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27 Jan 2009 : Column 430W—continued
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons some Child Support Agency cases are processed clerically; and how procedures differ between those cases processed clerically and those processed electronically. [246578]
Kitty Ussher: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons some Child Support Agency cases are processed clerically; and how procedures differ between those cases processed clerically and those processed electronically. [246578]
Cases are processed clerically when for technical reasons it is not possible for them to be progressed using the CS2 computer system.
All cases, including those being managed clerically at the Bolton office, are subject to the same legislative and procedural rules.
This arrangement has been beneficial to clients as it ensures the efficient processing of their case through to successful maintenance outcome. By the end of September 2008, almost £60 million in child maintenance had been passed to parents with care whose cases are processed clerically. Clerical cases represent less than 3% of the Agency’s total caseload.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of non-resident parents in receipt of benefit are subject to deductions from earnings orders which specify the payment of £5 per week. [249023]
Kitty Ussher: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is now responsible for the child maintenance system.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of non-resident parents in receipt of benefit are subject to Deduction from Earnings Orders which specify the payment of £5 per week. [249023]
The Commission contacted you to clarify your question. It was confirmed that the answer requested was for the proportion of non-resident parents on benefit and working part-time who are subject to a Deduction from Earnings Order with a weekly liability of £5.
At the end of February 2008, the latest date for which information is available, there were 306,400 cases with a calculation where the status of the non-resident parent is recorded as being on benefit. Around 500 of these cases, under 0.2%, are subject to a Deduction from Earnings Order, or Deduction from Earnings Request, where the weekly liability is £5.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average weekly child maintenance payment to parents with care in receipt of means-tested benefits was in the latest period for which information is available. [249625]
Kitty Ussher [holding answer 20 January 2009]: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the Hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner, as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average weekly child maintenance payment to parents with care in receipt of means-tested benefits was in the latest period for which information is available. [249625]
The latest benefits data available is from the quarter ending February 2008. This shows that the Agency collected or arranged child maintenance on behalf of 161,000 parents with care who were also in receipt of Income Support or income based Jobseeker’s Allowance. The information available is recorded monthly. The average monthly amount of maintenance collected or arranged in February 2008 on these cases was £113. This includes both regular maintenance and maintenance arrears.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Children: Poverty
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what factors his Department has identified as the main causes of child poverty. [250438]
Kitty Ussher: We published ‘Ending Child Poverty: Everybody's Business’ in March 2008, which highlights the main causes and outcomes of child poverty. The report identified that children raised in workless households are at far greater risk of poverty than those in working households. Other causes of child poverty are a lack of skills and educational qualifications, parents or children with a disability or poor health, low aspirations and living in deprived communities and communities with higher crime rates.
For those who can, work remains the surest and most sustainable route out of poverty. Our policies on welfare reform, childcare, back to work help, skills development and in-work support will further increase parental employment and family income.
Legislation, planned for this session, will ensure all levels of Government play their part in delivering these policies and meeting our target to eradicate child poverty by 2020.
Departmental Air Travel
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 58W, on carbon emissions: Government departments, what distance of air travel was offset by his Department and its participating agencies in 2007-08; and what proportion of such travel was (a) domestic, (b) short-haul and (c) long-haul. [250038]
Jonathan Shaw: I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 January 2009, Official Report, columns 1018-19W.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on (a) maintaining, (b) decorating and (c) otherwise improving departmental buildings in the last five years; how much has been spent on wallpaper since 2001; and what plans there are for further spending on departmental decoration. [248059]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department has an estates private finance initiative contract with Trillium for the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation and for which the Department pays an all inclusive unitary charge. This unitary charge includes a risk price element for all aspects of building maintenance, repair, routine decoration and refurbishment, known as Life Cycle Works. These separate elements cannot be disaggregated from the overall expenditure on Life Cycle Works. The Department has made no expenditure on wallpaper since 2001. Any future expenditure on decoration will be provided for within the unitary charge.
Some “improvements” are not covered by the unitary charge and are funded separately as capital expenditure. Capital expenditure includes major projects, and the fit-out of new buildings, such as the rollout of the new Jobcentre Plus network and other departmental initiatives in the Pension Service and Debt Management. The Department's capital expenditure on these major projects in the last five years is provided in the following table. Separate costs for “decorating” and “otherwise improving” could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| DWP capital expenditure on major projects 2003-04 to 2007-08 | |
| £ million | |
Departmental Catering
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) directly-operated and (b) franchised catering outlets his Department and its agencies provides for staff. [249086]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department has a Private Finance Initiative contract with Trillium for the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation, which includes catering. Trillium delivers the catering service through its service partner, Eurest.
Catering is provided in 133 Department for Work and Pensions locations. All of these catering outlets are directly operated by Eurest and there are no franchised outlets. A list of all 133 locations which have catering outlets has been placed in the Library.
Departmental Databases
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 13 November 2008, Official Report, columns 1303-4W, on departmental databases, if he will list each of the identified postcode sectors in the 50 local authorities that ACORN analysis was used to target the Central Office of Information marketing and advertising. [250298]
Jonathan Shaw: We have placed in the House Library the list of postcode sectors identified through ACORN analysis for the No Ifs, No Buts Targeting Benefit Fraud campaign.
Departmental Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department on staff reward and recognition schemes in each of the last three years. [248702]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is as follows:
End of year performance bonuses
DWP employees in pay bands below the senior civil service are eligible for an annual individual performance bonus if they attain a “top”, “higher” or “majority” rating under the annual performance and development system. The amount of bonus awarded is differentiated on the basis of an employee’s pay band and the performance level achieved.
For the senior civil service end of year bonuses are determined on an individual basis by the relevant DWP SCS Pay Committee.
Performance awards are payable in July and are attributable to performance in the previous financial year. In the 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 financial years a total of £40.68 million, £36.61 million and £23.32 million has been paid respectively. This is broken down as follows:
| Table 1: Department total | ||
| Financial year | Total paid (£ million) | Total number of recipients |
| Table 2: Total below SCS | ||
| Financial year | Total paid (£ million) | Total number of recipients |
Special bonus and voucher payments
Individuals may also be entitled to special bonus payments either as cash or retail vouchers. Vouchers, as an alternative to cash payments, were introduced in May 2006 These are one-off recognition awards, payable at any time during the performance year and are not linked to the annual pay award.
It is not possible to provide separate data for in-year cash bonuses across three years. However, the cost in a typical year for cash bonuses is around £2.7 million with payments made to approximately 11,250 individuals (based on 2007-08 payments).
The cost for voucher payments was £0.9 million in 2006-07, £1.77 million in 2007-08 and £1.03 million in 2008-09.
Disability Living Allowance: Children
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims have been (a) received and (b) approved for disability living allowance for children below the age of (i) 18, (ii) 16 and (iii) 10 years in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [248617]
Jonathan Shaw: Information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the following table.
| Disability Living Allowance cases in payment by age for those aged less than 18 | ||||
| All | Under 10 | 10-15 | 16-17 | |
| Notes: 1. May 2002-08 figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. August 1992 - May 2001 figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 4. August 1992 is the earliest data available. Sources: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (May 2002-08) DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample. (August 1992 to May 2001) | ||||
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