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30 Oct 2008 : Column 1198W—continued
Jobcentres
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what jobcentres he has visited since taking up his post. [225572]
Kitty Ussher [holding answer 9 October 2008]: Since becoming Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend has visited Stalybridge, Redbridge, Glasgow City, Nottingham Station Street, Glossop and Kentish Town jobcentres.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to respond to the letter to him dated 12 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr P. Meakin. [231189]
Jonathan Shaw: A reply was sent to the right hon. Member on 27 October 2008.
National Insurance: Migrant Workers
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many migrant workers have (a) applied for and (b) received national insurance cards in the last five years. [225481]
Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of applications made is not available.
A national insurance card is not automatically issued for every national insurance number registered. The available information on the number of national insurance registrations is provided in the following table:
| Registrations of national insurance numbers to overseas nationals | |
| Year of registration | Thousand |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 10 and displayed in thousands. 2. Financial years used. 3. Figures provided do not include national insurance numbers issued to young foreign nationals under the juvenile registration process. 4. Figures are on registrations for any purpose not specifically for the purpose of employment. 5. The information is published on the DWP website at http://83.244.183.180/mgw/final/finyr/ccsex/a_stock_r_finyr_c_ccsex_apr08.htm Source: 100 per cent. DWP extract from national insurance recording system at 29 July 2008. | |
Social Security Benefits: Disabled
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to provide enhanced financial assistance to families with disabled children to reflect recent trends in fuel and food prices. [226723]
Jonathan Shaw: Assistance is available through disability benefits and the disability premium in income-related benefits in recognition of the extra costs, including heating, which disabled children may have.
Help towards the extra costs of disability, including domestic fuel, is provided through the care and mobility components in disability living allowance (DLA). Depending on the rates payable, DLA can be worth up to £113.75 a week. DLA is increased in April each year. The level of the uprating is calculated using the increase in the retail prices index for the 12 months ending in the preceding September.
Families with disabled children may be entitled to the disability and severe disability elements in the tax credits system, in addition to any DLA received. Families in receipt of income support may also get cold weather payments in periods of very cold weather.
We have no proposals for further enhancing financial assistance to families with disabled children.
Unemployment Benefits
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what forecast he has made of total expenditure on (a) incapacity benefit, (b) income support, (c) employment and support allowance and (d) Pathways to Work in each of the next five years. [228495]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 20 October 2008]: The planned spending for Pathways to Work is:
| £ million | |
Figures provided, particularly for 2009-10 and 2010-11, are indicative allocations based on current assumptions and are subject to change. Forecasted expenditure of Pathways to Work can only be provided to 2010-11 as beyond this the programme expenditure is dependent on policy and commercial assumptions which are subject to substantial change.
The available information on forecasts of total expenditure on incapacity benefit, income support, and employment and support allowance is in the following tables.
| Benefit expenditure. Great Britain (real terms 2008-09 prices) | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| Income support( 1) | Incapacity benefit | Employment and support allowance—contribution based | Employment and support allowance—income based | |
| Benefit expenditure. Great Britain (nominal terms) | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| Income support( 1) | Incapacity benefit | Employment and support allowance—contribution based | Employment and support allowance—income based | |
| (1) Income support figures are for all income support expenditure not just income support (incapacity benefit). Notes: 1. Figures for 2008-09 to 2010-11 are consistent with Budget 2008 Government spending plans. Figures for 2011-12 and 2012-13 are projections, based on Budget 2008 figures, produced for the introduction of employment and support allowance. 2. Figures are on a resource accounting and budgeting basis. There may be differences between figures quoted in these tables and those quoted in Department for Work and Pensions Accounts. 3. Real terms have been calculated using Gross Domestic Product deflators updated after the 2008 Budget Report on 12 March 2008. Source: DWP Forecasts and Projections | ||||
Transport
Buses: Lancashire
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from local authorities in Lancashire on the adequacy of grant funding for the free off-peak local bus travel scheme; and if he will make a statement. [230567]
Paul Clark: Lancashire county council have written to the Secretary of State to request a meeting to discuss the grant funding. Three local MPs have also written to the Department about this issue, enclosing the letter from the county council.
