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22 Jan 2007 : Column 1514W—continued


Trade Union Funding

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding his Department has given to individual trade unions in the last three years. [113981]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions seeks an effective and constructive engagement with its three recognised trade unions; the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, Prospect and PDA. The Department does not offer any funding directly to these unions but is committed to granting reasonable time off for carrying out trades union duties.

Translation Services

Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what services provided by his Department and its related agencies translation services are provided. [113877]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department and its related agencies make use of translation services in respect of all the services they deliver where relevant documents are received in a foreign language. Similarly where a person contacts the Department or any of its agencies either in person or by telephone and is unable to conduct their business in English (or Welsh in Wales) then interpretation services are provided. Such services may also be provided for conferences or other meetings hosted by the Department or its related agencies involving visiting foreign delegations.


22 Jan 2007 : Column 1515W

Unemployment: Stroud

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies have been advertised in Stroud Job Centre in each of the last 24 months; and what the level of unemployment was in Stroud over the same period. [115590]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table:

Month of notification Number of vacancies notified at Stroud Jobcentre Plus office Monthly jobseeker's allowance claimant count in Stroud local authority area

December 2004

350

780

January 2005

140

860

February 2005

290

850

March 2005

270

850

April 2005

320

780

May 2005

440

780

June 2005

380

780

July 2005

500

860

August 2005

350

910

September 2005

330

860

October 2005

620

820

November 2005

490

790

December 2005

440

810

January 2006

310

950

February 2006

380

960

March 2006

350

930

April 2006

500

910

May 2006

310

890

June 2006

360

800

July 2006

560

830

August 2006

490

910

September 2006

550

900

October 2006

440

830

November 2006

490

850

Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Figures are not fully comparable over time and may not indicate developments in he labour market. 3. Unemployment figures are not seasonally adjusted. Source: DWP Information Directorate Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System.

Winter Fuel Payments

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the additional cost would be of setting the deadline for eligibility to qualify for the winter fuel payment on (a) 31 October and (b) 31 December each year; [113263]

(2) why the deadline for eligibility to qualify for the winter fuel payment is set at 26 September each year; and if he will make a statement. [113264]


22 Jan 2007 : Column 1516W

James Purnell: If the deadline to qualify for this winter's payment had been 31 October, around 60,000 more people in Great Britain would have become eligible to receive a payment at an additional cost of approximately £8 million. If the deadline had been 31 December, around 150,000 more people in Great Britain would have become eligible to receive a payment at an additional cost of approximately £21 million.

The qualifying week for winter fuel payments is set in legislation as the third full week in September. We use this date in order to establish entitlement and make payments before Christmas. The process to establish entitlement of over 11 million pensioners takes six weeks and the first payments, to the poorest pensioners, are sent in early November. Payments continue to be sent through to December. If a later date were used, the payment exercise could not be completed in time for the payments to be available by Christmas. We agreed to make all automatic payments by Christmas to reassure pensioners that they will have extra money available to pay for heating their homes during the coldest part of the year.

Communities and Local Government

Advertising

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on advertising with The Guardian newspaper, including online, in the last year for which figures are available. [114080]

Angela E. Smith: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spent £13,990 (excl. VAT) on advertising with The Guardian newspaper, including online, in the financial year 2005-06.

Affordable Housing

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes have been delivered (a) nationally and (b) in each region through section 106 agreements in each of the last three years; how many and what proportion of those homes were available to rent; and how many and what proportion of all total affordable homes delivered in each of the three years resulted from section 106 agreements. [116132]

Yvette Cooper: Total number of affordable housing units are shown in the following table by ‘social for rent’ and by ‘all affordable’ and by whether section 106 agreements contributed to at least part of the costs.


22 Jan 2007 : Column 1517W

22 Jan 2007 : Column 1518W
Affordable units provided by local authorities and registered social landlords
Social rent All affordable
Total Of which S106( 1) Percentage Total Of which S106( 1) Percentage

2003-04

North East

607

128

21

650

133

20

North West

1,712

308

18

2,317

812

35

Yorkshire and the Humber

1,510

502

33

1,815

760

42

East Midlands

1,304

406

31

1,815

898

49

West Midlands

2,139

841

39

2,871

1,199

42

East

2,788

2,003

72

3,823

2,426

63

London

5,386

2,415

45

11,214

3,895

35

South East

4,366

2,358

54

8,768

3,577

41

South West

2,849

1,761

62

3,759

2,680

71

England

22,661

10,722

47

37,032

16,380

44

2004-05

North East

619

156

25

728

186

26

North West

1,629

279

17

2,391

631

26

Yorkshire and the Humber

1,207

514

43

1,407

681

48

East Midlands

1,268

766

60

1,944

1,294

67

West Midlands

2,124

1,039

49

3,352

1,672

50

East

2,797

2,150

77

3,907

2,710

69

London

5,142

2,536

49

9,423

3,725

40

South East

4,052

3,122

77

8,239

5,327

65

South West

2.274

1,272

56

3,459

1,949

56

England

21,112

11,834

56

34,850

18,175

52

2005-06

North East

771

197

26

972

269

28

North West

1,621

503

31

2,723

1,097

40

Yorkshire and the Humber

1,421

650

46

1,999

1,039

52

East Midlands

1,615

1,040

64

3,003

1,914

64

West Midlands

2,353

1,024

44

4,469

2,046

46

East

2,983

2,110

71

5,304

3,229

61

London

5,573

3,410

61

11,038

4,981

45

South East

4,171

3,497

84

9,171

6,168

67

South West

2,842

1,861

65

4,520

3,126

69

England

23,350

14,292

61

43,199

23,869

55

(1) A section 106 agreement contributed at least part of the cost.
Source:
Housing Corporation, annual returns from local authorities (HSSA).

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