Column 61W

Pension Credit

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioner households are receiving pension credit in each ward in (a) Westminster and (b) Kensington and Chelsea; and what the average payment is in each ward. [78815]

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following tables.

Pension credit household recipients and average weekly amount of benefit for wards in Westminster, November 2005
Ward name	Household recipients	Average weekly benefit (£)
Aldersgate	—	—
Bishopsgate	—	—
Cripplegate	80	63.95
Farringdon Within	—	—
Farringdon Without	—	—
Portsoken	70	70.50
Queenhithe	—	—
Tower	—	—
Walbrook	—	—
Bayswater	310	76.94
Bryanston and Dorset Square	240	74.98
Churchill	430	60.9
Hyde Park	325	85.33
Knightsbridge and Belgravia	50	70.38
Lancaster Gate	365	75.93
Marylebone High Street	240	61.14
St. James's	350	58.33
Tachbrook	410	55.43
Vincent Square	375	63.64
Warwick	300	67.59
West End	280	70.73
Cities of London and Westminster Constituency Total	3,710	68.07

26 Jun 2006 : Column 62W

Pension credit household recipients and average weekly amount of benefit for wards in Kensington and Chelsea, November 2005
Ward name	Household recipients	Average weekly benefit (£)
Abingdon	220	74.70
Brompton	165	66.34
Campden	140	71.92
Courtfield	165	66.02
Cremorne	505	66.42
Earl's Court	375	73.05
Hans Town	235	61.82
Holland(1)	175	84.40
Pembridge	215	67.51
Queen's Gate	120	84.75
Redcliffe	245	66.25
Royal Hospital	280	49.67
Stanley	220	59.71
Kensington and Chelsea Constituency Total	3,150	67.77
(1) Only part of Holland ward falls within Kensington and Chelsea parliamentary constituency. Notes: 1. The number of claimants are rounded to a multiple of five and average amounts to the nearest penny therefore ward totals do not always sum to area totals. 2. Some figures in Westminster Constituency have been suppressed due to there being less than 10 claimants within those wards. Suppressed figures are marked as “—“. 3. Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. 4. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of pension credit. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data.

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