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23 Oct 2006 : Column 1558W—continued
Sex Offenders
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many convicted sex offenders classified as Category 3 are under supervision while not being in prison in Northern Ireland. [96150]
Mr. Hanson: On 19 October there were 10 sex offenders in the community in Northern Ireland who have been assessed as Category 3 and are subject to the multi-agency sex offender risk assessment and management (MASRAM) procedures.
Work and Pensions
Carers
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the carer's addition to pension credit ceases to be payable after the death of a cared-for-spouse. [96334]
James Purnell: The extra amount for carers in pension credit remains in payment for a period of eight weeks after the person who is being cared for dies, in order to provide additional support at what is often a difficult time.
Disability Living Allowance
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from (a) hon. Members and (b) others calling for the backdating of disability living allowance for people diagnosed with cancer. [91567]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department has no record of having received any representations to backdate disability living allowance for people diagnosed with cancer.
Employment Programme Centres
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding for employment programme centres in South Yorkshire was provided by the European Structural Fund under the terms of the county's objective one status in each year for which figures are available. [93895]
Mr. Plaskitt: 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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how much funding for employment programme centres in South Yorkshire was provided by the European Structural Fund under the terms of the county’s objective one status in each year for which figures are available. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The European Structural Fund Objective 1 has not funded programme centres in South Yorkshire. Co-financed by Jobcentre Plus it has, however, funded a broader initiative known as “Ways to Work” in four main centres (Barnsley, Rotherham, Sheffield and Doncaster). The maximum contract value for this provision over its full period of operation, which runs from October 2005 until March 2007, is £1.09m.
I hope this is helpful.
Jobcentre Plus
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department issues to Jobcentre Plus staff about advising couples that they would be better off financially if they separated; and if he will make a statement. [95396]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 19 October 2006]: 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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what guidance is issued to Jobcentre Plus staff about advising couples they would be better off financially if they separated. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
I can confirm that guidance does not direct Jobcentre Plus staff to advise couples they would be better off financially if they separated.
Pension Credit
Mr. Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are claiming pension credit in Tooting constituency. [95276]
James Purnell: 3,460 households in the Tooting constituency were receiving pension credit as of May 2006.
Notes:
1. The figure provided is an early estimate. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figure provided is the latest available figure which is taken from the CMS scan at 26 May 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure.
2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10.
3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory and are therefore based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries.
4. Households are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household.
Source:
DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (QMS) pension credit scan taken as at 26 May 2006.
Mr. Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people took up pension credit in Tooting constituency in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006. [95277]
Mr. Plaskitt: The number of households in receipt of pension credit in the Tooting constituency at February in each of the years requested is in the following table.
| As at February each year: | Household recipients |
| Notes: 1. Case loads are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the 2005 postcode directory and are therefore based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries. 3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |
Warm Front Team
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has held with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the warm front team; and whether the Department passes information to the warm front team on individuals benefit entitlements. [94427]
James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave on 27 July 2006, Official Report, columns 1591-92W.
Winter Fuel Allowance
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of a pensioner’s average energy bill was met by the winter fuel allowance in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005; and what the estimated percentage is for 2006. [93776]
James Purnell [holding answer 16 October 2006]: The winter fuel payment is intended to provide a contribution towards winter heating bills which account for around 60 per cent. of the total fuel bill. Winter fuel payments increased from £20 in 1997-98 to the current value of £200 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 years of age, and £300 for households with someone aged 80 or over. The information is in the table.
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Notes: 1. Pensioner expenditure on fuel is unavailable from the Family Expenditure Survey in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Expenditure for these years is forecast using 2004-05 fuel expenditure uprated by fuel price inflation in 2005-06 and 2006-07. It has been assumed that energy prices will stay at second quarter of 2006 levels for the remainder of 2006-07. 2. Average winter fuel payments have been calculated by dividing expenditure on winter fuel payments by the number of households in receipt of winter fuel payments. Source: Family Expenditure Survey 2003-04,2004-05; DWP Administrative data. | ||||
Between 1996-97 and 2004-05 (the latest year for which data are available) pensioner incomes increased by 25 per cent. in real terms, compared with a 15 per cent. real terms increase in utility bills between 1996-97 and 2006. It is important to note that while pensioner incomes tend to increase on a linear basis, with 4 per cent. real growth between 2003-04 and 2004-05 building on the growth in earlier years, utility prices tend to fluctuate.
