| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4 Dec 2006 : Column 153W—continued
Bereavement Payments
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department takes to ensure that spouses and civil partners of people who have died are made aware of the possibility of claiming bereavement payments. [101384]
Mr. Plaskitt: We work in partnership with funeral directors, Registrars and voluntary groups such as Cruse, National Association of Widows and Citizens Advice Bureaux to ensure that spouses and civil partners of spouses and partners who have died are made aware of the possibility of claiming for bereavement payments.
In 2005, a joint Government initiative, the Bereavement Journey Future Vision Project, made recommendations to support the ongoing efforts of Departments to reduce bureaucracy for bereaved people. This has already led to the re-design of the cross Government leaflets D49 “What to do after a death in England and Wales” and D49S “What to do after a death in Scotland.”
We will continue to look for opportunities across Government to improve advice about bereavement benefits to those most in need of it.
Blindness/Visual Impairment
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures his Department is taking to ensure that blind people are given support for extra mobility costs. [107357]
Mrs. McGuire:
People who are blind or have visual impairments and require guidance or supervision from another person when walking out of doors on unfamiliar routes can receive the lower rate mobility component of disability living allowance to help meet their mobility-related extra costs. Blind people who are also physically unable, or virtually unable, to walk, or
are both blind and deaf, can qualify for the higher rate of the mobility component.
In addition visually impaired people who are employed or have a job to start could receive help through the Access to Work programme. Access to Work is a specialist disability programme delivered by Jobcentre Plus, which provides practical advice and support to disabled people and their employers to help them overcome work related obstacles resulting from disability. It does this through a system of grants towards the cost of providing support. A grant could be offered to cover the extra cost of using taxis to get to and from work for someone unable to use public transport, or to pay for a travel buddy to allow someone with a new or worsening visual impairment to undertake mobility training and move towards independent travel.
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make provision for those registered blind and with severe sight problems to receive the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance. [104228]
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to extend eligibility for the higher mobility rate component of disability living allowance to visually impaired people. [106902]
Mrs. McGuire: The higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance is for people who are physically unable, or virtually unable, to walk. It is also available to people who are both deaf and blind and require the assistance of another person to walk to any intended or required destination when out of doors because this combination of circumstances means that they are virtually unable to walk. Blind people who are not also physically unable, or virtually unable, to walk can qualify for the lower rate of the mobility component if they require guidance or supervision from another person when walking out of doors on unfamiliar routes. We are discussing with the Royal National Institute for the Blind whether there is scope for improving the help with mobility-related extra costs for blind and partially sighted people.
Carers
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of how many (a) carers there are in the UK and (b) hours on average they spend fulfilling their caring responsibilities; and what estimate he has made of the cost per hour of care to the public purse if such care was not provided. [102020]
Mrs. McGuire:
There are an estimated 5.9 million carers in the UK. Information about the average number of hours they spend caring is not available. However according to the 2001 census it is estimated that 68 per cent. of them provide care for one to 19 hours a week, 11 per cent. provide care for 20 to 49 hours a week, and 21 per cent. provide care for 50 or
more hours a week. Estimates are not available of what the cost per hour of care would be to the public purse if unpaid informal carers were not providing this care.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with whom responsibility lies for informing parents and carers of profoundly disabled children in receipt of disability living allowance of their possible entitlement to carer's allowance. [101094]
Mrs. McGuire: It is the responsibility of individuals to find out about the benefits to which they may be entitled. The Department's responsibility is to ensure that information about claiming benefits is widely available and accessible.
However the Department is constantly striving to improve the way it communicates information about benefits to people who are caring for a severely disabled person. The disability living allowance claim pack for a child aged under 16, like the claim pack for adults, contains information about claiming carer's allowance. In addition information and advice about entitlement to carer's allowance and other benefits are available from a wide range of Government, local authority, health service and voluntary organisation outlets.
