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24 Feb 2009 : Column 625W—continued

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) applied for and (b) received a crisis loan in England and Wales in each of the last five years, broken down by the smallest administrative area for which figures are available. [254862]

Kitty Ussher: The available information is provided in the following tables:

Crisis loan applications received in England and Wales by region and year
Region	2004-05	2005-06		2006-07		2007-08
East of England	89,930	97,440		118,400		167,620
East Midlands	47,060	41,300		59,290		104,370
London	150,080	148,840		171,620		183,790
North East	67,960	72,140		87,770		157,910
North West	205,750	203,960		217,670		331,960
South East	149,670	149,330		126,800		238,940
South West	69,790	70,350		83,210		97,470
Wales	67,160	73,670		72,730		124,140
West Midlands	82,110	73,910		76,160		140,110
Yorkshire and Humberside	101,510		109,150		114,180	159,310

24 Feb 2009 : Column 626W

Crisis loan initial awards made i n England and Wales by region and year
Region	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
East of England	70,540	74,390	92,850	111,650
East Midlands	40,640	34,720	47,240	67,850
London	109,910	109,260	128,190	135,280
North East	52,410	53,950	65,280	110,010
North West	155,770	157,140	170,030	240,780
South East	123,480	122,500	104,320	177,740
South West	54,130	56,830	62,120	67,100
Wales	48,960	54,500	51,160	79,730
West Midlands	60,970	52,780	50,200	76,000
Yorkshire and Humberside	74,290	76,320	80,700	98,630
Notes: 1. Regions are Government office regions. Data by region are available only from April 2004. Applications and awards are recorded in the region where they are administered. Until January 2005, a small area of the East of England region was administered for social fund purposes from a district within the London region. Until March 2005, a small area of the East Midlands region was administered for social fund purposes from a district within the North West region. 2. In recent years there have been many changes to the boundaries of Jobcentre Plus districts. In some cases, a district has been split and the parts merged with other districts. For the districts involved in such a situation it is not possible to give comparable data for the last five years. The smallest administrative area for which comparable data is available (for the last four rather than five years) is region. 3. Figures are for applications received, not for the number of people who made an application, and for awards made, not the number of people who received an award. (Some people made more than one application or received more than one award.) 4. Figures are for initial awards only. Awards made after review are not included. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Departmental Recruitment

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new recruits his Department employed in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2007-08 and (d) 2008-09; how many of these were taken on as (i) permanent, (ii) temporary and (iii) agency staff; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures for (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2010-11. [254424]

Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows the total number of individuals recruited in each of the categories for the years 2005-06 to 2007-08 and until December 2008 for the year 2008-09. The figures cover the core Department and its Agencies.

Staff category	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	( 1) 2008-09
Permanent	4,694	4,618	3,814	3,428
Temporary	6,027	4,613	2,579	3,732
Agency	437	344	667	923
Total	11,158	9,575	7,060	8,083
(1) At December 2008. Notes: For 2005-06 and 2006-07 temporary staff includes all fixed term appointments and staff on short term contracts. For 2007-08 and 2008-09 temporary staff includes fixed term appointments whose contract is for a period of less than 12 months and all staff on short term contracts.

Estimates of future recruitment are currently only available for 2009-10 when the forecast is for around 12,000 recruits. This figure is subject to change as workforce plans are further developed. It is not possible to break this figure down into categories.

24 Feb 2009 : Column 627W

Industrial Health and Safety: Wales

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions have taken place with the Welsh Assembly Government on work under its national action plan to reduce suicide and self harm in Wales 2008-2013 with his Department to encourage employers to be alert to the risk of suicide amongst staff and to encourage and facilitate uptake of help and support; and if he will make a statement. [247145]

Jonathan Shaw: We have had no discussions with the Welsh Assembly government on work under their national action plan to reduce suicide and self harm in Wales 2008-13. Officials have, however, had several conversations on related subjects such as mental health and the workplace. We could specify these only at disproportionate cost.

Jobcentre Plus: Greater London

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Jobcentre Plus offices in (a) Feltham, (b) Orpington and (c) Brixton Hill are planned to be closed. [247510]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 14 January 2009]: 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.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of new jobseeker's allowance claimants expected to move onto the benefit as a result of (i) losing employment, (ii) moving off income support, (iii) failing a work capability assessment and (iv) other reasons in each of the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [241033]

Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1995W.

Natural Gas: Engineers

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many registered gas engineers there were in each of the last 10 years; and how many were (a) deregistered, (b) fined and (c) imprisoned in each of the last 10 years. [241703]

Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is set out as follows.

24 Feb 2009 : Column 628W

Table 1: Number of registered gas installers and installers deregistered
	Registered installers	Removed from register
1999	44,736	62
2000	44,221	10
2001	44,476	19
2002	43,117	27
2003	44,141	10
2004	42,930	29
2005	47,357	15
2006	49,744	15
2007	51,249	17
2008	54,926	6

Table 2: Fines imposed
	Number of prosecution cases	Of which: Number of individuals prosecuted
1999-2000	55	47
2000-01	46	36
2001-02	36	24
2002-03	39	37
2003-04	30	26
2004-05	24	22
2005-06	15	13
2006-07	17	15
2007-08	16	15

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