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19 Jun 2007 : Column 1732W—continued
(1) ‘Organisations’ responses to the Disability Discrimination Act’, DWP Research Report 410
Carers’ Allowances: Preston
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the removal of 180 posts at the Carers' Allowance Unit in Preston on services provided by the unit. [138034]
Mrs. McGuire: This 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 19 June 2007:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the removal of 180 posts at the Carers' Allowance Unit in Preston on services provided by the unit.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
As you will be aware, as part of the Efficiency Challenge all government departments have imposed headcount targets for the period ending March 2008. The headcount target for the Disability and Carers Service for 2007/08 is 5063. The headcount allocation for the Carers Allowance Unit (CAU) for 2007/08 is 723. This represents a reduction of 180 on current headcount.
Along with all government departments, we are modernising our service delivery and we have specific targets to improve efficiency and reduce the number of people we employ. We are well on the way to meeting both these objectives and, in the CAU, we are doing so by comprehensively reviewing our organisational structure, workflow processes and our handling of customer enquiries. Additionally, we believe we can make further improvements to our productivity and the quality of the work that we do.
In support of this stretching agenda, we have employed lean' techniques. These have been used in recent years in HMRC, where they have supported a successful efficiency programme. Early trials in the CAU this year have been successful and we have decided that we will now roll out the lean' approach right across the unit. The approach includes additional checking to ensure right first time quality, thus preventing rework, and improving service to customers. Although there may be short-term disruption as staff are trained and adapt to new ways of working, we expect to standardise and improve the service, rather than allow any deterioration.
We are an agency that continues to focus on delivering improved services to disabled people and carers, and we will ensure that any such short-term disruption to service as a result of headcount reductions is kept to a minimum through constant monitoring of the situation and acting upon what our customers tell us.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what commitments he has made to the Public and Commercial Services Union in relation to the Disability and Carers Service for Carers’ Allowance in Preston, Lancashire. [144006]
Mrs. McGuire: This 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 18 June 2007:
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what commitments he has made to the Public and Commercial Services Union in relation to the Disability and Carers Service for Carers’ Allowance in Preston, Lancashire.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
Managers in the Disability and Carers Service (DCS) are committed to full consultation with the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union on all issues that affect the members of that Union.
As you will be aware, as part of the Efficiency Challenge all government departments have imposed headcount targets for the
period ending March 2008. The headcount target for the Disability and Carers Service for 2007/08 is 5063. The headcount allocation for the Carers Allowance Unit (CAU) for 2007/08 is 723, which represents a reduction of 180 on current headcount.
To help achieve that target we looked to employ lean' techniques in the CAU and, following a successful trial, the ‘lean’ approach is now being implemented across the Unit. This approach includes additional checking to ensure right first time quality and improving services for customers.
Managers in the CAU have held a number of meetings with representatives of PCS to discuss ‘lean’ techniques since the work started in December 2006, and other meetings have been held to discuss the headcount reductions in the CAU. Since 1st April 2007, CAU managers have met PCS representatives on 6 occasions and a further 2 meetings are planned for later in June. In addition, following a request from PCS representatives, the CAU Manager attended a meeting of PCS members organised by the Union to discuss ‘lean’ and answer questions.
The CAU managers consult PCS on various other issues, and in addition to the meetings described above consultation has taken place through written communications on over 30 occasions since 1st April 2007.
I hope this is helpful.
Council Tax Benefits: Pensioners
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to revise the savings threshold for eligibility to council tax benefit for pensioners. [142881]
Mr. Plaskitt: There are no plans to change the savings threshold for eligibility to council tax benefit.
We keep the capital limits under review as we do for the other income-related benefits. Any changes would have to be considered alongside other priorities.
Departments: Carbon Emissions
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what methodology is used by his Department to account for its carbon emissions. [140793]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department reports on its carbon emissions, in line with the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate, via the Sustainable Development in Government Report and its own annual Sustainable Development Report.
The Department measures its carbon emissions based on the amount of energy required to run the buildings that it occupies, and to undertake the main elements of its business travel. DEFRA standard conversion factors are used uniformly throughout.
For energy use (that is electricity and fossil fuels), actual consumption data is submitted on an annual basis to the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE), which is then weather corrected and the appropriate conversion factor applied by BRE.
