| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 May 2007 : Column 889W—continued
Rural Development Programme: Animal Welfare
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what account was taken by his Department of the guiding principles of the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain and England Implementation Group indicators in drawing up the draft Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13; [136420]
(2) what assessment he has made of the likely contribution of measures contained in the draft Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13 to meeting the targets for 2014 set out in the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain; and if he will make a statement; [136421]
Barry Gardiner: The Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13 will support a range of existing Government priorities. In deciding how to use the programme, we have taken account of other mechanisms and sources of funding available to address our priorities, and of the responses to the consultation on the programme’s priorities that ran last year.
The main focus of the programme will be environmental outcomes, in particular maintaining our commitment to Environmental Stewardship. The programme will also be used to help make agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable, and to enhance opportunities in rural areas.
The programme will include a wide range of indicators which will be used to evaluate its success in contributing to strategies such as the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain.
Sewers: Private Sector
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to consult on the means and timing of the transfer of ownership of private sewers to water and sewerage companies. [136878]
Ian Pearson: Following the Government's decision to transfer ownership of private sewers to water and sewerage companies, a further public consultation on the implementation options for transfer will take place over the summer. The consultation will also pose questions on the scope of assets to be included in the transfer and ways in which new private sewers can be prevented.
Sustainable Development: Housing
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the potential environmental impact of the code for sustainable housing. [137589]
Ian Pearson: Ministers and officials in DEFRA and Communities and Local Government worked closely together to produce the code for sustainable homes, taking into account environmental impacts and Government have set an ambitious target for zero carbon new housing by 2016.
Warm Front Scheme
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many households in each local authority were assisted by the Warm Front scheme in each year since the scheme was introduced. [136348]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 8 May 2007]: The information requested is not collected centrally. Therefore, a full response could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I will write to the hon. Member with further information shortly and I will arrange for copies of the letter to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Waste and Resources Action Programme
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Waste and Resources Action Programme spent on working with retailers and their supply chains to reduce waste in 2006-07; and what plans it has to carry out this work in the future. [136783]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 14 May 2007]: In 2006-07, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) spent £3.6 million on this specific area of work.
WRAP is working with retailers and their supply chains towards its 2006-08 Business Plan target to secure reductions in packaging waste of 80,000 tonnes a year.
Water: Shortages
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fines have been issued for contravening hosepipe bans in the last 12 months, broken down by water company. [136881]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 14 May 2007]: Neither DEFRA nor Ofwat hold data on any action taken in the courts against alleged breaches of hosepipe bans, by water companies or any other party.
Wheat: Imports
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much wheat was imported into the UK in each year between 2002 and 2006. [136975]
Barry Gardiner: The following table shows the volume of wheat imported into the UK for each year between 2002 and 2006 as published in Agriculture in the United Kingdom.
| Thousand tonnes | |
| UK Imports of wheat | |
| Note: 2006 data are provisional | |
Work and Pensions
Child Support Agency
Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the Operational Improvement Plan on the performance of the Child Support Agency. [132769]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 23 April 2007]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 17 May 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Operational Improvement Plan on the performance of the Child Support Agency. [132769]
The initial phase of the Operational Improvement Plan has focused on the organisational and operational restructuring of the Agency, and the training of our people to increase our capacity and capability. No commitments were made for the first year but the performance of the Agency has been steadily improving with early results showing improvements in several key areas and more money is already getting to more children. At the end of December 2006 compared with a year ago:
58,000 more children were in receipt of maintenance or had a maintenance-direct arrangement in place.
Applications are being cleared more quickly: 55 per cent. within twelve weeks, up from 49 per cent. and meeting target level for March 2007, and 74 per cent. within six months, up from 64 per cent.
Client Service has improved: The Agency answered 97 per cent. of queued calls over 12 months, up from 90 per cent.
