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8 Feb 2007 : Column 1206W—continued
National utilisation of choose and book currently stands at 37 per cent., (week ending 28 January 2007) with over 62,000 out-patient referrals booked through the service. While we are behind where we had originally anticipated in the “NHS Improvement Plan” and the choose and book full business case, the national health service has made significant progress and we are now confident that the emerging rate of implementation will see the continued roll out of choose and book through 2007. Latest figures show there are already PCTs with performance over 80 per cent., and a significant number of PCTs are achieving utilisation levels of over 50 per cent., which shows that it is possible to book the majority of referrals through the choose and book system.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the additional costs resulting from the organisational change in the primary care trust sector described in paragraph 3.6(a), page 4, of her Department’s document NHS financial performance Quarter 2 2006-07. [101933]
Andy Burnham: The Department has estimated that redundancy costs arising from ‘Commissioning a patient-led NHS’ will be £325 million. These figures are difficult to estimate and will only become firmer as new structures are put into place in the strategic health authorities (SHAs), primary care trusts (PCTs) and ambulance trusts.
The reconfiguration of PCTs and SHAs provides an opportunity to deliver savings by reducing the number of organisations and through the greater sharing of functions. By 2008, this reconfiguration is expected to deliver at least £250 million annual savings for re-investment in frontline services.
In 2006-07, we have not collected separate information in respect of any additional costs of the organisational change.
Social Enterprise Pathfinders
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria were used in determining social enterprise pathfinder programme areas. [115598]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Pathfinder applications were initially sifted at the Department against three broad criteria:
was it proposing a social enterprise business model?
did the proposal have commitment from a commissioner, or a viable commercial financial model?
was the proposal for a new service in health and social care or a new way of providing an existing service?
They were then passed to the strategic health authorities for regional assessment against the following criteria:
is there a clear sense of vision and purpose in the proposal?
do the services proposed meet a gap in current provision?
do the services proposed improve on current provision?
is there a sense of innovation in the proposal?
do the services proposed fit strategically with the local health and social care economy?
have clients been involved, or will be involved, in contributing to the design of services?
have staff been involved, or will be involved, in contributing to the design of services?
are there plans to involve stakeholders?
are robust governance arrangements planned or in place?
is there a sense that there is sufficient management capability in the organisation?
is there explicit commissioner support for the application, or a clear demonstration that the scheme will be financially viable?
Staff Magazine
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2007, Official Report, column 69W, on the staff magazine, if she will place in the Library the copies of Link which have been published in each month since May 2006. [117024]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Copies of Link have been placed in the Library.
Work and Pensions
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on advertising in respect of benefit fraud in each year since 1997. [116586]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department of Social Security, the former Department for Education and Employment, and the Employment Service. Information prior to 2001 is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Advertising expenditure in respect of benefit fraud is given in the following table.
| Advertising spend (£000) | |
| (1) The figure for 2006-07 represents advertising spend to date. Notes 1. Figures are for the advertising spend on the Targeting Fraud (2001 to 2002) and Targeting Benefit Fraud (2003 to 2006) campaigns. 2. During 2002-03 there was no national campaign advertising. The figure Radio advertising to support ministerial visits. 3. All figures are exclusive of VAT. 4. The figures refer to media spend only, excluding production and other costs. 5. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand. | |
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what working estimate was used by his Department for housing benefit fraud in each year since 1998; and what the level of detected housing benefit fraud was in each year. [116594]
Mr. Plaskitt: The level of housing benefit overpaid due to fraud has been estimated from 2002-03 onwards and reported as National Statistics. The estimates are derived from the Housing Benefit Review an annual sample audit surveying between 10,000 and 14,000 housing benefit claimants. They are published in a series of reports called “Fraud and Error in Housing Benefit”. Copies are available in the Library. Comparable information is not available prior to this.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total (a) number and (b) cost of bonuses paid to staff at the Child Support Agency were in each year from 1997-98 to 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [104255]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the right. hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 8 February 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total (a) number and (b) cost of bonuses paid to staff at the Child Support Agency were in each year from 1997-98 to 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [104255]
There is no information available from the period 1997-2000 as this falls outside of the statutory requirements to keep accounting records that at present are mandated as six years.
The Child Support Agency is part of the Department for Work and Pensions and operates Departmental bonus schemes. Over the period 2001 to 2006, three separate schemes for payment of bonuses have operated within the Child Support Agency.
The attached table highlights the amounts paid as Special Bonuses, Makinson bonuses and Individual Performance Bonuses, and the number of separate payments made to individual members of staff as Special Bonuses and Makinson bonuses, between 2001-02 and 2005-06.
The special bonus scheme and individual performance bonuses operated for the entire period within all parts of the Department of Work and Pensions. The guidelines, policy funding and framework for these schemes are set Departmentally.
The Makinson bonus scheme was undertaken as part of a Treasury initiative to incentivise performance in the public sector by linking performance to reward. This scheme only ran for 2002-03 and 2003-04 and was trialled in three parts of the Department, one of which was the Child Support Agency. Incentive payments made under this scheme were funded directly by the Treasury.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
| Sums paid as special bonuses, Makinson bonuses and individual performance bonuses between 2001-02 and 2005-06 | |||||
| £ | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the total amount paid in bonus payments to staff at the Child Support Agency in each year since 2001. [105815]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 8 February 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the total amount paid in bonus payments to staff at the Child Support Agency in each year since 2001.
The Child Support Agency is part of the Department for Work and Pensions and operates Departmental bonus schemes. Over the period from 2001 to 2006, three separate schemes for payment of bonuses have operated within the Child Support Agency.
(1) Special Bonus—This scheme operated throughout 2001-2006. An individual may be awarded a one-off bonus outside the annual reward performance and development system exercise to recognise and reward exceptional personal achievement. This scheme operates in line with Treasury guidance and the payments in any one year are limited to 0.25% of the staffing budget.
(2) Individual Performance Bonus—Bonuses linked to annual appraisal markings were available throughout the period 2001-2006. The Agency had no separate budget for these bonuses. The overall funding available, and the size of the individual bonuses, were determined through discussions with the Treasury about the DWP’s pay remit, and then through negotiations with the unions.
(3) Makinson—This scheme only operated in 2002 and 2003. It was funded directly by the Treasury and lay outside of the spending review settlement.
The attached table highlights the amounts paid as Special Bonuses, Makinson bonuses and Individual Performance Bonuses for each of the last five years.
The special bonus scheme and individual performance bonuses operated for the entire period within all parts of the Department for Work and Pensions. The guidelines, policy, funding and framework for theses scheme are set Departmentally.
The Makinson bonus scheme was undertaken as part of a Treasury initiative to incentivise performance in the public sector by linking performance to reward. This scheme only ran for 2002-03 and 2003-04 and was trialled in three parts of the Department, one of which was the Child Support Agency.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
| Sums paid as Special Bonuses, Makinson Bonuses and Individual Performance Bonuses for each of the last five years | |||||
| 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
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