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10 July 2006 : Column 1596W—continued
National Insurance
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people from the EU accession member states have registered in each of the London boroughs for a new national insurance number in each of the last five years. [83530]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. The information is not available broken down by country of origin, nor is it available broken down below regional level.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what steps he takes to ensure national insurance numbers are not issued to illegal immigrants; and if he will make a statement; [75798]
(2) how many immigrants were given national insurance numbers in each quarter from April 1997 to April 2006; what measures were in place to prevent illegal immigrants obtaining national insurance numbers; and if he will make a statement. [75800]
Mr. Plaskitt
[holding answer on 8 June 2006]: All NINO applications are subjected to rigorous identity checking process. Where this raises questions over immigration status or authenticity of identity documents, individuals will be referred to the
Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Previously, where identity requirements were satisfied and the individual was in employment, a NINO would have been issued. In cases where false documents were presented, a NINO would not be issued.
On Monday 5 June 2006, I announced changes to improve this process. These will take place from July 2006 and will introduce a ‘right to work’ pre-condition for employment related national insurance number (NINO) applications. This will prevent illegal workers being allocated a NINO.
The available information regarding the number of overseas nationals allocated NINO is in the table.
| Overseas Nationals entering the UK and allocated a National Insurance Number by quarter of Registration | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and may not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures are not available prior to 2002-03 due to unreliability of the registrations data. 3. Figures include EU Nationals. 4. This data is only available from 2002-03 to 2004-05 as reliable HMRC data prior to this date is unavailable. Information for 2005-06 will be available in October 2006. Source: 100 per cent. extract from National Insurance Recording System at 25 June 2005. | |
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on the allocation of national insurance numbers to illegal workers; and if he will make a statement. [76144]
Mr. Plaskitt: We have received a number of representations from hon. Members regarding the allocation of national insurance numbers to illegal workers.
On Monday 5 June 2006, we announced changes that will take place from July 2006 which will introduce a “right to work” pre-condition before a NINO can be allocated to employment-related applicants.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the oral answer of 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 517, on national insurance numbers (illegal immigrants), how many national insurance numbers were issued to those without the right to live or work in the UK in the last three years. [80828]
Mr. Plaskitt:
From April 2005 to March 2006, DWP notified the immigration and nationality directorate of 2,537 cases where national insurance numbers were
allocated to suspected immigration offenders. In addition, 772 cases involving false documents that have been refused a NINO were notified to the immigration and nationality directorate by DWP. Figures are not available prior to 1 April 2005 as the information was not formally recorded.
From July 2006 an additional ‘right to work’ pre-condition test will be introduced for employment related NINO applications. This will prevent illegal workers being allocated a NINO.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has held with HM Revenue and Customs on the use of national insurance numbers in determining eligibility for tax credits of an individual who has failed verification rule 12 of the Tax Credits manual Residency Criteria Not Met. [78953]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) works closely with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on matters pertaining to national insurance numbers (NINOs). However, the administration of tax credits is the responsibility of HMRC.
New Deal
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of New Deal leavers has entered sustained, unsubsidised jobs. [54987]
Mr. Jim Murphy: A measure of sustainability is only available for New Deal for Young People, New Deal 25 plus and New Deal for Lone Parents.
The available information on the percentage of people who have left New Deal to an unsubsidised, sustained job is in the following table.
| Leavers to an unsubsidised, sustained job | |||
| New deal programme | All leavers (number) | Number | Percentage of all leavers |
| Notes: 1. Information relates to cumulative leavers to November 2005, which is the latest available data. 2. Information on leavers from New Deal 25 plus is only available for leavers from the post April 2001 enhanced programme. 3. As there are different measures of sustainability for New Deal for Lone Parents, results cannot be compared with those for New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25 plus. 4. People gaining unsustained employment through New Deal for Young People and the New Deal 25 plus are not regarded as leaving the programme so are not included in the figures. Source: DWP Information Directorate | |||
In addition to those leaving these New Deal programmes to an unsubsidised, sustained job, a further 301,160 people gained a job at some point during their time on the programme, but the employment was not recorded as sustained.
