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3 Mar 2009 : Column 1524W—continued
Wind Power
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind farms he expects to begin being constructed in each of the next five years. [259459]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In order for the UK to meet its share of the EU renewables target, we expect new wind farm projects to begin construction in the next five years. However, it is not possible at this stage to predict the exact number and timings.
There are currently 176 onshore and offshore wind developments (7855.1 MWe) which have received consent and are awaiting construction in the UK. The years in which these projects will begin construction depend on developers' plans.
Additionally, there are 224 onshore and offshore wind projects (7261.7 MWe) currently in the planning system. These may not all receive consent. However, a number of those that do receive consent may begin construction in the next five years. Further projects not currently in planning may also come forward in this timeframe.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many wind turbines he expects to begin being constructed in each of the next five years. [259507]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to his question 259459 today regarding the number of wind farms expected to begin construction in the next five years. It is not possible to provide a precise figure for the number of turbines as this will vary by site according to factors such as location and wind speed. In addition, larger turbines are being developed, meaning fewer turbines may be needed.
However, taking an average turbine size of 3 megawatts (MW) it is possible to estimate the number of turbines which may be built for projects awaiting construction and those presently in the planning system.
For example, there are currently 7855.1 MWe of onshore and offshore wind developments awaiting construction. This would be equivalent to 2618 3MW turbines. For those in planning, 7261.7 MWe of onshore and offshore wind would be equivalent to 2420 3MW turbines. However, not all of these projects may receive consent.
Work and Pensions
Departmental Catering
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which (a) food and (b) drinks suppliers have been used by his Department in each of the last three years; and how much his Department paid to each such supplier in each of those years. [248380]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department authorises the expenditure of public funds on food and drink only where it is in the public interest and conducive to the conduct of public business. Such expenditure is in the context of a Department of over 100,000 staff dealing, on a daily basis, with many thousands of employers, suppliers and other partners.
In 1998 the Department entered into a 20 year Private Finance Initiative deal with Trillium, known as the PRIME Contract, for the provision of fully serviced accommodation, including catering, for which the Department pays a fully inclusive unitary charge. Services are delivered through a network of Service Partners and Trillium’s Service Partner for catering is Eurest. Local suppliers are used where Eurest is unable to provide a service at a particular site. Expenditure with Eurest for the three years and with the other suppliers for 2006-07 and 2007-08 is provided in the following table.
Non-Eurest expenditure information for 2005-06 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Detail is provided for the top five suppliers only, as there are almost 400 other suppliers.
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 573W, on departmental data protection, whether the Customer Information System (a) is accredited to his Department’s information systems security standards and (b) was so accredited before 1 July 2008. [258702]
Jonathan Shaw: The Customer Information System was accredited for compliance with the Department’s prevailing information system security standards in 2005. The system has not subsequently been accredited to the new standards published by the Cabinet Office last year, which only apply to those systems introduced from 1 July 2008. All current systems that are not accredited to the new standards are fully authorised for use with any residual risks having been identified and managed.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 573W, on departmental data protection, whether a privacy impact assessment has been carried out on the Customer Information System. [258706]
Jonathan Shaw: The Cabinet Office requirement for privacy impact assessments applies to new systems introduced after 1 July 2008. The Customer Information System was introduced several years ago, and therefore a privacy impact assessment is not required.
Departmental Pay
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the hourly rate of pay was for the lowest paid staff in his Department in each of the last five years. [258016]
Jonathan Shaw: The DWP pays employees an annual salary and does not use an hourly rate.
The following table details the minimum of the AA/Band A National pay scale, along with an hourly rate equivalent. As at December 2008, 393 of the Department's total staff of 94,297 (full time equivalent) were on this rate.
| £ | ||
| AA National minimum annual salary | AA National minimum hourly rate equivalent( 1) | |
| (1) The hourly calculation is based on net 37 hours per week, the required full-time working hours. | ||
Departmental Working Hours
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the policy of his Department and its agencies is on granting staff time off in lieu for working (a) in lunch breaks, (b) in evenings and (c) at other times outside contracted working hours; and if he will make a statement. [252005]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is as follows:
(a) Obligations and rights concerning the working day and breaks at work are contained in a collective agreement with departmental trade unions.
Time off in lieu for working lunch breaks is not granted. The Department recognises that working for long periods without taking a break is not good for an individual. For this reason DWP staff are expected to take a meal break at an appropriate point in the day.
(b) Time off in lieu of working evenings is only available to individuals not contracted to work this pattern.
(c) As a result of working outside contracted hours and as an alternative to extra hours or overtime pay, an employee may, with their line manager’s agreement, take time off in lieu for the hours actually worked, excluding meal breaks. In agreeing to this, a line manager will balance the individual’s request with business needs.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days off in lieu were granted to staff in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies for working (i) in lunch breaks and (ii) at other times outside contracted working hours, in the last year for which figures are available. [252006]
Jonathan Shaw: DWP does not maintain central records of the total or average days taken off in lieu by employees. To extract this information from individual records for the period requested would incur a disproportionate cost. Non-departmental public bodies do not hold this information.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance have recorded dementia as a qualifying medical condition on their applications for benefit; what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government on automatic enrolment for the (i) 25 per cent. council tax discount for two person households where one of the residents is in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance and (ii) 100 per cent. council tax discount where a single person household is in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance; what estimate his Department has made of the take up of the (A) 25 per cent. and (B) 100 per cent. council tax discounts among households in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement. [258726]
Jonathan Shaw: As at the end of August 2008, there were 107,130 people in receipt of attendance allowance and 10,300 people in receipt of disability living allowance where their main disabling condition has been recorded as dementia.
There have been no discussions at ministerial or official level with the Department for Communities and Local Government regarding automatic enrolment for council tax discounts. No estimates have been made about the take-up of council tax discounts among households where someone is in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance.
Notes:
1. Disability living allowance figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and have been adjusted to be consistent with WPLS data. Attendance allowance caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Although the preferred data source for benefit statistics is 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, the 5 per cent. sample data have been used in this case because they provide some detail not yet available from the 100 per. cent data sources, in particular, more complete information on the disabling condition of disability living allowance claimants.
3. Where more than one disability is present only the main disabling condition is recorded.
4. A diagnosed medical condition does not mean that someone is automatically entitled to disability living allowance. Entitlement is dependent on an assessment of how much help someone needs with personal care and/or mobility because of their disability. These statistics are only collected for administrative purposes.
5. 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.
Sources:
Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample (DLA) and DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (AA)
Disability Living Allowance: EC Nationals
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many nationals of each non-UK EU member state were in receipt of each rate of disability living allowance for the most recent period for which figures are available. [259650]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Electronic Data Systems
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department (a) is contractually obliged to spend and (b) plans to spend on services provided by EDS in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [260214]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is as follows:
(a) The amounts the Department is contractually obliged to spend with EDS for IT services are: £190 million in respect of 2008-09 and £181 million in respect of 2009-10.
(b) The current estimated expenditure with EDS is £554 million in 2008-09 and £434 million in 2009-10.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of his Department’s IT projects EDS is involved with; and which are project managed by (a) EDS employees and (b) officials of his Department. [260215]
Jonathan Shaw:
Although the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any discrete IT projects, it
has a number of projects and programmes that include changes to, or new, IT to a greater or lesser extent.
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