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11 Dec 2007 : Column 456W—continued
Pupils: Assessments
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of schools in (a) England and (b) the Isle of Wight Council area permit pupils to take Key Stage 3 tests in (i) year eight and (ii) years eight and nine. [165033]
Jim Knight [ holding answer 19 November 2007 ]: Information is not available in the format requested. Head teachers of maintained schools are required to enter pupils for Key Stage 3 tests in the school year in which they complete the relevant National Curriculum programmes of study. Each pupil may take each test only once. Most such pupils are in year nine but others take the Key Stage 3 tests in an earlier or later year, for example in year eight where their school delivers a two-year Key Stage 3 programme for some or all of its pupils.
Rosemellin Community Interest Company
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what correspondence his Department has had with the Rosemellin Community Interest Company on their proposals to meet community needs with a one stop shop facility; if he will place in the Library copies of that correspondence; and if he will make a statement. [169317]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 29 November 2007]: This Department received a letter, and a booklet, from the Rosemellin Community Interest Co. on 6 November, 2007. Officials will be responding in due course. A copy will, of course, be sent to the House of Commons Library as requested.
School Leaving
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his latest estimate is of the cost of implementing the proposed raising of the school participation age to 18 years. [169161]
Jim Knight: The estimated costs of raising the participation age were set out in the initial regulatory impact assessment published alongside the Green Paper on 22 March 2007. Annual costs were estimated at around £700 million per cohort of young people, but recurring annual benefits were around £1,400 million. This can be accessed at:
and I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
These projections have been updated, and revised figures will feature in the regulatory impact assessment that was published alongside the Bill. This was placed in the Library of the House on 29 November.
Schools: Crime
Tom Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students in each London borough were charged with a criminal
offence for incidents that took place (a) in educational institutions and (b) on school property in each of the last five years. [169232]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Schools: Transport
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what consideration he has given to the funding of free transport to enable students over the age of 16 to reach schools and colleges if the school leaving age is raised to 18. [170526]
Jim Knight: We will be looking very carefully at the structure of financial support to ensure that it continues to be as effective as possible in the context of the raised participation age, including support for transport and other learning-related costs.
Specialised Diplomas
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has paid to consultants looking into the implementation of the new diplomas. [169167]
Kevin Brennan: Between April 2006 and November 2007, the Department has paid £2.52 million to consultants for advice and support on the implementation of diplomas.
Work and Pensions
Child Support Agency: Manpower
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many whole-time equivalent staff were employed by the Child Support Agency (a) in each region and (b) in Newcastle and North Tyneside (i) in 2005-06, (ii) in 2006-07 and (iii) on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many are expected to transfer to the Agency's successor organisation in 2008. [168860]
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 Stephen Geraghty dated 11 December 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, how many whole-time equivalent staff were employed by the Child Support Agency (a) in each region and (b) in Newcastle and north Tyneside (i) in 2005-06 in 2006-07 and (iii) on the most recent date for which figures are available; and how many are expected to transfer to the Agency’s successor organisation in 2008. [168860]
The total number of people employed by Government office Region is provide in the attached Table 1, and the number employed in Newcastle and North Tyneside is attached in Table
2. Figures are based on the Office of national Statistics (ONS) standard, for use in the calculation of all public sector employment statistics.
All people who carry out functions of the Child Support Agency in Great Britain will move to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, at the same time as the functions of the Agency are transferred.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
| Table 1: Child Support Agency people in post (whole time equivalent) by Government Office Region 2005-06 and 2006-07 | |||
| Counting methodology | Office of national Statistics (ONS) | ONS | |
| Government Office Region | March 2006 | March 2007 | October 2007 |
| Notes: 1. The Office of National Statistics standard has been used from November 2005. 2. The North West Government office Region includes Merseyside. | |||
| Table 1: Child Support Agency people in post for Newcastle and North Tyneside (whole time equivalent) 2005-06 and 2006-07 | |||
| Counting methodology | Office of national Statistics (ONS) | ONS | |
| March 2006 | March 2007 | October 2007 | |
| North East | |||
| Notes: 1. The Office of National Statistics standard has been used from November 2005. | |||
Conditions of Employment: Mental Health
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 27 November 2007, Official Report, columns 27-30WS, on mental health and employment, how many advice and support services for employers he will pilot; where each will be based; when he expects each to start; and if he will make a statement. [169959]
Mrs. McGuire: On 27 November we announced our intention to pilot a new advice and support service for employers, in particular smaller businesses, to help them in managing and supporting people with mental health conditions to remain in or return to work.
