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12 July 2006 : Column 1890W—continued
We are funding seven local authorities, working with community organisations and education institutions to explore new methods of encouraging people to register to vote and participate in elections.
The Electoral Administration Bill makes a number of changes to improve the registration process. These include a new duty setting out the minimum steps that the ERO will be expected to take to ensure a comprehensive register and enable people to register after an election has been called. The Bill also provides a new power for returning officers to promote participation at elections, and the Government have made available £2.5 million to support the new power.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what powers will be available to local electoral registration officers under the Electoral Registration Bill to share data in drawing up election registers; if she will provide a list of the sources of data which will be able to be used under powers contained within the Bill; and if she will make a statement. [83524]
Bridget Prentice: Electoral registration officers are currently able to inspect and take copies of any records kept by their own council, and to inspect and take copies of records kept by any registrar of births and deaths.
The Electoral Administration Bill does not change this. However, it does require electoral registration officers, when compiling the electoral register, to make full use of their powers to inspect those records which they are permitted to inspect.
We are also looking at whether there are records which are not covered by existing powers, but which could be covered by secondary legislation, if it were appropriate to do so.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what powers are available to local electoral registration officers to share data in drawing-up election registers; if she will provide a list of sources of data which can be used; and if she will make a statement. [83525]
Bridget Prentice: Electoral registration officers are currently able to inspect and take copies of any records kept by their own council, and to inspect and take copies of records kept by any registrar of births and deaths.
Family Visitor Appeals
Mr. Binley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many family visitor appeals were lodged in 2005-06; and how many are awaiting a decision. [84607]
Bridget Prentice:
In the period from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006, a total of 59,047 family visitor appeals were received by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. Of those appeals, 18,063 remain to be
decided and are currently either listed for a hearing before, or awaiting a decision from, an Immigration Judge.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer to Question 80303, what meetings she has held with Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss their response to the president of the tribunal's reports on their standards in making incapacity benefit decisions; and if she will make a statement on (a) resulting initiatives and (b) the expected levels of tribunal workload over the next two years. [83883]
Bridget Prentice: No meetings have been held with Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions on this subject since responsibility for appeal tribunals transferred to this Department on 1 April 2006. The president of appeal tribunals’ sixth report on the standard of decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in cases which come before appeal tribunals was published on 6 July 2006, Official Report, Column 52WS.
A Joint Steering Committee has been established between the Tribunals Service and Jobcentre Plus, the agency which administers Incapacity Benefit, to provide feedback on cases considered by appeal tribunals and to look for ways to avoid customers having to go through the appeals process.
Legal Profession (Consumer Demands)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what plans she has to ensure the legal profession is more responsive to consumer demands; [84564]
(2) what progress she has made in increasing consumer choice in legal services. [84565]
Bridget Prentice: The draft Legal Services Bill, which was published on 24 May 2006, builds on recommendations made by Sir David Clementi following his independent review of the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales which was published in December 2004. Both Sir David and the Government have been keen to ensure wide engagement with stakeholders in developing these proposals.
The proposals in the draft Bill respond to consumer demands. They provide for a new and independent oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board, and a single and independent Office for Legal Complaints. They also provide, through the licensing of alternative business structures, for legal services to be delivered in new ways. The Government are committed to putting the consumer at the heart of these reforms, and there is also a statutory duty on the Legal Services Board to establish a consumer panel to advise it.
Taken together, these proposals will provide for greater independence in regulation and complaints handling, and increased competition through a more flexible approach to the delivery of legal services.
Subject to robust safeguards, lawyers and non-lawyers will be able to work together on an equal footing to deliver legal and other services. External investment will also be possible. These arrangements will provide practitioners with flexibility to respond to market demands by providing consumers with the services they want, when they want them, and in the packages they want them.
The draft Bill is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee. The Joint Committee is due to report by 25 July. After considering the Committee's report, the Government intend to introduce legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Work and Pensions
Access to Work Scheme
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implications for (a) central Government Departments’ budgets and (b) disabled people of the ending of Access to Work funding in October. [79932]
Mrs. McGuire: The Secretary of State is not in a position to assess the implications for other Government Departments’ budgets. However, the large majority of these workplace adjustments are inexpensive.
Our intention is that disabled staff should continue to receive the support they need as now, including obtaining advice from specialist staff in Jobcentre Plus. However, instead of their support being paid for by the Access to Work programme, it will be funded out of departmental running costs. Officials will be working with those in other Government Departments to help them implement this requirement.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent changes to the Access to Work Scheme have applied to employees of (a) central Government departments and agencies, (b) large private sector employers and (c) other employers; and if he will make a statement. [81941]
Mrs. McGuire: Access to Work funding will be removed from employees working in central government departments from October 2006. Our intention is that disabled staff should continue to receive the support they need as now, including obtaining advice from specialist staff in Jobcentre Plus. However, instead of their support being paid for by the Access to Work programme, it will be funded out of departmental running costs. Officials from the Office of Disability Issues will be working with those in other Government Departments to help them implement this requirement.
