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7 Dec 2006 : Column 636W—continued
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to recover past tenant debts. [105282]
Mr. Hanson: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has in place a number of processes to recover past tenant arrears, which include: tracing procedures where necessary; warning letters; visits to the tenant to discuss a voluntary recovery agreement; and, legal recovery via a magistrates court.
Unfortunately a number of former tenants do not terminate their tenancy in the prescribed manner and leave the property without any notice or forwarding address being given. In this instance internal and external tracing procedures have to be initiated before any amount can be recovered.
In August 2006 the Housing Executive sought the services of debt recovery agents from the private sector on a pilot basis. The success of private sector agents in tracing the whereabouts of past tenants and the recovery of debt will be evaluated after a six-month period, namely February 2007.
Youth Unemployment
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of young people in Northern Ireland were (a) unemployed and not in full-time education and (b) economically inactive and not in full-time education (i) on 31 March in each year since 2001 and (ii) in the most recent month for which figures are available. [105280]
Maria Eagle:
The Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey (LFS) can provide the information requested, but only on a quarterly basis. Estimates for the spring
quarters (March-May) from 2001 to 2006, along with the latest estimates from July-September 2006 are provided in table 1 as follows.
| Table 1: Number and proportion of 16 to 24 year olds, not in full-time education that are unemployed or economically inactive | ||||
| Unemployed (not in full-time education) | Economically inactive (not in full-time education) | |||
| £000 | Percentage of all | £000 | Percentage of all | |
| Source: Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey | ||||
Work and Pensions
Benefit Claims
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incapacity benefit claimants there are in Yeovil; how many claimants there were in each year since 1984; and what proportion of the working age population this represented in each year. [102253]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
| Number of working age incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants in Yeovil constituency | ||
| Quarter ending | Number of IB/SDA claimants | Percentage of the working age population |
| Notes: 1. May 1996-May 1999 (inclusive) 5 per cent. sample numbers are uprated to WPLS totals and rounded to the nearest hundred. The figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. May 2000-May 2006 (inclusive) numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 4. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only. 5. Percentages rounded to one decimal place. Sources: DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample and 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study ONS 2001 census population estimates. | ||
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed on a consultancy basis in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies in each of the last five years for which information is available; and what the (i) average and (ii) longest period was for which a consultant was employed in each year. [102978]
Mrs. McGuire: Management information is available from April 2004 for the number of consultancy commissions put in place. Information on the number of staff employed within those commissions is not collected because delivery is assessed against defined outputs, rather than inputs in terms of the number of staff employed. The following table shows the total number of new consultancy commissions across the Department:
| Agency | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 to end October |
Energy Suppliers
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many successful applications there were to each energy supplier for Fuel Direct for (a) gas and (b) electricity in (i) each region of England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales in the last full year for which figures are available; and how many applications were approved by his Department but declined by an energy supplier in each case in each year; [101903]
(2) how many applications to each energy supplier for Fuel Direct for (a) gas and (b) electricity in (i) each region of England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales were (A) successful, (B) made by eligible consumers approved by his Department but declined by a supplier and (C) declined by a supplier in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [107348]
Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the written answers I gave him on 18 July 2006, Official Report, column 392W.
Equality 2025
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on the administration and operation of Equality 2025 since its inception. [104746]
Mrs. McGuire: Equality 2025 will be launched on 7 December 2006. The planned forecast spend for the current financial year (as at December 2006) for Equality 2025 is £448,000.
Gender Equality
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to publish his Department’s gender equality scheme. [101466]
Mrs. McGuire: In line with the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Public Authorities)(Statutory Duties) Order 2006 (No. 2930), laid on 10 November 2006, my Department published its gender equality scheme on 1 December 2006.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies for which he is responsible are taking steps to meet the requirements of the forthcoming duty on public bodies (i) to end unlawful discrimination and harassment and (ii) to promote equality between women and men. [101545]
Mrs. McGuire: In order to ensure better performance on the general gender equality duty which will require public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and harassment and promote equality of opportunity between women and men, my Department will be taking the steps outlined in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Public Authorities) (Statutory Duties) Order 2006 (No. 2930) which should come into force on 6 April 2007.
My Department published its gender equality scheme on 1 December 2006, the same date as it published its disability equality scheme.
Health and Safety
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many deaths were reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations in the last year for which data are available, broken down by sector of employment. [101875]
Mrs. McGuire: The number of fatal injuries to workers by industry 2005-06 (as reported to all enforcing authorities) were published on 17 August 2006 in the HSE publication “The Statistics of Fatal Injuries 2005/06”
Information Prescription: Cancer Patients
Anne Main:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basis was for his Department's decision to undertake trials of the information prescription for cancer patients; where the trials are
taking place; and what criteria will be used following the trials to decide whether the scheme should proceed. [105804]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
“Our health, our care, our say” set out a commitment for everyone with a long-term condition to get an information prescription that would signpost them to sources of information to help them manage their condition. In piloting information prescriptions for people with cancer the Department is building on the progress made in developing information for people with cancer, including the information partners scheme introduced by NHS Direct. An announcement about where the pilots will take place will be made shortly. All the pilots will contribute to an independent national evaluation, which will inform future decisions about implementation.
Office for Disability Issues
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on (a) setting up the Office for Disability Issues and (b) the operation and administration of the office since it was set up. [104745]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested is as follows:
1. The Office for Disability Issues was funded from within existing DWP resources.
The total administrative costs of the ODI for the first full year of operation (2005-06) were £1.812 million.
A further £1.2 million was spent on programme costs to support the ODI.
2. The planned administrative costs for the ODI in 2006-07 (as at 1 December 2006) are £2.581 million.
A forecast programme spend of £4.363 million is planned (1 December 2006) for 2006-07 to support the further development of the ODI.
3. The ODI has recently expanded to take on cross-government responsibility for Disability Rights. As a result the budget allocation for 2006-07 has increased to £3.7 million to pay for additional costs.
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