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5 May 2009 : Column 122W—continued
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed jobseeker's allowance in (a) the UK and (b) (i) Birmingham, (ii) Leeds, (iii) Glasgow, (iv) Sheffield, (v) Hull, (vi) Manchester, (vii) Bradford, (viii) Kirklees, (ix) Liverpool, (x) Bristol and (xi) London in (A) February 2008 and (B) February 2009. [270995]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 24 April 2009]: Available information is shown in the following table.
| Jobseeker's Allowance claimants in February 2008 and February 2009 in the UK, local authorities and London (Government office region). | ||
| February 2008 | February 2009 | |
| Notes: 1. Data are rounded to the nearest 5. 2. Data are published at https://www.nomisweb.co.uk Source: 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems. | ||
Local Employment Partnerships
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what budget has been allocated for the organisation of the Local Employment Partnership Awards 2009; and how much (a) each of the 11 local award ceremonies and (b) the grand final are expected to cost. [261015]
Mr. McNulty: The Local Employment Partnerships Awards 2009 are an integral part of our strategy to support the delivery of LEPs across Great Britain. We want more employers to work through LEPs so that unemployed people have a better chance to get back to work.
The awards have been established to highlight the major benefits that LEP participation have brought to employers and partners and to celebrate the success of individual employees who have found sustainable work through the programme. So far more than 140,000 people have found jobs with more than 20,000 employers through LEPs.
An overall budget of £663,000 has been allocated to support this work. Final figures for the costs of the events will not be known until all 12 have been delivered.
Nuclear Power: AWE Burghfield
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements the Health and Safety Executive has made for consultation on proposed changes to the nuclear licensed site boundary at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Burghfield. [271289]
Jonathan Shaw: The licensing of nuclear installations is undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the powers provided by the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA65). In accordance with the requirements of section 3(1 A) of NIA65, HSE consulted the Environment Agency about the application from the site licensee, AWE plc, for a replacement nuclear site licence for Burghfield. The new site licence was required to enable AWE plc to bring additional land into the licensed enclave to accommodate the construction of replacement facilities.
HSE also has a discretionary power under section 3(3) of the NI Act to direct a licence applicant to serve notice on certain public bodies local to the site in question. HSE concluded that public body notification
was not required in respect of this application because it will not alter the nature of the activities undertaken in the licensed area, nor impact on the competence and capability of the licensee. Furthermore such bodies would be briefed on the relicensing via the AWE plc Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and that the development would be subject to the usual planning processes.
Pathways to Work
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds on the performance of (a) private sector providers and (b) in-house teams providing Pathways to Work schemes from the start of the contracts to the end of October 2008. [263405]
Mr. McNulty: Official Statistics on the performance of private sector providers delivering Pathways to Work Schemes will be available in summer 2009.
The Department does collect high level, aggregate management information on Provider Led Pathways performance. It is to be expected that in the normal course of managing their business, Departments will have available and use more recent very often incomplete data, from a range of sources, than are available from Official Statistics at a particular point in time, but this has not been quality assured and would give an incomplete picture of performance.
The Department publishes regular performance monitoring reports for Jobcentre Plus led Pathways. The latest published official statistics available show that up to September 2008, there had been 1,038,910 starts to the programme and the total number of job entries was 143,650 up to March 2008.
Social Security Benefits
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value was in (a) real and (b) cash terms of (i) the state pension, (ii) pension credit, (iii) income support and (iv) jobseeker’s allowance for each year since 1997. [267576]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The available information on benefit rates up to 2008-09 has been placed in the Library. Real terms rates are presented in April 2008 prices.
Benefit rates which came into effect on 6 April 2009 are shown in the following table. It is not possible to present the real terms rates in April 2009 prices at this time as the April 2009 Retail Price and ROSSI index figures will not be published until 19 May 2009.
Social Security Benefits: Asylum
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who successfully claimed asylum since 1997 have (a) claimed and (b) been granted benefits. [265345]
Mr. McNulty: Once a person has been granted leave to remain, they can apply for benefits but no record is kept of the fact that they had previously claimed asylum.
