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20 Feb 2007 : Column 608W—continued

Warrior Armoured Vehicle

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of replacing the air-conditioning systems inside the Warrior fighting vehicles; [119252]


20 Feb 2007 : Column 609W

(2) what the average daytime temperature was inside a Warrior fighting vehicle in Iraq with the air-conditioning turned on in each of the last 12 months; [119253]

(3) what plans he has to (a) replace and (b) upgrade air-conditioning systems in the Warrior fighting vehicle. [119254]

Mr. Ingram: Statistics on the average daytime temperature inside Warrior vehicles each month are not available. All Warrior vehicles in Iraq have air conditioned driver's compartments. However, infantry Warrior variants will soon be provided with environmental control units (ECUs-air conditioning) for their crew compartments, to afford cooler operating temperatures for the occupants and vehicle systems. On current plans the units will be delivered to Iraq and integrated on to vehicles before the summer. Specialist Warrior variants already have ECUs.

I am withholding details of the costs as their release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.

Work and Pensions

Advertising

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on advertising with The Guardian newspaper, including online, advertorials and advertising features, in the latest year for which figures are available. [113990]

Mrs. McGuire: Figures for advertising expenditure with The Guardian newspaper including online advertorials, advertising features and statutory notices for the period April 2005 to March 2006, are in the table.

April 2005 to March 2006
£000

Campaign advertising

‘Extending Boundaries’ Guardian supplement (Disability)

50

Winter Fuel Payments

2

Campaign advertising—online

‘Extending Boundaries’ Guardian supplement (Disability)

15

Disability Discrimination Act

4

Statutory notices

DWP

6

Total

77

Notes:
1. The table does not include expenditure on recruitment advertising as the information is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.
2. The table does not include spend by non-departmental bodies for which the Department is responsible as the information is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.
3. The figures in these tables refer to media spend only, excluding production and other costs.
4. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
5. Figures for marketing campaign advertising are quoted net of VAT.

20 Feb 2007 : Column 610W

Cemeteries: Safety

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Health and Safety Executive has issued to local authorities on headstones in cemeteries. [120772]

Mrs. McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not published any guidance on headstones, as there is extensive industry guidance and a British Standard on the subject. However, in 2004, the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission wrote to all local authorities, setting out the need for a pragmatic approach to this very sensitive issue. Ministers are currently considering what further steps may be necessary in order to encourage authorities to adopt a responsible but proportionate approach to memorial safety.

Child Maintenance Payments

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely impact of removing the requirement that all parents with care claiming benefits be treated as applying for child maintenance as outlined on page 32 of the White Paper “A new system of child maintenance on compliance by non resident parents”. [113546]

Mr. Plaskitt: We anticipate fewer parents with care will apply to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission as a result of removing the requirement that all parents with care claiming benefits be treated as applying for child maintenance. In most cases this will be where parents with care are able to make private arrangements for child maintenance, so maintenance will continue to flow, or where no maintenance would have flowed anyway, for example, where the parent with care does not have enough information about the non-resident parent for a calculation to be made in a case.

New information and guidance measures and a higher disregard of maintenance in benefits should ensure that where parents with care will benefit from maintenance payments, they seek maintenance through one of the routes available. Tougher enforcement measures available to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission will ensure that non-resident parents fulfil their responsibilities.

Child Support: IT

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the IT requirements for the new system of child support; what discussions his Department and officials have had with IT contractors for the new system of child support; and if he will make a statement. [107096]

Mr. Plaskitt: The existing IT and contracts will be used by C-MEC once it takes on existing CSA operations.

C-MEC will consider what future requirements for IT services are required to support its operation of the new system for child maintenance. It will be responsible for putting in place the necessary arrangements and contracts for IT.


20 Feb 2007 : Column 611W

Compensation Payments

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much in compensation payments was paid by his Department in 2005-06; and what the reason was for each payment. [108208]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions operates a discretionary, non-statutory scheme providing financial redress for maladministration. The scheme is operated by the Department's executive agencies and detailed reasons for payment in individual cases are not recorded centrally. The general categories of payment and sums authorised during 2005-06 are in the following table:

Category Amount (£)

Loss of statutory entitlement

2,055,200.30

Actual financial loss

3,423,871.80

Compensation for delay

8,093,306.02

Consolatory

822,407.03

Notes:
1. This represents in total 0.012 per cent. of our benefit programme expenditure.
2. Loss of statutory entitlement may occur where an individual has lost a benefit, pension or allowance as a result of official error such as the provision of wrong or misleading advice by an official.
3. Payments in respect of actual financial loss are made to recompense individuals who have suffered some financial loss or incurred expenses as a direct result of maladministration.
4. Payments of compensation for delay are made in the form of interest and are intended to restore the value of payments that have been excessively or unreasonably delayed as a result of maladministration. The figure displayed in the table includes £5.8 million paid by the Pension Service. This followed a special exercise to identify cases where extra benefit in the form of carer and severe disability premiums could be made.
5. Consolatory payments are made where individuals have suffered gross inconvenience, gross embarrassment, or severe distress in consequence of maladministration.

Child Support Agency: Arrears

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much his Department has spent on referring Child Support Agency cases with outstanding arrears to debt collection agencies since August 2005; how much such agencies have collected in outstanding arrears; and if he will make a statement; [102021]

(2) how many unresolved Child Support Agency cases are with debt collection agencies. [102022]

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 20 February 2007:

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much has been spent by his Department on referring Child Support Agency cases with outstanding arrears to debt collection agencies since August 2005; how much such agencies have collected in outstanding arrears; and if he will make a statement; [102127]

(2) how many unresolved Child Support Agency cases are with debt collection agencies. [102128]

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 20 February 2007:


20 Feb 2007 : Column 613W

Departmental Websites

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on administering the imageofdisability.gov.uk website in the last five months. [118778]

Mrs. McGuire: Maintenance and administration of the Images of Disability (IoD) website is carried out by the Department’s in-house web team which is responsible for the production, management and maintenance of all DWP websites. It is not possible to quantify internal costs for each site. There were no contracted costs associated with the IoD website in the last five months.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on the launch of the imageofdisability.gov.uk website. [118779]

Mrs. McGuire: The launch for the Images of Disability website comprised an email alert using an existing database of contacts. No costs were incurred.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many user visits were recorded on the imageofdisability.gov.uk website in each of the last five months. [118780]

Mrs. McGuire: The site received the following visits and unique visits in the last five months.

Reporting month Visits( 1) Unique visitors( 2)

September 2006

5,743

2,286

October 2006

4,592

2,006

November 2006

4,545

2,050

December 2006

4,114

1,557

January 2007

5,282

2,194

Total

24,276

10,093

(1) Visits—number of times a visitor or visitors came to the site. Each visit is recorded separately for every visit more than 30 minutes apart.
(2) Unique visitors—individuals who visited the site during the report period. If someone visits more than once, they are counted only the first time they visit.

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