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25 Nov 2008 : Column 1377W—continued
IBM UK Ltd
Lakestyle Ltd
Mill Rose Associates
PA Consulting
Phun Cube
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Qinetiq Ltd
Thryve Ltd
Vega Group
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press and communications officers are employed by (a) his Department, (b) its non-departmental public bodies and (c) its agencies. [230041]
Jonathan Shaw: DWP communications and press officers are accredited by the Government Communications Network (GCN). The communications activity carried out by these staff includes press, PR, internal communications, new media and marketing.
(a) DWP employs 285 permanent GCN accredited staff;
(b) Jobcentre Plus and the Pension, Disability and Carers Service employ 72 GCN accredited staff; and
(c) The total number of GCN accredited staff in DWP’s NDPBs is not provided as this information is not held centrally and the cost of collating it would incur a disproportionate cost.
These figures were correct as at 20 November 2008.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisors
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of provision of Government cars to special advisers in his Department has been in the last 12 months. [238180]
Jonathan Shaw: Special advisers are not entitled to an allocated Government car. Special advisers are temporary civil servants, and therefore travel arrangements are made in accordance with the rules and guidance set out in the Civil Service Management Code, and departmental staff handbooks.
Departmental Postal Services
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department uses the Royal Mail as the primary company for sending its post, parcels and packages. [238124]
Jonathan Shaw: Royal Mail continues to be the primary company for DWP postal services for despatch of its post, parcels and packages. Royal Mail delivers in excess of 100 million items a year to our customers, at an approximate cost of £40 million per annum. DWP remains committed to maintaining and developing our relationship with Royal Mail Group.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many disability living allowance awards (a) were subject to review, (b) had the mobility component reduced on review, (c) had the care component reduced on review, (d) had entitlement cancelled on review, (e) had a revision decision appealed against and upheld and (f) had a review decision appealed against and overturned in each year since 1997, broken down by age of claimant. [237108]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is not available.
Disability Living Allowance: Autism
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance is given to staff administering disability living allowance on using the supplementary application form for people with autism. [239184]
Jonathan Shaw: There is no supplementary application form for people with autism who wish to claim disability living allowance (DLA).
The current DLA adult claim form has been developed as a generic ‘structured’ claim form and is designed to accommodate the care and mobility needs of all customers. While developing the claim form the Pension, Disability and Carers Service carried out extensive consultation with national voluntary and community organisations representing customers with a broad range of disabilities and their carers.
The ‘structured’ DLA adult claim form has been in use nationally since April 2007. From October 2008, a further version is available for use which has been revised to allow customers with learning difficulties, autism, other developmental disorders and mental health impairments to better explain their care and mobility needs.
Disability Living Allowance: East Midlands
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women in each constituency in the East Midlands receive the care component of disability living allowance at the higher rate. [238080]
Jonathan Shaw: The available information is in the table.
Disadvantaged: Clwyd
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps he has taken to assist vulnerable people in the Vale of Clwyd constituency; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of those measures. [234506]
Mr. McNulty: Following the modernisation of Jobcentre Plus services, greater emphasis has been placed on using technology to enable customers to access the services they require. However, it was recognised that some of the more vulnerable customers may need additional help and support.
With this in mind, Accessing Jobcentre Services (AJCS) rolled out in the North and Mid Wales District from 30 June 2008, and aims to provide help to those customers who need additional face-to-face support.
The Wrexham Benefit Delivery Centre gives priority support to vulnerable customers and, with more customers using the internet and telephone to access information, Jobcentre staff are able to focus on helping more customers into work whilst offering a bespoke service for more vulnerable customers.
Within the Vale of Clwyd, Rhyl Jobcentre Plus operates an electronic diary which is available for three hours daily for the Jobcentre, Benefit Delivery Centre or Social Fund to access and book appointments for vulnerable customers. The diary is monitored constantly and if it is identified that more appointment times are needed further spaces for that same day are made available. No vulnerable customer is told to come back the next day.
Identification of vulnerable customers is a decision made by local staff.
The Welsh Assembly is keen to undertake joint marketing campaigns with the local pension, disability and carers service—on top of the current Wales-wide “Keep well this winter” campaign which is already underway, including the hon. Member’s constituency.
Pension, Disability and Carers Service are also planning a joint venture with the Commissioner for Older People for Wales to increase pensioner benefit take-up.
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