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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1126W—continued
Local Housing Allowance
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimates his Department has made of the impact of changing the definition for determining the local housing allowance from the mid point of local rents to the median on (a) the percentage of claimants facing a shortfall between their eligible and contractual rent and (b) the average size of that shortfall. [96141]
Mr. Plaskitt: Any shortfall between the local housing allowance and contractual rent at the time of national roll-out of the local housing allowance will depend on the trends in local rent levels and the accommodation choices made by tenants. The trends in local rent levels up to the point of national roll-out are currently hard to predict and local housing allowance rates will vary across local private rent sector markets and different sizes of property.
However, we estimate that the majority of new claimants at roll-out will gain under the proposed national local housing allowance compared with what they would have been entitled to under the current housing benefit rules.
Lyons Review
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobs in his Department have been relocated (a) to Liverpool and (b) elsewhere as a result of the Lyons Review; and on how many occasions Liverpool has been considered for relocation of staff under this programme. [100094]
Mrs. McGuire: The basis of the Department’s relocation strategy resulting from the Lyons’ review is to relocate posts rather than people. Decisions to where posts should be relocated have been made to make best use of existing capacity within the Departmental estate.
While it is not possible to give an accurate response on the number of occasions that Liverpool has been considered for relocation of posts, the following table shows the occasions that posts have actually been relocated from London and the South East to Liverpool and to elsewhere between 1 June 2003 and 31 October 2006:
| Posts relocated to: | Number |
Means-Testing
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of ending the means test for income-based jobseeker’s allowance; and if he will make a statement. [99944]
Mr. Plaskitt: We have made no such estimate.
Mortgage Interest Relief
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department will process the mortgage interest relief benefit claim which Mr. Thompson of Great Headline Crescent, Paignton submitted in May 2005. [99241]
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. Gentleman with the information requested.
You recently tabled the following Parliamentary Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department will process the mortgage interest relief benefit claim which Mr Thompson of Great Headline Crescent Paignton submitted in May 2005. [99241]
The Secretary of State asked me to reply to your question and, in that reply, I promised to write to you directly concerning your constituent Mr Thompson of Headline Crescent, Paignton.
I should begin by explaining that mortgage interest relief benefit is not a stand-alone benefit, but forms part of a customer’s entitlement to Income Support (IS). In cases where a customer’s mortgage was taken out after October 1995, they would not ordinarily qualify for assistance with their mortgage interest payments for the first 39 weeks of their claim.
Mr Thompson claimed IS on 24 May 2006. When his claim was assessed we decided that he was not entitled to IS at this time as without his mortgage interest payments being taken into account his household income exceeded his IS entitlement.
Following your enquiry we reviewed Mr Thompson’s claim and found that we had overlooked the fact that he had a current claim for Incapacity Benefit dating from 8 May 2005 for which he was receiving National Insurance credits. The effect of this claim was that his mortgage interest payments should have been taken into account from the start of the claim to IS he made on 24 May 2006. I have asked for Mr Thompson’s entitlement to be reviewed to establish if he now qualifies for IS or mortgage interest relief from this date, and I am sorry for any inconvenience or distress Mr Thompson has been caused.
When Mr Thompson submitted his claim for IS on 24 May 2006 he requested that we consider backdating this to 9 May 2005. We wrote to Mr Thompson on 27 July 2006 requesting further information to enable us to consider this request. However, we did not receive the information requested. We therefore asked him again to supply this information on 1 November. When we receive the necessary information we will consider Mr Thompson’s claim with the utmost priority and notify him accordingly.
I hope this is helpful.
Obesity
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 93W, to my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on obesity, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since January. [90190]
Mrs. McGuire: Information is only available on those claiming incapacity benefits whose primary diagnosis is obesity. The available information is in the tables.
| Incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support with a disability premium (ISDP); working-age expenditure on people suffering from obesity | |||
| £ million—real terms (2006-07 prices) | |||
| Obesity—IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure | Total—IB/SDA and ISDP expenditure | Obesity as a percentage of IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure | |
| Incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA) and income support with a disability premium (ISDP); working-age expenditure on people suffering from obesity | |||
| £ million—nominal terms | |||
| Obesity—IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure | Total—IB/SDA and ISDP expenditure | Obesity as a percentage of IB/SDA/ISDP expenditure | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are consistent with the historical out-turn expenditure figures published in the DWP’s benefit expenditure which can be found on the Department for Work and Pensions website at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 2. Expenditure has been apportioned using data on conditions of IB and SDA recipients from the IB 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. 3. Expenditure refers to the total expenditure directed at working-age adults and any child dependants from IB, SDA and ISDP for those in receipt of IB or SDA. 4. Diagnoses are coded in accordance with the International Classification of Disease (10th edition), published by the World Health Organisation. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest million pounds. 6. Figures are of working-age claimants only. 7. Real-terms figures are in 2006-07 prices. 8. Expenditure for 2005-06 reflects the latest estimate of out-turn, and not the amounts voted by Parliament. 9. All figures relate to expenditure in Great Britain only. | |||
Opinion Polling
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been of opinion polling conducted for his Department in each year from 1996-97 to 2005-06; what the expenditure has been so far in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [97027]
Mrs. McGuire: My Department carried out limited annual public attitude omnibus surveys between 2001 and 2004. In 2005, in order to make the findings more robust, an increased number of new attitude statements were tested among the public prior to being included in omnibus research. In 2005 we also conducted a piece of research to monitor public awareness of the Department and its responsibilities.
| Cost (£) | |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what issues his Department has conducted opinion polling since 2005; what the cost has been in each case; and if he will make a statement. [97028]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is as follows:
My Department conducted annual omnibus surveys to monitor public attitudes to the Government’s welfare reform programme in 2005 and 2006. In addition, a further piece of research was conducted in 2005 to monitor public awareness of the Department and its responsibilities.
In 2005 the cost of the public attitudes survey was £43,000 and public awareness survey was £43,000. The cost of the public attitudes survey in 2006 was £50,000.
Pathways to Work
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 28 October 2005, Official Report, column 610W, to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws), if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since October 2005. [90188]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Of the 255,640 Pathways participants to the end of June 2006, there are only 159,080 for whom medical condition information is currently available. Of these 63,600 (40 per cent.) are classified as having a mental or behavioural disorder.
There have been 6,160 Pathways job entries for participants classified as having a mental or behavioural disorder.
Information is not available on the number of hours worked for Pathways job entries.
Source:
Pathways to Work Evaluation Database. (Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.)
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 14 November 2005, Official Report, columns 1008-09W, to the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field), on Pathways to Work, if he will provide the figures collected by his Department since November 2005. [90467]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the tables.
| Number of incapacity benefit claims that have been terminated in the UK excluding Pathways to Work pilot areas | |||
| Quarter ending | All terminations | Terminations outside Pathways to Work areas | Percentage of terminations outside Pathways to Work areas |
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