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23 Mar 2009 : Column 79W—continued
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Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the Tenant Services Authority and other interested parties to agree timescales for the process for the inclusion of local authorities and arms-length management organisations in the revised regulatory regime for social housing. [265326]
Mr. Iain Wright: Section 114 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 allows the Secretary of State to make an order to bring local authorities within the Tenant Services Authority's regulatory regime. We intend to publish a draft order for consultation later this year. Following consideration of consultation responses we intend to lay an order and, subject to parliamentary approval, we expect that the TSA will be regulating local authority landlords from April 2010.
Work and Pensions
Children: Maintenance
Tom Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions where the Child Support Agency was not able to make deductions
directly from non-resident parents' benefit due to technical difficulties in the last three years it was (a) possible and (b) not possible to establish why the technical fault occurred. [258647]
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 as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to how many occasions on which the Child Support Agency was not able to make deductions directly from non-resident parents' benefit due to technical difficulties in the last three years it was (a) possible and (b) not possible to establish why the technical fault occurred. [258647]
In child maintenance cases where the non-resident parent is in receipt of state benefit, the Child Support Agency may issue a request to Jobcentre Plus to make a flat rate maintenance deduction from their benefits. This automated request may initially be rejected when the information the Child Support Agency holds differs from that held by Jobcentre Plus; for example, the benefits are now being administered by a different office from where the original request was sent, or the benefits are suspended pending a decision. These reasons are in fact administrative in nature and unfortunately are sometimes perceived to be and explained as technical issues. I understand that such a misunderstanding may have occurred in relation to a constituent's case, for which I apologise.
In such cases, the revised request will often be accepted before affecting maintenance deductions, which are carried out bi-weekly in accordance with benefit payments. Therefore, even if a request to deduct maintenance is initially rejected for an administrative reason, this does not necessarily mean that the maintenance payment was not received by the parent-with-care on time. The Agency does not hold information on the number of rejections which resulted in a deduction being missed or the different reasons why a request may be rejected.0
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Departmental Absenteeism
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff of his Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on (a) 2 February 2009 and (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate he has made of the (i) cost to his Department and (ii) number of working hours lost as a result of such absence; and what guidance his Department issued to staff in respect of absence on those days. [260574]
Jonathan Shaw: The number of staff absent due to non-medical reasons is not held centrally. This is because it includes annual leave, flexi leave and special leave. Therefore, to provide the data for 2 and 3 February in respect of our total staffing of over 100,000 would incur disproportionate cost.
In addition to the policies governing absence and leave, specific HR advice was issued to cover absences on 2 and 3 February due to the adverse weather. Where employees attempted to come into work but were unable to do so because of the adverse weather and travel
disruption, they were credited with the hours normally worked on these days. Overall the Department is grateful to the very many of its staff who made considerable efforts to get into work on the days in question.
Departmental Official Engagements
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the official engagements of each Minister in his Department were between 1 February 2009 to 28 February 2009. [262967]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 12 March 2009]: I am depositing a table of information in the Library.
Accurate information on the length of time spent on each engagement could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many items of correspondence his Department sent (a) by Royal Mail and (b) by other commercial delivery services in each of the last two years; and what the reasons were for the use of services other than Royal Mail. [264534]
Jonathan Shaw: DWP postal volumes delivered by Royal Mail Group over the past two years were approximately 200 million items to customers (2008-09) and were approximately similar volumes in the previous financial year (2007-08).
DWP postal volumes delivered by other postal providers over the same period are as follows:
UK Mail—volume 95 million items (2008-09) and 80 million items (2007-08) 2nd class postal output to DWP customers from DWP’s regional delivery centres (RDCs) at Washington and Norcross sites.; the final mile is still delivered by Royal Mail;
Spring Global Mail—volume 2 million items (2008-09) and 1.9 million items (2007-08) for international mail to DWP customers.
Since the liberalisation of the UK mail market in January 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions has taken the opportunity to source alternative suppliers (who must hold appropriate licences from Postcomm) to deliver UK postal services via Down Stream Access (DSA). The National Audit Office (NAO) also endorses the use of DSA across public sector postal requirements.
DWP remains committed to using Royal Mail postal services and we have developed a range of joint initiatives to further enhance our relationship and deliver postal efficiencies. DWP is also monitoring the developing postal marketplace for best value for money opportunities for taxpayers
Departmental Press
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in each year since 1997. [261255]
Jonathan Shaw: DWP was formed in June 2001 from Department of Social Security (DSS) and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment, including the Employment Service (ES). Information for the periods prior to June 2001 is not available.
Information on the amount spent in each financial year from 2001 onwards is set out in the following table.
| £ | ||
| Financial year | Newspaper/magazine spend | Periodical spend |
| (1 )Included in Periodical spend. | ||
Departmental Surveys
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2009, Official Report, columns 534-5W, on departmental staff surveys, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's most recent staff survey results and the analysis of the results. [265429]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 20 March 2009]: The most recent DWP Survey results (January 2008) are already available in the House of Commons Library. All previous DWP surveys can be viewed on the following site under the heading ‘The Way We Work’:
Over 1,200 reports are produced for all the teams participating in the survey. Therefore these could be collated and placed in the Library only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's policy is on the renewal of the contracts of (a) temporary and (b) agency staff. [264244]
Jonathan Shaw: Temporary staff may be recruited into the Department for Work and Pensions only for a maximum period of 39 weeks. Such appointments are renewed on an exceptional basis, up to a total period of employment not exceeding 12 months—as stipulated by the civil service recruitment code. Where the need is anticipated to be more than 39 weeks at the onset; recruitment should be through fair and open competition on fixed term or permanent appointments.
Agency workers are engaged by the Department to fill identified skills gaps or to provide support not currently available. Such appointments should be short term and in response to specific business requirements. Controls are in place to ensure any renewal of contracts beyond six, or exceptionally 12, months can be authorised only at a very senior level. Agency workers are brought into the Department via interim personnel framework agreements.
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) staff and (b) ministerial away days were organised by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each year. [265110]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Work and Pensions does not have a separate or identifiable account code in departmental finance records to distinguish expenditure on either staff or ministerial away days. To try and identify any such expenditure would incur a disproportionate amount of time and cost.
Spending on staff away days is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, which is based on the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety. All spending on ministerial away days is made in accordance with the principles set out within Ministerial Guidance.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution of the Minister for Disabled People of 17 March 2009, Official Report, columns 852-5, from what budget the funding for the extension of higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance will be drawn. [265507]
Jonathan Shaw: The measure extending the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance to people who are severely visually impaired will not be introduced before April 2011. We are confident that by the date of its introduction the Department will have re-prioritised annually managed expenditure to ensure that funding is available.
Disability Living Allowance: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Tamworth constituency claimed disability living allowance in the latest year for which figures are available. [264531]
Jonathan Shaw: At August 2008, 4,940 people in Tamworth constituency were claiming disability living allowance.
Notes:
1. Figure is rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Figure shows the number of people in receipt of the allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
3. This figure is published on the DWP website:
Source:
DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
Disability Living Allowance: Yorkshire and the Humber
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster were in receipt of disability living allowance in each year since 1997. [264552]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is in the following table.
| Disability living allowance cases in payment in Barnsley and Doncaster local authority areas | ||
| Barnsley | Doncaster | |
| Notes: 1. August 2002-08 figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Pre-August 2002 figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. There are no data available for disability living allowance in the WPLS before May 2002. 4. 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: 1. August 2002-08: 100 per cent. work and pensions longitudinal study. 2. Pre-August 2002: 5 per cent. sample data adjusted to be consistent with 100 per cent. WPLS totals. | ||
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