For DWP fleet vehicles, there are two methods used; fuel type, fuel consumption and engine size information is used where it is available; otherwise the appropriate DEFRA conversion factor is applied to mileage data. For business travel that staff undertake in their own vehicles, information on mileage travelled is collected and the relevant DEFRA standard conversion factor, assuming an equal split between
petrol and diesel engined vehicles is applied. Mileage for hire cars will be included within this year’s calculation.
The Department participates in the Government’s carbon offsetting scheme. Data are collected on the number of miles undertaken by staff on official air travel and the DEFRA conversion factor is applied.
Data are currently not available for rail travel and taxi journeys but the Department is now investigating the feasibility of collecting and including this into our carbon emission calculations.
Departments: Homeworking
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in his Department have been allowed to work from home for part of the week in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on home working. [143873]
Mrs. McGuire: DWP employees may work from home in two categories:
(a) Permanently, on a contractual basis; and
(b) On an ad hoc basis.
The number of employees who have contracted as permanent home workers are:
| As at March each year | Contracted home workers |
DWP does not collect statistical data about ad hoc home working arrangements.
Managers may exercise discretion and authorise ad-hoc home working for a variety of reasons.
The Department recognises the advantage of having a range of different working arrangements, which both meet business needs and enable its employees to balance work and their personal life. Home working is only one of a range of flexible working arrangements that are available to DWP employees.
Departments: Postal Services
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what date the decision was (a) taken and (b) enacted to move his Department’s post opening and distribution services in Kent from Haden Building Management to the Royal Mail. [141432]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is as follows:
(a) The decision to move the Department’s post opening and distribution services in Kent from Haden Building Management to the Royal Mail was a consequence of DWP’s review of office services. The outcomes from this review were approved by the Department’s Executive Team in January 2005.
(b) Following competition, Haden Building Management won the contract to deliver the entire Department’s Office Services requirements and commenced delivery of these services under the contract from 1 March 2007. Royal Mail is a subcontractor to Haden, opening post at Royal Mail Centres, in secure mail opening units. The new contract commenced on 1 March 2007 and offices within the Kent area moved to the Royal Mail between 16 April 2007 and 7 May 2007.
Departments: Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was received by his Department from the letting of its properties in each of the last five years. [139323]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested is in the following table.
The receipts shown include payments made by other Government Departments and in respect of third party service providers working from our premises.
| £ million | |
Receipts for the Health and Safety Executive and the Rent Service are excluded, as Commercial and Estates Directorate does not hold this information. The Appeals Service is included in the receipts after April 2006, when, as the Tribunal Service, it became part of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
Departments: Translation Services
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department on translating (a) documents and (b) website content into other languages in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [142409]
Mrs. McGuire: This information is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Travel Agents
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department and its agencies paid in travel agencies’ fees in each year since 1997. [139918]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department utilises OGC Buying Solutions frameworks for the provision of these services and pays travel agencies’ fees for air, rail and ferry bookings. However the information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs. The Department obtains a discount from every business travel booking made through the contracted agents which would not be available should we book directly with the operators. All bookings will attract a commission for the agent from the operator which will be returned to us, the customer, by way of a discount and the discounts negotiated are in excess of the fees charged. These discounts appear on invoices having had any fees deducted, therefore, the fee element is not identifiable from invoices. To identify the fees individually would require an extensive clerical exercise involving officials and the suppliers.
Disability Living Allowance
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many households there are in England and Wales where both spouses or partners claim the higher rate disability living allowance; [140679]
(2) how many households there are in England and Wales where (a) a child and (b) two or more children claim disability allowance in addition to (i) a parent and (ii) both parents or legal guardians; [140680]
(3) how many households there are in England and Wales where every member of the household claims both disability allowance and carer's allowance. [140681]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 26W, on disability living allowance, (1) in what format information relating to (a) the method of claim and (b) the time taken to process claims for disability living allowance is held; and what categories of information relating to disability living allowance claims are held centrally; [141754]
(2) in what format information is held relating to (a) the method of claim and (b) the time taken to process claims for attendance allowance; and what categories of information relating to attendance allowance claims are held centrally. [141942]
Mrs. McGuire: Information is held about disability living allowance (DLA) and attendance allowance (AA) claims that are received on-line. The computer systems also calculate the average actual clearance times for all claims processed within the month.
Information is held centrally on the number of DLA and AA cases received that are processed and outstanding each month. Information is also held centrally on the type and/or rate of the award and the evidence used in determining the claim.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants receiving disability allowance have been diagnosed with (a) stress and (b) back pain. [144081]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the following table.
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