I am confident the performance figures for the last quarter, due to be published later this week, will continue to demonstrate the ongoing developments in the Agency’s performance.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his plans to transfer the payment of child support for those on the pre-2003 system to the new system. [131819]
Mr. Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Easington (John Cummings), published in Hansard on 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 233W.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will examine the case of Mark Albutt, reference 1039432336, and the demands being made by the Child Support Agency for payment of arrears. [133411]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to you recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is out of the country, I am responding with his authority.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he would examine the case of Mark Albutt reference 1039432336 and the demands being made by the Child Support Agency for payment of arrears. [133411]
As the details about individual cases are confidential, I have written to you separately about this case.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of decisions on applications made to the Child Support Agency were revised because they contained errors in each quarter since spring 2003. [136487]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 8 May 2007]: The information requested is not available.
Child Support Agency: Debt Collection
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the procedure is for collection of debt by the Child Support Agency for old rules cases where changes in circumstances have subsequently occurred; and if he will make a statement. [133409]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Jos Joures, dated 17 May 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is out of the country I am responding, with his authority, on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the procedure is for collection of debt by the Child Support Agency for old rules cases where changes in circumstances have subsequently occurred; and if he will make a statement. [133409]
The procedure for the collection of debt is the same for old scheme and new scheme cases. If a change of circumstances, which results in an alteration to the debt balance of a case, is processed the Agency will recalculate the debt balance and contact the non-resident parent to negotiate a new payment arrangement. Under the Operational Improvement Plan, the Agency aim where possible to recoup any outstanding arrears within two yeas, once a payment schedule has been established. However, the Collections and Enforcement Regulations, 1992 prevent the Agency from taking more than 40% of a non-resident parent’s net income in child maintenance payments, and all arrears agreements reflect this requirement.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Children: Poverty
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects the data for levels of child poverty to be available for (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [136736]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Data for 2005-06 are available in the Households Below Average Income 2005-06 publication. This is currently being revised and the new release will be available from mid-May.
The Secretary of State made a written statement to Parliament on 23 April 2007, Official Report, column 20WS, on why the statistics are being revised.
Households Below Average Income 2006-07 will be published in spring 2008.
Financial Assistance Scheme: Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in bonuses to staff of the Financial Assistance Scheme in each of the last two years; and how many individual payments were made. [133899]
James Purnell: The Department operates a number of different bonus and awards schemes, two of which apply to staff at the Financial Assistance Scheme.
Based on the information available, the total sum of bonuses paid to staff of the Financial Assistance Scheme in each of the last two years is as provided in the following tables. The bonuses are all subject to tax at standard individual rates. (Figures quoted as gross values).
The Bonus and Rewards Scheme allows managers to incentivise and reward valuable or exceptional contributions to business performance made by employees or teams:
| Bonus type/Date | Total amount paid out (gross) (£) | Number of staff receiving payments |
Annual individual performance bonuses are paid to members of staff as part of the annual pay award. Individuals who achieve one of the top 3 (of 4) performance ratings under the department’s Performance and Development System are eligible for these unconsolidated bonuses, which are paid on a sliding scale:
| Bonus type/Date | Total amount paid out (gross) (£) | Number of staff receiving payments |
The Individual Performance Bonus for staff during the last financial year has not yet been finalised so we are currently unable to confirm any amounts for this period.
Pensions: Females
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what delays are being experienced with pension forecasts for women who become 60 in May and June this year. [136692]
James Purnell: We are currently not experiencing delays in issuing State Pension forecasts to our customers. Forecasts are issued within 12 working days of request, except in a relatively small number of cases that require further investigation of the customer’s National Insurance Contributions records by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to ensure an accurate forecast.
Tax Credit
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) households and (b) persons in the UK who are in receipt of both tax credits and one or more income-related benefit. [137512]
Mr. Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
| Households and persons in the UK who are in receipt of both tax credits and one or more income-related benefit | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. 2. The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a nationally representative sample of approximately 28,000 households. 3. Data for 2005-06 was collected between April 2005 and March 2006. 4. 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 non-response error. 5. Tax credit and income related benefits receipt is under-reported on the FRS. This will mean that the FRS estimates are likely to be under-estimates. However, there is no other reliable source for this information at a household level. Source: Family Resources Survey 2005-06 United Kingdom | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |