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23 Feb 2009 : Column 70W—continued
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of existing incapacity benefit claimants will take part in (a) a single work-focused interview, (b) three work-focused interviews and (c) mandatory work preparation activities in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011 and (iv) 2012. [255182]
Jonathan Shaw [ h olding answer 9 February 2009]: From April 2008, all incapacity benefits claimants have been able to access Pathways to Work on a voluntary basis, including work-focused interviews and a range of back-to-work support.
From late 2009 we plan to start providing three work-focused interviews to existing incapacity benefit claimants under the age of 25 in Jobcentre Plus-led Pathways to Work areas.
For the majority of existing incapacity benefits customers, the mandatory engagement announced in the White Paper ‘Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future’ (Cm 7506) will occur once those claimants have been transferred to employment and support allowance between 2010 and 2013. Customers placed in the support group will not be required to undertake any mandatory activities, although they will be able to volunteer for back-to-work support.
As the exact timing and profile of the transfer of these customers is still being developed, it is not possible to fully answer the question at this point in time.
Industrial Health and Safety: Nuclear Power
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the budget of the Nuclear Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive (a) was in each of the last five financial years, (b) is in 2008-09 and (c) will be in each of the next five financial years; [255929]
(2) what the budget of (a) the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, (b) the Office for Civil Nuclear Security and (c) the Health and Safety Executive Nuclear Directorate (i) is for 2008-09 and (ii) was for each of the last five financial years. [256000]
Jonathan Shaw: The budgets for 2008-09 and for each of the last five years are set out in the following table:
| £ million | ||||||
| 2008 - 09( 1) | 2007 - 08( 2) | 2006 - 07 | 2005 - 06 | 2004 - 05 | 2003 - 04 | |
| n/a = Not available (1) The figures for 2008-09 are for budgets. (2) The figures for 2007-08 to 2003-04 are for outturns. (3) The figure for 2003-04 for the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate are unavailable other than at disproportionate cost to HSE. (4) The Office for Civil Nuclear Security was transferred to HSE on 1 April 2007 from the then Department for Trade and Industry. (5) Some 97 per cent. of ND’s direct costs and overheads are recovered through charges to industry under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 and Health and Safety (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2007. Since 2007-08 this has also included 100 per cent. recovery of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security direct costs and overheads recovered under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, the Energy Act 2004, the extant security provisions of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended) and, in respect of nuclear material, the Import of Goods (Control) Order 1954. These costs exclude the HSE central service costs. | ||||||
Nuclear Directorate’s (ND) indicative budget for 2009-10 is £36.4 million(1); and for 2010/11, £37 million(1). ND’s budget beyond 2010-11 has not yet been set.
(1)( )ND’s indicative budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 were revised in January 2009 to reflect the forecast costs of ND’s transition to a statutory corporation. The figures will be further revised to reflect the outcome of HSE’s pay negotiations with its trades unions.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the budget of (a) the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, (b) the Office for Civil Nuclear Security and (c) the Health and Safety Executive Nuclear Directorate is allocated to (i) staffing costs and (ii) transport costs. [256001]
Jonathan Shaw: The answer is provided in the following table.
| Percentage | |||
| Financial year 2007-08( 1) | Nuclear Installations Inspectorate | Office for Civil Nuclear Security | Nuclear Directorate |
| (1) The percentages are calculated based on the outturns for the last full financial year, rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Staffing costs cover permanent staff payroll costs and the cost of staff substitutes such as agency workers. (3) Transport costs cover travel and subsistence, official vehicle hire and detached duty costs both in the UK and internationally. | |||
Industrial Health and Safety: Prosecutions
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful prosecutions the Health and Safety Executive brought for breaches of health and safety law by employers that led to an illness believed to be caused or made worse by their current or past work in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254210]
Jonathan Shaw: From 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2008, the Health and Safety Executive took the following number of successful prosecution cases against employers for instances of work related ill health:
| Number | |
These prosecutions resulted from action taken following the investigation of cases of reported occupational disease, or where employee work related ill health was identified during other HSE interventions.
Across the same period, HSE has successfully prosecuted many more employers for failing to control the risks of their work activities to their workers’ and others health.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful prosecutions the Health and Safety Executive made for breaches of health and safety law by employers that led to a workplace fatality in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254284]
Jonathan Shaw: From 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2008, the Health and Safety Executive took the following number of successful prosecution cases against employers for instances of work related fatalities:
| Number | |
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful prosecutions the Health and Safety Executive brought for breaches of health and safety law by employers that led to a workplace injury in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254209]
Jonathan Shaw: From 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2008, the Health and Safety Executive took the following number of successful prosecution cases against employers for instances of work related injury:
| Number | |
These figures exclude prosecutions of work-related fatalities.
Industrial Health and Safety: Temperature
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints the Health and Safety Executive received on high temperatures in the workplace in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254274]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is as follows:
| Number of complaints | |
| Source: The information has been obtained from HSE’s operational information system (COIN) | |
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions of employers the Health and Safety Executive undertook in cases of failure to manage high temperatures in the workplace in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254275]
Jonathan Shaw: From 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2008, the Health and Safety Executive took no prosecutions as a result of employers’ failures to manage high temperatures in the workplace.
Although outside the period specified in the question, legal proceedings have recently been initiated by HSE related to a workplace fatality in 2006-07 in which heat stress was implicated.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who have a condition believed to have been caused or exacerbated by exposure to high temperature in their work. [254276]
Jonathan Shaw: There is insufficient evidence to allow a reliable estimate to be made.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Health and Safety Executive has issued on workplace temperatures (a) which are not considered reasonable and (b) at which control measures to manage heat must be put in place. [254283]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) on 21 January 2009, Official Report, column 1450W.
The guidance issued by HSE does not specify a maximum workplace temperature at which control measures must be put in place.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many workplace injuries where exposure to high temperature was a factor were reported to the Health and Safety Executive during (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254277]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) on 26 January 2009, Official Report , column 88W.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many instances of stress due to exposure to high temperatures in the workplace were reported to the Health and Safety Executive in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008. [254286]
Jonathan Shaw: Instances of heat stress, as a medical condition, may be included in injuries reported under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 but it is not possible to identify them separately.
Jobcentre Plus: Closures
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the administrative cost of the Jobcentre Plus closure programme was in each of the last five years; [251468]
(2) what savings were achieved by the Jobcentre Plus closure programme in each of the last five years; [251469]
(3) what the cost of running the Nairn Jobcentre Plus office was in each of the last five years before it was closed. [251471]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking; what the administrative cost of the Jobcentre Plus closure programme was in each of the last five years; what savings were achieved by the Jobcentre Plus closure programme in each of the last five years; and what the cost of running the Nairn Jobcentre Plus office was in each of the last five years before it was closed. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The costs of running the Nairn Jobcentre in 2004/5, the last full year of operation, were approximately £200,000. Costs for earlier years are unavailable. The available information on administrative costs and savings from office closures is in the following tables.
| Disposal costs from office closures | |
| £ million | |
| Note: All figures rounded to the nearest million. Source: NAO report February 2008, Jobcentre Plus reports. | |
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