---

8 Mar 2007 : Column 2103W—continued

External Consultants

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on external consultants in each year since 1996-97, broken down by project; what the purpose of each such project was; and if he will make a statement. [102201]

Mrs. McGuire: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The DWP was formed in June 2001 and I have provided the total spent on external consultants since formation.

The total cost of employing consultants in each year for the remaining years is in the following table.

£ million
	Description	Management consultancy	IT consultancy
2001-02	—	23.79	70.67
2002-03	—	47.57	93.47
2003-04	—	223.35	83.37
2004-05	—	98.64	69.73
2005-06	—	77.59	52.70

Household Incomes

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of how many families living in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland receive more than half of their gross income in cash benefits and tax credits. [102165]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The information is in the following table.

8 Mar 2007 : Column 2104W

Family type	Country	All
Pensioner couple	England	1.4
	Wales	0.1
	Scotland	0.1
	Northern Ireland	-
	UK	1.7
Couple with children	England	0.5
	Wales	*
	Scotland	*
	Northern Ireland	*
	UK	0.6
Couple without children	England	0.4
	Wales	*
	Scotland	*
	Northern Ireland	*
	UK	0.5
Lone parent	England	0.9
	Wales	*
	Scotland	0.1
	Northern Ireland	-
	UK	1.1
Notes: 1. Income from benefits or tax credits: Income from any Social Security Benefit; i.e. income-related benefit and non-income related benefit and for this analysis also includes tax credits. See notes below for further definition of income- and non-income related benefits 2. The only way we can measure family income is by using the Benefit Unit definition of family. This is equivalent to a family unit but is not the same as a household. A household can contain one or more benefit units. 3. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that control for tenure type, Council Tax Band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias. 4. Benefit receipt is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to mis-reporting. 5. Percentage is rounded to the nearest percent 6. Income related benefits: Social Security benefits included in this category are: Back to Work Bonus Extended Payment of Council Tax Benefit Extended Payment of Housing Benefit Income Support Pension Credit Housing Benefit Council Tax Benefit Rates Rebate Disability Working Allowance Social Fund Grant for Funeral Expenses Social Fund Grant for Maternity Expenses Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income based) Community Care Grants Return to Work Credit Child Maintenance Bonus 7. Non-income related benefits/Non-income related state support: Social Security benefits included in this category are: Statutory Sick Pay Statutory Maternity Pay Statutory Paternity Pay Statutory Adoption Pay Disability Living Allowance Child Benefit Retirement Pension Widowed Mother’s Allowance/Widowed Parents Allowance Widow’s Payment/Bereavement Payment Widow’s Pension/Bereavement Allowance War Disablement Pension War Widow’s Pension Severe Disablement Allowance Attendance Allowance 8. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government Office Region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias. Sample sizes are provided to help readers judge the robustness of the information. 9. Data are not provided for certain cells in the table because the sample sizes are too small to support reliable estimates of the statistics in question. (Represented with an *) 10. Evidence suggests that some items of income may be under reported in the survey, particularly self-employment and investment income; and estimates of average income are vulnerable to variations in the number of very high income households responding in each region; these figures should therefore be treated with caution. 11. Benefit receipt is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to misreporting. Source: Family Resources Survey (UK), 2004-05 Figures have been rounded to nearest 100 thousand.

8 Mar 2007 : Column 2105W

Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in which areas the 0800 number to contact Jobcentre Plus is available to claimants of working age benefit. [118790]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Lesley Strathie:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking in which areas the 0800 number to contact Jobcentre Plus is available to claimants of working age benefit. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

The new 0800 telephone number is part of a wider package of measures being delivered to improve the process for New and Repeat Claims to Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Incapacity Benefit. These changes began in January 2007 at the contact centre in Grimsby.

The number is currently available to people calling from East Yorkshire and Humber, Calderdale, Kirklees & Wakefield and Leeds, including the Textphone service, and will continue with a gradual rollout to the remaining contact centres by the end of May 2007.

I hope this helpful.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to advise members of the public of the changes to the Jobcentre Plus dialling code. [118791]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Lesley Strathie:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what steps are being taken to advise the public of the changes to the Jobcentre Plus dialling code. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

The new 0800 telephone number is part of a wider package of measures being delivered to improve the process for New and Repeat Claims to Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance and Incapacity Benefit. These changes are being rolled out across the country between January and May 2007 and will provide a better customer service, eliminate double handling and be more affordable.

The 0800 feature will give the majority of our customers the facility to make a benefit claim in a single call which will be free from landlines.

As part of this package of improvements we are taking a series of steps to inform customers of the new number:

As the number is introduced into our Contact Centres, posters showing the 0800 number will be prominently displayed at linked Jobcentres. Leaflets will be made available at Jobcentres for customers to take away with them. Posters and leaflets are also being distributed to local external partners such as the Citizens Advice Bureau to display and issue to customers as appropriate.

Jobcentres will also have cards available for customers, providing details of the 0800 number plus additional useful local contact numbers.

To support the transition to the new 0800 number, the current Contact Centre 0845 numbers will have a message redirecting customers to the new 0800 number. This will be in place for a period of 12 months.

8 Mar 2007 : Column 2106W

Telephone directories will be updated as reprints become due.

The Jobcentre Plus Internet site will also be updated to reflect the change to the 0800 number as roll out progresses.

I hope this is helpful.

New Deal

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he expects the Government’s Building on the New Deal policy to be included in the documents to be produced at the time of the Chancellor’s next Budget; and if he will make a statement. [104679]

Mr. Jim Murphy: We are unable to say what will be included in Budget documents.

We have been considering the Building on New Deal strategy in the light of Spending Review settlement resources, respective priorities, and commitments in the Welfare Reform Green Paper. We are still committed to the Building on New Deal principles of tailoring, personalisation, and devolution, and these are being taken forward through the introduction of the more far-reaching City Strategy.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what systems are in place in his Department for classifying written parliamentary questions when they are tabled; and if he will make a statement. [103377]

Mrs. McGuire: No classification of parliamentary questions takes place when they are tabled.

Remploy

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many public contracts have been awarded in England to supported employers to (a) Remploy and (b) other similar organisations since January 2006; and if he will take steps to increase the number of contracts awarded to such employers. [112383]

Mrs. McGuire: Remploy has been awarded approximately 8,000 public contracts since January 2006 worth approximately £37 million. Often these are national contracts covering England, Scotland and Wales.

Information as to how many public contracts have been awarded to similar organisations in England is not available.

We are keen to see Remploy and other such organisations make the most of public procurement opportunities and as a first step officials have already arranged a meeting with Remploy, the GMB union National Secretary and officials from the Office of Government Commerce to discuss how to take this forward.

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total workforce is of Remploy; what proportion of the Remploy budget in 2006-07 is being spent on supporting those jobs; and what his policy is on redundancies in Remploy businesses. [118752]

8 Mar 2007 : Column 2107W

Mrs. McGuire: The information is shown in the following table.

	Number of people employed	As a percentage of the Remploy budget
Remploy Workforce Businesses	5,731	78
Employment Services Workforce	500	15
Number of WORKSTEP participants supported by Remploy Employment Services	4,057	—
Other Costs (pensions deficit etc.)		7

The policy is that there are to be no compulsory redundancies for disabled employees employed in Remploy businesses.

Special Advisers

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department’s civil servants work full-time to support departmental special advisers; and what the salary is of each such civil servant. [106501]

Mrs. McGuire: The special advisers in the Department of Work and Pensions are supported by three civil servants. The salary ranges are:

Range	Number of civil servants
£21,480 to £27,300	1
£27,240 to £36,480	2

---