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6 Nov 2006 : Column 924W—continued
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the discontinuation of the benefits reprocessing payments programme, with reference to (a) aborted investment costs and (b) replacement provision of information technology. [92455]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the discontinuation of the Benefit Processing Replacement Programme (BPRP), with reference to (a) aborted investment costs and (b) replacement provision of information. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Press estimates of the expenditure on the BPRP have considerably overstated the loss to public funds, because a significant proportion of its output to date is capable of being recycled. We are currently establishing the scope for re-use of components and the value of other assets acquired.
Having formally closed the BPR Programme, we are currently undertaking a major planning exercise to support the delivery of the proposed Employment and Support Allowance. This will focus on the deployment of components of BPRP, existing legacy IT systems and proven technology from across the Department.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many administrative changes there have been to housing benefit since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [90400]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as detailed records of administrative changes are not collated centrally.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the value of all unclaimed benefits for each year since 1996-97; and if he will make a statement. [78157]
Mr. Plaskitt: Information relating to unclaimed benefits is only available for the following income-related benefits: income support (IS), minimum income guarantee (MIG), pension credit (PC), housing benefit (HB), council tax benefit (CTB), income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA-IB) and family credit (FC). Estimates for individual benefits are published in the “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-up” series; copies are available in the Library. Information on other benefits is not available.
Carers
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many carers for dependants other than children have been working less than 30 hours a week in each year since 1997. [92682]
Mrs. McGuire: It is not possible to provide data for all the years requested. In 2004-05, 53 per cent. of carers looking after an adult were in employment. Of those in employment, 35 per cent. were working less than 30 hours per week.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of carer’s allowance in each of the last three years. [94381]
Mrs. McGuire: The requested information is in the following table.
| Carer’s allowance—number of recipients at 28 February in each of the years from 2004 to 2006 | |
| Number of people receiving carer’s allowance( 1) | |
| (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) | |
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people in receipt of carer’s allowance work part-time; [94382]
(2) how many people in receipt of carer’s allowance and working part-time are receiving the minimum wage; [94383]
(3) how many people he estimates will no longer be entitled to carer’s allowance following the most recent increase in the minimum wage. [94384]
Mrs. McGuire: The requested information is not available.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what instructions Ministers in his Department gave to staff at the Child Support Agency
during 2005-06 in relation to investigating the writing off of Child Support Agency arrears; and if he will make a statement; [97199]
(2) what plans he has to write off uncollected Child Support Agency maintenance arrears; and if he will make a statement. [97288]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 26 October 2006]: The hon. Member for Yeovil is referred to paragraph 58 of the Government’s response to Sir David Henshaw: “A fresh start: child support redesign”. This can be found on the internet at www.dwp.gov.uk.
Correspondence
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus plans to reply to the letter of 23 May 2006 from the hon. Member for Aylesbury on the case of Mr. G. D. of Aylesbury, acknowledged by his Department on 31 May 2006, reference POS(7)10353/0116. [99848]
Mrs. McGuire: The chief executive of Jobcentre Plus replied to the hon. Member on 2 November 2006.
Crisis Loans
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many calls were received by Crisis Loans Direct helpline on average per day over the last 12 months of operation; what hours the lines are staffed; how many (a) lines and (b) answering staff there are; and whether information is collected on (i) aborted calls to that number, (ii) the number of calls made by each applicant and (iii) the time waited by each applicant before receiving a reply; [98896]
(2) how many applications for crisis loans were made in each local office for which he is responsible in (a) the Isle of Wight and (b) Hampshire in 2005-06; how many payments were agreed; and how many awards were made in each decile of payments by value. [98897]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 2 November 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 how many calls were received by Crisis Loans Direct helpline on average per day over the last 12 months of operation; what hours the lines are staffed; how many (a) lines and (b) answering staff there are; and what information is collected on (i) aborted calls to that number, (ii) the number of calls made by each applicant and (iii) the time waited by each applicant before receiving a reply. You also asked how many applications for crisis loans were made in each local office for which you are responsible in (a) the Isle of Wight and (b) Hampshire in 2005-06; how many payments were agreed; and how many awards were made in each decile of payments by value.
