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1 Mar 2007 : Column 1454W—continued

Leader of the House

Departments: Databases

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Leader of the House what databases are controlled by the Privy Council Office; and what percentage of the data in each database he estimates is inaccurate or out of date. [124043]

Mr. Straw: The Privy Council Office controls a database for records management purposes and, separately, the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons has one correspondence database which is managed via a service level agreement by the Cabinet Office IT provider and Domain Technologies. To the best of my knowledge 100 per cent. of the data in each database is accurate and up to date.

House of Lords: Bishops

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Leader of the House if he will make a statement on the future role of Church of England bishops in the House of Lords. [124309]

Mr. Straw: Paragraph 6.22 of the White Paper ‘The House of Lords: Reform’ (Cm 7027) explains that the special representation of the Church of England in the House of Lords should continue. This is in line with the conclusions of the Wakeham Commission that:

House of Lords: Reform

Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2007, Official Report, column 979W, on House of Lords reform, whether the elected members of the House of Lords would have the same freedom as hon. Members to make representations on behalf of their constituents. [124296]

Mr. Straw: Members of the House of Lords are not there to represent constituencies. Paragraphs 6.8 to 6.15 of the White Paper ‘The House of Lords: Reform’
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(Cm7027) explains that one of the key principles that should underpin a reformed House is the complimentary nature of the House of Lords. The House of Lords should not duplicate the functions of the House of Commons.

Written Questions

Mrs. May: To ask the Leader of the House what guidance he has given to Government Departments on unanswered parliamentary questions in the last 12 months. [123116]

Mr. Straw: Departments were reminded at the end of last Session to clear all outstanding questions before the House prorogued. I now regularly monitor the performance of Departments and where and when appropriate have from time to time drawn Ministers’ attention to the importance of adhering to the targets laid down for answering questions.

Prime Minister

Honours

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to invite the House to vote on whether hon. Members are made Knights or Dames for services to Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [124266]

The Prime Minister: No.

Petitions: Internet

Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister whether there have been any instances of a change in Government policy on the basis of a e-petition on the Downing Street website; and whether the most popular e-petitions are brought to his personal attention. [123782]

Jo Swinson: To ask the Prime Minister how many of the petitions on his e-petition website have led to a review or change in Government policy or practice. [124299]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Members to the press briefing given by my official spokesman on 12 February 2007. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page10962. asp and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Work and Pensions

Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance was underpaid in each year since 2001. [118801]


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Mrs. McGuire: The administration of attendance allowance and disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Terry Moran, dated 28 February 2007:

Housing Benefit

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people had the maximum default rate of non-dependent deduction applied to them due to non-disclosure of the income of non-dependents in each of the last five years. [118813]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Housing Benefit: Disabled

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received housing benefit and the disability premium in each quarter since 2001. [122065]

Mr. Plaskitt: Information on housing benefit recipients with a disability premium is only available annually. The available information is in the table.

Housing benefit recipients with a disability premium: Great Britain, May 2001 to May 2003
As at May each year Number

2001

788,000

2002

832,000

2003

836,000

Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures are based on a one per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
3. HB figures exclude any extended payment cases.
4. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
Source:
Housing benefit and council tax benefit management information system, annual one per cent. sample, taken in May 2001 to May 2003.

Income Support: Homelessness

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the 10 most common reasons were for stopping provision of (a) income support and (b) contribution-based jobseeker's allowance for people without accommodation in each of the last five years; and how many people had such provision stopped for each reason in each year. [123176]


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Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Jobseekers Allowance

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged between
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25 and 50 years were claiming jobseeker's allowance in each month since 1992. [124439]

Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the following tables.

Unemployment benefits and jobseeker's allowance claimants in Great Britain aged 25 to 49 years: January 1992 to January 2007
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

January

1,388,515

1,625,400

1,552,080

1,359,760

1,269,850

1,052,025

807,540

771,050

February

1,409,960

1,616,160

1,525,805

1,333,340

1,264,195

1,000,220

784,945

763,440

March

1,412,865

1,595,340

1,495,350

1,303,455

1,227,800

955,790

761,920

745,975

April

1,434,445

1,602,520

1,477,815

1,299,380

1,228,505

928,035

759,135

736,150

May

1,430,485

1,567,435

1,442,455

1,266,545

1,190,430

894,115

740,160

713,185

June

1,416,440

1,543,330

1,408,020

1,241,990

1,160,780

855,695

725,715

696,830

July

1,438,940

1,548,010

1,403,820

1,253,835

1,167,305

855,525

737,165

694,445

August

1,471,210

1,552,750

1,398,650

1,259,335

1,172,980

845,860

743,220

689,300

September

1,469,565

1,524,490

1,366,955

1,227,945

1,132,360

810,500

722,275

671,980

October

1,470,850

1,483,010

1,317,960

1,200,125

1,075,575

774,590

705,140

645,125

November

1,509,780

1,477,865

1,308,405

1,198,170

1,022,515

753,550

711,555

639,035

December

1,584,355

1,494,805

1,313,290

1,225,835

1,025,175

760,020

722,485

639,645


2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

January

688,715

595,540

554,605

535,515

501,455

449,420

489,055

493,500

February

678,635

587,915

548,860

535,890

496,645

450,915

498,825

March

661,200

570,460

533,465

524,630

483,440

448,805

499,320

April

636,440

554,645

527,925

513,930

472,110

444,615

496,720

May

620,710

542,105

516,130

511,285

455,890

444,745

492,050

June

603,370

524,330

507,610

500,395

441,625

440,745

487,385

July

596,480

522,290

508,270

495,895

435,475

441,415

486,005

August

592,930

524,645

508,645

491,830

432,815

443,275

481,720

September

570,685

508,455

496,040

478,830

423,200

439,805

478,885

—-

October

557,485

499,470

484,725

467,075

413,920

438,610

472,160

November

555,205

504,650

486,470

465,290

413,305

446,000

469,755

December

563,395

517,235

495,320

469,885

417,815

457,220

472,530

Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five.
2. Figures do not include a small number of clerical cases.
3. Jobseeker's Allowance was introduced in 1996 and replaced unemployment benefit.
Source:
Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems.

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