No changes have been made to Access to Work which affect people working for large private sector employers or other employers.
Carer's Allowance
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual cost of removing the 21-hour study rule for carer’s allowance. [80550]
Mrs. McGuire: We estimate that the annual cost of removing the 21-hour full-time education rule for carer’s allowance would amount to approximately £30 million for the first full year following its removal. This total is made up of £16 million for carer’s allowance and £14 million in respect of income-related benefits.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria were used to determine performance-related bonus payments for senior civil servants at the Child Support Agency in each of the last four years. [77976]
Mrs. McGuire: For each of the last four years decisions have been made by relatively assessing individuals in relation to others in the same senior civil service pay band. When determining performance-related bonus payments the following criteria were used:
Performance against agreed priority business objectives or targets;
Total delivery record over the year;
Relative stretch;
Response to unforeseen events which affected the performance.
How successful staff were in meeting their objectives;
How difficult/challenging the objectives were, given available resources, foreseen and unforeseen factors;
How the success had been achieved taking account of the Departmental Aims and Values.
Disability Living Allowance
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to review the requirement for those with lifelong disabilities to make periodic reapplications for disability living allowance. [82665]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to review the requirement for those with lifelong disabilities to make periodic reapplications for disability living allowance.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
There is no specific requirement for those with lifelong disabilities to make periodic reapplications for disability living allowance (DLA). As you may be aware, entitlement to DLA does not depend on the diagnosis of a condition but on how that condition affects a person on a daily basis. It is entirely possible for a person with permanent disability not to satisfy the conditions for an award of DLA. There is a wide variation in the amount of help required by people with similar disabilities and for this reason entitlement to DLA is based on needs rather than diagnosis.
Where a Decision Maker concludes that a customer is entitled to DLA, and in their judgment there is unlikely to be any change in the way the customer’s disabling condition affects their mobility or ability to self-care, an indefinite award would be the expected outcome. Such customers would not be required to renew their claims at intervals.
However, even where entitlement to benefit is awarded indefinitely, it can be affected by a change in the disabled person’s circumstances. There is a statutory obligation for the customer to report relevant changes of circumstances that may affect entitlement.
Awards for a limited period are made where the Decision Maker judges that there might be some material change, affecting either the entitlement or the rate of benefit as a person adapts to their disability or their condition improves or worsens over a period of time. The customer would be invited to make a renewal claim at the appropriate time.
As part of the Government’s plans to modernise the Welfare State we introduced the “periodic inquiry” procedures to ensure that our customers are receiving the correct level of benefit. These involve the random selection of cases where checks are made upon a customer’s continuing entitlement to benefit. Accurate, up to date information about a customer’s needs is collected to make sure that the benefit entitlement is correct. It is applied fairly giving people the opportunity to have their award increased as well as decreased in line with entitlement.
I hope this is helpful.
Incapacity Benefit
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of incapacity benefit claims in West Lancashire which have been turned down on the basis of insufficient national insurance contributions (NIC) as a result of the time taken in updating NIC records. [83543]
Mrs. McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Keetch) on 28 February 2006, Official Report, column 688W.
London Olympics
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which officials in his Department (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics. [81569]
Mrs. McGuire: Bill Wells, the divisional manager in the economy and labour market division represents the Department for Work and Pensions on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics. He, together with Chris Hayes, Jobcentre Plus field director for London, is responsible for Olympics-related activity within DWP and Jobcentre Plus.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are leading for the Government on this work.
Pensioners Abroad
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with the Czech Republic to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country; [83140]
(2) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Denmark to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country; [83142]
(3) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Denmark to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country; [83143]
(4) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with the Czech Republic to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country; [83146]
(5) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Austria to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country; [83147]
(6) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Austria to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country; [83148]
(7) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Belgium to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country; [83149]
(8) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Belgium to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country; [83150]
(9) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Cyprus to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country; [83152]
(10) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Cyprus to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country; [83153]
(11) what (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with (i) Finland, (ii) Estonia, (iii) France, (iv) Germany, (v) Greece, (vi) Hungary, (vii) Ireland, (viii) Italy, (ix) Latvia, (x) Lithuania, (xi) Luxembourg, (xii) Malta, (xiii) Netherlands, (xiv) Poland, (xv) Portugal, (xvi) Slovakia, (xvii) Slovenia, (xviii) Spain and (xix) Sweden to ensure the provision of (A) (1) state and (2) private pensions and (B) benefits to UK pensioners resident in that country. [84398]
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