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Departmental Staffing
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements are made within the Department and its agencies for maintaining in its employment those (a) over 50 years and (b) with a disability in circumstances of (i) a period of sickness absence and (ii) local staff restructuring. [86040]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) does not discriminate on grounds of age. From October 2006 staff below Senior Civil Service grades will no longer have a mandatory retirement age in DWP. This means that once they have reached the minimum pension age of 60, staff themselves decide when to retire.
Where staff incur a period of sickness absence the Department provides extensive support to all staff through its Occupational Health Service contract, Employee Assistance Programme and generous sick leave provision if an employee is sick or has an incapacity.
The Department considers reasonable workplace adjustments in all cases where the Disability Discrimination Act could apply. These ensure the employee is not placed at a disadvantage in comparison to other employees. The Department takes seriously its responsibilities for managing attendance and has developed a supportive policy and procedures for managing sickness absences. The policy was commended by the National Audit Office (NAO) as meeting best practice.
Disabled people are included in all restructuring plans in the same way as other employees. They are guaranteed interviews in selection exercises if they meet the minimum criteria for the post. All applicants are offered reasonable adjustments at all stages of the selection exercise. When a disabled person is successful at the selection exercise our Human Resources teams work closely with occupational health to ensure that any adjustments needed, to either the workplace environment or the post, are put in place quickly to enable the person to commence work without delay. Workplace adjustments are given priority to facilitate moves. Should volunteers be called for to move jobs, or compulsory moves required, the same adjustments are made for any disabled people included in these moves.
Disability Awareness
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which voluntary and private sector organisations have been contracted by his Department to deliver (a) disability awareness and (b) other training to Jobcentre Plus staff. [83328]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Voluntary and private sector organisations have been involved with Jobcentre Plus since its inception to design, develop, deliver and quality assure the training provided to their staff.
Details of the providers available to Jobcentre Plus staff for support on the diversity agenda and for learning and development across the business have been placed in the Library.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in Lancashire include a person with a learning disability who receives the care component of disability living allowance at the (a) highest, (b) middle and (c) lowest rate. [82756]
Mr. Jim Murphy: 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.
Letter from Terry Moran, dated 24 July 2006:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in Lancashire include a person with a learning disability who receives the care component of disability living allowance at the (a) highest (b) middle and (c) lowest rate.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information available is in the following tables:
| Recipients of disability living allowance with learning difficulties by rate of care award as at November 2005 in Lancashire parliamentary constituencies | ||||
| Care component | ||||
| Total with care component | Highest rate | Middle rate | Lowest rate | |
| Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. The parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. 4. Figures are based on the care component condition only. Source: DWP, WPLS 100 per cent. data. | ||||
| Recipients of disability living allowance with learning difficulties by rate of care award as at November 2005 in Lancashire local authorities | ||||
| Care component | ||||
| Total with care component | Highest rate | Middle rate | Lowest rate | |
| Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. The local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. 4. Figures are based on the care component condition only. Source: DWP, WPLS 100 per cent. data. | ||||
Disabled Staff
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disabled staff within his Department (a) received equipment and adaptations through the Access to Work scheme up to 2003 and (b) receive equipment and adaptations paid for by his Department. [79935]
Mrs. McGuire: Any Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) employee requiring equipment and adaptation support up until March would have received the necessary support with costs attributed to the national Access to Work budget. However, Jobcentre Plus Access to Work did not collect the numbers of departmental disabled staff accessing adaptations and equipment support at that time.
Currently any DWP employee requiring equipment and adaptations continues to receive the necessary support, and costs are attributed to the individual local budgets relevant to the individual employee. Prior to the introduction of our new resource management system, we are collecting clerical statistical data on numbers of reasonable adjustments undertaken each quarter, the information is shown on the following table.
| Quarter ending | Number of reasonable adjustments undertaken |
Draft Bills
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the draft Bills produced by his Department since October 2005; how many were examined or are planned to be examined by (a) a Departmental Select Committee or a combination of Select Committees and (b) a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [81656]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department of Work and Pensions has produced no draft Bills since October 2005.
Announcements on future legislation and future draft legislation which will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny will be indicated in the Queen’s Speech.
Family Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of families with three or more children were living in poverty in each county in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) England and (d) Northern Ireland in the most recent year for which figures are available. [87736]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Information below National or Government Office regional level is not available.
Financial Assistance Scheme/Pension Protection Fund
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) average, (b) highest and (c) lowest payment has been under the financial assistance scheme to former Allied Steel and Wire workers living (i) in and (ii) outside Wales; and if he will make a statement. [64131]
James Purnell: The financial assistance scheme will provide a qualifying member with assistance that will top-up their scheme pension to a level broadly equivalent to 80 per cent. of their expected pension. Payments are subject to a de minimis level and a cap.
| FAS payments to former Allied Steel and Wire workers living in Wales | |
| Gross (£) | |
Under the Data Protection Act it is inappropriate to reveal such
“data which relate to a living individual who can be identified from those data”.
As there is only one former ASW member receiving a payment living outside of Wales, I cannot comment on payments that may have been made to this individual.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Financial Assistance scheme has paid out to members of schemes that wound up before 6 April 2005 with insufficient funds to cover all pension entitlements; and if he will make a statement. [89095]
James Purnell: The Financial Assistance scheme has paid a total of £707,121.93 (gross) to members of pension schemes that had completed wind up or were in the winding up process before April 6 2005.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he next plans to review the level of funding for (a) the Financial Assistance Scheme and (b) the Pension Protection Fund. [62312]
James Purnell: Following the recent review, on25 May we announced that we will extend eligibility for the financial assistance scheme (FAS) to members of qualifying pension schemes who were within 15 years of their scheme's normal retirement age on 14 May 2004.
Those within seven years of their scheme's normal retirement age on 14 May 2004 will benefit from the FAS topping up their pensions to around 80 per cent. of their expected core pension. Those between seven and 15 years from their scheme's normal retirement age who can more reasonably be expected to supplement their retirement income will be considered for a top-up to around 65 per cent. of their expected pension if they are between seven and 11 years from scheme pension age, and 50 per cent. between 12 and 15 years.
We estimate that this will require funding of£2.3 billion. This is £1.9 billion more than the £400 million over 20 years that we allocated in May 2004.
The Pension Protection Fund is an independent body governed by a board. It is funded in two ways; through the assets of schemes for which it assumes responsibility and by charging an annual pension protection levy on the pension schemes eligible for entry to the PPF. The PPF is responsible for setting the levy and has estimated a levy of £575 million for 2006-07 following wide consultation with industry.
Provisions in the Pensions Act 2004 prevent the PPF from increasing its levy by more than 25 per cent. each year, up to an overall maximum ceiling. If the PPF wish to raise a levy beyond the ceiling then it must undertake consultation before asking Secretary of State to increase the levy ceiling.
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