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12 Mar 2007 : Column 160W—continued
Departments: Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the expenditure has been on (a) managing his Department’s corporate identity and (b) branding in each year since 1997-98. [123167]
Mrs. McGuire: 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 a disproportionate cost.
To accommodate this change, the Department’s corporate identity needed to be developed. This work included new branding design, staff research and consultation, and the application of the logos to key items such as stationery, building signs and electronic media. This cost for this was £232,044.
A review of our corporate identity was undertaken in 2004, which included a branding review. This was to support the organisational design with a new corporate image. The cost of this review was £92,751, and included design, product management and production.
We have this last year developed easy to understand guidelines for use by staff and also external organisations, so that the integrity of the Department’s identity is upheld where it is used or displayed. The cost of the development and production of these guidelines has been £45,663.
Disability Allowances
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) disability living allowance and (c) severe disablement allowance there were in each year since its introduction, broken down by type of disability; and what the expenditure was in each case in each year. [116596]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Financial Assistance Scheme: Take-up
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people have registered for assistance under the financial assistance scheme; [120243]
(2) how much has been paid out by the financial assistance scheme; [120306]
(3) how many people are receiving payments from the financial assistance scheme. [120307]
James Purnell: It is for the trustees of the pension schemes to apply for assistance rather than individual members. Of 995 schemes that have been notified to FAS, 659 have subsequently qualified. ‘Notification’ of a scheme occurs when trustees or members formally notify FAS of their scheme’s basic details, after which a scheme can then be considered for FAS qualification. We estimate that 40,000 members of qualified schemes will be eligible for FAS. The vast majority of these potential recipients have yet to reach payment age and our best estimate is that perhaps 9,000 people are already 65.
On the basis of operational data to the end of December, we estimate that trustees have made applications for assistance for 1,900 people. We are only able to pay them once the trustees have provided acceptable data on the members, which is taking longer than we had hoped.
As at 23 February 2007 the financial assistance scheme was making payments to 967 qualifying members. A further 79 will be paid as soon as they have confirmed their personal details. This gives a total of 1,046 members who have been assessed as eligible for assistance.
As at 23 February 2007 payments had totalled £3,421,457 gross, (£2,656,622 net).
Housing Benefit
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many requests to suspend the direct payment of local housing allowance to tenants have been received by local authorities in the 18 pathfinder areas; how many have resulted in the suspension of direct payments to tenants; and if he will make a statement. [125028]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.
Housing: Repossession Orders
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many households in the private sector in each of the 18 Pathfinder areas have (a) accrued arrears, (b) been served with a notice of possession and (c) been evicted; and if he will make a statement; [122410]
(2) what proportion of local housing allowance claimants in each of the 18 Pathfinder areas have (a) accrued arrears, (b) been served a notice of possession and (c) been evicted; and if he will make a statement. [122411]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.
Incapacity Benefit
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new incapacity benefit claims were for reasons of mental ill health in the last period for which figures are available. [126372]
Mr. Jim Murphy: In the year to May 2006, 34.5 per cent. of all new incapacity benefit claimants cited mental and behavioural conditions as the primary reason for their claim.
We are working with stakeholders as part of our welfare reform plans to address the many barriers people with mental health conditions still face in playing their full role in the economy and the workplace.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants ceased to claim the benefit in each year from 1976-77 to 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [102235]
Mrs. McGuire: There is a strong relationship between on-flows and off-flows from incapacity benefit, and generally, both have been falling year on year as a proportion of the caseload. So falling off-flows are a result of falling on-flows.
Information is not available prior to 1996. The available information is in the following table.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated on-flows for incapacity benefits are for each year to 2019-20, broken down by (a) region and (b) the age groups (i) 18 to 29, (ii) 30 to 39, (iii) 40 to 49, (iv) 50 to 59 and (v) 60 years and over. [124077]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the following table
.| Projected number of on-flows to Incapacity Benefit, 2005-06 to 2019-20, Great Britain, by age group | |||||||
| Thousand | |||||||
| 16-17yrs | 18-29yrs | 30-39yrs | 40-49yrs | 50-59yrs | 60yrs and over | All age groups | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000; totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures are consistent with latest estimated caseloads. These are based on pre-Budget report forecasts to 2007-08, and long-term projections consistent with the long-term public finance report from 2008-09 onwards; the projections are illustrative based on the continuation of current policy combined with the equalisation of state pension age. See http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/ib_caseload.xls 3. Figures are subject to future revisions. 4. These projections do not take into account any of the proposed policy changes in the papers entitled: "A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work", or "Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system." | |||||||
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals who would otherwise qualify for incapacity benefit are affected by (a) whole and (b) partial withdrawal of benefit owing to their receipt of an occupational pension; and what the total annual benefit forgone from this clawback was in each of the last five years. [124080]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the following tables.
| Number of incapacity benefit claimants whose benefit payable is reduced as a result of receiving income from an occupational pension and associated total benefit expenditure forgone | ||
| Claimants (thousand) | Annual incapacity benefit foregone (£ million—2006-07 prices) | |
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