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31 Jan 2007 : Column 395W—continued

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Child Support Agency is taking to increase parental compliance. [102254]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 31st January 2007:

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what total amount of additional unpaid maintenance has been recovered to date as a result of the Child Support Agency’s Operational Improvement plan; and if he will make a statement; [112663]

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much unpaid maintenance has been recovered through the Child Support Agency’s Operational Improvement plan; and if he will make a statement. [112904]

Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Members to the reply given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 18 December 2006, Official Report, column 1565W.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications to the magistrates court were made to facilitate a driving disqualification by the Child Support Agency in each year for which figures are available; and how many of those applications were (a) successful and (b) issued on a suspended basis in each year. [113563]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested.


31 Jan 2007 : Column 396W

Departmental Staff

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [102054]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 27 November 2006]: The answer is in the following table.

DWP was formed in 2002 and information for performance bonuses is only available for the Department from this date.

Performance bonus payments are awarded to employees on the basis of their individual performance. They are paid after the completion of the performance year.

The expenditure incurred is as follows:

Table 1: The amount paid in bonuses to DWP staff since 2002 and the numbers of staff receiving bonuses
Total staff receiving bonus Proportion of total workforce (Percentage) Total paid (£ million) Largest payment (£)

2002-03

131,747

95

21.17

6,793

2003-04

106,123

75

25.29

7,000

2004-05

129,855

95

38.61

10,250

2005-06

123,285

95

42.82

10,400

2006-07

116,096

95

40.68

20,000


In addition to individual performance bonus payments, DWP also paid team bonuses to selected units within the Department. The expenditure incurred is as follows:

Table 2: The amount paid in team bonuses to DWP staff since 2002 and the numbers of staff receiving bonuses
Total paid (£ million) Total number receiving bonus

2002-03

7.8

14,000

2003-04

29.4

40,000

2004-05

3.3

11,250

2005-06

(1)

(1)

2006-07

(1)

(1)

(1) Not applicable
Notes:
1. The information in Table 1 is based on the numbers of staff recorded on the DWP payroll systems as having received a qualifying performance mark. These are a headcount.
2. Some individuals may have received more than one type of bonus payment in any given year, which is why the information has been presented separately, and not as an aggregated total.
3. The performance bonus is paid in the financial year following the performance year of 1 April to 31 March.
4. The largest payments shown in Table 1 column 5 represent the highest performance bonus paid in the senior civil service (SCS). The largest performance bonus below the SCS was £1,750, and the largest special bonus £5,282. Both were paid in 2006-07.
5. The numbers of employees receiving a team bonus are approximations. No team bonus schemes have run since 2004-05.

Individuals may also be entitled to special bonus payments. The cost in a typical year for these bonuses is around £3 million with payments made to approximately 17,000 individuals (based on 2005-06 payments).


31 Jan 2007 : Column 397W

Disabled Children’s Benefits

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent reports he has received on problems faced by parents of disabled children accessing welfare entitlement; and if he will make a statement. [115465]

Mrs. McGuire: My Department has received a report from the Child Poverty Action Group and Contact a Family ‘Out of Reach—Benefits for disabled children’ which discussed the take-up of benefits for disabled children. The report will be given full consideration. My officials are in contact with the Child Poverty Action Group to discuss the issues in the report.

Hotel Expenditure

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons in each year since 2001-02. [102176]

Mrs. McGuire: The amount spent by the Department for Work and Pensions, including its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, on hotel and other similar privately provided accommodation for the financial years 2003-04 to 2005-06 is shown in the table:

Hotels etc. Spend (£ million)

2003-04

13.32

2004-05

10.53

2005-06

11.06


Information on the other breakdowns requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Information relating to overseas travel by Ministers is published on an annual basis. Information for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2006 is available in the Library of the House.

Incapacity Benefit

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living abroad have been in receipt of incapacity benefit in each year since 1997; what the cost of such payments was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [101788]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following tables.


31 Jan 2007 : Column 398W
Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance (IB/SDA) claimants living abroad
Caseload (Thousand)

May 1997

10.00

May 1998

9.40

May 1999

9.00

May 2000

10.23

May 2001

10.43

May 2002

10.80

May 2003

11.30

May 2004

11.74

May 2005

12.13

May 2006

12.05


Cost of incapacity benefit/severe disablement (IB/SDA) expenditure claimed by people living abroad
£ million

1996-97

34

1997-98

33

1998-99

32

1999-2000

36

2000-01

36

2001-02

38

2002-03

40

2003-04

42

2004-05

45

2005-06

46

Notes:
1. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest million.
2. Caseload figures prior to May 2000 are rounded to the nearest hundred, and to the nearest 10 thereafter.
3. IB/SDA claimant figures include all IB and SDA (including IB credits only cases).
4. Caseload figures prior to May 2000 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and rated up proportionally using 100 per cent. WPLS totals.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data—May 2000 onwards
IAD Information Centre five per cent samples - May 1997 to May 1999

The numbers of people living abroad and receiving incapacity benefit remain at a very low level, representing less than half of 1 per cent. of the total number of people in receipt of incapacity benefits throughout the period from 1997 to 2006.

Those living abroad and receiving incapacity benefit must also satisfy the requirements of repeated medical assessments to establish their continuing entitlement to the benefit.

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of incapacity benefit claimants whose capacity to work has been affected by smoking-related diseases. [110761]

Mrs. McGuire: No such estimate has been made as the information is not available.

Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people who reached the first anniversary in receipt of incapacity benefit in the most recent year for which figures are available were in work (a) one year and (b) two years later; and how many there were (i) in total, (ii) aged 25 to 49 and (iii) aged over 50 years. [114625]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table and represents the minimum numbers and proportions of people who satisfy the given criteria.


31 Jan 2007 : Column 399W
People reaching the first anniversary on incapacity benefit April 2003 to March 2004
Percentage Total Aged 25-49 Aged 50 and over

In work one year later

13

41,800

19,480

18,070

In work two years later

17

52,880

26,200

20,920

Notes:
1. Data on employment are available to 26 November 2006. As such, the latest operational year of new claimants for which (a) and (c) are answerable is April 2004 to March 2005, and the latest operational year of claims reaching their first anniversary for which (b) and (d) are answerable is April 2003 to March 2004 (and thus relates to people making a new claim during April 2002 and March 2003).
2. The figures quoted in this response come from data in the national benefits database and the work and pensions longitudinal study (WPLS).
3. Figures in this response are based upon periods of employment measured from the WPLS, which is based on data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The figures given can only be taken as a minimum for the following (not necessarily comprehensive) reasons:
(i) Some records show that a person started or ended employment at some point in the year, but the exact date when they started or left their job is unknown, and therefore we do not know if they were employed at the points in time specified in this query.
(ii) If a person's earnings are sufficiently low that they fall below the lower income tax threshold and so are not required to pay PAYE income tax on their earnings then there is no requirement to inform HMRC of their employment (although some employers declare these jobs anyway).
(iii) These data do not include the self-employed.
(iv) Poor quality personal data may lead to missed matches with benefits data.
(v) No ‘HMRC sensitive and secure’ information is supplied by HMRC (for example, HMRC employees, members of the security services).

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