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29 Sep 2008 : Column 2376W—continued
Mrs. McGuire:
People with moderate and severe learning disabilities encounter particular difficulties in finding paid work. They are therefore now one of four
groups of disadvantaged people selected for special attention in the Government’s Socially Excluded Adults Public Service Agreement (PSA16).
As a direct consequence of PSA 16, we will support and engage with the Project Search initiatives in Leicester and Norwich and learn from their experiences in testing this approach. Project Search is an initiative through which a college tutor and support worker (job coach) are based within a host employer with the objective of placing people with moderate and severe learning disabilities into sustainable work.
We also have a range of specialist disability employment programmes aimed at helping greater numbers of disabled people, including those with learning disabilities, take up and retain paid work. 37 per cent of people helped by the WORKSTEP programme of supported employment have a learning disability.
Our Welfare Reform Green Paper, “No-one written off—reforming the welfare state to reward responsibility”, Cm 7363 launched on 21 July, made clear that following strong support for the proposals to improve the specialist programmes, set out at the end of last year, we would now press ahead with these reforms. A more flexible approach will enable us to help greater numbers of people with learning disabilities. The Green Paper also made clear our intention to substantially expand the funding for the specialist programmes.
The ‘Getting a Life’ project is specifically aimed at getting the employment, education and local authority day services functions for people with learning disabilities to work together in an integrated manner. This enables a seamless progression from school, through college or training into employment or, where appropriate, other activities. The project is being tested in seven demonstration sites.
Fish
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much fish was procured by his Department and at what cost in each of the last five years, broken down by species; and what amount and value of such fish met the Marine Stewardship Council standard in each such year, broken down by species. [217888]
Mrs. McGuire: The Department’s expenditure on fish by species and the value of fish that met the Marine Stewardship Council Standard (MSCS) for the two years, 2006 and 2007, is provided in the following table.
| £000 | ||
| Species of fish | 2006 | 2007 |
| (1) Financial figures have been included for prawns because although it is recognised that they are crustaceans and not fish, prawns are included as a species in the MSCS. | ||
Information prior to 2006 and about the actual quantity of fish purchased, and the quantity of each species that met the MSCS, is not held centrally and could be
provided only at disproportionate cost. Additionally, the details of expenditure on fish is solely that required to provide hospitality for meetings and does not reflect local expenditure on food, as that information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fuel Poverty
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent tackling fuel poverty in each the last 10 years; and how much it expects to spend in the next 12 months. [217599]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for paying winter fuel payments and cold weather payments which help to improve incomes and in turn help to take people out of fuel poverty.
The available expenditure on winter fuel payments and cold weather payments is shown in the following tables, in nominal and real terms.
| Great Britain, nominal terms | ||
| £ million | ||
| Status | Winter fuel payments, including over 80 payments | Cold weather payments |
| Great Britain, 2008-09 prices | ||
| £ million | ||
| Status | Winter fuel payments, including over 80 payments | Cold weather payments |
| Notes: 1. All figures are consistent with Budget 2008, as well as expenditure information published on the internet at: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 2. Winter fuel payments are rounded to the nearest million pounds, but cold weather payments have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand pounds. 3. The winter fuel payment was introduced in 1997. Annual payments are made to most people aged 60 or over. The current rate is £200 per household with someone eligible and aged between 60 and 79 and £300 per household containing someone eligible and aged 80 or over. At present over 8 million households benefit each year. 4. From 2000-01, winter fuel payments were extended to include people aged 60 to 64 years and also include the over 80 payments. 5. Winter fuel payment expenditure is forecast to increase significantly in 2008-09 following the announcement at Budget 2008 of an additional payment for winter 2008-09 of £50 for eligible households with someone aged between 60 and 79 and £100 for households with someone aged 80 or over. 6. Customers eligible for cold weather payments are those awarded pension credit or those awarded income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance who have a pensioner or disability premium or have a child who is disabled or under the age of five. Following the introduction of employment and support allowance in October of this year eligible customers will also include those in receipt of income related employment and support allowance that includes a work or support component, any disability premium, or who have a child who is disabled or under the age of five. A payment is made when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the eligible customer’s postcode. 7. Up to and including the winter of 2007-08, a cold weather payment was £8.50 for each week of very cold weather. The Prime Minister has announced that for the winter 2008-09 a cold weather payment will be increased to £25 for each week of very cold weather. 8. Cold weather payment expenditure for 2008-09 cannot be forecast because the number of payments will be dependent on the severity of the winter. However, a notional figure of £24 million is included in the forecasts for the Social Fund, provided to HM Treasury. Source: Departmental Accounting and statistical data | ||
Health and Safety Executive: Inspections
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Health and Safety Executive inspectors he expects to (a) retire, (b) leave the service and (c) join the service in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010. [219333]
Mrs. McGuire: Recent trends and the age profile of inspectors indicate that about 70 inspectors will retire and another 60 inspectors will leave for other reasons each year. The HSE is committed to having not less than 1,283 inspectors in 2008-09 to 2010-11 but this is not a ceiling. The precise numbers who join in each of these years will vary with individual recruitment campaigns.
