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27 Mar 2009 : Column 739W—continued
Culture, Media and Sport
Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to review the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003; and if he will make a statement. [266443]
Barbara Follett: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as a matter of good practice, intends to review the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act as soon as resources allow.
National Lottery: Grants
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery funding has been awarded to organisations in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [266087]
Barbara Follett: Full details of lottery funding for organisations in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997 can be found at the National Lottery Grants Database:
Regeneration: Coastal Areas
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has provided for the regeneration of seaside towns in each of the last three years; and what plans there are for such funding in the next funding round. [267580]
Barbara Follett: My Department’s contribution to the Government’s work in support of the regeneration of seaside towns is through the £45 million (£15 million per annum over the next three years) Sea Change Programme. This has only been in place since 1 April 2008, but £29.3 million has been made available for regeneration of seaside towns through this initiative since then as set out in the table:
| Financial year | Grant allocated (£) |
It is too early to announce plans for public expenditure beyond 2011.
Video Games
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish the results of his Department’s video games consultation. [267369]
Barbara Follett: We expect to publish the results shortly.
Work and Pensions
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much he has allocated for expenditure on income-based jobseeker's allowance in the next three years. [266798]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 26 March 2009]: Most benefits, including income-based jobseeker’s allowance, are managed through Annually Managed Expenditure (AME). AME is public expenditure for which multi-year spending limits are not seen as appropriate, and which is instead subject to regular review.
Available information on future jobseeker's allowance expenditure up to 2010-11 is shown in the table, taken from the forecasts published at the Pre-Budget Report in November. The figures will be updated after the Budget on 22 April 2009.
| Forecast JSA Expenditure | |
| £ million | |
| Source: DWP website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Alltables_PBR2008_rounded.xls?x=1 | |
New Deal Schemes
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training for employment officers his Department plans to provide to external providers of the Flexible New Deal; and what budget has been allocated for this training. [262846]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 11 March 2009]: The successful flexible new deal providers will be contracted to deliver their own service delivery model, involving support tailored to the needs of each individual.
As such employment officer status will be an integral part of contractors’ job roles and it will be the employer’s responsibility to provide and fund any necessary training. The same situation applies in current new deal contracts and employment zones.
Responsibility for the customer’s continuing entitlement to jobseeker’s allowance will remain the responsibility of Jobcentre Plus.
Pensions Ombudsman
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Pensions Ombudsman requires relevant case evidence to be submitted before it may exercise its discretion not to investigate cases. [258737]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 25 February 2009]: The Pensions Ombudsman will seek such evidence as he considers necessary to determine whether or not to investigate a complaint.
Welfare Tax Credits
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many hardship payment awards his Department has made (a) in each region and (b) at each payment level in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; [261066]
(2) how many hardship payment awards his Department has made in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [261067]
Kitty Ussher: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide my hon. Friend with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking how many hardship payment awards his Department has made (a) in each region and (b) at each payment level in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available and how many hardship payment awards his Department has made in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus has management information relating to Jobseeker’s Allowance hardship payments. However, this information is not available prior to July 2002. The information held does not distinguish between the payment levels. The available data is attached at Annex 1.
Annex 1
| JSA hardship awards made | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | 2009 | |||||||||||||||
| Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | |||||
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