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23 Feb 2009 : Column 94W—continued
The estimates arc derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
| Unemployed people aged 16 and over, three month period ending December, 1997 to 2008 , United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted | |
| Total (Thousand) | |
| Note: It should be noted that the aforementioned estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.) Source: Labour Force Survey | |
Unemployment Benefits
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people aged (a) under 60 and (b) 60 and over who are out of work and seeking work and who have not signed on because they are not entitled to receive contribution- or income-based jobseeker’s allowance owing to their receipt of an occupational pension or other income. [249391]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available.
Vocational Training
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether an applicant's age is taken into consideration in determining eligibility for re-training programmes funded by his Department; and if he will make a statement; [254288]
(2) whether eligibility for (a) the Rapid Response Service and (b) any other re-training courses for the unemployed funded by his Department are determined wholly or partially by reference to the postcode area of the applicant; and if he will make a statement; [254289]
(3) what criteria have to be met for an unemployed person who does not qualify for the Rapid Response Scheme to be eligible for a Government-funded re-training course; and if he will make a statement. [254290]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 4 February 2009]: Work-focused training is available to everyone who participates in the New Deal regardless of age or post code.
Jobseeker's allowance customers aged 18 to 24 are currently required to participate in the New Deal for Young People when they have been continuously claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months. jobseeker's allowance customers aged 25 or over are currently required to participate in the New Deal 25 Plus when they have been continuously claiming jobseeker's allowance for 18 months, or have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for 18 out of the previous 21 months if there has been a break in their claim.
Voluntary New Deal programmes are available to customers across benefit groups. Access to New Deal 50 Plus is restricted to benefit recipients aged 50 or over. The New Deal for Lone Parents, New Deal for Partners and New Deal for Disabled People each have their own specific qualifying criteria in order to target particular customer groups.
The work-based training courses currently available via the New Deal are decided by each Jobcentre Plus district to meet the needs of local labour markets and so provision will vary throughout Great Britain.
The introduction of the Flexible New Deal later this year will establish a new, unified approach for all jobseekers, whatever their age, skills or barriers to work. The Flexible New Deal will deliver work-focused support, tailored to each individual's needs and local labour market requirements.
Jobcentre Plus offers the Rapid Response Service to all employers who notify more than 20 redundancies and can also offer its support to employers who make fewer than 20 redundancies. The service is not limited to specific postcode areas.
An unemployed person's eligibility for re-training courses is not determined by postcode area. However, there is some specific provision that is targeted at deprived areas. The Working Neighbourhoods Fund, for example, tackles worklessness in specific deprived areas in England. The City Strategy Pathfinders align a range of funding, including the Working Neighbourhoods Fund and the Disadvantaged Areas Fund, to tackle worklessness and social exclusion in some of the country's most disadvantaged locations.
Vocational Training: North Yorkshire
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what courses were offered to jobseeker’s allowance claimants in Vale of York constituency in the last 12 months; how many people completed each course; and what the cost to the public purse of each completed course was per person. [254219]
Mr. McNulty: The specific information requested is not available separately for the Vale of York.
Depending on their needs, customers in the Vale of York are able to access the range of provision that is available across the North Yorkshire district.
Winter Fuel Payments
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount of winter fuel allowance overpaid in each of the last three years; and how much of the sum overpaid has subsequently been repaid. [244908]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Winter fuel payments are made based on a customer's personal circumstances in the qualifying week.
Any overpayment of winter fuel payment is recoverable if it arose in consequence of a misrepresentation of, or failure to disclose a material fact.
| Recoverable winter fuel overpayments( 1) | ||
| £ | ||
| Value of winter fuel recoverable overpayments in year | Total value of recoveries in year | |
| Non recoverable winter fuel overpayments( 1) | ||
| £ | ||
| Value of winter fuel non recoverable overpayments in year | Total value of recoveries in year | |
| (1) Actual amounts. Notes: 1. In year recoveries are amounts received against the total debt stock each year and therefore may exceed the amount of payments recorded in any one year. 2. Of £764,271 winter fuel recoverable overpayments recorded in 2007-08 a total of £403,568 related to overpayments from October 2005 to March 2008. 3. Calculation and recovery action was pursued on all cases in accordance with the Overpayments Recovery Guide. Recoveries of £403,568 for the period October 2005 to March 2007 were recorded on an interim Overpayment Recovery System. These were then migrated and brought to account on the Debt Manager system in December 2007 and appear in the figure for 2007-08. | ||
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) were eligible for and (b) received cold weather payments in the week commencing 5 January 2009. [249425]
Kitty Ussher: A weather station is said to ‘trigger’ when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days. An eligible customer receives a cold weather payment when the weather station to which the customer’s postcode is linked triggers. The number of customers who were entitled to cold weather payments because of triggers notified in the week commencing 5 January 2009 is estimated to be 2.4 million.
Some customers received two payments based on triggers notified in the week commencing 5 January 2009. This happened if the weather station to which the customer’s postcode is linked triggered once for a ‘recorded’ period of seven consecutive days and once for a ‘forecast’ period of seven consecutive days.
Information oh the number of customers who received payments in that week is not available.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on cold weather payments in respect of the period of cold weather since 25 December 2008, broken down by weather station area. [249441]
Kitty Ussher: The information requested is shown in the following table.
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