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13 May 2009 : Column 859W—continued
Jobcentre Plus: English Language
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to offer translations of job vacancies advertised at Jobcentre Plus offices which are written in European languages other than English; and if he will make a statement. [271792]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 28 April 2009]: 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.
The Secretary of State has asked Mel Groves to reply direct to your question asking what steps his Department is taking to offer translations of job vacancies advertised at Jobcentre Plus offices which are written in European languages other than English. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mel Groves as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. As Mel Groves is currently unavailable, I am replying in his absence.
Jobcentre Plus is a member of the European Employment Services (EURES) network, which means that we are notified of vacancies across the European Economic Area (EEA). These vacancies can be searched and viewed in Jobcentre Plus offices because of the link between the Jobcentre Plus and EURES websites. The purpose of the link is to give Jobcentre Plus customers a wider pool of vacancies to search from and to help address areas of skill shortage across the EEA.
The vacancies have been notified to the public employment services of the individual countries in the EEA and Jobcentre Plus is not responsible for their content. This is clearly stated on the vacancies in a disclaimer which reads as follows: "This vacancy has been notified by a public employment service outside Great Britain. You should carefully check the terms and conditions of employment before taking up any job offer. Jobcentre Plus is not responsible for the content of this vacancy."
Employers in other EEA countries expect applicants for their vacancies to be able to speak and understand their language. Similarly Jobcentre Plus vacancies appear in the English language when viewed in other EEA countries. As a result, there are no plans to translate these vacancies.
Jobcentre Plus: Pay
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) salaries, (b) pension benefits and (c) bonuses have been received by each member of the Jobcentre Plus board of management in each year since 2002. [264270]
Mr. McNulty: The available information can be obtained from the Jobcentre Plus annual report and accounts for each year, copies of which have been placed in the Library.
Jobcentre Plus: Vocational Training
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many customers were referred for skills training by Jobcentre Plus (a) in each year since 2002 and (b) each of the last 24 months in each (i) region and (ii) Jobcentre Plus district. [264266]
Mr. McNulty: The information is not collated centrally due to the extensive range of training, both in-house and delivered by external partners.
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people he forecasts will be claiming contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance in each of the next three years. [265572]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 23 March 2009]: The Government set out their assessment of prospects for the economy in the Financial Statement and Budget Report. As has been the practice of previous Governments, we do not publish an official forecast for claimant unemployment, whether in total or separately for the contributory, income-based and credits-only sections of the caseload.
For the purposes of the public finance projections the Treasury uses a planning assumption for the level of the UK claimant count in each year. This assumption is based on independent forecasts, and is audited by the independent National Audit Office. The numbers within this assumption which are assumed to be contributory cases are shown in the following table:
| Number of claimants to c ontributory j obseeker’s allowance | |
| Notes: 1. The figures quoted above relate to JSA claimants in Great Britain. They are rounded to the nearest thousand claimants. 2. These figures are the average number of claimants over the financial years shown. 3. The figures quoted in the Budget and pre-Budget reports are for seasonally adjusted claimant unemployment in the UK. This is a cautious assumption based on the average of external forecasts and is not the Treasury’s economic forecast. 4. The Budget report 2009 can be found at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/bud_bud09_repindex.htm The latest assumption can be found on page 221 (box C1). | |
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the population is claiming jobseeker’s allowance in (a) the UK and (b) Romford constituency. [272483]
Mr. McNulty: Latest figures show that 4.0 per cent. of the UK working age population and 3.7 per cent. of the Romford working age population are claiming jobseeker’s allowance.
Notes:
1. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
2. Data is published at:
https://www.nomisweb.co.uk
3. Data includes clerical cases.
4. The percentage of the population is calculated using the latest ONS mid-year population estimates. These are from 2007 for the UK and 2006 for Romford parliamentary constituency.