Child Tax Credit
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) the awareness of and (b) access to child tax credit, with particular reference to families who do not speak English; and if he will make a statement. [100870]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Child tax credit is featured in many DWP products, such as the Direct gov website, leaflets and information pages within claim forms. The Department provides support and guidance for customers who do not speak English in a number of different ways. Many leaflets are available in a number of languages and customers may request written information in any language; immediate telephone interpreting support is available from ‘the big word’; face to face interpreters can be arranged within one working day of the request being made, and local community interpreters and multi-lingual staff can be used to help customers access services.
Jobcentre Plus staff are expected to assist new benefit customers with children to claim child tax credit and to report changes of circumstance. For customers making a new claim to either income support or jobseekers allowance (income based) and a new claim to tax credits, a “fast-track” process is used where HMRC aim to process the claim within seven calendar days. Staff also provide tax credit leaflets on request and refer customers where appropriate to HMRC advice-lines.
Disability living allowance child claim forms include contact numbers for customers who want more information about child tax credit and ask if the customer is receiving child tax credit.
Benefits enquiry line (BEL) advisors will make customers aware of the provision of child tax credit if there is a child in the family. If no child tax credit is
being paid, advisors will signpost the customer to the tax credit help line. Similarly, helpline staff signpost any calls regarding child tax credit to the appropriate area, using ‘Thebigword’ translation service if the customer requires it.
Departmental Contact Centres
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls there were to his Department’s contact centres in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [106954]
Mrs. McGuire: Calls offered to the Department’s contact centres during normal business hours were 45,389,592 between October 2005 and September 2006.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual real growth of his Department's spending in each year from 2010-11 to 2020-21, assuming (a) the basic state pension is linked to earnings from 2010, (b) all other benefits are linked to the retail price index (RPI) and (c) administration costs grow in line with the RPI; and if he will make a statement. [102245]
James Purnell: The information is in the table.
| Annual real growth in overall Department for Work and Pensions' spending from 2010-11 to 2020-21 | |
| Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. Administration costs in the question have been interpreted to mean the total departmental expenditure limit (DEL), which includes administration, programme and capital expenditure. The latest DEL figures available relate to 2007-08, they have been grown by the retail price index and carried forward to future years. 2. The answer is based on combined AME and DEL expenditure. 3. The Department does not uprate all benefits, nor it's administration expenditure, in the way stipulated in the question and so the resultant answer bears no comparison to what actually happens. 4. The answer as it stands has been entirely constructed as a mathematical exercise. 5. Any potential impact from the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in 2007 has not been included. It is worth bearing in mind that during CSR 2007 the Department is being asked to take a 5 per cent. real terms cut per annum in it's departmental expenditure limit expenditure. Source: The answer has been based on existing long term projections of benefit expenditure, that is annually managed expenditure (AME), for Great Britain, adjusted to use the assumptions contained in the question. | |
Housing Benefit
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many housing benefit claimants subject to the single room rent restriction are (a) under 21 years and (b) 21 years or older; [103674]
(2) how many housing benefit claimants subject to the single room rent restriction are (a) under and (b) over 21 years old. [106136]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available, as the total cannot be split accurately by age.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Midlothian were claiming incapacity benefit at November 2006. [104537]
Mrs. McGuire:
May 2006 is the latest available data. The number of incapacity benefit (IB) and severe
disablement allowance (SDA) claimants at 31 May 2006 in the Midlothian parliamentary constituency was 4,220.
Notes:
1. IB figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Claimant figures include all IB and SDA (including IB credits only cases).
3. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. Data.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Redbridge and (b) Waltham Forest are in receipt of incapacity benefit; and how many of these people have been in receipt of incapacity benefit for (i) up to one year, (ii) one to two years, (iii) two to five years and (iv) over five years. [103577]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the following table.
| Number of incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claimants in local authorities of Waltham Forest and Redbridge (up to May 2006) | |||||
| Local authority | All | Up to one year | One year and up to two years | Two years and up to five years | Five years and over |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP Information Directorate | |||||
Industrial Injuries Benefit
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of industrial injuries benefits in each year since 1996-97; and what the projected costs are in each year up to 2008-09. [102271]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The available information is in the tables.
| Cost of industrial injuries benefits, Great Britain | |||
| £ million—Cash Terms | |||
| Industrial disablement benefits | Industrial death benefit | Other industrial injuries benefits | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |