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19 Oct 2006 : Column 1408W—continued
| Housing benefit (HB) private tenants whose weekly amount of HB is less than their weekly eligible rent by whether they are subject to the local reference rent (LRR) scheme, the single room rent (SRR) scheme or neither: North East GOR, at May each year | ||
| HB private tenants | Of which: have weekly amount of HB less than their weekly eligible rent | |
| (1 )Figures under 2,500, are subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should be used only as a guide to the situation. (2 )"—" denotes nil/negligible. Notes: 1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest thousand. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. HB figures exclude any Extended Payment cases. 3. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 4. Private tenants exclude Registered Social Landlords. 5. Weekly eligible rent is after any non-dependant deductions. Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent sample, taken in May 2002 to May 2004. | ||
In-Work Credit Programme
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the performance of the in-work credit programme. [93499]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 16 October 2006]: The in-work credit (IWC) pilots are running in 22 Jobcentre Plus districts.
Eligible participants are paid £40 a week over and above their total income when they start work for 16 hours or more a week. The payment is tax-free and is paid for a maximum of 52 weeks. It is payable on top of any other in-work benefits which eligible parents may be entitled to, for example working tax credit and housing benefit. The IWC is primarily paid to lone parents but in April 2005, it was extended to other eligible parents in four London Jobcentre Plus districts.
We have commissioned a full evaluation of the IWC to assess the impact of the pilot on eligible parents, including movements off benefit and into work. Initial findings from the quantitative evaluation are expected to be published in February 2007. In addition, a qualitative evaluation has explored the impact of the pilots on the attitudes, motivations and actions of participants, and will also examine the effectiveness of delivery. We expect to publish this report in spring 2007.
In November 2005, the latest date for which information is available, more than 11,000 eligible parents were in receipt of the in-work credit.
Income Support
Anne Main:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims against claimants of income support who have been overpaid were stayed awaiting the decision in B v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2005] EWCA Civ 929 by the Court
of Appeal; how many of those have since been pursued; how many have been written off; and if he will make a statement. [94462]
Mr. Plaskitt: No cases have been stayed as a result of B v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The Court of Appeal found in favour of The Secretary of State in this case, and a petition has now been lodged against that decision to the European Court of Human Rights. Pending the outcome of that petition, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the case.
Jobcentre Plus
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how frequently Jobcentre Plus staff are provided with training to update them on changes to the process of claiming incapacity benefit and disability living allowance. [92047]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 19 October 2006:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how frequently Jobcentre Plus staff are provided with training to update them on changes to the process of claiming incapacity benefit and disability living allowance. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
All our staff undergo comprehensive training prior to answering calls from customers wishing to make a new benefit claim, including claims for Incapacity Benefit (IB) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA). When changes are made to the process of claiming IB or DLA we ensure staff are informed and receive appropriate training at the time.
Claims for DLA are dealt with by the Disability and Carers Service (DCS) and enquiries about DLA will normally be referred to DCS.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus advisers (a) there are, (b) there are per 1,000 population and (c) there are per square mile in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas. [85925]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 19 October 2006:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many Jobcentre Plus advisers a) there are, b) there are per 1,000 population and c) there are per square mile in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Between April 2005 and February 2006 there were 9,285 full time equivalent Personal Advisers. The latest census figures (April 2001) show the population of England, Wales and Scotland as 57.1 million. This equates to one adviser per 6000 population or 0.167 per thousand. It is not possible to state the number of advisers there are per square mile in rural and non rural areas, as this information is not routinely collected and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
At the inception of Jobcentre Plus in 2002, Districts developed service delivery plans in consultation with local stakeholders, taking into account local communities and population densities, availability and cost of public transport and the potential for outreach services. Adviser numbers were allocated proportionately to the customer load in these outlets.
I hope this is helpful.
Mental Health
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill to assist claimants with mental or behavioural disorders. [93167]
Mr. Jim Murphy: We have consulted widely during the development of our welfare reform proposals. From January to April 2006 we carried out a formal public consultation, receiving over 600 responses addressing the full range of welfare reform issues. Many of the responses dealt with helping people with mental health conditions or behavioural disorders into work.
We continue to liaise closely with a wide range of stakeholders, lobby groups and service users, meeting as many as possible. For example, I have recently been on visits to projects run by MIND, MENCAP and Rethink, and have hosted a meeting of service users with mental health conditions. This liaison has helped us to understand and appreciate the issues faced by our customers and the practical implications of policy changes.
Meanwhile, we have undertaken a comprehensive review of the Personal Capability Assessment process. As part of this work we have reviewed the mental health assessment so that it more accurately reflects the challenges faced by those suffering from mental health conditions, learning disabilities and behavioural disorders. To ensure that we get our reforms right the review has been carried out by medical and stakeholder experts in mental health, learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. The review group’s report was published on 10 October and I have accepted their recommendations.
Pension Mis-selling
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of pension mis-selling there have been in each of the last 20 years; and what percentage of the total workforce each figure represents. [93509]
Ed Balls: I have been asked to reply.
This information is not held centrally. In 1994-95 the financial services regulators set out a programme of review by authorised firms of personal pensions sold between April 1988 and June 1994. The review was intended to identify cases where people were badly advised to opt out of, not join, and/or transfer funds from an occupational pension scheme in favour of a personal pension.
Pensioner Poverty
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of pensioners have lived in poverty in each region in each of the last 20 years, broken down by constituency. [93871]
James Purnell:
Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in “Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2004/05”. The threshold
of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.
The data source does not allow us to provide robust estimates below the level of Government office region. There is no suitable data source for years prior to 1994-95.
The number and percentage of pensioners in households with low incomes, by Government office regions, Scotland and Wales over the period 1994-95 to 2004-05, are presented in tables 1 and 2.
| Table 1: Number of pensioners survey | |||||||||
| Million | |||||||||
| Three-year averages | |||||||||
| 1994-95 to 1996-97 | 1995-96 to 1997-98 | 1996-97 to 1998-99 | 1997-98 to 1998-99 | 1998-99 to 2000-01 | 1999-2000 to 2001-02 | 2000-01 to 2002-03 | 2001-02 to 2003-04 | 2002-03 to 2004-05 | |
| Notes: 1. Numbers are provided using a three-year moving average, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. Hence, figures are not consistent with any previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. In circumstances such as a change in trend, moving averages will show less variation than single-year estimates. 2. Table shows number of pensioners in millions rounded to the nearest 10,000. 3. In this answer low income is determined for individuals as living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of the GB median. Source: Family Resources. | |||||||||
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