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12 Jan 2009 : Column 27W—continued

Departmental Press Releases

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many press releases his Department has issued in the last 12 months. [240859]


12 Jan 2009 : Column 28W

Jonathan Shaw: The Department has issued 245 press notices in the last 12 months.

This includes ministerial press releases, policy announcements, statistical and analytical releases. The Department also issued press releases for Jobcentre Plus, Office for Disability Issues, Pensions, Disability and Carers Service and several advisory committees.

It also includes operational notes alerting the media to briefings and visits.

Departmental Rail Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what date he last used a train in the course of his official duties. [242601]

James Purnell: I last used the train for official duties on Wednesday 3 December 2008.

Employment Services: Cancer

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department and its agencies provides on returning to work to those who have had cancer. [242862]

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:


12 Jan 2009 : Column 29W

Employment Services: Redundancy

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps Jobcentre Plus is taking to assist people recently made redundant back into work. [240276]

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:

Employment Vacancies

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies there were in (a) Hemel Hempstead, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England at the latest date for which figures are available. [242678]

Mr. McNulty: The available information is in the table.


12 Jan 2009 : Column 30W
Jobcentre Plus vacancies in England, Hertfordshire local authority area and Hemel Hempstead parliamentary constituency as at October 2008

Notified vacancies Live unfilled vacancies

England

313,928

335,266

Hemel Hempstead Parliamentary Constituency

691

627

Hertfordshire Local Authority

5,742

5,443

Notes:
1. Interpretation of these data needs to take account of changes in recent years to Jobcentre Plus procedures for taking and handling vacancies. These figures are not fully comparable over time and may not indicate developments in the labour market. A more detailed explanation is available on the nomis website.
2. Notified vacancies include any speculative placings recorded by Jobcentre Plus. Datasets from May 2006 may reflect substantially reduced levels of speculative placings as part of the notified series. Consequently, care should be taken in interpreting time-series data.
3. The stocks of unfilled vacancies reflect more accurately job opportunities available via Jobcentre Plus. In the case of unfilled vacancies, use of the figures on live vacancies is recommended (i.e. excluding suspended vacancies), and this is the default option. Live vacancies may still include some vacancies which have already been filled or are otherwise no longer open to recruits, due to natural lags in procedures for following up vacancies with employers.
4. Data are unrounded.
5. Figures cover only those vacancies advertised through Jobcentre Plus, and so will not capture all available vacancies. Comprehensive estimates of all job vacancies (not just those notified to Jobcentre Plus) are available from the monthly ONS Vacancy Survey since April 2001, based on a sample of some 6,000 enterprises. However, the ONS survey is currently designed to provide national estimates only.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System.

European Social Fund

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the European Social Fund spending announced on 15 October 2008 and 4 November 2008 came from funds already in his Department’s budget for the spending period 2008-09 to 2010-11. [244801]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 18 December 2008]: The European social fund spending is additional to the funds in the Department’s budget for the spending period 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Income Support

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 16 July 2008, Official Report, columns 474-5W, how many and what proportion of his Department's 8,950 customer-facing staff have received specific training on the changes to the eligibility rules for income support which came into effect in November 2008; and if he will make a statement. [241029]

Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave her on 20 October 2008, Official Report, 145W.

Income Support: Mortgages

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with Treasury Ministers on income support mortgage interest. [244807]


12 Jan 2009 : Column 31W

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 18 December 2008]: We continue to work jointly with other Government Departments including HM Treasury to consider how best we can support those borrowers who may be facing difficulties.

In the pre-Budget report on 24 November, the Chancellor announced two further enhancements to the support that we provide to owner-occupiers through the income-related benefits. The standard rate of interest used in Support for Mortgage Interest will be fixed for six months at 6.08 per cent. for all customers who receive help with their mortgage repayments. And the capital limit up to which interest can be paid on eligible housing costs will increase from £100,000 to £200,000 for new, some repeat, and some existing customers from January.

Jobcentre Plus

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the total net change in personnel in Jobcentre Plus in each of the next two calendar years. [245036]

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:

Jobcentre Plus: Closures

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1993-4W, on Jobcentres, (1) how many Jobcentres were (a) opened and (b) closed in each year for which figures are available; [241039]

(2) for what reasons the number of Jobcentre Plus offices has decreased. [241041]

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:


12 Jan 2009 : Column 32W

Transformed Jobcentres rolled out by Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus offices open to the public and subsequently closed

2002

12

2

2003

257

47

2004

217

95

2005

163

99

2006

142

157

2007

13

49

2008

4

54

Total

808

503


Jobcentre Plus: Finance

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the budget required for the Jobcentre Plus network in each of the next five years. [241457]

Kitty Ussher: The Department's published three-year plan is available in the Library and sets out the planned expenditure of Jobcentre Plus over the CSR2007. The Department will publish a revised plan before the end of the current financial year providing further details on future Jobcentre Plus expenditure.


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