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Disability Benefits
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total departmental expenditure on benefits has been for those who are disabled and unable to work since 1997; and how much of the welfare reform budget has been spent on measures connected with this group. [79985]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 26 June 2006]: The Information is not available. In the case of Department for Work and Pensions benefits which are not paid in relation to a disability, claimants are not required to classify themselves as being disabled or non-disabled.
Disabled Staff
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of (a) staff and (b) new staff employed since April 2005 in (i) his Department and (ii) each of the agencies for which he has responsibility were registered as disabled. [89034]
Mrs. McGuire: The process of registration as a disabled person was removed by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. DWP staff are, however, asked on a voluntary basis to state whether they are disabled.
The following table illustrates (a) the proportion of DWP staff that, according to computerised personnel records, have declared their disability status and stated that they are disabled, and (b) the proportion of new staff since 2005 that have declared on their application forms to the Department that they are disabled. The figures are broken down into the individual agencies and the corporate centre.
| Agency | Percentage all staff | Percentage new staff since April 2005 |
Escaped Prisoners (Benefits)
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what checks are in place to ensure that benefits are not paid to escaped prisoners. [79002]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 20 June 2006]: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits are not payable to convicted prisoners in custody or released on temporary licence. When a claim is made for an income-related benefit, checks are made of the claimant’s recent past history as part of the process to establish entitlement.
Financial Assistance Scheme
Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Answer of 28th March 2006, Official Report, column 945W, on replacement pension costs, what estimate he has made of the annual cost over the next 10 years of administering the Financial Assistance Scheme (a) under the existing rules and (b) assuming (i) full and (ii) partial restoration of the pensions of those covered by the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report. [63868]
James Purnell [holding answer 18 April 2006]: The information is as follows:
(a) As the Financial Assistance Scheme has only recently been set up, estimates of the administrative costs over the next 10 years are subject to a degree of uncertainty. Our current estimate is that it will cost around £4.5 million a year up to 2009-10, when we would expect the costs to reduce significantly once the eligibility of all schemes and members has been assessed.
(b) It is difficult to estimate the administration costs of a scheme providing restoration of pensions to all those covered by the parliamentary ombudsman's report. As the scheme might have to mirror the benefit structures for each qualifying pension scheme, it could be significantly more complex than the Financial Assistance Scheme.
For full restoration, we estimate that the one off set up costs might be around £10 million and during the first five years that it might take to assess scheme eligibility and calculate member benefits, the administration costs could be at least £14 million a year. The total costs over the first year or so could therefore be around £20 million.
We cannot provide an estimate for partial restoration as it is unclear what that would involve.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of how many people will qualify for support from the Financial Assistance Scheme at (a) the 80 per cent. rate, (b) the 65 per cent. rate and (c) the 50 per cent. rate. [77996]
James Purnell: We estimate that 25,000 people could qualify for support from the Financial Assistance Scheme at the 80 per cent. rate, 9,000 could qualify at the 65 per cent. rate and 6,000 at the 50 per cent. rate.
Health and Safety (Temperatures)
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what guidance the Health and Safety Executive has issued on the acceptable (a) minimum and (b) maximum temperatures (i) within offices and (ii) on public transport; [89045]
(2) what guidance the Health and Safety Executive has issued on the acceptable minimum and maximum temperatures. [89046]
Mrs. McGuire: I shall answer both of these questions together.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require employers to provide reasonable temperatures in all indoor workplaces, including offices, for their employees. These Regulations are accompanied by an Approved Code of Practice and guidance. HSE recommends a lower temperature of 16 degrees Celsius unless the work involves severe physical effort in which case the temperature should be at least 13 degrees Celsius.
There is no
minimum or maximum temperature legally required in the workplace.
Establishing either is impractical, as thermal comfort is dependent on
a range of environmental and personal factors (e.g.
ventilation, humidity, type of work activity being undertaken, clothes
worn, and
temperature).
Further guidance is available on HSE's website www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/thermal. The website has been designed to provide comprehensive information and a step-by-step approach to help employers and employees manage excessive temperatures in the workplace. There is also HSE guidance for employers entitled “Thermal comfort in the workplace” (HSG 194).
The HSE has issued no specific health and safety guidance on public transport. However, HM Railway Inspectorate, which is now part of the Office of Rail Regulation, does have particular concern that rolling stock and infrastructure failures in deep tunnels can cause more specific health concerns. This is because of the increased temperatures and reduced ventilation that may be encountered by passengers on delayed and overcrowded carriages, especially during summer months. In such cases health and safety law requires employers to put arrangements in place to reduce the risks, but there are infrastructure and technical constraints to improving ventilation on some railways. Railway operators, such as LUL, alert passengers to the risks posed by hot conditions by suggesting that passengers carry a bottle of water and informing passengers of the quickest way of seeking help if taken ill on a train.
In addition, the Department of Health has produced an updated heat-wave plan on 26 May 2006 and new public health information leaflets are available from the Department of Health website: www.dh.gov.uk.
Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the costs to local authorities in (a) Scotland and (b) Great Britain for administering (i) housing benefit and (ii) council tax benefit were in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [86971]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. The Department does not collect management information relating to the cost to local authorities of administering housing benefit under the existing national scheme. The available information on the administration subsidy paid to local authorities is in the following table.
Identity Fraud (Training)
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what internal training courses on tackling identity fraud are provided to departmental staff who have access to members of the public's personal information. [86644]
Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) on 16 February 2006, Official Report, column 2438W.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals in (a) South East Cambridgeshire constituency, (b) Cambridgeshire and (c) the Eastern region claimed (i) short-term and (ii) long-term incapacity benefit in each of the last five years. [88850]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the table.
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