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5 Mar 2008 : Column 2616W—continued
Unemployment
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2008, Official Report, column 1124W, on unemployment, what the equivalent figures were for 1997. [190913]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 29 February 2008]: The available information is in the following table.
Winter Fuel Payments
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons residents of care homes are considered ineligible for the winter fuel allowance. [183642]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Residents of care homes who are not in receipt of pension credit are entitled to a shared winter fuel payment of either £100 if they are aged 60-79 or £150 if they are aged 80 or over. This is because they share the accommodation with other people who are also entitled to the payment and are responsible for a share of the heating costs.
Residents of care homes who are in receipt of pension credit are not entitled to a winter fuel payment. This is because historically people living in a care home and in receipt of an income-related benefit have received public funding for their care and accommodation costs including heating. Originally this was through the income-related benefit itself but for many years now has been through funding from the local authority. This is still the case for the vast majority of residents of care homes receiving pension credit and therefore the winter fuel payment is not payable in these cases.
Winter Fuel Payments: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received a winter fuel payment in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford and (b) the London Borough of Bexley in the most recent period for which figures are available. [189350]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In winter 2006-07, 17,500 people in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and 44,800 people in the London borough of Bexley received a winter fuel payment. We expect the numbers to be similar for this winter.
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
Source:
Information directorate 100 per cent. data.
Winter Fuel Payments: Inflation
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will link the winter fuel payment to the rate of inflation. [189021]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The winter fuel payment provides a significant contribution to an older person’s winter fuel bill. The payment has increased significantly since
its introduction, rising from £20 to £200 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £300 for households with someone aged 80 or over. We currently have no plans to link the payment to the rate of inflation although we keep these issues under consideration.
Winter Fuel Payments: Stockton-on-Tees
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners received the £200 winter fuel payment in Stockton South constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available. [189330]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: A £200 winter fuel payment is paid to a person aged 60 or over living at home (£100 if they share a home with someone else eligible for a winter fuel payment—this may be a spouse, partner, sibling or friend). £300 is payable to a person aged 80 or over (£150 if they share a home with another eligible person).
In winter 2006-07, a total of 17,790 people in the Stockton, South constituency received a winter fuel payment. We expect the number to be similar for this winter.
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
Source:
Information directorate 100 per cent. data.
Justice
Broadmoor Prison: Day Release
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review the effectiveness of the operation of the day release system at Broadmoor Prison in light of the reconviction of Shaun Jarvis for crimes committed while on day release. [189062]
Mr. Hanson: The hon. Member is referring to Dartmoor prison.
The Release on Temporary Licence system (Maintain Family Ties—ROTL), at Dartmoor operates under Prison Service Order 6300. This provides release on temporary licence to certain prisoners. It gives guidance and describes the mandatory actions required to progress a prisoner’s resettlement/rehabilitation needs, whilst at the same time minimising any risk to the public. The PSO is a national document which provides the only means by which a prisoner can be released while in custody.
A prisoner is only released on ROTL following a thorough risk assessment undertaken by a specially convened Board which examines the risks posed as was the case at Dartmoor.
The Governor and Area Manager are satisfied that the arrangements in place for day release are robust. As evidence of this there was only one Temporary Licence Failure out of over 4800 licences issued by HMP Dartmoor in 2007.
Community Legal Service: Contracts
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many firms of solicitors held community legal services contracts for the supply of criminal law advice and representation in the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [191337]
Maria Eagle: Contracts for the supply of criminal law advice and representation are held with the Criminal Defence Service (CDS). The CDS contracts with solicitors’ offices rather than firms, and a firm may have more than one office. 2,223 took up new contracts to supply such services with effect from 14 January 2008, after the latest round of tendering.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many firms of solicitors held community legal services contracts to supply criminal law advice and representation in 2005. [191338]
Maria Eagle: Contracts for the supply of criminal law advice and representation are held with the Criminal Defence Service (CDS). The CDS contracts with solicitors’ offices rather than firms, and a firm may have more than one office. 2,643 held such contracts to supply criminal law advice and representation as at 31 March 2005.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of his Department's civil servants have been (a) suspended and (b) dismissed for accessing (i) obscene and (ii) other prohibited material on work computers in each of the last five years. [188788]
Maria Eagle: The ex-DCA does not hold the information centrally in the format requested. This could be obtained at only disproportionate cost. A system has recently been put in place to record such information. It is in the process of being updated, but from October 2007 to date, there have been no dismissals for IT mis-use.
For NOMS and OCJR, there have no suspensions or dismissals on either ground in the period January 2005 to date. Prior to this the information was not held centrally in the format requested, and could be obtained at only disproportionate cost.
For the Prison Service, the information on suspensions is not held centrally and could be provided at only disproportionate cost.
According to centrally held records, 13 staff were dismissed for inappropriate use of Prison Service IT between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2007. A breakdown of these dismissals, for each of the last five financial years, is provided in the following table:
| Number of dismissals | |
Departmental Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many regulatory impact assessments his Department has conducted in the last 12 months. [191265]
Maria Eagle: Information on the final regulatory impact assessments published between 1 January and 30 June 2007 can be found in Command Paper 7297 available at:
For the period covered by the Command Paper, the department published seventeen impact assessments. The hon. Member will find these under the entry for the former Department for Constitutional Affairs. Departments are in the process of identifying the final impact assessments published between 1 July and 31 December 2007. From April 2008, all final impact assessment will be published on a central website.
I have included in my answer a table of the final impact assessments published in the Command Paper, and for completeness the partial impact assessments published by this Department since its creation on 9 May 2007. This does include both regulatory impact assessments and impact assessments developed initially by the Department for Constitutional Affairs but which the Ministry of Justice has carried forward.
| Regulatory impact assessments | Web address | Dated published: |
|
Local Land Charge Fees: Guidance for registering authorities on setting fees for local land charge services in England | ||
|
Increasing penalties for deliberate and wilful misuse of personal data |
http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/misuse_data/Regulatory-Impact-Assessment.pdf | |
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
Access by Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) to Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) records |
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | |
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-1.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | ||
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http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | ||
|
Statutory one year review of juvenile Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) |
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | |
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | ||
|
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/regulatory-impact-assess-2.pdf | ||
|
Partial Impact Assessments published with consultation papers | ||
|
Draft Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2007 | ||
|
Part 46 of the Civil Procedure Rules: Fast Track Trial Costs | ||
|
Cost Recovery in Pro Bono Assisted Cases. Proposals for Primary Legislation | ||
|
Case Tracks Limits and the Claims Process for Personal Injury Claims | ||
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Confidence and Confidentiality: Openness in Family Courts a new approach. | ||
|
Conditional Fee Agreements in Publication Proceedings: Success Fees and After the Event Insurance | ||
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The Debt Claim Process: Helping people in debt to engage with the problem, | ||
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Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Code of Practice and Regulations | ||
|
Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 -Relevant Third Party | ||
| (1) 2007 Impact assessment development led by DH with MoJ support. (2) A joint consultation with Communities and Local Government, but impact assessment developed by MoJ. (3) A supplement to the original regulatory impact assessment accompany the bill was published in June 2007. | ||
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