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25 Jan 2008 : Column 2270W—continued
Work and Pensions
Departmental Freedom of Information
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of Freedom of Information requests received by his Department have given rise to responses that have been published by his Department. [180214]
Mrs. McGuire: This Department has adopted a selective disclosure log whereby only the most interesting and high profile pieces of information released in response to Freedom of Information requests are published. In 2005 and 2006 around 1 per cent. of such responses were published on the Department’s web-based Freedom of Information disclosure log. The Department does however routinely publish large amounts of information on its website including policy documents and research, analysis and statistics.
Departmental Manpower
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of posts in his Department have been re-categorised from back office to frontline posts as classified by the Gershon efficiency review in each year since 2004. [172264]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions’ target for spending review 2004 is that 10,000 posts will be redeployed from back office to front line posts by March 2008. By March 2007 10,228 posts had been redeployed to the front line. The following table shows the breakdown by year:
| By March: | Number of posts redeployed | Proportion of total headcount redeployed (percentage) |
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether any of his Department’s special advisers also work for organisations outside his Department. [178474]
Mrs. McGuire: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract and Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Housing Benefit: Havering
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of local housing allowance in Havering on the most recent date for which figures are available. [181656]
Mr. Plaskitt: Nobody is being paid local housing allowance in the London borough of Havering; it has not yet been rolled-out to that borough.
Local housing allowance will roll-out nationally for all new claims in the deregulated private rented sector from 7 April 2008.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department will pay the award of current incapacity benefit and arrears from 3 April due to Mr. Hudspith of Christchurch following the decision of the Appeal Tribunal (Ref. 185/07/00866) on 14 November 2007; and what the reasons are for the time taken to make the payment. [173856]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 13 December 2007]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. Details of benefit claims are confidential so she will write to the hon. Member directly on the matter in question.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 25 January 2008:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking when the award of incapacity benefit arrears due to Mr Hudspith of Christchurch following the decision of the Appeal Tribunal (Ref. 85/07/00866) on 14 November and what the reasons are for the time taken to make the payment. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Details of benefit claims are confidential and I will write to you directly on the matter in question.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the claim for incapacity benefit by Mr. Bernard Pierce of Verwood, Dorset will be determined; and what the reason is for the time taken. [181135]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 22 January 2008]: 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.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 25 January 2008:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking when the claim for incapacity benefit by Mr. Bernard Pierce of Verwood Dorset will be determined and what the reason is for the time taken. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Details of benefit claims are confidential and I will write to you directly on the matter in question.
New Deal Schemes
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 11 December 2007, Official Report, column 467W, on new deal schemes, what employment-related schemes his Department provides for non-EU citizens. [177735]
Caroline Flint: All employment-related schemes are available to non-EU citizens subject to the participant meeting the eligibility criteria of the programme. For the new deals, this usually involves being in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
Pensions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that those eligible for having pensions restored following the collapse of company schemes are aware of their entitlement. [179725]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are two methods by which those who have lost their pensions might receive restoration of up to 90 per cent. of their loss. These are the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF) and the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).
Scheme trustees are responsible for informing scheme members where an approach to the PPF or the FAS is necessary. Both FAS and the PPF provide assistance to trustees with member communications. Both also have websites where scheme details are displayed.
The FAS Operational Unit (FAS OU) which is administered by the Department, contacts individual members once a scheme has been assessed and the trustees have provided the necessary information. Eligible scheme members receive a form and an explanatory leaflet about FAS. The FAS OU may also contact some members by telephone—for example where forms have not been returned and people might be missing out on assistance.
Following the Secretary of State’s announcement on 17 December extending FAS assistance, the Department has embarked on a programme of communication with trustees, is in the process of restructuring the FAS website, and updates the media regularly on progress.
Personal Accounts: Advisory Services
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to establish a strategy for providing advice and information on personal accounts. [178292]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information about personal accounts will be provided, as with other pension schemes, by the scheme itself. We are also considering what general information will be needed by all those auto-enrolled, whether into personal accounts or another pension scheme.
