House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 13 Mar 2007 (pt 0020)

13 Mar 2007 : Column 262W—continued

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much it has cost to administer the Jobcentre Plus website in each of the last five years. [118788]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The Jobcentre Plus website was launched in March 2002. The cost of administering the site in each of the last four financial years is in the following table.

The number of visits made to the website each year has increased from 20.7 million in 2003 to 75.6 million in 2006.

13 Mar 2007 : Column 263W

	Cost (£)
2002-03	85,000
2003-04	95,000
2004-05	238,700
2005-06	265,200

Departments: Art Works

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on works of art in each year since 1997. [120452]

Mrs. McGuire: The art works in the Department for Work and Pensions are on loan from and therefore owned by the Government Art Collection.

Departments: Complaints

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff worked in dedicated complaints units in his Department and its executive agencies in (a) 1997-98, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2005-06; and how many there have been in 2006-07 to date. [121670]

Mrs. McGuire: Complaint handling forms an integral part of many of the job roles in all parts of the organisation, particularly those in customer facing or correspondence teams.

The Child Support Agency is the only part of Department for Work and Pensions with a dedicated complaints unit. Information for the Child Support Agency is not available prior to 2005. As at January 2005 the Child Support Agency had 930 staff either directly in teams handling complaints or teams handling correspondence from hon. Members, stakeholder groups or clients who may have earlier made a complaint. As at December 2006, the number employed on such duties was 892.

Freud Report

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to report the findings and recommendations of the Freud Report. [121450]

Mr. Jim Murphy: David Freud published his report on 5 March. We will consider the report's recommendations very carefully and respond to them in due course.

Full Employment Agency: ICT

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of the Information and Communication Technology systems for the new Full Employment Agency in Scotland. [120310]

Mr. Jim Murphy: The Full Employment Agency is a matter which we are discussing with the Scottish Executive. No estimate has been made by the Department for Work and Pensions of the cost of the Information and Communication Technology systems for the proposed Agency at this stage.

13 Mar 2007 : Column 264W

Housing Benefit

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many housing benefit claims were subject to each rate of non-dependant deduction in 2004-05; how many claimants at each rate lived in (a) council housing, (b) registered social landlord housing and (c) the private rented sector; and what percentage of total housing benefit claims each group represents. [108216]

Mr. Plaskitt: Information on non-dependants is only available from the annual 1 per cent. sample, the latest being at May 2004. At present it is not possible to use the May 2004 data as an anomaly has been identified which requires further investigation before they can be used with confidence. The most recent information, as at May 2003, is in the following tables.

All housing benefit recipients
	Caseload	Percentage^{( 1)}
Total with non-dependants	⁽²⁾270,000	7.1
Of which:
Attracting deductions for non-dependants	128,000	3.4
Non-dependants:
Total	⁽³⁾304,000	8.0
Attracting deductions	136,000	3.6
Status of non-dependants:
In remunerative work	59,000	1.5
Of which:
Gross income < £92	6,000	0.2
Gross income £92-£136.99	8,000	0.2
Gross income £137-£176.99	12,000	0.3
Gross income £177-£234.99	10,000	0.3
Gross income £235-£292.99	6,000	0.2
Gross income £293 and over	16,000	0.4
Not receiving income support (IS)/income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA(IB)) nor working	28,000	0.7
Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work	49,000	1.3
On Government training allowance, not in work	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—
Unknown	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—

13 Mar 2007 : Column 265W

Local authority tenants
	Caseload	Percentage^{( 1)}
Total with non-dependants	⁽²⁾158,000	4.2
Of which:
Attracting deductions for non-dependants	77,000	2.0
Non-dependants:
Total	⁽³⁾176,000	4.6
Attracting deductions	81,000	2.1
Status of non-dependants:
In remunerative work	33,000	0.9
Of which:
Gross income <£92	4,000	0.1
Gross income £92-£136.99	4,000	0.1
Gross income £137-£176.99	6,000	0.2
Gross income £177-£234.99	6,000	0.2
Gross income £35-£292.99	4,000	0.1
Gross income £93 and over	8,000	0.2
Not receiving IS/JSA(IB) nor working	18,000	0.5
Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work	31,000	0.8
On Government training allowance, not in work	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—
Unknown	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—

Registered social landlord tenants
	Caseload	Percentage^{( 1)}
Total with non-dependants	⁽²⁾80,000	2.1
Of which:
Attracting deductions for non-dependants	36,000	1.0
Non-dependants:
Total	⁽³⁾92,000	2.4
Attracting deductions	39,000	1.0
Status of non-dependants:
In remunerative work	19,000	0.5
Of which:
Gross income <£92	*1,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £92-£136.99	3,000	0.1
Gross income £137-£176.99	4,000	0.1
Gross income £177-£234.99	3,000	0.1
Gross income £235-£292.99	*1,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £293 and over	6,000	0.1
Not receiving IS/JSA(IB) nor working	6,000	0.2
Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work	14,000	0.4
On Government training allowance, not in work	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—
Unknown	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—

13 Mar 2007 : Column 266W

Private tenants
	Caseload	Percentage^{( 1)}
Total with non-dependants	⁽²⁾32,000	0.9
Of which:
Attracting deductions for non-dependants	15,000	0.4
Non-dependants:
Total	⁽³⁾36,000	0.9
Attracting deductions	16,000	0.4
Status of non-dependants:
In remunerative work	7,000	0.2
Of which:
Gross income <£92	*1,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £92-£136.99	*1,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £137-£176.99	*2,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £177-£234.99	*1,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £235-£292.99	*1,000	⁽⁴⁾—
Gross income £293 and over	*2,000	0.1
Not receiving IS/JSA(IB) nor working	4,000	0.1
Receiving IS/JSA(IB), not in work	4,000	0.1
On Government training allowance, not in work	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—
Unknown	⁽⁴⁾—	⁽⁴⁾—
^{(1 )}Figures are given as a percentage of the total HB caseload which is 3,796,000 at May 2003. ⁽²⁾ This figure is the number of housing benefit recipients with at least one non-dependant. ^{(3 )}This figure is the total number of non-dependants. ^{(4 )}Nil or negligible. Notes: 1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 3. The caseloads are rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages to one decimal place. 4. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. 5. Figures under 2,500 marked “” are subject to a high degree of sampling variation and should be used only as a guide to the situation. Source:* Housing benefit and council tax benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent sample, taken in May 2003.

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