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14 July 2009 : Column 284W—continued
Disability Living Allowance
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2009, Official Report, column 541W, on disability living allowance, at what level information is recorded on the number of people claiming disability living allowance where the main disabling condition is recorded as obesity. [283621]
Jonathan Shaw: In October 2008 the set of codes used to record the disabling condition for disability living allowance changed. Primary and Secondary codes replaced codes for Care and Mobility and more fine detail was introduced with respect to disabling condition. Prior to October 2008, there were fewer than 50 categories for disabling condition, but now there are over 500. This information is available for statistical analysis from November 2008.
However, codes for existing disability living allowance claimants were not updated, so the number of cases with new codes is extremely small compared to the total numbers in receipt of disability living allowance. It is, therefore, not yet possible to produce an estimate of the total number of people claiming disability living allowance with a main disabling condition of obesity.
Future Jobs Fund
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding from the Future Jobs Fund has been allocated to each (a) regional development agency and (b) local authority; and what targets have been set for each such body in respect of the creation of new jobs. [286235]
Jim Knight: The Future Jobs Fund operates a competitive bidding process, with local authorities, partnerships and others able to bid to create jobs through the fund. We are not ring-fencing funding, or setting targets for any particular region or area. However greater emphasis will be given to bids from areas of high unemployment and with high populations of eligible young people.
Hazardous Substances: Storage
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) large-scale petrol storage depots and (b) onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations there are in (i) England and (ii) Essex. [280663]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 19 June 2009]: The following table shows the number of large-scale petrol storage depots and the number of other major hazard sites subject to the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (as amended) ('COMAH') in Essex and England respectively.
| Number | |
Tables listing the relevant sites have been placed in the Library.
Medical Assessors
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanisms her Department has in place to monitor the accuracy and quality of work carried out for her Department by medical assessors. [284573]
Jonathan Shaw: The contract between DWP and Atos Healthcare contains a number of quality targets to measure the performance of health care professionals (HCPs)(1) which are monitored on a monthly basis. Quality and accuracy is regularly monitored through a variety of other methods including monthly management information, customer satisfaction surveys and feedback from complaints. The work of all HCPs is subjected to quality audit which is conducted by experienced medical auditors within Atos Healthcare. The quality of Atos Healthcare's audit is validated by senior medical auditors from Atos Healthcare and doctors working for the Chief Medical Adviser to the DWP.
(1) The term health care professionals (HCP) covers both registered doctors and registered nurses who conduct medical assessments on behalf of the DWP.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what minimum qualifications are required of medical assessors working for her Department. [284574]
Jonathan Shaw: The contract between DWP and Atos Healthcare specifies minimum recruitment standards that all approved health care professionals (HCPs)(1) must be fully registered with the General Medical Council or Nursing and Midwifery Council without restrictions or conditions and complete a course of training in disability assessment medicine approved by the DWP Chief Medical Adviser (CMA). In addition they must have a minimum of three years post registration experience. In individual cases, solely at the discretion of the CMA, the requirement that no conditions be attached to registration and the requirement that health care professionals have a minimum of three years post registration experience may be waived. In addition all HCPs must be approved by the CMA to the DWP.
(1) The term health care professionals (HCP) covers both registered doctors and registered nurses who conduct medical assessments on behalf of the DWP.
New Deal Schemes
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) maximum and (b) average payment of the New Deal Allowance was to people who had reached the test trading phase of the New Deal in the most recent period for which figures are available. [274342]
Jim Knight: Test trading allows the customer to stay on benefits for a short period while they launch their business. This can last for a maximum of six months.
The amount of new deal allowance paid to individual customers is equivalent to their previous benefit rate (usually jobseeker's allowance) plus a new deal premium of £15.38 a week.
Pathways to Work
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants there have been for each of the Pathways to Work programme providers since inception of the contracts; how many of these (a) did not attend initial interview, (b) were referred back to a decision maker for consideration of a sanction and (c) were placed in sustained employment. [285521]
Jim Knight [holding answer 9 July 2009]: Official statistics on the number of participants in Pathways to Work are available up to January 2009, these are published on the Department's website at:
Information is not available by provider. Breakdowns are available by district. Data on starts are available up to January 2009. Data on job entries are available up to October 2008 but no data are available to show sustained jobs. Starts and job entries in each Pathways district have been placed in the Library.
The Department does not hold official statistics on failed to attend interviews or referrals back to decision makers.
Pension Credit
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of people aged (a) between 60 and 79 and (b) 80 years old and over who are eligible for pension credit. [285827]
Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.
Pensions
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the absolute value of the basic state pension for (a) single pensioners and (b) pensioner couples has been in each year since 1997-98. [285777]
Angela Eagle: The information is in the table.
Personal Accounts Scheme: Finance
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate she has made of the cost of establishing personal accounts schemes; and what proportion of such costs she expects to be recouped from scheme participants; [284123]
(2) how much grant-in-aid paid the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority has received from her Department in each financial year since its inception; [284124]
(3) what expenditure the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority has incurred in each financial year since its inception. [284038]
Angela Eagle: Revenues from membership charges are intended to cover the cost of personal accounts in the long run, including the cost of setting up the scheme.
All cost estimates are commercially sensitive until the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority has completed its procurement process. Publishing these estimates now could compromise the Authority's ability to get value for money.
The following table shows how much funding the Authority has received from the Department and its expenditure in each financial year since its inception.
Remploy
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her Department's role is in respect of (a) setting the levels of and (b) paying (i) salaries and (ii) bonuses at Remploy. [284749]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department is responsible for recruiting and setting the salaries for the chair, chief executive officer and non-executive directors of Remploy. The setting of salaries of all other employees is the responsibility of the company.
As with all non-departmental public bodies, the Department approves the annual pay remit for Remploy and the overall remuneration package must meet the Treasury civil service pay guidance.
The Department has approved the performance related pay schemes for the Remploy Executive where targets are now closely linked to achieving key objectives in the five-year modernisation plan. Performance related pay schemes for all other employees are set by the company.
Right to Bid Scheme
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Minister has lead responsibility for the Right to Bid scheme; what officials in her Department are working on the scheme; and how many applications to the scheme have been received to date. [284495]
Jim Knight [holding answer 6 July 2009]: I have lead responsibility for Right to Bid. Alan Cave, DWP Employment Group Delivery Director, is the lead official for the Right to Bid scheme; he is supported by a central team which administer and manage Right to Bid.
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.
Social Security Benefits
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason disability living allowance is disregarded for the purposes of calculating child maintenance; for what reason war pensions are assessed in calculating child maintenance; and if she will make a statement. [284228]
Helen Goodman [holding answer 3 July 2009]: Child maintenance is based on the financial circumstances of parents. State benefits which vary in accordance with a person's financial circumstances (such as war pensions) form part of their overall income and as such are therefore taken into account when the maintenance liability is calculated. However, the level of income required to qualify for a war pension is such that the maximum the vast majority of non-resident parents who are on a war pension would have to pay is £5. That is the case for all of those on the current child maintenance scheme.
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