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18 Oct 2006 : Column 1286W—continued
I am sorry I cannot be of more help.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimates he has made of the number of people who are entitled to carer’s allowance but are not claiming the benefit. [94385]
Mrs. McGuire: Entitlement to carer’s allowance depends on whether the qualifying conditions are satisfied, and this can be reliably established only after a claim has been made. There are no data available from which a reliable estimate might be made of the number of carers who would meet the conditions if they claimed.
Departmental Expenditure
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on organising and hosting conferences in the last 12 months. [93084]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested is not available centrally in the format requested and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Disability Living Allowance
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the most common reason is for disqualification from disability living allowance. [91501]
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 my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Terry Moran, dated 18 October 2006:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the most common reason is for disqualification from 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.
The most common reason for disqualification from disability living allowance is because the entitlement conditions relating to the need for personal care and/ or difficulties with walking are not satisfied.
I hope this is helpful.
Health and Safety Executive
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to instruct the Health and Safety Executive to provide clear standards for workers facing extreme temperatures; and if he will make a statement. [92041]
Mrs. McGuire: The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require employers to provide a reasonable temperature in all indoor workplaces. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 also require employers to undertake a risk assessment which includes assessing the risks of working in very hot or cold workplaces. Where risks are identified, proportionate action must be taken by the employer to meet the legal requirements.
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) website provides a step-by-step approach to help employers and employees manage excessive temperatures in the workplace, including guidance on how to avoid heat stress (http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature).
Home Department
Access to Work Scheme
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disabled staff in his Department received support through the Access to Work scheme (a) in each of the last five years and (b) in 2006-07. [82229]
Mr. Byrne: The Home Office does not centrally collect the numbers of disabled staff receiving adaptations and equipment paid for by Access to Work. These figures could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Accession Country Migrants
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Lithuanians have settled in the United Kingdom since Lithuania's accession to the European Union. [92508]
Mr. Byrne: Statistics on Lithuanian nationals issued residence documentation showing settled status from 1 May 2004 to December 2005 are given in the table.
2005 data by nationality were published in Table 4.3 of the Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2005" available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
This table also gives statistics on residence documentation issued showing Limited Period Status.
EU nationals are not obliged to seek documentation in order to reside lawfully in the United Kingdom. The figures relate to those who have done so.
Management information on the number of Lithuanians registered on the Workers Registration Scheme are published in the Accession Monitoring Report available at:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report
| Issue of residence documentation to Lithuanian nationals showing settled status( 1) , 1 May 2004 to December 2005( 2) | |
| United Kingdom | Number issued |
| (1 )Residence documents and residence permits issued for an indefinite period (2 )Provisional data rounded to the nearest 5 | |
Accession Monitoring Report
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the regional data in the accession monitoring report has been collected; and whether the data can be disaggregated to show how many accession state citizens are employed in individual towns and cities. [84961]
Mr. Byrne: Applicants to the Worker Registration Scheme are required to supply their address and the address of their employer. The regional breakdown in the monitoring report is based on the postcodes of employers. This data can be disaggregated against individual postcodes.
Agency Staff
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average hourly rate was paid by his Department to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06. [81494]
Mr. Byrne: Contract information in respect of the core Home Office excluding the immigration and nationality department (IND) is not held centrally, and to provide the average hourly rate paid to each employment agency would incur disproportionate cost. The average hourly rates paid by the Home Department for IND and its Executive agencies to each employment agency for staff employed through agencies in 2005-06 are in the following table.
The hourly rates paid to agencies are averages covering a range of grades, including professional specialists, and different employment locations. The Department and its Executive agencies contract agencies under frameworks to provide temporary staff that have been security cleared.
| Hourly rates paid to employment agencies | |
| Employment agency | £ |
Antisocial Behaviour
Mrs. James:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the role of Community Safety Partnerships in (a) dealing
with and preventing anti-social behaviour and (b) the issuing of antisocial behaviour orders. [93607]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 12 October 2006]: Community safety partnerships (CSPs) in Wales and crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) in England, lie at the heart of the Government’s approach to the reduction of both crime and antisocial behaviour.
All CSPs and CDRPs are required to carry out an audit every three years which includes an assessment of antisocial behaviour in the local area as well as taking into account crime and disorder. This informs the strategy which sets outs actions addressing priority areas and targets. However there are proposals arising from provisions in the Police and Justice Bill that will repeal the requirement for the audit and strategy and replace them with a six-monthly strategic assessment. The findings of this assessment will in turn will feed into an annual rolling three-year plan. All CSPs and CDRPs have an antisocial behaviour co-ordinator in post to ensure that those strategies genuinely reflect the needs of the community served by partnerships.
CSPs and CDRPs do not issue ASBOs. The decision to grant an ASBO rests with the courts.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps his Department is undertaking to prevent antisocial behaviour during the Hallowe’en and Guy Fawkes night period; [93799]
(2) how many complaints about antisocial behaviour were made to the South Wales Police during the Hallowe’en and Guy Fawkes night period in 2005; [93605]
(3) what intervention protocols are used by Community Safety Partnerships when dealing with people accused of antisocial behaviour; [93608]
(4) what assistance his Department provides to Neighbourhood Watch schemes to tackle antisocial behaviour; [93612]
(5) how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 in (a) the South Wales Police and (b) Swansea area. [93606]
Mr. McNulty: Neighbourhood Watch and other Watch schemes have an important role to play in empowering local people to help reduce crime, tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB) and reduce the fear of crime in communities throughout the country.
Although the Home Office does not provide funding to Neighbourhood Watch or other Watch schemes, support is provided in other ways, for example through the provision of free literature, public liability insurance, training and advice. Home Office officials also offer advice to Neighbourhood Watch schemes who request information on ASB issues.
Neighbourhood Watch schemes are advised to work closely with their local police forces and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) who can provide advice and support on local issues such as ASB.
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