Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Jan 2007 : Column 1514Wcontinued
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.
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.
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 |
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. |
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]
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.
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.
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.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |