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7 May 2008 : Column 964W—continued
Income Support: Mortgages
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of recipients of income support mortgage interest (ISMI) were also (a) income support, (b) income-based jobseekers allowance and (c) pension credit recipients in each year since 1990; and what proportion of ISMI expenditure was on each group in each year since 1990, broken down by (i) parliamentary constituency and (ii) region; [196678]
(2) how many people on (a) income support, (b) income-based jobseekers allowance and (c) pension credit received income support mortgage interest in each year since 1995, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [196680]
Mr. Plaskitt:
Information is not available in the format requested. Recipient information is not available for pension credit. The available recipient information for income support and jobseeker’s allowance has been
placed in the Library. The requested information on expenditure is not available other than at disproportionate cost.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed income support mortgage interest in each year between 1990 and 1995; at what cost; what the average payment was; and what the average length of claim was. [196679]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available.
Income: Graduates
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average income of graduates was in each region of England in each year since 1997. [201560]
Mr. Timms: Average (median) weekly gross income for graduates is shown in the following table.
| Median weekly gross income for graduates (3-year averages), by Government office region, 1998-99 to 2005-06, in 2005-06 prices | ||||||
| £ | ||||||
| Government office region | 1998-99 to 2000-01 | 1999- 20 00 to 2001-02 | 2000-01 to 2002-03 | 2001-02 to 2003-04 | 2002-03 to 2004-05 | 2003-04 to 2005-06 |
| Notes: 1. The information shown is for the United Kingdom from 2002/03 onwards. Earlier years are Great Britain only. Qualifications data are not available before 1998-99. 2. The results are based on survey data so are subject to sampling variability. 3. Graduates include anyone with educational and vocational degree level qualifications, in line with established definitions. 4. Weekly income amounts have been rounded to the nearest whole pound. 5. Median incomes have been presented. We have used median rather than mean as a measure of average incomes because they are less influenced by extreme values. 6. Three year averages of median incomes are presented as single year estimates are considered too volatile. These figures have been adjusted to account for the effect of inflation. This is consistent with the presentation of median incomes in the Households Below Average Income Publication. 7. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that align the FRS to Government office region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias. Source: Family Resources Survey, 1998-99 to 2005-06 | ||||||
Jobcentre Plus
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance is given to Job Centres on responding to those seeking to advertise vacancies for jobs in the so-called sex industry; and if he will make a statement. [203724]
Mr. Timms: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Leslie Strathie, dated 7 May 2008:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the guidance given to Jobcentre Plus staff when responding to employers seeking to advertise vacancies in the so-called sex industry. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus is obliged to provide a free public employment service to help people seeking work and employers fill their vacancies. As part of this, Jobcentre Plus advertises all kinds of vacancies, including those from within the adult entertainment industry, provided they comply with civil and criminal law. To refuse to advertise vacancies that comply with civil and criminal law would place us at significant risk of legal challenge. To put
this in context, adult entertainment vacancies make up less than 0.016% of all vacancies advertised by Jobcentre Plus.
Having said that, we recognise the sensitivities associated with working in the adult entertainment industry and have put in place a number of safeguards all of which are detailed in staff guidance to make sure customers are completely aware of the nature of specific vacancies and are able to make fully informed decisions about the suitability of a particular job. These include:
a strap line on the vacancy, stating it is unsuitable for people under the age of 18;
a detailed description of the vacancy and associated activities;
discussing these vacancies only with people who enquire about them or who have been employed previously within the industry; and
not obliging anyone to enquire about or apply for these type of vacancies (anyone is free to refuse to consider them without implications for their benefit).
These safeguards were strengthened recently by some additional checks for employers notifying vacancies where physical contact might be involved, for example escort work and working in a massage parlour or a sauna, to ensure that it is not of a sexual nature. These additional checks are as follows:
before a vacancy is advertised, employers must complete and return a statement, confirming the vacancy does not involve contact of a sexual nature;
once advertised, Jobcentre Plus will, as part of a routine 48-hour courtesy call to employers, confirm nothing illegal was subsequently found to be part of the job requirements;
Jobcentre Plus contacts people it knows have applied for such vacancies to see if anything illegal was subsequently found to be part of the job requirements;
the service is withdrawn from any employer and we will inform the police if we believe the employer is involved in the provision of an illegal service.
In addition to the above, if we receive a complaint from a jobseeker about the activities they have been asked to undertake, no further vacancies are accepted until an investigation into the exact nature of the work has been carried out. If it were found that an employer was involved in the provision of illegal activities, we would withdraw the service.
We take every care to make sure the vacancies we handle meet appropriate legal standards. Without a clear reason to believe a particular employer is engaged in anything unlawful, we are not able to refuse to handle their vacancies.
Jobcentre Plus: Standards
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the performance of Jobcentre Plus in finding employment for those who had previously worked with salaries of £50,000 or higher. [202775]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not available. Jobcentre Plus does not categorise individuals by their previous salary when recording its performance in helping people back into work.
Personal Income
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average family income was in each region of England in each year since 1997. [201561]
Mr. Timms: Average (median) gross weekly income for families is shown in the following table.
| Median weekly gross income for families (3-year averages), by Government office region, 1997-98 to 2005-06, in 2005-06 prices | |||||||
| £ | |||||||
| Government office region | 1997-98 to 1999-2000 | 1998-99 to 2000-01 | 1999-2000 to 2001-02 | 2000-01 to 2002-03 | 2001-02 to 2003-04 | 2002-03 to 2004-05 | 2003-04 to 2005-06 |
| Notes: 1. The information shown is for the United Kingdom from 2002-03 onwards. Earlier years are Great Britain only. 2. The results are based on survey data so are subject to sampling variability. 3. Weekly income amounts have been rounded to the nearest whole pound. 4. Median incomes have been presented. We have used median rather than mean as a measure of average incomes because they are less influenced by extreme values. 5. Three year averages of median incomes are presented as single year estimates are considered too volatile. These figures have been adjusted to account for the effect of inflation. This is consistent with the presentation of median incomes in the Households Below Average Income publication. 6. A family is defined as ‘a single adult or a couple living as married and any dependant children’. From January 2006 same-sex civil partners are also included in the same benefit unit. 7. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors that align the FRS to Government office region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining response bias. Source: Family Resources Survey, 1997-98 to 2005-06 | |||||||
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