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17 July 2008 : Column 639W—continued
The figures on DWP research spend are supplied to the Office for National Statistics on an annual basis. The figures for Department of Work and Pensions DEL spend are taken from table 5 of the annual departmental report. DWP was only established in 2001 and so it is not possible to go back 10 years.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many enquiries his Department received through its 0800 and 0845 numbers in each of the last three years. [214295]
Mrs. McGuire: Inquiries to the Department of Work and Pensions through 0800 and 0845 numbers for the last three years are:
| DWP contact centres | |||
| Total inquiries( 1) to DWP contact centres during normal opening hours | |||
| Year (April to March) | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| (1) Inquiries, is defined as total calls offered to DWP contact centres during their normal hours of opening. Information is not available in all cases to distinguish between those calls received to 0800 numbers and those to 0845 numbers. | |||
Departmental Wastes
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to reduce the volume of waste produced by it and sent to landfill in each of the last two years. [215884]
Mrs. McGuire: The following table shows the total waste produced, the amount of waste recycled and the amount sent to energy recovery facilities/landfill for the past two years for the Department for Work and Pensions, as reported against the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) waste target. Information for the baseline year (2004-05) has also been included to facilitate comparisons.
| ( 1) 2004-05 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
|
Waste sent to energy recovery facilities and landfill as percentage of total waste produced | |||
| (1 )Baseline year. | |||
Total waste arisings have fallen by over 33 per cent. since the baseline year. The Department aims to be an exemplar of sustainable procurement, and we actively encourage good demand management, to procure only the goods (or services) that we need to support the delivery of our business.
We are also committed to working with our suppliers to identify opportunities to reduce the amount of waste that is produced—for example by reducing packaging where feasible. Where delivery of contracts take place on the DWP estate there is a requirement for all our suppliers to help meet the SOGE targets, including those for waste.
Our rate of recycling has grown and remains well in excess of the 2010 target to recycle 40 per cent. of total waste. This has been mainly due to the implementation of the Total Paper Recycling Scheme across the estate over the last five years by Land Securities Trillium and their service partners. We also operate an intranet based “Swap Shop” which enables staff across DWP to redistribute surplus goods, which might otherwise have been sent to landfill. During 2008, 500 “lots” were found new homes.
A pilot is under way across the Yorkshire and Humber region to further enhance our recycling performance by introducing a new initiative “Recycle It—DWP” This will provide additional paper and cardboard recycling facilities, as well as providing opportunities to recycle other waste such as glass, cans and some plastic. If successful, it will be extended across the entire estate wherever viable.
Home Information Packs
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many home information packs have been commissioned by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies to market a residential property; for which properties; at what cost; and whether a voluntary home condition report was purchased as part of the packs. [219018]
Mrs. McGuire: None. The requirement to prepare Home Information Packs applies to the marketing for sale of residential properties. This Department has not been involved in any such transactions since 1 August 2007.
Incapacity Benefit: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the working age population of Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency receive incapacity benefit. [218615]
Mrs. McGuire: At November 2007, 4.7 per cent. of the working age population of the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency were in receipt of incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS and ONS experimental small area population estimates (2005)
Incapacity Benefit: Greater London
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of children who were aged (a) under five, (b) five to 11 and (c) 12 to 16 years living in households in receipt of incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance in each London local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [218616]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available for households in the format requested. The available information, which is for those claiming Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance, has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households were in receipt of incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance in each parliamentary constituency in London in each of the last 10 years. [218617]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available for households in the format requested. The available information, which is for those claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, has been placed in the Library.
Incapacity Benefit: Hyndburn
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the working population of Hyndburn constituency received incapacity benefit in the latest period for which figures are available. [218290]
Mrs. McGuire: At November 2007, 10.9 per cent. of the working age population of the Hyndburn parliamentary constituency were in receipt of incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. WPLS and ONS experimental small area population estimates (2005)
Incapacity Benefit: Medical Examinations
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements are in place for the medical assessment of persons in receipt of incapacity benefit; which companies are used to carry out such assessments; what the terms of reference for such assessments are; and how their fees are calculated. [219450]
Mrs. McGuire: The arrangements in place for the medical assessment of persons in receipt of incapacity benefits are for a health care professional to provide an independent, impartial opinion on the medical aspects of the claim. The evidence they provide forms just one part of the evidence that the Department for Work and Pensions decision maker uses to decide entitlement. The company used to carry out these medical assessments is Atos Healthcare, a division of Atos Origin IT Services Ltd.
The terms of reference for medical assessments are included in the Medical Services contract. A copy of the contract, excluding those paragraphs which are considered commercially sensitive, is available in the Library.
The health care professionals who conduct the medical assessments are employed by Atos Healthcare. The remuneration received by Atos Healthcare employees is a matter between Atos Healthcare and its employees.
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons in receipt of incapacity benefit were required to attend a medical assessment in the last year for which figures are available; and what the cost of such assessments was. [219452]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. In the year April 2007 to March 2008, 535,077 medical assessments were completed for incapacity benefits customers.
The individual unit price for such assessments is held commercial in confidence.
Incapacity Benefit: North East
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of children aged (a) under five, (b) between five and 11 and (c) between 12 and 16 years living in households in receipt of incapacity benefit in each local authority area in the North East. [219092]
Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available for households in the format requested. The available information, which is for those claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, is in the following table.
| Number of children aged 0-15 dependent on a parent or guardian claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance by north east local authority—April 2007 | |||
| Aged 0-4 | Aged 5-11 | Aged 12-16 | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five. 2. All data represent a snapshot in time of claimants on the computer system, and will therefore exclude a very small number of cases that are held clerically. 3. Data represent children who are dependent on a parent/guardian claiming incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance. 4. The Department does not have complete information on child dependents on the benefit computer systems, therefore children have been merged onto incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claims from child benefit records with permission from HMRC. Source: DWP Information Directorate | |||
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