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19 Nov 2008 : Column 566W—continued
Social Security Benefits
Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the Work-Focused Health Related Assessment questionnaire which claimants of employment and support allowance will be required to complete from October 2008. [220326]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 21 July 2008]: The following answer was provided to the hon. Member on 17 September 2008, however, due to a procedural error it was not published in the Official Report. The answer is as follows:
Claimants of employment and support allowance will not be required to fill in a questionnaire in relation to the Work Focussed Health Related Assessment. The Work Focused Health Related Assessment is a discussion between the customer and the health care professional carrying out the work capability assessment. Health professionals will use an aide-mémoire for this discussion, and a copy has been placed in the Library.
The purpose of the Work Focused Health Related Assessment is to explore with customers their aspirations for engaging in or returning to work, and their views of the help that would support them getting back to work. It will also offer advice about health related interventions that will support a return to work. After the Work Focused Health Related Assessment the health care professional will complete a report and send a copy of that report to the customer.
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether he has set a target for the proportion of successful appeals for (a) incapacity for work cases and (b) disability living allowance cases; [234435]
(2) whether his Department has a performance indicator for the proportion of successful appeals that will trigger a review of the quality of initial decision-making for (a) incapacity for work cases and (b) disability living allowance cases. [234436]
Jonathan Shaw: There is no target for the proportion of successful incapacity benefits appeals.
There is no performance indicator for the proportion of successful incapacity benefits and disability living allowance appeals that will trigger a review of the quality of initial decision-making.
The Pension, Disability and Carers Service has an internal target that no more than 45 per cent. of disability living allowance cases that are heard by an appeal tribunal should be successful or changed.
Jobcentre Plus and the Pension, Disability and Carers Service will also continue to work with the Tribunals Service to monitor decision making issues and identify any areas for improvement.
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost to his Department was of appeals relating to (a) incapacity for work cases, (b) disability living allowance cases and (c) such cases in which the appeal was successfully defended by the Secretary of State in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average cost of each case in each category was. [234437]
Jonathan Shaw: The cost of incapacity benefit appeals only started to be measured separately in April 2008. It is, therefore, not yet possible to provide the information requested.
The total cost to the Pension, Disability and Carers Service of processing all disability living allowance appeals in 2007-08 was an estimated £11.8 million. The average cost of each appeal was an estimated £134. Information about the cost of those appeals that were successfully defended by the Secretary of State is not available.
Social Security Benefits: Employment
Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether earnings from permitted work done by claimants of employment and support allowance, whether income-based or contribution-based, will be disregarded as income for the purposes of assessing entitlement to other benefits. [220322]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 21 July 2008]: The following answer was provided to the hon. Member on 17 September 2008, however, due to a procedural error it was not published in the Official Report. The answer is as follows:
Claimants entitled to both income-related and contributory employment and support allowance will be permitted to earn up to £88.50 a week and retain benefit. Where a person retains entitlement to income-related employment and support allowance they will continue to receive full housing benefit and council tax benefit. For people not entitled to income-related employment and support allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit disregards the first £20 of any earnings. We are currently looking at how the permitted work rules of employment and support allowance will interact with housing benefit as part of the housing benefit review announced in the Budget.
Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he made of the effect of possible higher unemployment levels on (a) the labour market and (b) Jobcentre Plus when drafting the Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008. [234622]
Kitty Ussher: The labour market is dynamic with millions of moves between employment, unemployment and inactivity every year. Job opportunities will continue to become available. At present there are around 600,000 job vacancies in the economy.
We are committed to providing unemployed people with support to get back into work. Jobcentre Plus provides information, advice and access to skills development to help people return to employment as quickly as possible.
We have made a comprehensive assessment of Jobcentre Plus’s capacity to implement the changes and are satisfied that the plans Jobcentre Plus has in place will enable the organisation to manage the change. Plans include: additional resources to manage the move of lone parents from income support on to other benefits; supporting lone parents in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance or employment and support allowance; communicating with staff; and learning and development for staff.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what safeguards have been put in place in (a) the Social Security (Lone Parents and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2008 and (b) Jobcentre Plus operations to protect the most vulnerable lone parents. [234623]
Kitty Ussher: We propose introducing additional flexibilities and safeguards in regulations. These will meet the specific needs of parents, particularly lone parents, and further safeguard the welfare of children.
