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29 Jan 2008 : Column 191W—continued
Leader of the House
Members: Allowances
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2008, Official Report, column 511W, on Members: allowances, what rules in the Green Book apply to claims against the additional cost allowance for the costs of local authority charges for the collection of household rubbish; and if she will make a statement. [182201]
Helen Goodman: The rules in the Green Book allow hon. Members to stay overnight away from home in order to perform their parliamentary duties for which appropriate costs are reimbursed.
The Members Estimate Committee will review the Green Book in the light of the debate on Members' pay, pensions and allowances on 24 January 2008. Powers in the Climate Change Bill for local authorities to pilot waste incentive schemes for domestic waste are not yet in use. Consequently, no such claims have been received or paid. However, if charges are introduced as part of such schemes, the House will review whether it is appropriate to reimburse waste charges incurred by Members, given their purpose to act as a financial incentive to increase recycling and reduce the total amount of waste or whether, as with the congestion charge, Members are required to make all payments themselves.
Work and Pensions
Community Care: Finance
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding has been available for community care grants nationally in each year since 1997. [183138]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is in the following table.
Housing Benefit
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of housing benefit in each local authority in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available. [180615]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information for Great Britain has been placed in the Library. Information regarding Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Incapacity Benefit: Appeals
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to maintain levels of (a) income support and (b) jobseekers allowance of those recipients of such benefits who have lodged appeals against the removal of incapacity benefit. [182344]
Mr. Plaskitt: Incapacity benefit claimants found capable of work and who appeal the decision may either claim jobseeker's allowance, which is paid at the full personal allowance rate but minus any disability premiums, unless they qualify for those premiums on alternative grounds; or claim income support, but at a reduced rate. If on appeal the decision is overturned, benefit will be restored in full from the appropriate date.
We currently have no plans to change these rules.
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals against incapacity benefit removal were made in each year since 2003; what proportion of such appeals were successful; and how much income support or jobseekers allowance was not paid to appellants who were subsequently successful. [182372]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
From April 2003 until March 2007 261,660 appeals have been received by the Appeal Tribunal against decisions not to award incapacity benefit. 92,977 of the appeal outcomes were in favour of the appellant.
| Incapacity benefit (all cases) | |||
| Received | Cleared in favour | ||
Figures for the amount of income support and jobseeker’s allowance not paid to appellants who were subsequently successful are not held by the Department for Work and Pensions because it is not possible to cross-reference incapacity benefit (IB) appeals with the data on income support (IS) and jobseekers allowance (JSA) recipients. To provide a figure the Department for Work and Pensions would need to identify which IB appellants subsequently claimed IS and JSA and they are unable to do this with the data they hold.
Local Housing Allowance
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support local housing allowance recipients without bank accounts will receive after April 2008. [178603]
Mr. Plaskitt: The evaluation evidence from the Local Housing Allowance Pathfinders showed clearly that money advice services provided by local authorities were working well. With help from local authorities, and partners such as welfare organisations, credit unions and banks themselves, around 96 per cent. of customers in Pathfinder areas now have a bank or building society account.
The evaluation evidence also shows that around a quarter of customers in Pathfinder areas said that they opened the account so that they could receive payment of the housing allowance. We are sharing the lessons learnt through the Pathfinders during national rollout to help those without access to a bank account to open one.
We are also encouraging local authorities to ensure that payment facilities are available for the small proportion of customers who cannot open a bank account.
The Department for Work and Pensions is leading a campaign to help financially excluded people access free money advice. The “Now Let's Talk Money” campaign will direct them to suitable bank accounts, local trusted sources of affordable credit and confidential advice.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether recipients of local housing allowance will be able to receive payments into post office card accounts after April 2008; and if he will make a statement. [178604]
Mr. Plaskitt: No. The Post Office card account does not have the facility to receive any deposits other than a state benefit.
National Insurance: Foreigners
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were issued to foreign nationals in each local authority area since 1 January 2004. [162346]
Mr. Plaskitt: Information is not available prior to 2005-06. The available information has been placed in the Library.
National Insurance: Immigrants
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions his Department has checked the immigration status of applicants for national insurance numbers since 2006; and how many applications were refused as a result. [166516]
Mr. Plaskitt: Applications for national insurance numbers for employment purposes have automatically been subject to a proof of right to work check since July 2006.
Management information shows that between July 2006 and 30 November 2007 8,643 such applications were refused on the basis of not satisfying the right to work requirement. Details of these cases have been passed to the Border and Immigration Agency.
Pensioners
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK citizens who reached state retirement age and had never been employed in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available. [181633]
Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, 29 January 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply your parliamentary question on the proportion of UK citizens who reached state retirement age and had never been employed in the UK. (181633)
According to the labour force survey (LFS) for the three months ending November 2007, it is estimated that 400,000, or 3 per cent. of the 11 million UK nationals living in the UK who were at, or over, retirement age, had never worked.
The LFS estimates at this detailed level are only consistent with the UK population estimates published in February and March 2003 and they do not incorporate the more recent population estimates that are used in the monthly Labour Market First Release
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of single mothers receiving (a) child support and (b) housing in Romford; and if he will make a statement. [181692]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.
Unemployment: Young People
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged (a) 16 to 18 and (b) 18 to 24 years were unemployed on (i) 1 May 1997 and (ii) the most recent date for which figures are available. [181650]
Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, 21 January 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply your parliamentary question on how many people aged (a) 16 to 18 and (b) 18 to 24 years were unemployed (i) on 1 May 1997 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available, (181650) The information in the following table is from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and is the closest match to your request using published statistics. The data are seasonally adjusted and weighted to the most recently published UK population estimates.
| Number of people unemployed | ||
| Thousand | ||
| Three months ending May 1997 | Three months ending November 2007 | |
Seasonally adjusted estimates of International Labour Organisation unemployment levels and rates by age are published each month in the labour market statistics first release. Please visit the following link:
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
Transport
Aviation: Noise
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department has spent on the Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources report on aircraft noise. [174319]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The cost of the ANASE project was £1,401,517.60.
Aviation: Security
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the aviation security summit referred to by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State the hon. Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick) in the Westminster Hall debate on 10 July 2007, Official Report, column 366WH, took place; what conclusions were reached at the summit; and if she will make a statement. [180077]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The summit was hosted by the Secretary of State on 19 July 2007 and was attended by senior representatives from the aviation industry. The main conclusions from the summit were that Government and industry should work together to ensure passengers arriving at airports last summer were better prepared and to consider how the one bag restriction can be lifted without compromising security.
Bus Services: Concessions
Mr. Jeremy Browne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what the total estimated cost of providing the national free concessionary bus pass
scheme for pensioners in the Taunton Deane area was in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008 to date; and what the actual costs were in each of these years; [182393]
(2) how much has been allocated to Taunton Deane Borough Council to fund national free concessionary bus travel scheme for pensioners in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008 to date; and what percentage of that cost was provided by Central Government. [182395]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 25 January 2008]: Funding for concessionary travel is part of a block within Revenue Support Grant (RSG), so it is not possible to disaggregate information for the allocation of it to individual Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) in 2005, 2006 and 2007. For the extra cost of the all-England bus concession from April 2008 an additional £212 million will be paid directly to TCAs in England by special grant, rising to £217 million in 2009-10 and £223 million in 2010-11. In the provisional distribution of the grant in 2008-09 Taunton Deane borough council would receive £0.388 million through the special grant. This is in addition to their existing concessionary fares funding through RSG and represents an increase of 33 per cent. on the amount they spent on concessionary fares in 2006-07.
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