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11 Oct 2006 : Column 796W—continued
Special Advisers
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) qualifications and (b) previous experience the special advisers to his Department have. [91873]
Margaret Hodge: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the code of conduct for special advisers and bring a wide range of expertise and experience to the job.
Information relating to an individual's qualifications and previous employment is a personal matter between them and their employer.
Transport
Car Tax
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue has been generated by the premium rate phone line used for the renewal of car tax since its introduction. [91418]
Dr. Ladyman: The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVLA) first introduced its Electronic Vehicle Licensing in February 2004, and this service was nationally launched in January 2006. The following provides a breakdown of revenue generated by the premium rate line used for the renewal of car tax since its introduction:
| Total (£) | |
Departmental Staff
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many disabled people were hired by his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what percentage of the overall workforce these figures represented in each year; and how many disabled people left their employment in his Department over the same period. [92460]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport was established in 2002 following Machinery of Government changes. The Cabinet Office publishes statistics on staffing facts and figures across the Civil Service. The Cabinet Office reports for the Department of Transport and its agencies reflect the following for disabled staff:
| New entrants | Percentage of overall workforce | Disabled entrants as percentage of all entrants | Number leaving | |
It should be noted that there is no requirement for staff to register as disabled. Information supplied about disabilities is on a voluntary basis so the above figures may not reflect the true picture.
Disability Equality
Mr. Khan: (1) To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has made an assessment of which policy areas will be considered in his report on progress towards disability equality within the Department's policy sector which is due to be published in December 2008; [91967]
(2) what information gathering and other actions his Department and other relevant bodies are taking to inform the public on the production of the report on progress towards disability equality within his Department's policy sector; [91968]
(3) what methods are used to involve disabled people in the production of his Department's disability equality scheme; [91973]
(4) when and how he plans to publish the disability equality scheme for his Department; and in what formats. [91974]
Gillian Merron: The information gathered to review the effectiveness of the Department's disability equality action plan will help identify progress and determine policies which the Secretary of State will include in his tri-annual report in 2008.
The public will be informed on the production of the report on progress towards disability equality within the transport sector via the development of a disability panel, involvement of those engaged in the development of the scheme, and its own communications strategy.
We have always recognised the importance of involving disabled people who might be affected by our policies in their formulation. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), as our statutory advisers on the public passenger transport needs of disabled people, have proved an invaluable resource during policy development. In producing our disability equality scheme we have also worked in partnership with several national disability organisations and conducted a number of discussion groups covering a range of disabilities, topics and geographical areas.
The Department for Transport will publish its disability equality scheme and action plan on or before 4 December. The scheme will be published on the departmental website and as a hard copy in 14 April. Other formats of the publication will be made available, e.g. easy read, large print and audio.
Form V11
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of the information contained on DVLA Form V11; and if he will make a statement. [91498]
Dr. Ladyman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regularly reviews its forms (including the V11) on behalf of the Secretary of State, to ensure that the information contained is accurate. The name and address details printed on the V11 reflect the information held on DVLA's vehicle register.
Secure Stations Scheme
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether railway stations at (a) Cheam and (b) Belmont will receive accreditation under the Secure Stations Scheme. [93071]
Mr. Tom Harris: Cheam railway station is planned to be assessed for accreditation in November 2006, while Belmont railway station will be assessed for accreditation in early 2007.
Traffic Management Act
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Traffic Management Act 2004 will be implemented fully. [90372]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport is currently implementing several parts of the Act to a published timetable. This is available at
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft
The latest date specified in this timetable is 2008, although implementation dates for some later aspects of the timetable have yet to be finalised.
Wales
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the total carbon emission from his Department's buildings in each year since 1997. [89454]
Mr. Hain: When the Wales Office came into being in July 1999 its estate was managed within the National Assembly for Wales. In June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA). As such it has not had its own figures separate from the DCA totals.
The Wales Office is now looking for itself at ways to reduce our carbon emissions as much as possible. It had a separate Carbon Trust report undertaken in May 2006 to advise how we could account better for energy costs and reduce both them and carbon emissions. The recommendations are being taken forward.