Jobseeker’s allowance regulations will be amended to enable Jobcentre Plus staff to consider just cause and good cause so that a parent who is claiming or receiving jobseeker’s allowance may not be penalised if they leave paid employment, or fail to take up paid employment, because appropriate or affordable child care is not available. The amendments will also give Jobcentre Plus staff additional flexibilities to treat parents as available for, or actively seeking, work in certain circumstances. For example, if a child is excluded from school or if there would be no reasonable prospects of a person with caring responsibilities obtaining suitable jobs in the area if they were to reduce their hours to a minimum of 16 hours a week. The existing jobseeker’s allowance hardship regime will be extended to include lone parents as a vulnerable group, and Jobcentre Plus staff will be able to consider whether travel time to a job is reasonable, taking health or caring responsibilities into account.
We also propose to introduce operational safeguards which will ensure that lone parents affected by the introduction of these changes and making a new claim are aware of their obligations to attend quarterly work-focused interviews, and that voluntary interviews will be available to them six weeks before their entitlement to income support ends. Also, if they fail to attend a fortnightly job review, at least one attempt at contacting them will be made by telephone on the day the meeting was missed. If no contact is made, a letter will be sent to their home address telling them that if they do not make contact within five working days their entitlement to benefit will end.
Social Security Benefits: Post Offices
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of each payable benefit was transacted through (a) a Post Office card account, (b) another account at a post office and (c) a bank account not accessed at a post office in (i) each local authority area and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in the last period for which figures are available. [235107]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the format requested.
Overall, around 78 per cent. of benefit accounts are paid into a bank account and around 20 per cent. are paid into a Post Office card account. About 60 per cent. of bank accounts can be accessed at the Post Office.
State Retirement Pension
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many individuals have deferred their state pension in each year since 1997; [229997]
(2) how many individuals deferred their state pensions in each of the last 10 years. [231825]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available. Information available on the number of people who have received a deferral reward, and the type of reward received, is in the following table. Figures for 1997 to 1999 are not available.
| 12 months to March each year : | Total number of customers who received a deferral reward | Number receiving increments only | Number receiving increments and lump sum | Number receiving lump sum only |
| (1) Figures for 2000 are for six months to March only Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 and may not sum due to rounding. 2. Numbers are based on a 5 per cent. sample rated in line with the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) total caseload, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 3. New rules for deferral came into effect in April 2005 and lump payments became available from April 2006. This data were not available on the datasets until September 2006. A person who deferred their state pension before April 2005 would qualify for increments for the period up to April 2005 and may have a choice of either a lump sum payment or an increment for the period of deferral from April 2005. This means some people may have both an increment and a lump sum payment. 4. The number receiving a ‘deferral reward’ is the number of people with a lump sum or increments for the latest data and the number of people with increments for the data prior to September 2006. (This does not include inherited increments from a late spouse.) 5. Data regarding increments prior to September 1999 are not sufficiently robust to be released. Source: Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample | ||||
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals received deferred state pensions in each of the last 12 months. [231851]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available. Information on the number of people who have received a deferral reward in the 12 months ending March 2008, and the type of reward received, is in the following table:
| 12 months to March 2008 | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 and may not sum due to rounding. 2. Numbers are based on a 5 per cent. sample rated in line with the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) total caseload, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 3. New rules for deferral came into effect in April 2005 and lump payments became available. A person who deferred their state pension before April 2005 would qualify for increments for the period up to April 2005 and may have a choice of either a lump sum payment or an increment for the period of deferral from April 2005. This means some people may have both an increment and a lump sum payment. 4. The number receiving a ‘deferral reward’ is the number of people with a lump sum or increments for the latest data and the number of people with increments for the data prior to September 2006. (This does not include inherited increments from a late spouse.) Source: Information Directorate (IFD) 5 per cent. sample | |
Steam Rollers: Accidents
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been (a) killed and (b) injured by steam rollers in each of the last five years. [233176]
Jonathan Shaw: Based on reports submitted to the Health and Safety Executive as required by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995, the number of deaths and injuries involving road rollers is as follows:
| Non-fatal | Fatal | |
Sunbeds: Health Hazards
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects the outcomes of the Health and Safety Executive's consultation on revisions to guidance on the use of UV tanning equipment to be published; and if he will make a statement. [220410]
Jonathan Shaw: The following answer was provided to the hon. Member on 17 September 2008, however, due to a procedural error it was not published in the Official Report. The answer is as follows:
The consultation closed on 17 July and when the comments have been considered, the Health and Safety Executive intends to publish revised guidance as soon as possible.
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