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9 Oct 2006 : Column 15W—continued
The information available is in the following table:
| Disability living allowance, cases in payment, with a care component and medical condition of learning difficulty, as at February 2006 | ||||
| Rate | ||||
| Local authority | All | Highest | Middle | Lowest |
| Notes: 1 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory. 3. Where the claimant is eligible for both care and mobility components, the disabling condition associated with the mobility component is shown here Where more than one disability is present only the main disabling condition is recorded. 4. The number of claimants does not equate to the number of households as there may be more than one person in a household with learning difficulties claiming DLA. 5. Figures exclude cases where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 6. Rate of care component refers to rate in payment Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data. | ||||
EU Accession Countries
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on sectoral unemployment of workers from EU accession countries. [90528]
Mr. Jim Murphy: No assessment has been made of the effect on sectoral unemployment of recent migration from the new EU accession states.
A DWP assessment of the impact of recent migration from the eight central and eastern European accession states (A8) on claimant unemployment found no discernible statistical evidence of a link between the recent rises in claimant unemployment and inflows of migrants from the A8.
Fibromyalgia
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with fibromyalgia claim benefits because they are unable to work. [91596]
Mrs. McGuire: As at February 2006, there were 8,400 people claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance with a primary diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Hampton Review
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what input (a) his Department and (b) its (i) agencies and (ii) non-departmental public bodies had into the Hampton Review and its report, Reducing Administrative Burdens: Effective Inspection and Enforcement. [89425]
Mrs. McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Housing Allowance
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information he has given to the Scottish Executive on the implications of the introduction of the local housing allowance (LHA) in Scotland; and what provisions there are to ensure that registered social landlords receive rent for properties where LHA payments are made directly to tenants who may be involved in chaotic lifestyles and who could find themselves evicted and homeless if rent was not forwarded to a landlord. [89329]
Mr. Plaskitt: I have had a number of discussions with the Scottish Executive's Minister for Communities about plans to extend local housing allowance to tenants across the private rented sector. In addition, copies of the published evaluation reports on the pathfinder authorities are routinely sent to the Scottish Executive.
While we have no plans to extend the local housing allowance approach to the social sector, we are pressing ahead with plans to encourage more social tenants to take responsibility for managing their own rent payments. However, we recognise the need for adequate safeguards to protect the interests of both tenants and their landlords and we will explore this issue with stakeholders across the social housing sector, including the Scottish Executive, before finalising specific proposals.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanism is to be used to ensure a consistency of approach in the setting of local housing allowance rates by all rent offices across the country. [92351]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Rent Service in England has targets for quality and accuracy set by the Secretary of State. These are published in The Rent Service Business Plan and reported on in The Rent Service Annual Report. To achieve these targets, the Rent Service provides common guidance to all rent officers across England to ensure a consistent approach to the setting of the local housing allowance, including the regular review of the broad rental market areas.
In Scotland and Wales, the same statutory framework applies to setting local housing allowances. The Rent Registration Service will work to apply this consistently in Scotland. In Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government will provide appropriate guidance and oversee monitoring arrangements to ensure consistency.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanism is to be used to ensure transparency and accountability in the setting of local housing allowance rates. [92352]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Rent Service ensures transparency in a number of ways, including consultation with stakeholders prior to the publication of The Rent Service Business Plan which includes key targets set by the Secretary of State covering quality and other aspects of service delivery performance. The Rent Service publishes details of performance against the Business Plan in the Annual Report and provides an annual review of the lettings market in the private rented sector in The Rent Service Valuation report.
The agency has an Advisory Board, which provides advice to the Chief Executive, ensures accountability and comments on the strategic direction of the agency. The Advisory Board also advises Ministers of the agency's aims, objectives and performance. The Advisory Board is composed of stakeholder representatives including DWP, Department for Communities and Local Government, the Local Government Association and an external member that chairs the Rent Service Audit Committee.
The work of the Rent Service is also subject to scrutiny by an internal audit and annual scrutiny by the National Audit Office.
In Scotland, setting local housing allowances is the responsibility of the Rent Registration Service, which is part of the Scottish Executive. The Chief Rent Officer is responsible for ensuring that the mechanisms used by the Rent Registration Service are transparent and accountable.
In Wales, similar mechanisms exist as in England to ensure transparency and accountability in the setting of local housing allowance rates as applied by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what other forms of rent control have been considered alongside the introduction of local housing allowance. [92353]
Mr. Plaskitt: The local housing allowance, which we plan to roll out from 2008, is at the core of housing benefit reform. We do not intend to implement other major changes to the calculation of a housing benefit claimant's eligible rent at this time.
Logic Integrated Medical Assessment
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the introduction of Logic Integrated Medical Assessment, with particular reference to its (a) efficacy in describing (i) multiple conditions and (ii) intermittent conditions, (b) development to cover a wider range of disabling conditions and (c) use by GPs of the same protocols. [91706]
Mrs. McGuire: Logic Integrated Medical Assessment (LiMA) is a tool developed to support healthcare professionals carrying out personal capability assessments (PCA). It uses rules derived from evidence-based medical protocols to guide healthcare professionals into making logical decisions. But it remains the responsibility of the healthcare professional to ensure that all the appropriate data are input into the system, including information about multiple or intermittent conditions.
The available evidence-based medicine protocols cover about 85 per cent. of all disabling conditions being assessed. As part of the ongoing work in relation to the review of the PCA we will be looking at what changes will be required to LiMA, including development of new protocols to cover conditions not yet represented on the system.
The LiMA evidence-based medical protocols are freely available to GPs or others who wish to use them for continuous professional education.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he last met the Scottish First Minister; and what subjects were discussed. [89394]
Mrs. McGuire: Ministers have regular dialogues with ministerial colleagues in the Scottish Executive, discussing a wide range of issues of mutual interest. It is not our practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Neurological Conditions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) progression rates into work of people with neurological conditions who have taken part in Pathways to Work pilots and (b) progression rates into work of people with neurological conditions generally were in the last three years. [87541]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Eleven per cent. of people with neurological conditions who have joined Pathways to Work between October 2003 and February 2006 have progressed into work.
Information on the number of people with neurological conditions who have progressed into work in the last three years without participating in Pathways is not available.
Notes:
1. The statistics quoted in this response are taken from the Pathways to Work Evaluation Database.
2. Data are to the end of February 2006.
3. Data include information for the extension to existing customers.
New Deal
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) first-time participants and (b) repeat participants were on each new deal programme in each quarter of the last three calendar years; and what the unit cost per participant was in each case. [90719]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 11 September 2006]: Information on the unit costs per first time and repeat participant on each new deal programme in each quarter of the last three calendar years is not available.
The available information on the number of first time and repeat participants on each new deal programme, in each quarter of the last three calendar years, is in the tables.
| New deal for young people | |||
| Participants in each quarter | |||
| Total | First-time | Repeat | |
| New deal 25 plus | |||
| Participants in each quarter | |||
| Total | First-time | Repeat | |
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