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15 July 2009 : Column 424W—continued
Children: Maintenance
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the number of non-resident parents paying child maintenance who are in receipt of tax credits. [281765]
Helen Goodman: I have consulted with the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission who have confirmed that the information requested is not available.
Departmental Data Protection
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) attempts and (b) successful attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to each (i) database and (ii) ICT system run by her Department in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [286537]
Jim Knight: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks, and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.
Departmental Databases
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what categories of personal information on members of the public are contained on each database which contains such data managed by her Department and its agencies; when each category of information was first collected; and if she will make a statement; [284900]
(2) what databases managed by her Department and its agencies hold personal information on members of the public; on what date each such database became operational; and if she will make a statement. [285976]
Jim Knight: The categories of personal data relating to members of the public contained on databases administered by the Department and its agencies are set out in the Department's formal registration under the Data Protection Act, which is available for examination on the Information Commissioner's public website. Details of when these categories of information were collected, the databases which hold personal information, and the dates on which each database became operational are not available centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Equal Opportunities
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her Department's definition is of equality of opportunity in relation to her Department's policies; and if she will make an assessment of the impact on equality of opportunity of her Department's policies. [285206]
Jim Knight: The Department for Work and Pensions' statement of equality of opportunity is:
"The Department is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. As an employer we are also committed to equality and valuing diversity within our workforce. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments, reinforced by our Values, are embedded in our day to day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners."
This means that our internal policies are designed to ensure equality of opportunity for our existing and prospective employees. For example, we carry out all
our permanent recruitment exercises under fair and open competition and we monitor the procedures carefully to make sure that they do not unfairly discriminate against anyone. We are a Disability Symbol user and operate the Guaranteed Interview Scheme for disabled candidates. We are a Local Employment Partnership employer.
Our statement of equality of opportunity applies to our policies and to the services we offer. We carry out equality impact assessments on new policies and services and when we make changes to existing ones. This ensures that equality of opportunity is taken into account at the earliest stage of policy and service development and that:
the Department's strategies, policies and services are free from discrimination;
due regard is given to equality (specifically disability, gender and race) in decision making and subsequent processes; and
opportunities for promoting equality are identified.
In order to consider the impact of equality of opportunity on our policies and services and to ensure the Department's diversity and equality work is showing real results and comparing well to comparative work carried by external organisations, we have also participated in external benchmarking exercises. External benchmarking also gives us the opportunity to share best diversity practise with other organisations.
Our approach to equality is set out in a variety of publications, including:
the Department for Work and Pensions: Race, Disability and Gender Equality Schemes 2008-2011
the Department for Work and Pensions: Secretary of State Report on Disability Equality
the Department for Work and Pensions: Race, Disability and Gender Equality Schemes Annual Progress Report 2008-2011
www.dwp.gov.uk/about%2Ddwp/diversitv%2Dand% 2Dequalitv/dwp%2Dequality%2Dschemes/equalitv% 2Dschemes%2D2008%2D2011/progress%2Dreports% 2D2009/
Employment Schemes: Public Sector
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will assess the merits of making access to work funding available to individuals working or aiming to work in the public sector; and if she will make a statement. [285802]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 13 July 2009]: It is important that individuals aiming to, or who are already working within the public sector have access to funding, such as Access to Work, in relation to their support needs. Individuals working, or about to work in the public sector have been eligible for Access to Work support since the inception of the programme in 1994.
We believe, however, it is right for public sector employers to set an example to other employers by recognising the value to them of taking responsibility for managing workplace disability adjustments. The Strategy Unit Report "Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People" published in January 2005, stated that there are strong grounds for asking employers in the wider public sector to fund workplace disability adjustments.
As a result of this, from 1 October 2006, ministerial Government Departments have funded the workplace disability adjustments required by their disabled staff out of their running costs, instead of using the Access to Work programme. Ministerial Government Departments are required to provide the same level of support for their employees that would be expected under the Access to Work programme.
Jobcentre Plus continues to provide and fund assessments, and continues to provide information and advice to disabled staff and their managers. There are no plans to remove Access to Work funding from people working in other parts of the public sector, and individuals working in these public sector organisations can still apply for Access to Work funding.