Health and Safety Executive: Manpower
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff worked for the Health and Safety Executive (a) at the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in 1997. [220620]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 21 July 2008]: The number of staff working for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at 1 May 2008, including those employed by the Health and Safety Laboratory was 3,583 full-time equivalent staff (FTEs). On 1 April 1997, the figure was 4,077 FTEs. These figures are not, however, comparable as the functions of HSE have changed over the period.
Housing Benefit
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how much of the money allocated to each local authority to pay discretionary housing payments was unspent in each year since it was introduced; and if he will make a statement; [220088]
(2) how the amount allocated to each local authority for the payment of discretionary housing payments is calculated; and if he will make a statement; [220089]
(3) how much his Department allocated to each local authority for the payment of discretionary housing payments in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [220090]
Mr. Plaskitt: The discretionary housing payment fund is allocated to each local authority based on the mid-point between the amount they were allocated and the amount they actually spent in the previous full financial year (e.g. the 2008-09 allocation was calculated using 2006-07 data, as those were the most recent full financial year data that were available at the time of calculation).
Any remaining funding is then distributed across local authorities based on their annually managed expenditure, and their average rent restrictions. 50 per cent. of the remaining funding is allocated based on each local authority’s proportion of overall annually managed expenditure, and the remaining 50 per cent. of the funding is allocated based on each local authority’s average rent restrictions.
The available information on the amount of money allocated to each local authority for discretionary housing payments and the amount of such payments unspent for each local authority has been placed in the Library.
Housing Benefit: Antisocial Behaviour
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each of the eight housing benefit anti-social behaviour local authority pilot areas have (a) received written warnings of housing benefit sanctions and (b) had their housing benefit withdrawn because of anti-social behaviour. [224100]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 17 September 2008]: At present no one has had their housing benefit withdrawn as a result of this pilot. Some of the pilot areas have identified cases where possession orders have been sought on the grounds of anti social behaviour and some have introduced details about the sanction into their literature and warning letters.
Incapacity Benefit
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants he expects there to be on incapacity benefit in each of the next five years, broken down by type of incapacity benefit. [209692]
Mrs. McGuire
[holding answer 9 June 2008]: The latest available information is in the following table. The figures assume the introduction of employment and
support allowance in October 2008 and announced policies at the time forecasts were produced—they do not include future proposals yet to be agreed; The figures cover the period of the Government’s spending plans to 2010-11.
| Incapacity benefits: Estimated benefit case loads | ||||
| Thousand | ||||
| 2007-08 estimated outturn | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
| Notes: 1. Figures aggregated with the Employment and Support Allowance are also available on the DWP website through the following link: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp 2. Incapacity benefits claimants can receive short-term lower, short-term higher, long-term ordinary rates and credits only. Cases who were claimants of Invalidity Benefit, the predecessor to Incapacity Benefit, are also separately identified in the table. 3. Figures for Severe Disablement Allowance are also included in the table. This benefit was closed to new claimants in April 2001. 4. Claimants of Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance may also receive Income Support: figures for Income Support claimants are not shown in the table to avoid double-counting. 5. Incapacity Benefit is replaced for new claimants by Employment and Support Allowance in October 2008. 6. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. 7. All figures relate to individuals of working age. | ||||
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