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8 Oct 2007 : Column 139Wcontinued
Caroline Flint:
The Government have no plans to allow courts to impose child maintenance orders on parents. We want to promote a collaborative process that encourages parents to reach agreement about maintenance wherever possible. Where parents are
unable to agree they may apply to the Child Support Agency for a maintenance calculation.
Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) people and (b) people in families with children live in households with below 40 per cent. of median income. [153426]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is not available.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will introduce a system in his Department for the collection of information on child poverty at county level. [154766]
Mr. Plaskitt: The official measure of child poverty is derived from an annual survey, the Family Resources Survey. While this gives an accurate picture of the national position, the survey sample is too small to allow for disaggregation to county level. However, I recognise the importance of measuring child poverty at a more local level and have asked analysts in my Department to investigate the feasibility of producing an alternative measure that will give an indication of progress locally.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether the Government plan to increase the number of staff manning the Jobcentre Crisis Loan helpline; and if he will make a statement; [154181]
(2) what the average time was that a caller to the Jobcentre Crisis Loan helpline had to wait before the call was answered in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [154182]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked Lesley Strathie to reply to your questions asking whether the Government plans to increase the number of staff manning the Jobcentre Crisis Loan helpline; and what the average time was that a caller to the Jobcentre Crisis Loan helpline had to wait before the call was answered in the latest period for which figure are available. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Ms Strathie as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. I am replying on her behalf as Acting Chief Executive.
Average call waiting times are not available as we do not have a national Crisis Loan helpline. Telephone calls for Crisis Loans are taken at Benefit Delivery Centres around the country using separate 0800 numbers. Centralisation of Benefit Delivery is not yet complete. In areas where Social Fund Benefit Delivery Centres have yet to be rolled out customers may call their local office on a local number.
To help with the increasing demand in Crisis Loan applications we have, since early July, started to re-deploy staff from the Contact Centre Directorate to handle telephone enquiries about Crisis Loans. As a result there will be an extra 500 people taking calls from customers applying for Crisis Loans.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Cabinet Committee meetings he has attended in the last 12 months. [154876]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 10 September 2007]: A full list of all Cabinet Committees, including their membership and terms of reference, can be found in the Library of the House. It is Government practice to place such a list in the Library approximately every six months. Previous lists contain the membership information requested. Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet and Cabinet committees, including the number of meetings held and attendance, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Julia Goldsworthy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence has taken place between his
Department and Cornwall county council on joint delivery of services at a local level. [154769]
Mrs. McGuire: The Pension Service and Jobcentre Plus have had and continue to have regular communication with Cornwall county council.
There has been dialogue between Pension Service Local Service staff and Cornwall county council through meetings and correspondence since January 2004. The last meeting which took place on 11 September 2007, resulted in an agreement being reached on the joint delivery of services at a local level and a pilot is scheduled to take place from 1 January 2008 to 30 June 2008.
Jobcentre Plus (JCP) has also had regular meetings and correspondence with Cornwall county council. The external relations managers and partnership managers of JCP Devon and Cornwall district work closely with a variety of groups and boards from Cornwall county council to achieve joint delivery of services.
The information which is available on meetings and correspondence is presented in the following tables.
Correspondence and meetings between the Pension Service Local Service and Cornwall county council since January 2004 | ||||
Meetings | Correspondence | Joint workshops | Job shadowing | Joint fact finding visit |
Notes: 1. It has not been possible to identify every contact made. 2. Listed are the known dates of correspondence and meetings. Source: Cornwall Pension Service Local Service |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department on flowers in the last 12 months. [153182]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total estimated annual cost is of (a) expenses, (b) salary, (c) office space, (d) administrative support and (e) special advisers for the new Under-Secretary of State in his Department. [154629]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested would be available only at disproportionate costs. A list of special advisors by department and pay band will be published in due course. Details of ministerial salaries are available in the House Library and at:
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent by his Department on taxis in the last 12 months. [153178]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were employed by call centres used by his Department in each year since 1997. [152790]
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's staff were employed in call centres in each of the last 10 years. [152658]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 26 July 2007]: The information available is recorded in the following table and provides the number of staff, expressed as full time equivalents' (FTE)(1), employed in call centres as at 1( )April for each year.
(1) Many contact centre staff work part time, FTE is a means of expressing staff numbers in a consistent way (for example two staff working 0.5 x standard working hours is equivalent to one FTE).
Jobcentre Plus( 1) | The Pension Service( 2) | Disability and Carers Service( 3) | Child Support Agency | Debt Management | |
(1) Jobcentre Plus information details the position at March in each year. (2) The Pension Service operates an integrated business model, where Pension Centres perform both contact centre and claims processing functions. It is not possible to make precise allocations between the functions. Information provided includes telephony, processing, support and management. (3) Disability and Carers information up to 20000-01 is for Benefit Enquiry Line only. Information from 2001-02 includes the Disability Helpline and Benefit Enquiry Line. |
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