Education and Skills
A-level Mathematics
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he has (a) undertaken and (b) evaluated to establish the reason for the fall in A-level mathematics entry between 2001 and 2002; and what conclusions were reached. [94472]
Jim Knight: The review of AS mathematics by the regulatory authorities and the Post-14 Maths Inquiry, chaired by Professor Adrian Smith, established the reason for the fall in A level mathematics entry between 2001 and 2002 was due to the introduction of the Curriculum 2000 reforms. It identified that the content of the AS specification was too great to be taught and mastered in the first year of study.
Arson in Schools
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many convictions there have been for arson in schools in each of the last 20 years, broken down by local authority area; [95116]
(2) how many schools have had fires started by arsonists in each of the last 20 years, broken down by local authority area; [95117]
(3) what estimate he has made of the cost of repairing deliberate fire damage at schools in each of the last 20 years, broken down by local authority area; [95118]
(4) what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing a sprinkler system in every school in England. [95119]
Jim Knight: We do not have figures for school fires broken down by local authority areas. The data we have is provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which collects figures from the Fire and Rescue Service.
The earliest figures we have on school fires from DCLG are for 2000, and the most recent for 2004. These cover England and Wales. The costs are rounded to the nearest million and are derived from the (then) ODPM publication “Economic Cost of Fire, estimates for 2004”. They cover property damage and the costs of the fire and rescue services attending the fires.
| Number of fires | Total costs (£ million) | |
The available data do not differentiate between primary and secondary schools, or between the public and independent sectors.
For the years covered, just over 60 per cent. of the school fires were considered to be the result of deliberate fire setting. Neither this Department nor the DCLG have figures for the number of people convicted for committing arson in schools.
We do not have reliable figures for the cost of installing sprinklers in schools, and so we commissioned consultants to carry out a study to establish them. Their survey covers a minimum of 20 primary and secondary schools, and is analysing both installation costs and maintenance costs. It commenced in July and should be completed later this month. We will include data from the study in the final draft of our new guide on fire safety, Building Bulletin 100 (BB 100), “Designing and Managing Against the Risk of Fire in Schools”, which we expect to publish early next year.
Biometric Information Collection
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representations his Department has received on the collection of biometric information by schools. [95097]
Jim Knight: Since 1 January 2006 my Department has received 21 written communications which referred to the collection of biometric information by schools and nine phone calls on the subject.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his Department’s policy is on whether schools should be allowed to collect biometric information on pupils without the consent of their parents. [95098]
Jim Knight: The Department has not issued guidance to school governors on whether they should consult parents before implementing a policy of taking thumb prints for library issues. It is for each school to establish that it is acting lawfully in processing pupils’ personal data and, on a case-by-case basis, is acting in compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Data Protection Act 1998, and the common law of confidentiality. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) published guidance for schools in 2004 on their obligations and responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and other related legislation.
CAFCASS
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in what ways Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service officers are held accountable for the content of their reports under the organisation's complaints policy. [94874]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 17 October 2006]: This is a matter for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the CAFCASS chief executive has written to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 18 October 2006:
I am writing to you in response to the parliamentary question that you tabled recently: PQ94874—In what ways Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service officers are held accountable for the content of their reports under the organisation's complaints policy?
The reports that CAFCASS practitioners submit in the range of Family Court proceedings are professional assessments made by practitioners to assist the court in reaching a conclusion in complex disputes concerning the best welfare interests of the children at the centre of those proceedings.
The individual practitioner is necessarily accountable to the court for the content of that report and the method that was used to compile that report, and the professional basis of the assessment that is made within it. The Court hearing offers parties to the court case the opportunity to challenge both the content of the report and the method used by the CAFCASS practitioner to produce their assessment.
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