Source:
100 per cent. count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the working age population in (a) the UK, (b) Northampton and (c) Kettering constituency is claiming jobseeker’s allowance. [273804]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 8 May 2009]: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Jobseeker’s allowance claimants in the UK, Northampton local authority and Kettering parliamentary constituency as a proportion of the working age population, March 2009 | |
| Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. UK and local authority population estimates are taken from the ONS 2007 mid-year population statistics. 2. Parliamentary constituency population figures are ONS experimental mid-2007 population estimates. (The methodology used to produce these parliamentary constituency estimates is subject to further review). 3. Working age is classified as females aged 16 to 59 and males aged 16 to 64. 4. Figures include clerically held cases. 5. Percentages are rounded to the nearest one decimal place. Source: 100 per cent. count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems. | |
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of young people in (a) West Chelmsford constituency and (b) Chelmsford local authority area claimed jobseeker's allowance in each of the last 10 years. [271986]
Mr. McNulty: Information for West Chelmsford parliamentary constituency is not available.
Information for Chelmsford local authority is shown in the following table.
| Proportion of young people aged 18-24 in Chelmsford local authority area claiming jobseeker's allowance | |
| As at March each year | Percentage |
| Notes: 1. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. 2. Data are published at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk 3. Figures exclude clerical cases. 4. Population estimates are taken from the ONS mid year population statistics for the relevant year except the years 2008 and 2009 which are based on the 2007 estimate. Source: 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems. | |
Local Housing Allowance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what expenditure his Department incurred on the local housing allowance pilot scheme in each of the years in which it was operational. [266286]
Kitty Ussher: The local housing allowance was tested in pilot local authorities prior to national roll-out. There were nine pilot authorities in 2004-05, and 18 from 2005-06.
The total benefit expenditure (AME) on the local housing allowance pilot scheme in each of the years in which it was operational are in the table.
| Total benefit expenditure on the local housing allowance pilots per year | |
| Great Britain | £ million |
| Note: Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £ million. Source: Data obtained from audited final subsidy claims, with the exception of Norwich’s 2007-08 data, which is obtained from the pre-audit claim (the audited claim has not yet been submitted). | |
Information on the total administration costs (DEL) of each of the pilot areas is not available. Pilot local authorities received funding based on what it was reasonably expected to cost them in administering the local housing allowance.
All pilot areas received additional funding to implement the local housing allowance, run the pilot project, contribute to the evaluation activity and procure the necessary software. Information on the level of this additional funding for each year the pilot was in operation is in the table.
| Additional administrative expenditure on the local housing allowance pilots per year | |
| Great Britain | £ million |
| Notes: 1. Expenditure figures are rounded to the nearest £ million. 2. Figures for 2003-04 relate only to the nine Pathfinder areas while figures from 2004-05 relate to all 18 pilot areas. Source: DWP Payment Schedules | |
National Insurance: EU Nationals
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance
numbers were issued in Peterborough to citizens of EU member states other than the UK in each month since May 2004; and if he will make a statement. [269009]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 20 April 2009]: The available information regarding the number of national insurance numbers issued to adult citizens of other EU member states in Peterborough is in the following table.
| Registrations for national insurance numbers to citizens of the European Union—other than the UK (Includes EU Accession States) in the Peterborough parliamentary constituency | |
| Year of registration | Number of registrations |
| Notes: 1. Figures are displayed in thousands. Some additional disclosure control has been applied. 2. Registration date is derived from the date at which a national insurance number is maintained on the National Insurance Recording System. 3. Improvements have been made to the allocation of migrants whose residential address is incomplete. Figures reflect the best estimate of an overseas national’s locality at the time of registering for a NINO. 4. Data for 2008-09 is incomplete and shows that in the six months April to September 2008 there were 1,680 NINO registrations issued to citizens of EU member states living in Peterborough. 5. This data is published at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp 6. The data we hold on national insurance number registrations for adult foreign nationals are only available annually. Source: 100 per cent. extract from National Insurance Recording System | |
Pension Credit: Hendon
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Hendon constituency receive (a) pension credit and (b) guarantee credit; and what the average amount paid to such individuals under each scheme has been to date in 2009. [272302]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The answer is in the following table:
| Household recipients and average weekly amounts of pension credit by type—November 2003 to August 2008 in Hendon | ||||||||
| Pension credit | Average weekly amount (£) | Guarantee Credit only | Average weekly amount guarantee credit onl y (£) | Guarantee credit and savings credit | Average weekly amount guarantee credit and savings credit (£) | Savings credit only | Average weekly amount savings credit only (£) | |
| Notes: 1. The number of households in receipt are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. 3. People can receive guarantee credit only, guarantee credit and savings credit, or savings credit only. 4. Totals may not sum due to rounding. | ||||||||
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