We will be developing detailed proposals for the scope and delivery mechanisms of these pilots over the coming months, working closely with employers and their representative organisations to ensure that the pilot service best meets the needs of business.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 27 November 2007, Official Report, columns 27-30WS, on Mental health and employment, how many Pathways Advisory Service pilots there are; where each is based; and where subsequent pilots will be located. [169960]
Caroline Flint: The current Pathways Advisory Service is a small scale pilot to test the impact of delivering an outreach service in health settings. The pilot is currently based in six Jobcentre Plus districts: Highlands and Islands; Clyde Coast and Grampian; Gateshead and South Tyneside; Bridgend, Rhondda, Cynon Taff; East Lancashire; and Somerset.
We are planning to expand the scope of the pilots to ensure that we gain robust evidence and learn as much as possible about the impact that joint working in this way can achieve. We are still considering the exact plans for implementation of this expansion, which will have a particular focus on supporting people with mental health problems.
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) business and (b) first class air travel in the last 12 months. [171251]
Mrs. McGuire: Between November 2006 and October 2007, the Department for Work and Pensions spent £554,605 on business class air travel and £7,653 on first class flights.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the £960 million in efficiency savings that his Department is projected to make under the spending review 2004 efficiency review is cashable. [169506]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions’ efficiency target for spending review 2004 is that at least half of the £960 million efficiency savings must be cash releasing. By September 2007, annual cash releasing savings of £952 million had been achieved.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items of post sent by his Department and its predecessor were reported missing by the intended recipient in each year since 1997. [171292]
Mrs. McGuire: DWP dispatches some 200 million items of mail per year to its customers via documented and undocumented postal services from its individual businesses, offices and processing centres. The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would be at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Responsibilities
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) reviews, (b) consultations and (c) taskforces his Department is (i) responsible for and (ii) scheduled to implement; on what date each (A) started and (B) is expected to be completed; and what the purpose is of each. [171788]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Telephone Services
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department collects and monitors in relation to the telephone contact centres for which his Department is responsible. [166523]
Mrs. McGuire: The following lists provide examples of the range of measures collected by the Departments Contact Centres.
In addition Business units collect a vast amount of individual pieces of information at various levels (individual, team, command, business unit, etc.) and by frequency. To obtain and list each individual piece of information would incur disproportionate costs.
The Department monitors the effectiveness of its contact centres through a scorecard that measures performance across a balanced range of measures. Performance is reported on a monthly basis to the Department’s Contact Centre Advisory Team and, each quarter, to the DWP Planning, Performance and Risk Committee. Performance is also monitored by the Contact Centre Performance Working Group whose remit is to: understand and improve performance; identify common performance pressure points, share good practice; and support common performance improvement initiatives.
In addition, each Business Unit employs a range of performance management measures and tools to monitor the effectiveness of its centres which, for example, include: real time and historic performance measurement; mystery shopping; and the reviewing of the performance of individual agents.
The Department also now reports on the performance of its contact centres to the Contact Council established following Sir David Varney’s recommendations in his report “Service transformation: A better service for citizens and businesses, a better deal for the taxpayer”.
Examples of measures currently reported into the DWP Contact Centre Scorecard and Cabinet Office are:
Percentage Demand Forecast Accuracy
Percentage Calls Answered by Agents
Percentage Service Level
Percentage Agent Utilisation
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