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10 Mar 2008 : Column 17W—continued

Departmental Databases

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what databases are (a) owned and (b) maintained by (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies. [185355]

Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (Mrs. McGuire) gave the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), on 18 December 2007, Official Report, column 1420W.

Hacking

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the use of a hacking tool or other malicious software enabling departmental information to be (a) retrieved and (b) manipulated by a third party has been detected on a (i) network, (ii) computer or (iii) database within his Department’s responsibilities. [190339]

Mr. Timms: It is not in the interests of the UK’s national security for Departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks, and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK’s IT defences. This is not in the public interest.

Lone Parents: Welfare Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance and information his Department provides to lone parents on tax credit entitlement in the second year after returning to work. [190312]

Mr. Timms: Jobcentre Plus personal advisers give general advice about tax credits to lone parents who are considering work. They can also provide tax credit helpline telephone numbers and assist in the completion of tax credit forms.

10 Mar 2008 : Column 18W

Personal advisers can also conduct a ‘Better Off Calculation’ which provides written information for the customer including advice about in-work benefits, housing and council tax benefits, the job grant and free school meals, to enable customers to make an informed decision about entering work. Part of this calculation can include an estimate only of tax credit entitlement, based on the information that the customer provides. If the customer is able to provide a prediction of income and circumstances for their hypothetical second year of work, a ‘Better off Calculation’ could be conducted using this information.

Material Handling Equipment: Industrial Health and Safety

Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many incidents there were involving tower cranes toppling in each of the last five years; and in each case how many (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries resulted. [193136]

Mrs. McGuire: Reports made to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR), include a wider range of issues than incidents purely relating to toppling (i.e. collapsing) tower cranes, because they fall within the broader category of “failure, collapse or overturning of lifting machinery, excavator, pile driving, or Mobile Elevated Working Platform.” Similar difficulties arise with injury reports.

Accordingly, the figures for collapsing tower cranes are based on the best available data held by HSE's Construction Division, rather than wider RIDDOR information. The number of incidents includes Dangerous Occurrences; fatal accidents to workers and members of the public; and major injuries to workers.

Information is not available for 2002-03, but from 2003-04 to 2006-07 there have been 32 incidents involving tower cranes collapsing. A breakdown of these, showing the number of deaths (five) and major injuries (six) is given in the following table. (Figures for 2006-07 are provisional.)

Year (1 April to 31 March)	Number of incidents involving tower crane collapses	Number of deaths	Number of major injuries
2002-03	n/a	n/a	n/a
2003-04	6	0	2
2004-05	3	2	3
2005-06	11	0	0
2006-07 (provisional)	12	3	1
n/a = No information available

National Insurance: Databases

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanisms are in place in his Department to identify inappropriate searches of the national insurance number database. [189292]

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Mr. Timms: Departmental employees are required to observe the Department's standards of behaviour policy which makes clear that they may only access information where they have a business reason to do so. Employees are advised of these rules on appointment, and regularly reminded of their responsibilities. The Department takes very seriously its statutory obligations in relation to personal data, and takes disciplinary action where employee behaviour falls short of the expected standards.

The Department's customer information system (CIS) is the database that records personal details for everyone with a national insurance number. Access to CIS by departmental users is strictly controlled, and based on business need and particular user roles.

Specific mechanisms to identify inappropriate searches include random and targeted system-generated management checks, and electronic audit trails which are routinely applied in order to identify inappropriate use.

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New Deal Schemes

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants have taken part in the (a) New Deal for Young People, (b) New Deal 25 Plus, (c) New Deal 50 Plus, (d) New Deal for Lone Parents, (e) New Deal for Disabled People and (f) New Deal for Partners in each month since each such programme was established. [190579]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 29 February 2008]: The available information is in the following table.

