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8 July 2009 : Column 831W—continued
Stress
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which public authorities have provided stress management training courses for their staff through the National School of Government in the last 36 months. [258615]
Tessa Jowell: This is a matter for the National School of Government. I have asked the principal and chief executive to reply.
Letter form Rod Clark, dated July 2009:
In the Written Ministerial Statement to the House on 9 January 2007 (Official Report Col 5WS), the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Pat McFadden MP) announced that the National School of Government was now a Non Ministerial Department. Consequently, the Minister for the Cabinet Office has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the National School of Government.
Since July 2006 the National School of Government has run one Stress Management Workshop. Members of staff from the following public authorities attended:
The Home Office;
Department for Work and Pensions;
Communities and Local Government;
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
National School of Government;
Office of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; and
The House of Lords.
Stress Management is part of the overall Organisational Health and Well Being agenda which is recognised as essential to the component of engaging employees to achieve effective performance.
Water
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the effect on the publication of the Basingstoke Water Cycle report of the interpretation of the national security circular in relation to water assets. [282805]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 29 June 2009]: None.
Work and Pensions
Apprentices
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what role job centres have in the promotion and uptake of Government-funded apprenticeships. [272623]
Jim Knight: 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 hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what role Jobcentres have in the promotion and uptake of Government-funded apprenticeships. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus work in partnership with the Learning and Skills Council and local agencies to promote apprenticeship opportunities and our advisers will discuss and refer customers to apprenticeship vacancies in the normal course of business. Apprenticeship vacancies that are notified to Jobcentre Plus are clearly displayed on Jobpoints in all Jobcentres and on our vacancies Internet site.
In addition, we signpost and refer customers to careers advisory services where customers who might benefit from apprenticeship training receive more in-depth advice and guidance.
Jobcentre Plus promotes the Government’s funding for training to employers as part of our integrated approach to providing an employment and skills service with our learning and skills partners.
Children: Maintenance
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will bring forward proposals for non-resident parents to be reimbursed for clothing purchased for their children; and if she will make a statement. [283990]
Helen Goodman: There is no specific provision in legislation which allows the Child Support Agency to treat clothing purchased for children as “voluntary payments” for child maintenance purposes. However, the Agency is able to treat any form of payment as a voluntary payment where the parent with care accepts them in lieu of child maintenance; this could include clothing purchased for children.
An amendment to legislation is not therefore appropriate in this case.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many private sector organisations have submitted proposals to her Department under the right to bid programme on improving the delivery of services provided by her Department; how many of these proposals relating to each of her Department's services are being considered by her Department; and if she will make a statement. [275958]
Jim Knight [holding answer 15 May 2009]: The right to bid initiative was introduced on 1 January 2009 and we are pleased to say that we have had a significant amount of interest. As of 6 July 2009, 91 bids have been received from a mixture of organisations, 47 of which are from private sector organisations.
Disability Living Allowance
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what guidance her Department issues to assessors on the account to be taken of representations by (a) parents and (b) professionals who know the child concerned in determining amounts of disability living allowance in respect of young people with autism; [284257]
(2) what training her Department’s officials who assess claims for disability living allowance receive in respect of issues affecting young people with autism. [284258]
Jonathan Shaw: All claims for disability living allowance are decided by decision makers who are required to make decisions fairly and impartially based on the application of the law to the facts of the individual case.
Decision maker training covers all available legal and medical guidance in relation to the weighing of evidence from individual sources. The impairment specific training received by decision makers includes sessions on autistic spectrum disorder and learning disability. Evidence provided by parents and professionals involved in the care of children with autistic spectrum disorder are considered an important source of evidence.
The Department provides decision makers with guidance on deciding claims for disability living allowance within the Decision Makers Guide. In addition, guidance is given in respect of children with autistic spectrum disorder within the Disability Handbook which includes guidance on the best sources of evidence.
The Department is reviewing and updating medical guidance for people under 16 covering a number of impairments with relevant medical experts. Autistic spectrum disorder is included in this review.
All staff determining claims to disability living allowance receive training on how to use all guidance. Advice is also provided on how to interpret information provided by parents and other professionals. This will also be reviewed and updated in line with the new medical guidance.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals claiming (a) employment support allowance and (b) jobseeker’s allowance who voluntarily disclosed the use of crack cocaine or heroin were referred to a drug treatment provider in each of the last two months for which figures are available. [284994]
Jim Knight: The information is not currently available broken down into benefit types. The available information is in the following table.
| Total number of individuals who voluntarily disclosed the use of crack cocaine or heroin and who were referred to a drug treatment provider since 27 April 2009 | |
| Month | Number of referrals made nationally |
Ethnic Employment Taskforce
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will place in the Library a copy of a sample fictitious job application made to a business by the Ethnic Employment Taskforce. [284294]
Jim Knight: The Racial Discrimination in Recruitment report will be placed in the Library when it is published this autumn. It will contain examples of the CVs used.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions between what dates the Ethnic Employment Taskforce sent fictitious job applications to businesses; and at what cost to the public purse. [284295]
Jim Knight: CVs and application forms were sent out by the research company to businesses between November 2008 and May 2009. The total cost of the research project including fieldwork, analysis of data and the production of the final report will be £168,700.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Ethnic Employment Taskforce consulted organisations representing (a) employers and (b) businesses on its proposal to submit fictitious job applications to businesses before such applications were sent. [284296]
Jim Knight: In October 2007, the employer-led Business Commission on Race Equality recommended ‘matched CV’ testing to measure progress towards eliminating the ethnic minority employment gap. The Chancellor of the Exchequer accepted this recommendation and asked the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force (EMETF) to oversee delivery and report back to him in writing by December 2009. A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) member sits on the EMETF. The CBI is also on the steering group for the research project.
Future Jobs Fund
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether an impact assessment has been undertaken in respect of the (a) Future Jobs Fund and (b) Young Persons' Guarantee. [285149]
Jim Knight: Both an equality impact assessment and a privacy impact assessment have been prepared for the Future Jobs Fund and Young Person’s Guarantee. These are currently being quality assessed. Following this, they will be published in line with current guidance.
Jobcentre Plus: Manpower
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio of jobseeker’s allowance claimants to members of frontline staff in Jobcentre Plus was (a) in the UK, (b) in each region and (c) in each Jobcentre Plus district on the latest date for which information is available; and if she will make a statement. [269536]
Jim Knight: The information has been placed in the Library.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff engaged in what types of work were employed by Jobcentre Plus in each month since January 2007. [271695]
Jim Knight: 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 me to reply to your question asking how many staff engaged in what types of work were employed by Jobcentre Plus in each month since January 2007. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mel Groves as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. As Mel Groves is currently on annual leave, I am replying in his absence.
The tables below show the number of staff against a range of activities for each month from January 2007 up to February 2009. Functions in the customer service operations part of Jobcentre Plus are standard activities and each month Jobcentre Plus captures how many full-time equivalents are deployed on each of these activities. In addition to staff deployed on standard activities, there are also around 2,500 people in Directorates who support Jobcentre Plus operations. People in these roles undertake a wide variety of activities and are recorded as Other Business Support.
| 2007 | |||
| January | February | March | |
|
3rd Party Provision Management (non European Social Fund—ESF) | |||
|
Personal Adviser Activities (includes Management and Support) | |||
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