We already produce information on retirement planning, alongside a number of other organisations, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Pensions Advisory Service and the Financial Services Authority. We have a programme of research underway, the results of which will be published, to establish what more might be needed.
The Thoresen Review, and the Government’s action plan on financial capability, will assess the need to add to the services on offer. We will work with these and other organisations to ensure that a range of information and help is available to those who are making decisions about their retirement.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many benefits claimants were prosecuted for fraudulently claiming an amount (a) less and (b) more than £103,000 in each year since 1997; [181386]
(2) how many benefits claimants were imprisoned for fraudulently claiming an amount (a) less and (b) more than £103,000 in each year since 1997. [181387]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested as it is not centrally collated.
The Department does hold figures for the total number of prosecutions and the total number of people imprisoned, but these are not centrally available broken down by the amount of the overpayment and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Unemployment Benefits: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children in Peterborough constituency were living in a household in receipt of at least one out-of-work benefit in each year since 1997. [181556]
Mr. Plaskitt: Information is not available prior to 2004. The available information is in the following table.
| Children under 16 years of age living in households in receipt of out-of-work benefits in the Peterborough parliamentary constituency; as at April each year | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. All figures supplied have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. All data represent a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically. 3. Data represent children dependent on a parent or guardian who is claiming one or more of incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance, jobseeker’s allowance, income support or pension credit. 4. Due to the introduction of child tax credits in April 2003, information on child dependents are not reliably completed on the benefit computer system, therefore children’s data has been merged onto IS/JSA/IB/SDA/PC claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC. Source: DWP Information Directorate | |
Written Questions
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) when he expects to answer question 162357, tabled by the hon. Member for Hertsmere on 6 November 2007, on incapacity benefit claimants. [171135]
(2) when he expects to answer question 162358, tabled by the hon. Member for Hertsmere on 6 November, on incapacity benefit. [171148]
Mrs. McGuire: I replied to the hon. Member’s questions on 6 December 2007, Official Report, column 1505W.
Women and Equality
Females: Prisoners
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women what steps the Government has taken to reduce the number of women in prison since 1997. [164686]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 19 November 2007]: The Government launched the Women’s Offending Reduction Programme (WORP) in March 2004 to tackle women’s offending and to reduce the number of women in prison. This multi-agency strategic programme of work aims to provide a more appropriate response in the community to the particular factors that lead to women offending.
In March 2005, the Government allocated £9.15 million to help support a more local response to women’s offending and to establish new initiatives to tackle women’s offending in the community—the Together Women Programme. This is the first time that the Government have dedicated funds specifically to tackling women’s offending and to exploring how alternatives approaches to custody could work effectively for women.
The Together Women Programme is being delivered over four years through demonstration projects in two regional offender manager regions—Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West. Centres are located in Doncaster, Leeds and Bradford (YH) and Liverpool and Salford (NW). The centres provide a one-stop shop where women from the local community can access appropriate services and interventions such as mental, physical and sexual health, drug misuse, physical and sexual abuse, housing advice and debt and benefits service.
On 6 December 2007, the Government published its response to Baroness Corston’s Review of Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System. This sets out our commitment to build on the work already under way to meet the needs of women offenders and those at risk of offending in the community in order to divert women from custody.
Members’ Correspondence
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many letters her Office and its predecessors received from hon. Members and Peers in each session of Parliament since 1997. [174926]
Barbara Follett:
The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/peers correspondence. Information relating to 2007 will be published as soon as it has been collated. The report
for 2006 was published on 28 March 2007, Official Report, columns 101-04WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
Trade Unions
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what meetings she has had with officials of trades unions since 1 July 2007; and what the date and union or unions involved were in each case. [181011]
Barbara Follett: Ministers meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.
Electoral Commission Committee
Departmental ICT
Susan Kramer: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission how many (a) male and (b) female members of staff of the Electoral Commission were issued with personal digital assistants in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [181349]
Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that 23 male and 23 female members of staff have been issued with personal digital assistants since 2006, which was the first year such devices were used.
These figures are broken down as follows:
| Male | Female | |
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