Crossrail: Finance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial agreement he has reached with BAA and Transport for London on the funding of Crossrail. [230061]
Paul Clark: A Heads of Terms agreement was entered into between Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) about the funding and governance of the Crossrail project in November 2007. Since then, DfT has been holding discussions with TfL about the detailed arrangements for the funding of the project and discussions have been held with key beneficiaries of Crossrail, including British Aviation Authority (BAA), about financial contributions. The discussions with TfL and BAA are at an advanced stage and should be finalised shortly.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been (a) committed and (b) provided for Crossrail from (i) BAA, (ii) Transport for London and (iii) London businesses. [230062]
Paul Clark: The funding for Crossrail was announced by the Prime Minister on 5 October 2007. Funding will be split roughly three ways; between the Government, Crossrail fare payers and London businesses. Details of the contributions expected to be made were included in a Heads of Terms agreement signed in November 2007 between Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL).
The Heads of Terms agreement can be viewed on the DfT website at:
Discussions between DfT and British Aviation Authority (BAA) about a funding contribution towards the cost of Crossrail are at an advanced stage and should be finalised shortly.
Under the Heads of Terms agreement, TfL is responsible for underwriting £7.7 billion of the Crossrail project’s £15.9 billion estimated capital cost. This includes a contribution from fare payers but also covers the business contributions in the form of the proposed business rate supplement, contributions from property development around stations, the use of the existing section 106 mechanism and possibly a mechanism to extract planning
gains. TfL is also funding the costs of Cross London Rail Links Ltd. during 2008-09.
The Heads of Terms agreement assumes considerable contributions from key beneficiaries of Crossrail. The City of London corporation has committed to make a significant contribution and to collect voluntary contributions from businesses across London. An in-principle agreement has been reached with Berkeley Homes for them to construct, at their own cost and risk, a station box at Woolwich. In addition, terms have been agreed with Canary Wharf Group for a significant contribution to the project, the details of which are under negotiation.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what sanctions are available in cases of departmental staff found to have committed disciplinary offences; and how many times each has been used in each of the last three years. [230201]
Mr. Hoon: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Jim Fitzpatrick) on 21 July 2008, Official Report, column 882W.
The Department has a range of penalties for staff found to have committed disciplinary offences from a warning to dismissal depending on the case. All of these have been used in the past.
Departmental Private Finance Initiative
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which of his Department’s public-private partnerships and private finance initiative schemes which (a) have begun and (b) are planned have as a private partner (i) an Icelandic bank and (ii) a UK bank which has been part-nationalised. [229949]
Mr. Hoon: None of the planned or ongoing Department for Transport PFI Special Purpose Vehicle equity providers are Icelandic banks or part-nationalised UK banks. The Department does not retain information on the senior lenders to the Special Purpose Vehicles.
First Great Western
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the performance of First Great Western against the objectives of its remedial plan; and if he will make a statement. [229843]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport reviews First Great Western’s performance in reducing cancellations every four weeks against the numbers of cancellations allowed by the Remedial Agreement. First Great Western has made substantial reductions in the numbers of cancellations it causes. First Great Western remains within the terms of the Remedial Agreement.
While the Remedial Agreement focuses on cancellations, there have also been improvements in First Great Western punctuality as shown by the Public Performance Measure (‘PPM’).
Government Departments: Official Cars
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to ensure that all Departments use British-built cars. [230421]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Each Department is responsible for setting its own criteria for the purchase and hire of the vehicles it uses.
The purchase or hire by Government Departments of cars and other vehicles is subject to the Suppliers Directive (93/36/EC as last amended by Directive 97/52/EC). Together with the relevant Remedies Directive (89/665/EEC), the Suppliers Directive has been given effect in the UK by the Public Supply Contract Regulations (SI.1995/201, last amended by SI.2000/2009).
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