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28 Jan 2009 : Column 561W—continued
Swimming: Low Incomes
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funds (a) the Amateur Swimming Association and (b) Sport England provide for (i) the teaching of basic swimming and (ii) increasing swimming participation among people on low incomes. [245726]
Andy Burnham: The Government are committed to increasing participation in swimming, as demonstrated by their £140 million investment in the Free Swimming Programme, an element of which will be to provide free swimming lessons.
Increasing overall participation in swimming is also one of the key aims of the Amateur Swimming Association’s (ASA) Strategic Plan 2005-09, to which Sport England has contributed in excess of £9 million of whole sport plan funding.
Sport England awarded £3 million to the ASA to support its ‘Everyday Swim’ project during 2006-08. ‘Everyday Swim’ is a national project, operating at a number of sites across England, which has the aim of improving people’s experience of using public pools and so delivering a sustained increase in participation, including people on low incomes.
UK Sport: Property
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what non-heritage (a) buildings and (b) land are leased by UK Sport; and what estimate has been made of the value of these assets. [250260]
Mr. Sutcliffe: UK Sport have advised that they do not own any buildings or land.
UK Sport operate from offices at 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1ST, and lease of this property, which is not listed or scheduled, is treated as an operating lease and UK Sport does not capitalise, in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. At 31 March 2008 UK Sport had £0.55 million leasehold improvements in the balance sheet at cost. The depreciated value was £0.1 million.
Work and Pensions
Carers’ Benefits
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the change in expenditure on (a) disability living allowance (care component), (b) attendance allowance and (c) carer's allowance payments after they became exportable within the European economic area; [247060]
(2) what estimate he has made of the change in the number of claimants of (a) disability living allowance (care component), (b) attendance allowance and (c) carer's allowance payments after they became exportable within the European economic area; [247061]
(3) with reference to the written ministerial statement of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 68WS, on disability benefits (European Court of Justice), what progress has been made in discussions with the European Commission to clarify the extent of the Government's responsibilities following the judgment in the European Court of Justice of 18 October 2007. [247229]
Jonathan Shaw: We set out the entitlement conditions for those customers who are eligible to export an existing award of disability living allowance care component, attendance allowance or carer’s allowance on the Directgov website in April 2008. This can be found at:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/Introductiontofinancialsupport/DG_073387.
The increase in expenditure is very difficult to predict. Our estimates indicate that, at most, this will result in an increase in the number of customers and benefit expenditure as set out in the following table.
| Estimated maximum expenditure ( £ million ) | Estimated maximum caseload | |
| ( 1) Equals less than 5,000 and therefore equals zero when rounded to the nearest 10,000 Note: These estimates relate to 2010-11 because this is assumed to be the first full year following full implementation of the judgement. | ||
We expect to set out entitlement conditions for those wishing to claim from abroad shortly. The directgov website will be updated at that time.
Child Support Agency: Cost-effectiveness
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the operational improvement plan in place at the Child Support Agency. [242214]
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.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of the operational improvement plan in place at the Child Support Agency. (242214)
The Operational Improvement Plan was launched in April 2006 and supported by £120 million of additional funding. The three-year plan aimed to improve the service the Child Support Agency was delivering to its clients and to deliver more money to more children, while the entire system of child maintenance was redesigned. The Agency is currently in the third and final year of the plan and while some challenges remain it is on course to meet all of the commitments that were made when the plan was launched.
As a result of the investment in the Operational Improvement Plan the Agency is now delivering its services far more efficiently and effectively. Indeed, after two-and-a-half years of the plan the number of uncleared cases has fallen significantly, from 284,400 cases that were outstanding in March 2006, to just 95,900 cases outstanding at the end of September 2008. The number of children who receive maintenance has also increased under the plan to a total of 778,200 children in the three months to the end of September, 155,200 more children than received maintenance in the three months to March 2006. In addition, the Agency collected and arranged £1.08 billion in child maintenance in the year to September 2008, which is a considerable increase from the £836 million that was collected in the year to March 2006.
The investment in the Operational Improvement Plan has resulted in more money for more children, and will provide a stable foundation on which the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission can build for the future.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Cold Weather Payments
John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will include RAF Benson as one of the meteorological stations used to determine cold weather payments in Oxfordshire; [247773]
(2) if he will estimate the number of people in Henley constituency who would have qualified for cold weather payments in the period from 1 November 2008 to 11 January 2009 had the determining temperature for the payment been taken solely at RAF Benson; [247778]
(3) how many people in Henley constituency qualified for cold weather payments between 1 November 2008 and 11 January 2009. [247779]
Kitty Ussher: Estimates of the number of benefit units who qualified for cold weather payments between 1 November 2008 and 11 January 2009 are not available by parliamentary constituency or local authority, but only by weather station.
A cold weather payment is triggered for an eligible customer if the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the customer's postcode.
Postcodes in Henley parliamentary constituency are linked to either Brize Norton, High Wycombe or South Farnborough weather stations. Each of these weather stations triggered twice between 1 November 2008 and 11 January 2009. Therefore eligible benefit units in Henley parliamentary constituency each qualified for two cold weather payments between 1 November 2008 and 11 January 2009. If Henley parliamentary constituency had been linked to RAF Benson, eligible benefit units would still have qualified for two cold weather payments between 1 November 2008 and 11 January 2009.
The inclusion of RAF Benson as one of the meteorological stations used to determine cold weather payments in Oxfordshire will be considered as part of the annual cold weather payment review in summer 2009.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's average response time to a letter received from (a) an hon. Member and (b) a member of the public was in each of the last three years. [251431]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 571W, in response to his previous question 244721.
Disability Living Allowance: Chronically Sick
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed the higher rate care component of disability living allowance on the ground of terminal illness in 2007-08, broken down by the smallest geographical area for which figures are available. [241074]
Jonathan Shaw: We do not collect statistics on the number of disability living allowance claimants who are terminally ill. The available information about the number of disability living allowance claimants with the highest rate care component who have claimed under the special rules applicable to people who are terminally ill and not expected to live for more than six months is in the table.
| Disability living allowance claimants with the highest rate care component on the grounds of terminal illness in 2007-08 | |||||
| May 2007 | August 2007 | November 2007( 1) | February 2008 | May 2008 | |
| (1) Data for November 2007 is not available. Notes: 1. Although the preferred data source for benefit statistics is 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, the 5 per cent. sample data has been used in this case because it provides some detail not yet available from the 100 per cent. data sources, in particular, it identifies those claiming under the Special Rules. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. Figures 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. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample. | |||||
Disability Living Allowance: Sight Impaired
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 17 September 2008, Official Report, column 2226W, on sight impaired: disability living allowance, for what reasons 2010-11 is the earliest date at which the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance could be extended to people registered blind. [246883]
Jonathan Shaw: Any change to extend entitlement of the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance to people with severe sight impairments or who are registered blind would necessitate a change to the primary and secondary legislation. Further time will be needed to design, test and implement the administrative processes, which will require changes such as new guidance and training for staff. As a result, the earliest implementation timescale would be 2010-11.
Disabled: Social Security Benefits
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the written ministerial statement of 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 68WS, on disability benefits (European Court of Justice), what legal advice his Department sought ahead of the European Court of Justice's judgment; and at what cost. [247230]
Jonathan Shaw: In addition to legal consideration by internal legal advisers, Her Majesty's Government instructed external counsel to represent the United Kingdom in the proceedings before the European Court of Justice at a cost of approximately £19,000.
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