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the websites of organisations who help to deliver the Rapid Response Service to employers; and through a range of leaflets and business/trade media.

3. There are a number of employers that receive an account management service from Jobcentre Plus in return for their agreement to help our individual customers to find work. If these employers are facing difficulties, they will discuss their needs directly with Jobcentre Plus and appropriate levels of support will be offered.

It is not possible to separate out the cost of promoting the service given the routes that we use.

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Vocational Training: Sight Impaired

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what employment training is provided for the visually impaired in Enfield Southgate constituency; and what proportion of those who have undergone such training in each of the last five years are now in paid employment. [234579]

Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what employment training is provided for the visually impaired in the Enfield Southgate constituency and what proportion of those who have undergone such training in each of the last five years are now in paid employment. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

There are a number of organisations that offer a service for customers in your constituency with visual impairment. Most notably these include Hereford College for the Blind and Middlesex Association for the Blind. These services are accessed by a direct referral from Disability Employment Advisers who are based in each of the Jobcentre Plus offices that serve your constituents.

Our partner, Reed in Partnership, also offers voluntary and mandatory programmes aimed at helping people with disabilities back into work. These programmes are specific to an individual's needs and an Adviser from the Jobcentre can refer customers to them.

The Royal National Institute for the Blind offers work preparation, for example help with interview techniques, job applications and CV completion, and also specialist IT training. An Adviser from the Jobcentre can arrange these services.

Disability Employment Advisers can also recommend one-off provision based around an individual's needs if this is not catered for by an existing provision.

We do not have any information about what proportion of those people who have undergone such training in each of the last five years are now in paid employment.

Vocational Training: South Yorkshire

Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have received Government funded employment training in (a) South Yorkshire, (b) Rotherham and (c) Barnsley over the last five years. [231315]

Mr. McNulty: The requested information is not available.

Winter Fuel Payments

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) cold weather payments made and (b) the number of recipients of cold weather payments in each of the last five years, broken down by the area covered by each relevant weather station. [226182]

Kitty Ussher: Information is not available on the numbers of cold weather payments received, or the number of recipients.

The available information for payments is in the following table.

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Cold Weather Payments for Great Britain for 2003-04 to 2007-08
Weather station	Estimated payments
2003-04
Aviemore	4,600
Bingley	91,300
Boltshope Park	70,500
Braemar	300
Cassley	800
Dundrennan	5,900
Dyce	24,200
Eskdalemuir	10,200
Fylingdales	27,500
Lake Vyrnwy	1,400
Lerwick	900
Loch Glascarnoch	2,400
Sennybridge	116,900
Shawbury	51,600
Tulloch Bridge	7,000
Wick	2,100
Total	417,600
2004-05
Aviemore	1,600
Boltshope Park	63,600
Braemar	100
Fylingdales	17,500
Liscombe	8,700
Loch Glascarnoch	700
Sennybridge	67,600
Tulloch Bridge	3,000
Wattisham	50,300
Total	213,200
2005-06
Albemarle	128,400
Aviemore	4,800
Bingley	257,200
Boltshope Park	105,200
Braemar	400
Cassley	700
Eskdalemuir	28,800
Fylingdales	15,800
Kinloss	14,200
Lake Vyrnwy	9,600
Lerwick	1,200
Linton on Ouse	132,200
Liscombe	8,500
Loch Glascarnoch	3,000
Salsburgh	14,500
Sennybridge	129,600
Shawbury	122,800
Tulloch Bridge	8,800
Wick	2,500
Total	987,900
2006-07
Aviemore	1,700
Boltshope Park	21,900
Braemar	100
Capel Curig	800
Dyce	29,900
Eskdalemuir	7,600
Linton on Ouse	138,700
Loch Glascarnoch	800
Sennybridge	136,000
Shawbury	64,600
Total	402,000
2007-08
Aviemore	1,600
Bishopton	205,400
Braemar	6,600
Cassley	400
Charterhall	2,800
Edinburgh Gogarbank	81,500
Eskdalemuir	6,400
Kinloss	14,900
Lake Vyrnwy	5,900
Leuchars	42,400
Loch Glascarnoch	2,400
Redesdale	12,300
Salsburgh	15,100
Sennybridge	67,100
Shap	4,900
Tulloch Bridge	2,300
Total	471,900
Notes: 1. Figures are for Cold Weather Payments triggered in the relevant financial year. 2. Some people were made more than one payment in some years. 3. Estimated numbers of payments have been rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 4. Each year, there are usually some small changes to the weather stations used for the cold weather payments scheme. (For example, the Boltshope Park weather station closed after the winter of 2006-07 and the postcodes linked to it were allocated to Albemarle and Bingley and to a new weather station Redesdale.) Sources: Estimated numbers of payments are based on: Scans of benefit computer systems taken at the end of October each year giving the number of potential qualifiers for cold weather payments by weather station; DWP records of triggers; DWP records of the total number of payments actually made by benefit computer system.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times the temperature dropped below the threshold at which cold weather
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payments are made in each of the last 10 years, broken down by relevant weather station. [226183]

Kitty Ussher: The available information has been placed in the Library.

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the winter fuel allowance was worth as a percentage of (a) average household fuel bills and (b) average pensioner household fuel bills in each of the last 10 years for which information is available, broken down by constituency. [237715]

Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 20 November 2008]: The following tables show the winter fuel payment as a percentage of average winter fuel bills for all households, by region, information is not available at constituency level. Information relating to pensioner household expenditure on fuel broken down by region or constituency is not available.

Year and rate of winter fuel payment (WFP)
	1997-98 (£20)	1998-99 (£20)	1999-2000 (£100)	2000-01 (£200)	2001-02 (£200)	2002-03 (£200)
Region	WFP as a percentage of average winter fuel bill for all households
North East	5	6	27	57	53	55
North West	5	5	26	54	56	55
Yorkshire and the Humber	5	6	27	56	59	58
East Midlands	5	6	27	55	55	53
West Midlands	5	5	26	53	55	56
East of England	6	6	28	58	54	55
London	6	6	29	59	61	61
South East	6	6	28	57	53	55
South West	6	6	29	57	55	53
Wales	5	5	25	53	54	54
Scotland	5	5	25	52	53	52

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