Future Jobs Fund
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what mechanism the Future Jobs Fund will provide jobs for young people. [284966]
Jim Knight: The Future Jobs Fund is a challenge fund into which anyone can bid. We expect most bids to be made in partnership.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the average level of subsidy per person funded by the Future Jobs Fund in the latest period for which figures are available. [285593]
Jim Knight: This is still an open bidding process and organisations are able to bid for up to £6,500 for every job they create. It is a rolling assessment process with more organisations bidding to the fund every day. It is up to those bidders to decide what level of funding they require to create a Future Jobs Fund job.
Future Jobs Fund: Oxfordshire
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who in Oxfordshire will be responsible for administering and managing the Future Jobs Fund; and what estimate she has made of the proposed budget for the fund in Oxfordshire. [284965]
Jim Knight: The Future Jobs Fund will be managed centrally by the Department for Work and Pensions and every Government office in England will be able to help potential bidders to develop their bids.
As it is a competitive bidding process, we are not ring-fencing funding for any particular region or area, however greater emphasis will be given to bids from areas of high worklessness and with high populations of eligible young people.
Health and Safety Executive: Freedom of Information
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which requests for information received by the Health and Safety Executive under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in 2008 were (a) classified as not resolvable and (b) refused in full. [286131]
Jonathan Shaw: In 2008 HSE received a total of 6,516 requests for information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI).
1,882 of these requests were classed as 'information not held', and therefore were not resolvable by HSE. The main reasons for this are that information was held by another public authority; or the requests relate to an incident that had not been reported to HSE.
A further 966 requests for information were withheld in full. Many of these requests were in relation to ongoing investigations, where the release of such information could affect the outcome of HSE's investigation. In these cases the exemption in Section 30 of FOI is applied.
HSE does not have a mechanism to easily identify all of the specific reasons why requests were not resolved or withheld in full, except by reviewing each individual case, which could be provided only at disproportionate cost/effort.
Housing Benefit
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time was for a new single claim for housing benefit/local housing allowance to be processed following the cancellation of a joint claim in the latest period for which figures are available; and in how many cases it took 30 days or more to process a claim in the latest period for which figures are available. [283625]
Helen Goodman [holding answer 2 July 2009]: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people receive (a) more and (b) less housing benefit as a consequence of the most recent review of housing benefit localities carried out by the Rent Service. [285355]
Helen Goodman: A review of all Broad Rental Market Areas (formerly localities) was started in England by rent officers following amendments to the Rent Officers Order in January 2009. The first eight reviews were implemented on 1 July 2009 and a further two will be implemented on 1 August 2009. Other reviews, where changes are necessary for the BRMA to comply with the order, will be implemented after consultation with the appropriate local authorities. We do not yet know how many people will receive more or less housing benefit as a consequence of these reviews.
Jobcentre Plus: Manpower
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) directors, (b) senior managers, (c) specialist and delivery managers and (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Jobcentre Plus office in each of the last five years. [280619]
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 how many (a) directors, (b) senior managers, (c) specialist and delivery managers and (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Jobcentre Plus office in each of the last five years. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The information you have requested is not available in the form you have sought. Detailed statistics are not routinely held on staff by the descriptions you have provided; nor are staff necessarily allocated to a specific Jobcentre Plus office. Jobcentre Plus is a national organisation and delivers its services from around 850 locations around Britain. Those include Jobcentres, Contact Centres and Benefit Delivery Centres. We also operate from a small number of head office and regional office sites in different parts of the country where co-location arrangements apply.
However, the enclosed table provides a breakdown of staff, by grade, over each of the last five years. That provides an illustration of senior management, middle management and administrative posts in Jobcentre Plus. The information reflects the position at the end of March in each of the last five years.
| Jobcentre Plus grade breakdown: March 2005 to March 2009 | |||||
| Grade | March 2005 | March 2006 | March 2007 | March 2008 | March 2009 |
| (1) SCS = Senior Civil Service Notes: Senior Civil Service will include Directors and some senior managers; Bands G-E will include some senior managers, specialists and a number of delivery managers as well as some executive support functions; Bands D-C will also include delivery managers and executive support functions; Bands B-A comprise administrative staff. | |||||
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