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26 Mar 2008 : Column 177W—continued
Work and Pensions
Child Support Agency: Payments
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals received consolatory payments from (a) his Department, (b) the Child Support Agency, (c) Jobcentre or Jobcentre Plus, (d) the Disability and Carers Service, (e) the Pension Service, (f) the Rent Service and (g) the Debt Management Service in each year since 1997; what the average value of payments made in each year was; and how much was paid in consolatory payments in each year in each case. [185931]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
| Consolatory payments made by DWP | ||
| Total value of payments (rounded to nearest £000) | Number of individual awards made( 1) | |
Departmental Disclosure of Information
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action has been taken in response to allegations of a breach of the Civil Service Code in respect of unauthorised publication of material on the internet by a member of his Department; what the cost to the public purse of this action has been; what the results were; and if he will make a statement. [196178]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department takes any allegation of a breach of the civil service code seriously. It would be inappropriate to comment on any investigation or disciplinary procedure.
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) mobile telephones, (b) personal digital assistants and (c) laptop computers issued to departmental staff were reported (i) lost, (ii) missing and (iii) stolen in each year since 2001. [184318]
Mrs. McGuire: The following table shows the numbers of (a) mobile telephones (b) personal digital assistants (PDAs), and (c) laptop computers which were issued to departmental staff and were reported as stolen, lost, or missing (presumed to be stolen) since 2001, together with the average number of staff in each year. The records do not differentiate between those items which were reported as lost, stolen or missing, respectively.
| Total number of staff | Mobile phones | PDAs | Laptops | |
| (1 )Figure relates to the former Department of Social Security only. | ||||
Employment: Rural Areas
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the proposals contained in the Green Paper, In Work Better Off: Next steps to full employment on rural communities; by what process such an assessment was reached; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that rural communities receive in equitable benefit from the implementation of any proposals arising out of the Green Paper. [192824]
Mr. Timms: Most Department of Work and Pensions policies and programmes are aimed at individuals, with eligibility dependent on personal circumstances rather than where they live. This means that even without specific targeting the help provided by the Department is concentrated in areas facing labour market disadvantage. Over the last ten years, the biggest labour market improvements have been in the areas that started in the worst position.
In addition to national programmes there is also a range of locally flexible support, such as the Jobcentre Plus Adviser Discretion Fund, the Deprived Areas Fund and the new Working Neighbourhoods Fund.
When determining how to deliver its services, Jobcentre Plus also considers the implications for rural and other areas. For example, support is provided not only through the Jobcentre network but also by telephone through the Contact Centre and Benefit Delivery Centre network as well as the internet. This allows all customers to access key services regardless of where they live. Where there are issues about the ability of customers to access Jobcentre Plus support, provision can be made for additional or more flexible arrangements. These include the installation of jobpoints in libraries, surgeries in third party premises, partnering in local authority outlets and, where practical, some mobile services.
Taken together, the Department's approach helps to ensure that individuals in deprived communities across the country are able to get the help and support they need to move back into work. However, our new generation of employment programmes, including Pathways to Work and the flexible New Deal, will offer further scope for provision to be tailored to the needs of individuals in different geographical locations and those facing particular labour market challenges.
On 13 December 2007, we published ‘Ready for work: full employment in our generation’ which sets out the measures the Government will take to reach the goals of an 80 per cent. employment rate and working people with world class skills. The paper responds to the ‘In work, better off’ consultation exercise which ran from July to October 2007. A full assessment of the effects of those measures will be carried out as part of post-implementation evaluation.
A key feature of the measures is the need to provide more flexible, responsive and individually focused employment and skills support. For example, by extending our use of private and voluntary sector organisations we will be making use of their knowledge of the challenges faced by particular groups or localities. They will be able to provide the right kind of support to individuals based on their particular circumstances, which could include issues related to where they live. Each contract will be evaluated as to its effectiveness throughout the duration of that contract.
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