Jobcentre Plus does not have a national Crisis Loan helpline and therefore the information you have requested about the helpline is not available.
There were 76,283 applications for Crisis Loans within the Jobcentre Plus district of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from 1 January 2005 to 24 October 2006. We cannot break these figures down between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Information about the numbers of payments agreed and the monetary value of the payments is only available on individual customer records and could only be gathered at disproportionate cost.
I can tell you that the centre that deals with Crisis Loan applications for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight operates telephone lines between 08:30 to 15:30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 10:00 to 15:30 on Wednesdays, there are 53 telephone lines staffed by 56 people.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what expenditure his Department is incurring over the period 2002 to 2010 in relation to the plans for a national identity card; and if he will make a statement. [96120]
James Purnell: The information is not available; costs in relation to plans for a national identity card cannot be disaggregated from other ongoing Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) initiatives.
The Home Office have the lead on the identity card scheme. We anticipate that more information on the detail of the scheme will become available as the Home Office move into the procurement phase. This will provide the information we need to fully assess the impacts on DWP business processes and supporting information technology systems.
Departmental IT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of his Department's databases are (a) wholly and (b) partly operated by external organisations or individuals; and which organisations and individuals own those databases. [97783]
Mrs. McGuire: All the Department’s major IT systems are operated by external organisations. The majority are operated by Electronic Data Services (EDS), with a few being operated by Fujitsu and British Telecom (BT).
In this context “operated” means that the IT service is provided, technically maintained and located at the external organisation’s premises.
The data are wholly owned by the Department.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which databases operated by his Department are located (a) wholly and (b) partly outside the UK; and where each of those databases and parts of databases is located. [97784]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department has no databases located outside of the UK.
Disability Discrimination Acts
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) public houses, (b) bars and (c) restaurants in (i) Greater London and (ii) England which will be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Acts by the end of 2006. [96243]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 23 October 2006]: No estimates have been made as the Disability Discrimination Act does not set objective standards of compliance against which implementation may be measured. Instead, the Act requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to access their services. What is reasonable for a particular service provider will depend on all the circumstances of the individual case. Factors such as the cost of the adjustment, its practicability, and the extent of the service provider’s financial and other resources may all be taken into account in determining what is reasonable.
However, the Department has undertaken a series of research projects to monitor how employers and service providers are responding to their duties under the Act. Research from 2003(1) looked at organisations’ preparations for the 2004 duties requiring service providers to make reasonable adjustments; this found that over 70 per cent. of organisations had made adjustments to assist disabled customers. At the turn of the year we will be publishing new research on organisations’ responses to the DDA which will include an updated look at adjustments made for disabled customers by service providers.
(1 )Disability in the workplace: Employers’ and service providers’ responses to the Disability Discrimination Act in 2003 and preparation for 2004 changes.
Disability Living Allowance
Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disability living allowance claimants had been diagnosed with cancer in each year between 2000-01 and 2004-05. [91570]
Mrs. McGuire: Information is not available in the format requested. The information that is available is in the table.
| Disability living allowance: number of recipients at February in each of the years from 2001 to 2005 whose main disabling condition was recorded as "malignant disease"( 1) | |
| Numbers of DLA recipients | |
| (1) “Malignant disease” includes all forms of cancer including carcinoma and leukaemia. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and exclude cases where payment of the benefit has been suspended because, for example, the disabled person is in hospital. 2. Where the recipient has more than one disability, only the main disabling condition which gives rise to entitlement to the benefit is recorded. Where the recipient is receiving both the DLA care and mobility components, it is the main disabling condition which gave rise to entitlement to the mobility component which is recorded. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data. | |
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women in each constituency in Scotland receive the care component higher rate of disability living allowance. [95752]
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 required.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) men and (b) women receive the care component higher rate of disability living allowance in each constituency in Scotland.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information available is in the attached annex.
I hope this is helpful
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