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19 Jan 2009 : Column 1023W—continued
Employment and Support Allowance
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his Department’s estimate is of the number of people who will be in receipt of employment and support allowance (a) in total, (b) in the work-related activity group and (c) in the support group in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement; [241197]
(2) what his Department’s estimate is of the number of people who will be on employment and support allowance (ESA), broken down by (a) income-based ESA and (b) contributory-based ESA in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [241199]
Mr. McNulty: We expect 10 per cent. of new employment and support allowance customers will flow into the support group, and 90 per cent. of new employment and support allowance customers will flow into the work-related activity group. However, we expect that at least 20 per cent. of customers in the longer term employment and support allowance caseload will be in the support group, because these people will be much less likely to leave the benefit than those in the work-related activity group.
Information on estimated caseloads up to the end of the Government’s spending plan period, to 2010-11, is in the following table.
| Employment and support allowance: estimated benefit caseloads | |||
| Thousand | |||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
| Notes: 1. Figures for 2008-09 relate to six months only; employment and support allowance was introduced on 27 October 2008. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding. 3. Figures are consistent with autumn/pre-Budget report 2008 benefit expenditure tables, to be published shortly on the DWP website. These will be accessible via the following link: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp | |||
Employment: Lone Parents
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average income of a lone parent with a single child in receipt of income support was at the latest date for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [244143]
Kitty Ussher: The median net total weekly income for lone parents with a single child in receipt of Income Support is £210.
Notes:
1. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of approximately 26,000 households.
2. Data for 2006-07 was collected between April 2006 and March 2007.
3. The figures are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to Government Office Region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
4. Weekly income is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to misreporting.
Source:
Family Resources Survey, 2006-07
Employment: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to maintain levels of employment in Yorkshire and Humberside. [242683]
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 my hon. Friend with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked Mel Groves to reply to your question concerning what steps he plans to take to maintain the level of employment in Yorkshire and Humberside. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mr Groves as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. Mr Groves is currently on annual leave. I am replying on his behalf as Chief Operating Officer.
Jobcentre Plus has a key role in helping both individuals and employers in the current economic situation. Our priority is to ensure people receive the benefits they are entitled to and the support and training necessary to get back to work as soon as possible and help employers fill their vacancies with suitably qualified people.
As you know we have seen a rise in the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance across the region. Jobcentre Plus is very well placed to help people who have recently lost their jobs to move back into work as soon as possible. While around 28,000 new customers claimed Jobseeker's Allowance in November across the region, over 34,000 new vacancies were notified to us and 21,700 customers moved off the register.
We continue to actively engage with employers across the region to help them meet their local recruitment needs. We have had a magnificent response through our Local Employment Partnerships initiative with 3,120 employers now signed up to offering work opportunities for our most disadvantaged customers and newly redundant people, resulting in 6,417 jobs. We are also working closely with local employers and partners, for example, in the call centre, care and retail sectors to offer bespoke pre employment training to fill their significantly increased vacancies. We also offer a wide range of support for people facing redundancy. This includes helping support employers to retain their staff through retraining; and encouraging staff to gain vocational qualifications to prepare for the economic recovery rather than having to make staff redundant. We also support employers where they need to go into short time or temporary stop working and we are tailoring our advice to meet their needs.
A strengthened Rapid Response Service was launched on 12 November 2008, doubling national funding from £3 million to £6 million. Through the Rapid Response Service, Jobcentre Plus has access to funds to enable those individuals made redundant to receive the necessary help to get them back into work. Such measures could include:
Skills Transfer Analysis (to help identify an individual’s transferable skills and training needs relevant to the local labour market);
Job-Focussed Training (to assist individuals with appropriate training and certification linked to employment or self-employment linked to the needs of the local labour market).
We will also visit employees facing redundancy at their place of work to explain the support and benefits available to them. Employees can also access the vacancies we hold nationally by visiting our website at www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk or by telephoning us on 0845 6060 234 and by using the jobpoints at their local Jobcentre. Additional information is also available through our ‘Job Kit’ which provides guidance and support for customers on benefits and how to look for a job and our ‘Find your way’ leaflet for employers.
The Government announced on 12 January 2009 that it is enhancing the support available to customers who are unemployed for six months from April 2009. This includes further support from Jobcentre Plus advisers, plus options to take up subsidised employment, self employment, training or voluntary work. This will all be available in the Yorkshire and Humber Region, delivered through Jobcentre Plus and partners.
Jobcentre Plus is also represented on the Regional Economic Delivery Group, chaired by the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Minister Rosie Winterton. The group is working to secure and coordinate public sector infrastructure investment and steer the regional response to the economic climate. Reporting to this group is the Yorkshire and Humber Financial Services Task force led by Yorkshire Forward (the Regional Development Agency). This group is co-ordinating the region’s response to potential job losses and producing a long term strategy to secure the future of high skilled employment in the sector. This working group is currently developing an action plan to support Bradford and Bingley Building Society. The group will be widening its remit to cover other industrial sectors.
In addition to this support we recently decided that our customers in Yorkshire and the Humber can have access to CV writing, Jobsearch advice and support through our Programme Centres immediately rather than waiting 6 months.
I have asked Ian Hunter, District Manager West Yorkshire, to meet with you to discuss the help Jobcentre Plus are providing to maintain the level of employment across the region.
Housing Benefit
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average (a) daily, (b) weekly and (c) monthly level of housing benefit claimed per claimant was (i) in total and (ii) in each of the smallest geographical areas for which figures are available, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [246594]
Kitty Ussher: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Jobcentres
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the Answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1993-94W, on jobcentres, what estimate he has made of the number of people using jobcentres in each year since 2002. [241038]
Mr. McNulty: The information is not available.
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants who had better off in-work calculations carried out by Jobcentre Plus in the last year were found to be (a) worse off, (b) between £0 and £9 a week better off, (c) between £10 and £19 a week better off, (d) between £20 and £29 a week better off, (e) between £30 and £49 a week better off, (f) between £50 and £74 a week better off, (g) between £75 and £99 a week better off and (h) more than £100 a week better off; and if he will make a statement. [242187]
Mr. McNulty: The information is not available.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the average time between application and payment of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) income support was in each month of the last two years; [242207]
(2) what the average time taken to complete the processing of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) income support claims from when the initial application was received in each month of the last two years, broken down by benefit delivery centre. [242213]
Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus. I have asked the acting chief executive, Mel Groves to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions:
“what the average time between application and payment of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) income support was in each month of the last two years”
“what the average time taken to complete the processing of (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) income support claims from when the initial application was received in each month of the last two years, broken down by benefit delivery centre”
This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The target for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) is 11.5 days. This is calculated from the date of initial contact made by the customer to the date a decision is made on their claim.
The target for Income Support (IS) AACT is 10 days. This is calculated from the date all the evidence requirements are met by the customer to the date a decision is made on their claim.
In other words only JSA clearance times are calculated from the date of initial application date.
Please see attached at annex 1 data that displays the AACT for JSA and IS for each month in the last two years. The data recorded is sometimes to two decimal places as that is how we receive the raw data, when we formally report our targets we round those figures to one decimal place.
| Annex 1: JSA and IS AACT for the periods November 2006-October 2007 and November 2007-October 2008 | ||||||||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | |||||||||||
| Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | |
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