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6 Nov 2008 : Column 706W—continued
| The number of household recipients and individual beneficiaries of pension credit in Bolton, North-East and Bolton, 2003-08 | ||||
| Bolton, North-East Constituency | Bolton | |||
| Household Recipients | Individual Beneficiaries | Household Recipients | Individual Beneficiaries | |
| Notes: 1. This information is published at www.nomisweb.co.uk 2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf on a household. 4. Individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data | ||||
Social Security Benefits
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his Department’s latest estimate is of take-up rates for (a) carer’s allowance, (b) pension credit, (c) housing benefit and (d) council tax benefit; [232208]
(2) how many pensioners his Department estimates are eligible for pension credit, broken down by constituency. [232209]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 6 November 2008]: The latest estimates of take-up of means-tested benefits in Great Britain, covering income support, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseeker’s allowance (income-based) are published in the report “Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2006-07”. Take-up rates are not available for carer’s allowance.
Estimates of eligibility are not available below the level of Great Britain.
State Retirement Pensions
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department’s policy is on the payment of backdated interest for late payment of deferred state pensions; and if he will make a statement. [231846]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We aim to make payments as quickly as possible and it is our policy that compensation in the form of interest is considered when any unreasonable delay, beyond that for normal processing of the claim, has occurred. Every case is considered on its own merits. The interest rate is calculated for any period of unnecessary delay using an interest rate supplied by the Bank of England.
Winter Fuel Payments: North Yorkshire
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the number of households in Vale of York constituency which will receive the (a) £250 and (b) £400 winter fuel payment in 2008-09; [233201]
(2) how much he expects to pay to pensioner householders in the Vale of York in winter fuel payments in 2008-09. [233202]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Figures for winter 2007-08 are not yet available.
12,140 winter fuel payments to households in the Vale of York constituency with a member aged 60-79; and
3,720 winter fuel payments to households in the Vale of York constituency with a member aged 80 or over.
We expect in 2008-09 similar numbers to receive the £250 and £400 respectively.
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
3. Please note that a small number of these households receive amounts higher than the usual rate for their age group, where the household includes more than two individuals each entitled to payments at half of the usual household rate.
Source:
Information directorate 100 per cent. data.
Expenditure in 2006-07 on winter fuel payments in the Vale of York was £3.7 million. Forecasts of benefit expenditure are not produced at parliamentary constituency level.
Notes:
1. Expenditure figures have been rounded to the nearest £100,000.
2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
3. Please note that a small number of these households receive amounts higher than the usual rate for their age group, where the household includes more than two individuals each entitled to payments at half of the usual household rate.
Source:
Information directorate 100 per cent. data.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what recent steps the Government have taken to assist the growth of creative industries; [233677]
(2) what steps the Government plan to take to encourage the growth of creative industries. [233678]
Barbara Follett: In February the Government published “Creative Britain—New Talents for the New Economy”. This document sets out 26 commitments intended to move the creative industries from the margins to the mainstream of the economy. The commitments, which we hope to implement over the next three years, span the life cycle of the UK's creative economy, setting out measures which will help children and young people to foster their creativity and turn their talent into jobs as well as helping creative businesses to prosper and then thrive. £70.5 million of Government money is committed to the strategy.
The Find Your Talent programme has been launched, with 10 pathfinders providing five hours of culture per week for children and young people. The Technology Strategy Board has already offered over £7 million to a
range of companies from across the creative industries sector to inspire new collaborative research and development.
We want to encourage employers to create up to 5,000 apprenticeship places a year in the creative industries by 2013. We have also announced that world leaders from the creative and financial industries will convene in the UK next year for the Creativity and Business International Network (c&binet) to help ensure that our creative industries continue to grow and thrive.
Arts: Manchester
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has given Manchester International Arts in the last 24 months. [233275]
Barbara Follett: Information from Arts Council England is that Manchester International Arts received a total of £134,100 as a Regularly Funded Organisation, and £226,250 through the Grants for the Arts programme over the past two financial years (2006-07 and 2007-08).
Broadband
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of how many households do not have access to broadband in (a) North Wiltshire, (b) Wiltshire, (c) Swindon and (d) England. [231463]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
We are committed however to looking seriously at the issue of broadband availability and will consider this in more detail over the coming months, in particular through the Digital Britain Report (DBR). We launched the DBR on 17 October, with a programme of work leading to a final report in spring 2009. The DBR will bring forward proposals for both Government and industry, to support the development of the digital communications and broadcasting sectors, and has at its core an ambition to accelerate the rate of growth, and cement the UK's position as a world leader in the knowledge and learning economy. One strand of this work will look at options for maximising broadband participation and levels of service.
Churches Conservation Trust: Information Officers
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press and communications officers are employed by the Churches Conservation Trust. [224849]
Andy Burnham: The Churches Conservation Trust have informed us that they currently employ one full time equivalent (FTE) press officer.
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment: Information Officers
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press and communications officers are employed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. [224850]
Barbara Follett: The requested information has been provided by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) who have informed us that they currently employ 5.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) press and communications officers.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press and communications officers are employed by (a) the Victoria and Albert Museum, (b) National Museums Liverpool, (c) the National Maritime Museum, (d) the Natural History Museum and (e) the National Portrait Gallery. [224861]
Barbara Follett: The following information has been supplied by the organisations requested:
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum currently employs 5.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff who work directly in the press office or whose role would primarily consist of core communications expertise.
The National Museums Liverpool
The National Museums Liverpool currently employ seven FTE staff working on press, general communication and associated matters.
The National Maritime Museum currently employs one FTE press and public relations officer.
The Natural History Museum currently employs five FTE press and communications staff, one of whom is funded commercially.
The National Portrait Gallery currently employs 2.65 FTE press and media staff.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many press and communications officers are employed by his Department. [224869]
Barbara Follett: There are 10 press officers and six communications officers employed by the DCMS.
The six communications officers were previously designated as ‘marketing officers’ (and listed as such in the White Book).
Departmental Pensions
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many civil servants working in his Department and its agencies have pensions with a cash equivalent transfer value of over £1 million. [229556]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not appropriate to disclose pension information other than for board members whose details are shown in the remuneration report in annual Resource Accounts. A copy of DCMS's resource accounts for the financial year 2007-08 can be found in the Library or accessed on the Department's website using the following link
English Heritage
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people participated in English Heritage outreach projects in each year since 2000. [225292]
Barbara Follett: English Heritage engages under-represented groups through its sites and in the community through dedicated outreach projects, reaching over 890,000 people from priority groups in 2007-08. It also supports a wide range of other events and initiatives to attract new users, including “National Archaeology Week” through the Council for British Archaeology which attracts between 80,000 and 100,000 members of the public to hundreds of locally arranged events; and Heritage Open Days through the Civic Trust which attracts up to 1 million visitors to events all around the country.
| Number of outreach projects | Number of people engaged through outreach projects | Under-represented groups visiting EH properties | Total | |
| Note: The figures for visitors to properties are calculated based on annual survey data. The outreach figures are actual participants. | ||||
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