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19 Mar 2008 : Column 1162W—continued
Pupils: Absenteeism
Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children were missing from education in the area covered by Derby City Education Authority in the last school year, broken down by (a) school, (b) sex and (c) ethnicity. [194807]
Kevin Brennan: The Government are deeply concerned about any child or young person who is missing from education. That is why we introduced a new statutory duty in February 2007 for local authorities to put robust systems in place to identify any child not receiving a suitable education, and provided guidance on how to implement this duty.
We do not collect nationally the data my hon. Friend has asked for but my Department has recently asked a number of local authorities to provide a snapshot of the number of children known to be not receiving a suitable education. Derby city council was one of these local authorities and the information it provided indicated that there were 121 children identified as not being in receipt of a suitable education, as of 6 March 2008.
Schools: Rural Areas
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of the change in the frequency of personal travel and car usage in rural areas resulting from the closure of rural schools. [187441]
Jim Knight: The Department does not collect data on personal travel and car usage in rural areas.
When considering proposals to close a rural school the local authority or schools adjudicator, whichever is the decision maker, must have regard to statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State. The guidance makes clear that the decision maker must have regard to the presumption against closing rural schools and must take account of several other factors in coming to a decision, including the length and nature of journeys to alternative provision and the impact on the community.
In the 10 years since 1998, when the Government introduced the presumption against closing rural schools, the number of rural schools closing each year is as follows:
| Number | |
| Note: The figures show actual school closures and not amalgamations such as infant and junior schools coming together to form a primary school. | |
Local authorities are under a duty to ensure that suitable home to school travel arrangements are made, where necessary, to facilitate a child’s attendance at school. In the Department’s view, arrangements could not be considered suitable where they resulted in an unreasonably long journey time.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he will answer Question 182839 on bullying in his Department and its agencies tabled by the hon. Member for Fareham on 23 January 2008. [193351]
Kevin Brennan: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 12 March 2008, Official Report, column 406W.
Work and Pensions
Departmental Property
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department on renovation and refurbishment of its properties in each of the last five years. [164363]
Mrs. McGuire: The information requested is provided in the following table and includes the properties used for delivery of benefits and employment support across the country.
The figures shown include the nationwide rollout of the new Jobcentre Plus network, as well as other major departmental initiatives in The Pension Service and Debt Management.
| Expenditure (£ million) | |
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) central departmental and (b) Jobcentre Plus employees who are off work because of (i) stress, (ii) depression and (iii) other mental health conditions. [189872]
Mrs. McGuire: DWP, in common with other Government Departments, records sickness absences against a list of standard definitions. Absences attributed to stress, depression and other mental health conditions are recorded under the single category of “Depression, anxiety and other mental health issues”.
The following table shows the number of employees in our departmental centre and Jobcentre Plus who, according to current data held on the personnel
computer system, were off work for reasons attributed to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues on 31 January 2008.
The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to reducing sickness absences caused by depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. Our approach is to support employees, for example by providing access to professional stress counselling, and to use qualified occupational health advice to help them return to work when they do take sick leave.
| Business | Number of staff | As percentage of total staff in that Business |
Departmental Travel
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department and its agencies spent on first class travel in the last 12 months for which figures are available, broken down by staff grade. [187657]
Mrs. McGuire: All travel arrangements in DWP and in the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive (HSC/E), which it sponsors, are made in the most efficient and cost effective way through our contracted suppliers. All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the DWP Business Travel Policy and Expenses Guidance which is available to its staff on DWP’s intranet site. HSC/E’s arrangements and equivalent guidance is available to its staff on its intranet site.
The information requested on expenditure on first class travel is provided in the following table. Information on expenditure by staff grade is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Spend on first class travel (January 2007 to January 2008) | |
| £ | |
Eurostar
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department and its agencies spent on (a) first and (b) second class travel by Eurostar in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [187739]
Mrs. McGuire: All travel arrangements in DWP and in the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive (HSC/E), which it sponsors, are made in the most efficient and cost effective way through contracted suppliers. All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the DWP Business Travel Policy and Expenses Guidance which is available to all DWP staff on its intranet site. HSC/E’s arrangements and equivalent guidance is available to its staff on its intranet site.
The information requested on expenditure on first and standard class travel by Eurostar in the last 12 months is provided in the table as follows.
| Spend on Eurostar (January 2007 to January 2008) | |||
| £ | |||
| First Class | Standard Class | Total | |
Pensions
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the likely net cost of restoring the link between pensions and earnings in April 2008 in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11, (d) 2011-12, (e) 2020-21, (f) 2025-26 and (g) 2030-31. [172164]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information is in the following table.
| Net additional cost of increasing the basic state pension by earnings from 2008, £ billion, 2007-08 prices | |||||||
| (a) 2008-09 | (b) 2009-10 | (c) 2010-11 | (d) 2011-12 | (e) 2020-21 | (f) 2025-26 | (g) 2030-31 | |
| Notes: 1. Estimates are additional to the baseline assumption of increasing the basic state pension by earnings from 2012. 2. Estimates are presented in net terms reflecting that the estimated savings from reduced income related benefit payments (pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit) have been deducted. The proportions of additional expenditure saved through reduced income related benefit payments have been estimated using the Department’s policy simulation model and are assumed to remain constant over time. 3. In the financial years up to and including 2013-14 Treasury economic assumptions consistent with Budget 2008 have been used to model earnings uprating. After this point a long term earnings growth assumption of 4.93 per cent. has been applied. 4. Estimates are in 2007-08 prices and have been rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion. Source: DWP modelling | |||||||
Social Security Benefits: Publicity
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding his Department allocated to campaigns to promote benefit take-up in each year for which figures are available. [192818]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department runs a number of promotional campaigns to promote benefit take-up each year. The following table details spend on marketing campaigns run by the Department in each of the last six complete financial years, for which figures are available.
The Department's main focus for working age customers is to promote work as the best route out of poverty, with benefits as a support for those who cannot work, and for people in the process of seeking work.
The Department was formed on 8 June 2001 from parts of the former Department for Social Security, the former Department for Education and Employment, and the Employment Service. Information prior to 2001 is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
| Departmental marketing costs | |
| (£000) | |
| (1 )The main objective of The Pension Service awareness campaign was to promote awareness and take up of pension credit. Notes 1. The figures provided in the table include costs relating to the delivery of advertising and marketing campaigns for example production, media, distribution and agency costs. 2. All figures are exclusive of VAT. | |
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