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26 Jun 2007 : Column 693W—continued
Pensions: Advisory Services
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many home visits have been carried out by the Pension Service in each year since 1997, broken down by type of visit and local area. [141831]
James Purnell: The information that is available for the area of East Sussex is in the following table. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with information on the remaining areas and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
| Home visits carried out by the Pension Service | ||
| Nationally | East Sussex | |
| Notes: 1. All visits are ‘Holistic Visits’ so whatever the reason for referral a full benefit entitlement check is undertaken. 2. The Pension Service Local Service was created in April 2004. 3. There are occasions when a follow up visit is requested by the pension centre to clarify some aspects of the application; however these are not recorded separately. 4. The number of visits at a cluster level is held on the Local Service System (LSS). The East Sussex cluster figures for the years 2004-05 and 2005-06 are not available because of data protection issues which means customer data 18 months from the date the referral is cleared. Source Local Service Management Information. | ||
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been of the Pension Service’s outbound telephone campaign. [141876]
James Purnell: The information requested is not available. Outbound calls from the DWP are not broken down by campaign.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of the Pension Service’s (a) method of home visits, (b) outbound telephone campaign and (c) strategy of identifying harder-to-reach customers by working with local partners on take-up of services. [141878]
James Purnell: The information that is available is in the following tables.
| Effect of home visits, 2006-07 | |
| Number | |
| (1) This includes claims made following Information Point appointments. There were 57,522 Information Point appointments during 2006-07. Source: Local Service Management Information. | |
| Effect of the outbound telephone campaign, 2006-07 | |
| Number | |
| Source: “Contacts by Channel” and “Management Dashboard” report 2006-07. | |
Joint Working Partnerships targeting harder-to-reach groups are currently being evaluated and the findings will be available in the autumn.
Pensions: Financial Assistance Scheme
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures his Department has taken in conjunction with the financial assistance scheme (FAS) to raise the profile of the FAS among members of occupational schemes that come under its remit. [141882]
James Purnell: Since the inception of the financial assistance scheme (FAS), the main focus of our communications has been aimed at trustees and administrators in order to encourage them to apply for FAS and to supply the member data needed to make payments.
We currently provide information for members via our website at www.dwp.gov.uk/fas and we have worked with trustees on a scheme specific basis to provide information for their updates to members about the progress of the winding up.
We recognise the need to provide more clarity to members about the nature of FAS benefits, how they work and when they can expect payments. Lord McKenzie, announced in the Lords on 6 June that we are introducing arrangements so that, rather that relying on trustees to make applications on their behalf, individual scheme members who believe that they are eligible for payment can advise the FAS operational unit direct, which will then contact the scheme trustees to seek to arrange a payment.
Personal Accounts
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department briefed Financial Times journalists on 13 June 2007 about the Government's plans on personal accounts; and if he will make a statement. [144078]
Mr. Hutton: No Financial Times journalists were briefed on 13 June 2007. There was regular communication between Ministers, special advisers and officials and our stakeholders, including journalists and other political parties, in the run up to the publication of our proposals on personal accounts.
State Second Pension
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact on national insurance revenues of recent changes in the number of people contracted out of the state second pension. [141551]
James Purnell: The effect on national insurance revenues arising from recent changes in the number of people contracted out of the state second pension is broadly neutral over the longer term.
Education and Skills
Adoption: Foster Care
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment he has made of (a) delays caused in adoption to fostered children going through the court process without a care order under section 31 of the Children’s Act 1989 and (b) the disruption in the care provided to such children caused by such delays; and if he will make a statement; [145730]
(2) what assessment he has made of the impact of a child not being subject to a care order under section 31 of the Children’s Act 1989 on the adoption process; and if he will make a statement. [145808]
Mr. Dhanda: The Government’s view is that delays in relation to the adoption of a child, whether or not the child is also the subject of care proceedings, are likely to be damaging and prejudicial to his/her welfare, to the extent that it may contribute to disruption. This is the case whether it arises from delays in processes that are the responsibility of local authorities, such as the operation of adoption panels, or those that arise in the family courts.
Cache Foundation Award in Caring for Children
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils at the end of key stage 4 were entered for a Cache Foundation Award in Caring for Children in each of the last five years. [145727]
Jim Knight: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Children in Care: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were forcibly removed from their parents by social services in each London borough in each of the last five years. [145218]
Mr. Dhanda: It would not be possible for local authority social services departments forcibly to remove a child of any age into their care in circumstances where parents do not consent to this. While social services departments and the police have powers to obtain emergency orders so that they can act immediately to protect a child, the Children Act 1989 does not permit local authorities to remove children from the care of their parents without referring the matter to a Court.
The number of children who were taken into care during the years ending 31 March 2002 to 2006 is shown in the following table.
‘Children taken into care’ are children who started to be looked after under the following legal statuses: interim or full care orders, and police protection or emergency protection or child assessment orders. They exclude children freed for adoption or for whom a placement order was granted, they exclude children under voluntary accommodation and they also exclude children under youth justice legal statuses.
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