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Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated (a) on-flows and (b) off-flows for incapacity benefits are for each year to 2019-20 (i) under current policies and (ii) taking into account the proposed policy changes in the recent papers A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work, and Security in retirement : towards a new pensions system. [110344]
Mrs. McGuire: Projected estimates of the numbers flowing onto and off incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, consistent with published projections of the number of claimants under current policies, are shown in the table.
Based on existing evidence, these forecasts take into account the positive impact from Pathways to Work in the third of the country currently covered, as well as the effect of the equalisation of state pension age.
Forecasts that take into account further proposed policy changes in the recent papers, "A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work" and "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system", are not available at this time.
Estimated numbers of working age claimants flowing onto and off incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance from 2005-06 to 2019-20 (thousands) | |||
Claimants | Flows - on | Flows - off | |
Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. 2. Figures are based on the published pre-Budget report 2006 claimant estimates. 3. Figures are forecasts and are therefore subject to future revisions. 4. Figures include the estimated impact of roll-out of Pathways to Work to one-third of Great Britain. 5. Figures include estimates of the impact of equalisation of state pension age on the incapacity benefit caseload. 6. The balance between flows-on and flows-off will not reconcile to year-on-year changes in claimant forecast, owing to the rounding of all figures to the nearest 10,000 cases and the within-year averaging applied to the claimant forecast. |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which IT contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last five years have been abandoned; and what the value was in each case. [102160]
James Purnell: There has been only one IT contract abandoned by the Department since 2004 (central records were not kept prior to this date). This was the Contact Management services order with IBM, which was valued at £6,189,131. The total that the Department will pay is £4,966,939.
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on
IT systems since March; what the purpose of each system is; what the outturn against planned expenditure of each system has been; and what the (a) planned and (b) actual date of completion was for each system. [102069]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department and its businesses currently have in excess of 90 individual projects which encompass information technology (IT) changes to a greater or lesser extent. The Department's major projects are those contained in its modernisation programme. For the most part, these projects embrace both IT and business change.
The information in the table lists the Department's current major programmes and projects that include significant IT change, where they are either on-going or have completed implementation since March 2006. The table shows for these projects/programmes information on their purpose, due end date, planned expenditure, outturn and actual end date. It should be noted that project details may alter as they pass through the project lifecycle and as the Department considers its wider plans as part of the normal spending review process.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department gives to low income households with children with disabilities. [118081]
Mrs. McGuire: My Department offers a range of provision for children with disabilities in low-income families, from direct financial support such as disability living allowance to employment-related programmes for their parents.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria his Department uses to assess the performance of the new deal programme. [111290]
Mr. Jim Murphy: A wide range of indicators are used to assess the performance of new deal programmes. National Statistics are used to monitor the number of job entries, including sustained jobs, achieved by new deal participants. Contracts with external providers are monitored to ensure high quality services are delivered in a cost-effective way, and we also evaluate the new deals using a range of social research methods. Published reports are placed in the Library.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by his Department; what the function is of each body; and what the annual budget of each body was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [116749]
Mrs. McGuire: The following non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) were sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions at 31 March 2006:
Appeals Service (transferred to Department of Constitutional Affairs April 2006)
Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman
Disability Rights Commission
Health and Safety Commission
Health and Safety Executive
Independent Living Funds
Pension Protection Fund (designated a Public Corporation April 2006)
The Pensions Regulator
REMPLOY Ltd (private company limited by guarantee)
Disability Employment Advisory Committee
Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board
Industrial Injuries Advisory Council
National Employment Panel
Pensions Ombudsman
Social Security Advisory Committee
Details of the remit, Government funding and gross expenditure of the public bodies sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions can be found in the Cabinet Office Publication Public Bodies 2006, copies of which are in the Library and which is also available on-line at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006. pdf
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of his Departments computer systems use open source software; what percentage of the systems planned to be installed use such software; and whether he plans to increase the use of open source software in his Department. [111158]
James Purnell: The Department for Work and Pensions does not currently use open source software in its computer systems. The Department purchases industry standard services from its framework suppliers. This allows the Department to benefit from industry standards and trends and allows its suppliers to consider the use of open source software, balanced against the need for departmental efficiency, stakeholder value, business need and whole life costs, as part of any standard services offered to the Department.
Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress has been made in implementing the Pathways to Work Employment Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [118085]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Pathways to Work pilots is now being delivered in about 40 per cent. of the country resulting in over 26,000 job entries so far. We will roll out Pathways to the rest of Britain next year.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of the target audience for personal accounts who can be expected to receive a return greater than £2 in real terms for every £1 invested; and if he will make a statement. [111492]
James Purnell: Information on the proportion of individuals who can expect particular payback rates is not available.
However the Department has published, in Financial incentives to save for retirement, detailed analysis of the payback which can be expected from saving in a private pension for a range of example individuals under various assumptions around investment returns and other factors. It shows that while the payback depends on factors such as investment performance, the vast majority of people can expect to benefit in retirement from saving in personal accounts.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated (a) set up and (b) annual running costs to his Department are of the IT systems needed to run the personal accounts scheme as outlined in the White Paper Personal Accounts: a new way to save. [113443]
James Purnell: We provided an estimate of the overall costs of setting up a personal accounts scheme in "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system: Regulatory impact assessments and technical appendices". As part of our commercial and procurement process we are engaging with the financial services sector and other organisations to help estimate costs. However, current estimates are necessarily subject to change at this stage. We will be refining our estimate working with the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, and firm estimates will not be available until later in the procurement process. In order to reduce costs and delivery risk we expect suppliers to re-use existing systems, where practicable, in delivering the Personal Accounts service; therefore their engagement in the cost estimating process is essential.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether all the revenue expenditure to be incurred by the personal accounts delivery authority will be found from within his current departmental expenditure limit. [113444]
James Purnell: We are currently undertaking work to consider finance structures of personal accounts, taking into account value for money and affordability, and will bring forward proposals in due course.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish the analysis that supports the statement that most people are unlikely to remain in multiple jobs throughout their working life on page 65 of the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the White Paper Personal Accounts: a new way to save. [113449]
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