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21 Apr 2009 : Column 654W—continued

For each benefit the target for the AACT in days was as follows:

	Income support	Jobseeker ’ s allowance	Incapacity benefit
2004-05	12	12	22
2005-06	12	12	19
2006-07	11	12	18
2007-08	11	12	18
2008-09	10	11.5	15

The method used to calculate the AACT differs slightly between the three benefits. For IS the AACT is calculated from the date the customer provides all the evidence required to process the claim to the date a decision is made. For JSA the AACT is calculated from the customer's initial date of contact with Jobcentre Plus to the date a decision is made. For IB the AACT is calculated from the date a properly completed claim form is received by Jobcentre Plus to the date a decision is made.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how his Department measures the performance against objectives of the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service; [266110]

(2) what information his Department collects on the job outcomes achieved by the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service. [266111]

Mr. McNulty: 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 right hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves dated 21 April 2009:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking how his Department measures the performance against objectives of the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service; and what information his Department collects on the job outcomes of the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service. These fall within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

Our objective is to ensure that the support of the rapid response service (RRS) is offered whenever it might be appropriate for the employer and employees concerned. The purpose of the RRS is to provide early and immediate help to employees facing redundancy through advice and support on such issues as benefits, the local labour market and effective job search.

In that context, we contact each employer who notifies the Insolvency Service of a proposal to make 20 or more people redundant, and also offer support to other employers we believe to be making redundancies whenever we judge that the cumulative impact of redundancies on the local labour market justifies using
21 Apr 2009 : Column 655W
RRS. In some cases employers contact us, and we will always support employees facing redundancy through RRS when asked to do so.

Since we extended the RRS in November 2008, we have kept an administrative record of the number of employers who take up our offer of support.

We do not attempt systematically to record other information, such as the numbers of employees who are given advice and support through RRS, or the job outcomes achieved for the former employees of particular employers, as to do so would be prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, information on the numbers of job outcomes achieved for people who access support through the RRS is not available.

Jobcentre Plus: Vacancies

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vacancies are being advertised by Jobcentre Plus, broken down by the level of qualifications required for applicants for the vacancy. [262399]

Mr. McNulty: The information is not available.

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the oral answer of 2 February 2009, Official Report, column 573, on jobseeker's allowance, what proportion of the increase since 1997 in (a) total employment and (b) employment of people of working age is accounted for by non-UK citizens. [254882]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 9 February 2009]: For the purposes of counting the number of people in employment, it is the convention to use all those in the population of 16 and over, to recognise the contribution made by older workers. At the time of oral questions, the latest data on that basis showed that between Q3 1997 and Q3 2008 over half of the increase was indeed accounted for by UK citizens.

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of increasing jobseeker’s allowance by (a) 100 per cent. for claimants with an unbroken work record of more than five years and (b) 200 per cent. for claimants with an unbroken work record of more than 10 years immediately prior to their claim in each of the next five years; [264648]

(2) how many people claiming contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance had an unbroken work record of more than (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years immediately prior to claiming in each quarter of the last five years. [264649]

Mr. McNulty: DWP do not hold this information centrally and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what expenditure his Department incurred on support for mortgage interest benefit in each of the last five years. [266312]

Kitty Ussher [holding answer 24 March 2009]: The available information is in the following table.

21 Apr 2009 : Column 656W

Total expenditure on support for mortgage interest 2006-0 8
	£
2004-05	n/a
2005-06	n/a
2006-07	351,377,127
2007-08	394,787,646
2008-09	372,772,841
n/a = Not available Note: Information for the last three financial years is held on the Department's financial systems. Information for earlier years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Source: Bank statements from the Office of Paymaster General that show the amount paid out to third party lenders.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received support for mortgage interest benefit in each of the last 20 quarters. [266313]

Kitty Ussher: The available information is in the tables.

I ncome support claimants receiving support for mortgage interest
	Number
November 2003	118,700
February 2004	116,200
May 2004	113,500
August 2004	110,800
November 2004	107,800
February 2005	105,600
May 2005	104,900
August 2005	102,700
November 2005	100,800
February 2006	99,000
May 2006	96,900
August 2006	95,600
November 2006	94,100
February 2007	92,000
May 2007	91,200
August 2007	88,200
February 2008	83,400
May 2008	81,700
August 2008	81,200

Jobseeker’s allowance claimants receiving support for mortgage interest
	Number
November 2003	14,300
February 2004	14,000
May 2004	13,100
August 2004	11,400
November 2004	11,100
February 2005	11,200
May 2005	10,900
August 2005	8,700
November 2005	9,200
February 2006	10,400
May 2006	9,900
August 2006	9,900
November 2006	9,800
February 2007	9,600
May 2007	8,900
August 2007	8,700
February 2008	8,400
May 2008	8,200
August 2008	7,200

21 Apr 2009 : Column 657W

Pension credit claimants receiving support for mortgage interest
	Number
November 2003	88,900
February 2004	90,700
May 2004	105,700
August 2004	110,600
November 2004	112,500
February 2005	113,300
May 2005	115,100
August 2005	116,900
November 2005	116,900
February 2006	116,600
May 2006	117,500
August 2006	117,300
November 2006	116,900
February 2007	116,000
May 2007	115,500
August 2007	115,200
February 2008	113,200
May 2008	112,400
August 2008	111,000
Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum. 2. Figures have been uprated using 5 per cent. proportions against 100 per cent. WPLS totals. 3. November 2007 data is not available as DWP has not received this. 4. Pension credit was introduced on 6 October 2003 and replaced minimum income guarantee (income support for people aged 60 or over). The vast majority of people who were previously in receipt of the minimum income guarantee transferred to pension credit in October 2003. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5 per cent. sample.

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