Departmental Expenditure
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Office spent on organising and hosting conferences in the last 12 months. [93092]
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on taxis in the last 12 months. [93104]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office has spent £2,596.85 on taxis in the last 12 months.
Work and Pensions
Child Support Agency
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what will be the design caseload capacity of the proposed new child support system;
and what proportion of the caseload he expects to be made up of existing claimants re-applying for maintenance. [90199]
Mr. Plaskitt: We are carrying out an intensive programme of work to decide the best way forward including more analysis to assess the most appropriate way to enable existing clients to move to private arrangements or make a claim under the new system. We plan to publish final, detailed proposals in a White Paper in the autumn.
Neurological Conditions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) with and (b) without neurological conditions were participating in work-related activities and work-based adult learning and job brokering programmes on the Pathways scheme in the last three years. [87544]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The information is in the following table:
| Neurological condition | Non-Neurological condition | Medical condition unknown( 1) | Total | |
| (1) Job brokering programmes: Data is for the number of people registering with a New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) Job Broker. Notes: 1. The statistics quoted in this response are taken from the Pathways to Work Evaluation Database. 2. Figures are cumulative totals from the inception of Pathways in October 2003 to the end of February 2006. 3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. 4. A neurological condition is a disorder of the central and/or peripheral nervous system. This can include disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and muscles etc. 5. Work-related activities: Data is for the number of individuals participating in WORKSTEP, Work Preparation and Work Trials. We do not have robust information on the number of individuals participating in Permitted Work. 6. Work-based adult learning: Data is for the number of individuals starting Work Based Learning for Adults. 7. Medical conditions may be unknown because: Not all Pathways participants claim IB (they may claim Income Support with a Disability Premium) and medical condition is only recorded for those claiming IB; or The National Benefits Database lags behind other Pathways to Work Evaluation Database sources by some three to four months. This means that the database does not contain information on the medical condition of customers starting Pathways in later months; or IB data from the NBD is based on a six-weekly snapshot, which means that some short-term IB claims of less than six weeks never appear on the database. This means that we do not have medical condition information for some customers who have claimed IB for less than six weeks. 8. The National Benefits Database only includes information on a customer's primary medical condition despite the fact that often people will have more than one medical condition. | ||||
Pension Credit
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what circumstances property maintenance and service charges can enhance individual entitlement to pension credit. [91703]
James Purnell: An extra amount for housing costs can be paid in addition to the standard amount in pension credit, for those costs not covered by either housing benefit or council tax benefit. The housing costs covered include service charges that cover such essentials as management fees, insurance, minor repairs and the cleaning of communal areas; and interest on loans that were taken out to finance essential repairs and improvements, such as the provision or repair of necessary bathroom fixtures such as a bath and wash basin.
Pensions
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of granting an additional £1,000 per annum to each pensioner. [91359]
James Purnell: The estimated figure for the number of persons above state pension age during the financial year 2006-07 for Great Britain is 11.3 million and paying each of them £1,000 will cost around £11.3 billion.
Note:
The expenditure figure is in 2006-07 price terms and takes no account of changes in tax or entitlement to income-related benefits.
Source:
GAD 2004 population projections
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the effect on expenditure of incorporating the winter fuel allowance and the cost of free television licences into the basic state pension. [91360]
James Purnell:
Winter fuel payments and free television licences are made to households rather than
individuals, whereas the basic state pension is paid to individuals. It would not therefore be possible to consolidate them directly into the basic state pension in such a way that no losses occurred to individuals. However, as an indication of scale the total forecast expenditure for 2006-07 on winter fuel payments is £2,027 million and on free television licences is £482 million. If this expenditure were incorporated into the basic state pension in 2006-07 it would result in a one-off increase of 5 per cent. or around £4 per week.
Notes:
1. Figures are in 2005-06 prices and rounded to the nearest £ million.
2. Figures for Winter Fuel Payments are for GB.
3. Figures for television licences are for UK.
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