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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1830W—continued
Children: Poverty
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons children seeking asylum are not included in the Government’s target to eradicate child poverty in the UK by 2020. [197412]
Mr. Timms: The target to eradicate child poverty does not exclude children of asylum seekers. Children of asylum seekers are already included in the child poverty statistics and therefore in the target unless they live in households that have been resident in the UK for less than six months or live in communal addresses such as hostels, hotels and boarding houses.
Departmental Alcoholic Drinks
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at how many events held by his Department (a) wine and (b) Fairtrade wine were served in the last three years; and what assessment his Department has made of the merits of serving Fairtrade wine at future events. [196940]
Mrs. McGuire: No central records are held on when wine has been served at events held by DWP and these could only be obtained at disproportional cost.
In accordance with Government policy the Department is committed to fair trade and ethical supply routes. Where practicable, the Department aims to purchase sustainable produce for sale on departmental premises and for receptions and meetings wherever these meet our business requirements and give at least as good value for money. The Department is working with its facilities management contractor who provide where premises allow, in house catering services, on the feasibility of introducing a target to increase the supply of Fair Trade goods.
Departmental Data Protection
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2007, Official Report, column 1349W, on departmental data protection, in what circumstances transfers of data take place under statutory gateways; which information transfers fall (a) within and (b) outside the statutory gateway; and if he will place in the Library copies of the memorandums of understanding, partnership agreements and codes of practice which set out the relationship between it and HM Revenue and Customs. [173277]
Mr. Timms: Transfers of personal data in bulk between the Department for Work and Pensions and other departments or organisations takes place only under and in compliance with the relevant statutory gateways, for example those contained in sections 121E to 123 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
In addition the Department on occasions discloses personal data on a case-by-case basis relying on common law powers, for example to the police for the prevention and detection of crime.
All bulk transfers and individual disclosures of personal data are made in accordance with the Data Protection Act and within the terms of the Department's formal registration under the Act.
The following copies of agreements between the Department and HM Revenue and Customs have been placed in the Library:
1. Working Level Agreement between the relevant Government Departments involved in the administration and distribution of Healthy Start vouchers to eligible recipients in the United Kingdom.
2. Service Level Agreement for the Job Outcome Targets (JOT) project.
3. Partnership Agreement for the referral and investigation of suspected benefit and tax credit fraud cases.
Departmental Leaflets
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of each public information leaflet issued by his Department. [195768]
Mrs. McGuire: We are arranging for copies of the current versions of all the Department’s public information leaflets to be placed in the Library.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on, (a) pensions-related, (b) retirement benefit and (c) other benefit-related leaflets in each of the last 10 years. [195771]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions began a complete review of all its public facing leaflets during 2006. This initiative has reduced the number of leaflets published by the Department from 178 in June 2006 to just 66 today.
The Department also procured, from July 2007, a single supplier for its print and associated services which, amongst other things, will enable us to capture the costs of producing material for the public in the future.
The review of all the Department’s leaflets, coupled with the change of supplier means that identifying and obtaining the costs of all the material published prior to July 2007 could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Legislation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criminal offences have been created by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since July 2007. [198286]
Mr. Timms: S43 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 not yet in force, will make it an offence for a local authority employee to make an unauthorised disclosure of benefit information obtained under S42 of the same Act.
No other new offences have been created by primary legislation sponsored by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since July 2007.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criminal offences have been abolished by primary legislation sponsored by his Department and its predecessors since May 1997. [198318]
Mr. Timms: No offences have been repealed/abolished by primary legislation sponsored by the DWP since May 1997.
Departmental Manpower
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people each of his Department’s executive agencies employed in each of the last five years. [198352]
Mrs. McGuire: Information on the number of staff employed by the Department for Work and Pensions’ Executive agencies as at the end of March each year is set out in the following table.
| Headcount | |||||
| Agency | |||||
| March each year | Jobcentre Plus | Pensions Service | Disability and Carers | Child Support | The Rent Service |
| Note: The Rent Service joined DWP in 2004-05. | |||||
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers in his Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months. [193540]
Mrs. McGuire: During 2007-08, the Department employed an average of 116,000 staff. The total cost of their overnight accommodation when on official business was as follows for the 12 months from March 2007 to February 2008.
| £ | |
Information on overnight accommodation in Great Britain is not recorded separately for Ministers or special advisers and is included in the aforementioned table. This does not include accommodation costs for overseas visits by Ministers and special advisers, as this information is invoiced and paid for separately and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publications
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance is issued to members of his Department on the authorship and publication on the internet of material relating to their official duties; and if he will make a statement. [196752]
Mrs. McGuire: The Civil Service Code, the Civil Service Management Code and Propriety Guidance on Government Communications, all provide guidance to staff on the publication of material relating to their official duties. Copies of each of these are in the Libraries of the House. They are also available on the Cabinet Office website at:
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working days were lost by his Department due to stress-related illness in each of the last 24 months. [198933]
Mrs. McGuire: DWP, in common with other Government Departments, records sickness absences against a list of standard definitions. Stress related absences are recorded under the single category of “depression, anxiety and other mental health issues”.
The following table shows the number of working days lost due to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues in each month since April 2007, as recorded on the Department's personnel computer system.
Information prior to April 2007 is held on a number of old systems. The cost of extracting this information, in the format requested, from these systems, for the period prior to April 2007, would be disproportionate.
The Department 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 sickness absence.
| Working days lost (FTE) | Total working days available (FTE) | Working days lost as percentage of total working days available | |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days sick leave were taken on average by staff in his Department in each of the last five years. [198958]
Mrs. McGuire: The average number of working days lost due to sick leave by DWP staff in each of the last five years, as published in the annual Cabinet Office report is set out in the following table.
| Number | |
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department’s staff took more than (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 20, (e) 25, (f) 30, (g) 35 and (h) 40 days leave due to stress in each of the last five years, broken down by pay grade. [198975]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available or held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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