Even though some people return to jobseeker’s allowance or income support after finding a job through New Deal, they will have benefited from their time in employment and will have more employment skills than they did before finding work through New Deal. Many of the people helped into work through New Deal have considerable barriers to employment, particularly those entering New Deal 25 plus, who will have been unemployed for at least 18 months, and helping them into employment is a considerable achievement.
Participation on New Deal for Lone Parents is voluntary and many lone parents will not be ready to start work immediately on leaving the programme, particularly when their children are below school age. However, the advice and support they receive whilst on NDLP will mean they will be better equipped to enter employment in the future.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of leavers from (a) New Deal for Young People and (b) New Deal 25 plus recommenced claiming benefits within 12 months of leaving the programme in each year since it began. [56973]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The information is in the following table.
| Percentage of New Deal leavers who recommenced claiming benefits within 12 months of leaving the programme | ||
| New Deal for Young People (percentage) | New Deal 25 Plus (percentage) | |
| Notes: 1. New Deal for Young People was launched in January 1998; New Deal 25 plus in July 1998. 2. The latest benefit data are to February 2006, therefore allowing for a 12 month gap only New Deal leavers to February 2005 are included. 3. The benefits included are bereavement benefit, incapacity benefit, invalid care allowance, income support, jobseeker's allowance, severe disablement allowance and widows benefit. 4. A benefit claim has only been included if it is a new claim after leaving the New Deal spell. People can leave New Deal and continue a benefit claim—these people are not included as recommencing a claim to benefit. Source: Information Directorate, DWP | ||
The New Deal has been successful in helping more than 1.5 million people into work including more than 920,000 people through New Deal for Young People (NDYP) and New Deal 25 plus (ND25 plus). It has helped to virtually eradicate long term youth claimant unemployment and has also helped to cut long-term adult employment by almost three quarters, close to its lowest for 30 years. Of those who get a job through the mandatory New Deals, more than 80 per cent. stay off Jobseeker's Allowance for at least 13 weeks.
Inevitably, in a dynamic labour market, some people return to Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support after finding a job through New Deal, nevertheless, they will have benefited from their time in employment and will have more employment skills than they did before finding work through New Deal.
Pathways to Work
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals are participating in Pathways to Work in (a) Lewisham, Deptford constituency and (b) Lewisham borough. [79150]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Our successful Pathways to Work pilots have been acknowledged internationally as the best way of helping people on incapacity benefits back into work quickly. They have resulted in 21,400 Pathways job entries, including over 3,360 from voluntary customers.
I recently announced my plans for the nationwide roll out of Pathways to Work. Pathways to Work will be rolled out to Lewisham, Deptford constituency and Lewisham borough in April 2008.
Pension Credit
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) the south west receive pension credit. [82253]
James Purnell: The information is in the table.
| Individual beneficiaries in Yeovil constituency, Somerset local authorities and the south west, February 2006. | |
| Individual Beneficiaries( 1) | |
| (1) The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. Notes: 1. These figures are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures which are taken from the GMS scan at 17 February 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure. Average amounts are displayed as at the scan reference data of 17 February 2006. 2. The number of individual beneficiaries are rounded to the nearest ten. 3. Parliamentary constituency/Government office region and local authority are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. Source: DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS). Pension credit scan taken as at 17 February 2006. | |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents in each electoral ward in Yeovil constituency receive pension credit; and if he will make a statement. [82255]
James Purnell: The information is in the following table.
| Pension credit individual beneficiaries for wards in Yeovil parliamentary constituency, November 2005 | |
| Ward name( 1) | Individual beneficiaries( 2) |
| (1) Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. (2) The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. (3) Only part of Camelot and Ivelchester wards fall within Yeovil parliamentary constituency. Note: Number of households are rounded to a multiple of five, therefore ward totals do not always sum to area totals. Source: DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data. | |
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