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New deal participants (cumulative)
Month	New deal for young people	New deal 25 plus	New deal 50 plus	New deal for lone parents	New deal for partners	New deal for disabled people
1998
July	102,490	—	—	—	—	—
August	112,800	—	—	—	—	—
September	120,060	—	—	—	—	—
October	126,100	—	—	—	—	—
November	129,950	—	—	10,820	—	—
December	133,140	—	—	13,070	—	—
1999
January	138,510	—	—	19,390	—	—
February	141,780	—	—	27,240	—	—
March	144,550	—	—	35,560	—	—
April	145,580		—	39,990	—	—
May	145,750	—	—	42,490	—	—
June	144,440	—	—	43,680	—	—
July	146,020	—	—	45,350	—	—
August	143,590	—	—	46,350	—	—
September	138,090	—	—	50,220	—	—
October	131,400	—	—	54,770	—	—
November	126,840	—	—	56,200	—	—
December	127,740	—	—	51,650	—	—
2000
January	129,520	—	—	53,230	—	—
February	128,780	—	—	56,700	—	—
March	128,410	—	—	60,410	—	—
April	127,150	—	—	61,750	—	—
May	126,170	—	—	62,800	—	—
June	122,610	—	—	63,450	—	—
July	122,050	—	—	63,430	—	—
August	119,420	—	—	62,820	—	—
September	111,480	—	—	65,580	—	—
October	106,500	—	—	65,930	—	—
November	103,160	—	—	64,530	—	—
December	103,890	—	—	60,670	—	—
2001
January	105,900	—	—	61,580	—	—
February	104,750	—	—	62,570	—	—
March	103,630	1,550	—	63,390	—	—
April	103,040	10,580	—	61,760	—	—
May	102,400	18,940	—	60,890	—	—
June	99,640	27,520	—	60,670	—	—
July	100,310	33,610	—	60,460	—	1,530
August	98,030	40,660	—	60,530	—	2,880
September	94,830	45,230	—	62,130	—	3,810
October	91,710	48,870	—	60,480	—	4,830
November	89,520	53,330	—	61,220	—	6,570
December	90,650	56,420	—	59,250	—	7,410
2002
January	92,560	57,550	—	61,790	—	8,800
February	94,480	57,870	—	65,100	—	10,680
March	96,290	58,220	—	68,930	—	13,080
April	97,290	58,430	—	69,760	—	15,320
May	98,230	59,100	—	72,920	—	18,190
June	96,520	59,020	—	74,670	—	20,010
July	97,860	59,020	—	76,100	—	22,250
August	96,240	58,990	—	76,350	—	24,770
September	92,650	58,240	—	81,450	—	27,120
October	90,080	62,080	—	82,430	—	29,500
November	87,680	64,510	—	81,460	—	32,070
December	89,020	65,880	—	77,450	—	32,960
2003
January	92,620	65,960	—	79,070	—	34,950
February	93,040	65,310	—	80,720	—	37,250
March	94,620	64,390	—	81,830	—	39,550
April	94,610	64,410	—	82,170	—	41,110
May	95,340	64,220	—	82,600	—	42,890
June	94,560	63,160	—	84,250	—	45,010
July	96,620	62,160	—	84,550	—	47,260
August	95,910	61,270	—	84,700	—	49,300
September	92,880	60,160	—	88,170	—	51,630
October	89,210	59,110	—	90,300	—	53,980
November	87,580	58,150	—	89,900	—	55,440
December	88,460	58,150	—	85,800	—	56,100
2004
January	90,750	57,350	4,040	86,960	—	57,960
February	90,590	56,620	7,140	89,030	—	60,140
March	90,980	55,560	10,580	89,890	—	62,540
April	90,620	54,910	13,100	88,720	90	65,450
May	90,260	54,850	15,460	87,610	320	68,680
June	88,100	54,570	17,730	85,610	470	71,630
July	88,170	54,610	20,620	82,540	680	75,870
August	86,820	55,440	23,140	80,300	840	78,840
September	83,160	55,210	25,390	80,260	1,010	82,140
October	79,210	54,810	28,520	80,940	1,240	85,930
November	78,020	54,910	30,520	79,160	1,440	88,680
December	79,150	55,850	32,360	72,580	1,530	89,820
2005
January	80,950	55,730	34,180	73,900	1,680	92,310
February	81,870	55,820	36,200	74,520	1,840	95,480
March	82,990	55,200	37,950	73,930	2,010	98,210
April	84,380	54,270	39,880	72,900	2,210	101,720
May	85,240	53,810	41,390	70,620	2,310	104,240
June	83,960	53,310	42,660	68,630	2,400	106,440
July	86,610	52,160	44,290	66,980	2,490	109,570
August	87,160	51,600	45,460	65,680	2,480	112,330
September	84,600	50,350	46,840	68,230	2,580	116,210
October	82,860	49,420	47,950	68,250	2,610	119,380
November	82,180	48,930	49,280	67,210	2,650	122,450
December	84,360	49,260	50,350	62,570	2,650	123,720
2006
January	87,750	49,070	51,300	63,340	2,690	126,920
February	89,420	49,270	52,150	64,470	2,790	130,840
March	92,780	49,190	53,150	63,990	2,930	134,990
April	94,570	49,250	53,680	61,420	2,990	138,080
May	96,760	49,790	54,510	59,290	3,050	141,160
June	96,090	50,070	55,280	57,870	3,090	144,570
July	98,400	50,480	55,880	55,880	3,120	148,050
August	98,320	51,350	56,350	54,090	3,170	152,080
September	93,830	51,830	56,900	54,100	3,230	157,150
October	90,970	53,130	57,190	53,560	3,290	161,210
November	89,040	54,580	57,610	52,970	3,340	164,730
December	89,930	56,990	57,870	50,290	3,420	167,050
2007
January	92,850	58,190	58,400	53,010	3,490	171,300
February	92,520	59,290	58,900	57,640	3,620	175,270
March	93,350	59,760	59,240	60,950	3,750	179,840
April	91,570	59,990	59,460	61,350	3,790	183,270
May	90,120	60,340	59,490	64,410	3,820	186,170
Notes: 1. Programme start dates are: New Deal for Young People: April 1998 (piloted from January 1998); New Deal 25 plus: July 1998; New Deal for Lone Parents: October 1998; New Deal for Partners: April 1999; New Deal 50 plus: April 2000; New Deal for Disabled People: July 2001. 2. Participant information for each new deal is only available from the dates given in the table. 3. Data are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DWP Information Directorate

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