Swimming Pools: Safety
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Health and Safety Executive publishes on safety in municipal swimming pools. [271226]
Jonathan Shaw: The guidance on safety in swimming pools published by the Health and Safety Executive is "Managing health and safety in swimming pools - HSG179", which is available from HSE Books. This is supplemented by additional advice held on the entertainment and leisure industry pages on the HSE website.
Trade Unions
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2009, Official Report, column 865, on trade unions, what office facilities his Department provides for the exclusive use of each recognised trade union; and what the notional monetary value of such provision was in 2008-09. [271916]
Jonathan Shaw: The information is as follows:
1. The Department for Work and Pensions allows the following office facilities for the use of its recognised trade unions:
A room, wherever possible, is made available for the use of the trade union side. Failing this, trade union representatives are allowed the use of private rooms where necessary, for example, to enable private discussions with individual union members.
The trade unions are provided with sufficient furniture e.g. desks, lockable pedestals and filing cabinets, to enable them to carry out their duties efficiently.
Trade union representatives are allowed the use of official telephones for union activities permitted within the DWP Employee Relations framework.
Trade union representatives are allowed the use of departmental personal computers, where available, for work in respect of their representational duties. They may also be allowed access to e-mail facilities.
The local union branch may have notice board facilities on official premises, where they are available.
Trade union representatives are allowed reasonable use of office services and provisions for essential trade union activities, provided it does not interfere with official work and they are not used excessively. This could include, for example, use of typists, the internal courier, facsimile machines, photocopiers and stationery.
2. The information requested on what the notional monetary value of such provision was in 2008-09 is not available.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2009, Official Report, column 865W, on trade unions, which trade unions his Department’s agencies recognise. [271917]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Work and Pensions and its Executive agencies, Jobcentre Plus and the Pension, Disability and Carers Service (PDCS) recognise three trade unions as representing members of staff; the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), FDA and Prospect.
Winter Fuel Payments: North East
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the amount paid to pensioner households in Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency in winter fuel payments in 2008-09. [271350]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Actual expenditure data are not yet available for 2008-09 and forecasts of benefit expenditure are not produced at constituency level. However, in 2007-08, expenditure on winter fuel payments in the parliamentary constituency of Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland was £3.5 million.
Notes:
1. Winter fuel payments are paid to people aged 60 and over.
2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
Source:
Information directorate 100 per cent. data.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to answer Question 248120 on the UK’s membership of the Euro, tabled by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean on 12 January 2009. [270693]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 23 April 2009]: I replied to the hon. Member’s question on 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 115W.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to answer Question 263741, on Woolworth, tabled by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean on 11 March 2009. [270694]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 23 April 2009]: I replied to the hon. Member’s question on 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 119W.
Communities and Local Government
Council Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the Review of Council Housing Finance to be completed; and if she will make a statement. [272222]
Mr. Iain Wright: We expect the work of the review to conclude shortly and to make a statement over the summer.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what floor area space standards are expected of (a) one, (b) two and (c) three bedroom homes in local authority high density housing schemes. [272224]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government’s Planning Policy Statement 3: “Housing” (PPS3) is clear on the need to achieve high quality new housing, including promoting appropriate designs and layouts, encouraging innovative approaches to help deliver high quality outcomes, and ensuring developments at all densities contribute positively to making places better for people.
As regards social housing the Government’s new delivery body, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), is currently reviewing the benchmarks for high quality urban design, construction and environmental sustainability, including any space standards for new homes funded by the public sector.
In the meantime the HCA is continuing to operate under the regimes set in place by the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships. Under these, the Housing Corporation Design and Quality Strategy and Standards set out the requirements and recommendations for housing projects which receive Social Housing Grant, and the English Partnerships Housing Quality Indicators set out requirements for housing developments that receive funding from the property and regeneration programmes. Both sets of requirements include a space standard. Details are available through the internet. The relevant links are
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