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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1632W—continued
Performance on Income Support (IS) and Incapacity Benefit (IB) clearance times has improved this operational year and we are on track to hit the IB element of this target. We aim to build on the improvements seen so far and seek to achieve performance inside the target level for IS and Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) as well as for IB.
The table below shows the cumulative Actual Average Clearance Times for IS, JSA and IB for the period April 2006 to August 2006.
| Average actual clearance time year to date performance April to August 2006 | ||
| Target (days) | Actual performance | |
I hope this is helpful.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 890W, on jobseeker’s allowance, whether it is still his policy that no special considerations are given to a women's suitability for employment when wearing a veil. [96165]
Mr. Jim Murphy: There has been no change of policy since the written answer I gave to my hon. Friend on 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 889W.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the level of unemployment benefit/jobseeker’s allowance was as a percentage of average earnings in (a) 1976-77 and (b) 2006-07; what percentage he expects it to be in 2020-21; and if he will make a statement. [100060]
Mr. Plaskitt: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Lone Parents
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2006, Official Report, column 1465W, on lone parents, what the estimated cost is of the work-related activity premium for lone parents in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09 (i) net of savings and (ii) without assumed savings from employment effects; and if he will make a statement. [97236]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The requested information is not available as the work-related activity premium (WRAP) is a new measure which is being piloted to inform us of the level of take-up we can expect if we roll out the premium nationally, and its effect on lone parent employment.
Means-testing
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which social security benefits are not means-tested; and what factors were taken into account when deciding not to means-test each such benefit. [100049]
Mr. Plaskitt: There are currently five income related benefits: income support; jobseeker’s allowance (income-based); pension credit; housing benefit; and council tax benefit.
All other social security benefits fall into three groups. Income replacement benefits, based on an individual’s national insurance contributions; jobseeker’s allowance (contribution-based); incapacity benefit; maternity allowance; bereavement benefits; and state pension. Income replacement benefits for specific circumstances that are likely to affect the recipient’s income: carer’s allowance; industrial injuries disablement benefit; and severe disablement allowance. Extra cost benefits available to those both in and out of work: disability living allowance; and attendance allowance.
All social security benefits are designed to meet the needs of a particular section of the population. Whether or not a benefit is income-related would depend on what the aims and purposes of the particular benefit were.
Mental Health
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed incapacity benefit for mental health problems in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority; and if he will make a statement. [93029]
Mrs. McGuire: The information has been placed in the Library.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial travel in his Department. [98770]
Mr. Plaskitt: All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases certified emissions reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, in developing countries.
DWP has developed data collection systems to ensure that all aviation emissions are captured, enabling the Department to offset its carbon emissions caused by official air travel using the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund, details of which can be found on the climate change pages of the DEFRA web site at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/carboncost/carbon-offsetting/index.htm
National Insurance Numbers
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the July 2006 changes which introduced a right to work pre-condition before national insurance numbers could be allocated. [95586]
Mr. Plaskitt: No such assessment has yet been made, as there is insufficient data at this time to assess the impact of the change.
A “right to work” condition has been introduced into the national insurance number allocation and decision-making process for employment-related applications. This was implemented in July and guidance has been issued to all Jobcentre Plus staff detailing the evidence requirements needed to satisfy this condition. To support this, changes to Regulation 9 of the Social Security (Crediting and Treatment of Contributions and National Insurance Numbers) Regulations 2001 are due to be laid before Parliament on 7 November 2006.
The Right to Work element of Jobcentre Plus Adult NINO allocation will be assessed as part of an overall assessment of the Adult NINO allocation business process, which will take place during the next operational year (2007-08).
Non-dependant Deductions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations on simplifying the non-dependant deduction received in response to “Quality and choice: a decent home for all” his Department has considered. [97004]
Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 590W.
Non-state Pensions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people have been contributing to a non-state pension in each year since 1979-80; and if he will make a statement. [97246]
James Purnell: The requested information is not available. Few data sources provide information on a consistent basis back to 1979. Figures available from the General Household Survey provide information about the proportion of full-time employees who are members of their current employer’s pension scheme, and information for years since 1979 is presented in the following table.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2006, Official Report, columns 273-74W, on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, what statutory powers of regulation are held by the Health and Safety Executive to regulate the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. [99457]
Mrs. McGuire: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Overpayments
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much overpayment his Department recovered in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [52508]
Mr. Plaskitt: The following figures are the total recovered, including benefit overpayments, and housing benefit overpayments recovered on behalf of local authorities.
| £ million | |
| (1) The reduction in recoveries reflected the transfer of child benefit to the then Inland Revenue, which previously had contributed £10 million to annual overpayment recoveries within DWP. (2) In the six months since April2006, £102.5 million of benefit overpayments have been recovered. | |
In recovering an overpayment of benefit, the Department seeks to do so without causing excessive hardship to our claimants. In a majority of cases, recovery will be on an ongoing basis, with the average overpayment taking approximately three years to recover.
In April 2001, the Department initiated the Debt Programme to bring about increased focus on the management and recovery of benefit overpayments.
Since then, benefit debt recovery has been centralised in 10 debt centres, and in February 2006 a new computer system was rolled out to support the debt centres.
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