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26 Oct 2009 : Column 147W—continued
Recycled Capital Grant Fund
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the outstanding balance of the Homes and Communities Agency's Recycled Capital Grants Receipts Programme funding was at the last date for which figures are available. [294950]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 14 October 2009, Official Report, column 970W.
Refuges: Domestic Violence
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of refuges which will (a) lose funding and (b) close as a result of changes to his Department's Supporting People funding arrangements. [292522]
Mr. Malik: The provision of Supporting People housing-related support services, including domestic violence provision, is a matter for local authorities to determine based on local needs and priorities. CLG, through annual expenditure returns and quarterly Supporting People local systems data monitor the expenditure and number of available services funded from the Supporting People programme.
Based on the expenditure information provided annually by local authorities, expenditure on domestic violence services in England has increased each year in both monetary and percentage terms.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many refuges which formerly accepted only female domestic violence victims now accept both males and females. [292523]
Mr. Malik: The Department does not collect this information.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on the closure of its domestic violence refuge. [292524]
Mr. Malik: None. The decision regarding the commissioning, procurement and provision of domestic violence services is a matter for local authorities.
Shelter: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 20 of his Department's Resource Accounts for 2008-09, HC 449, what public consultations Shelter has promoted with the funds provided by his Department. [294660]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) on 19 May 2009, Official Report, column 1365W.
Social Rented Housing
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with the Home and Communities Agency on the takeover of equity stakes in registered social landlord developments; and if he will make a statement. [291669]
John Healey: My Department has regular meetings at ministerial and official level with the Homes and Communities Agency. These meetings cover a broad range of topics relating to the Agency's remit. I have had no discussions with the Home and Communities Agency specifically on the takeover of equity stakes in registered social landlord developments.
Supporting People Programme
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department provided per participant under the Supporting People programme in each local authority area in each of the last three years. [291464]
Mr. Malik: Supporting People funding is not allocated or monitored on a "per participant" basis.
The Supporting People grant is allocated to top tier local authorities by using the Supporting People distribution formula. The distribution formula assesses relative need between authorities, mainly on the basis of the numbers of vulnerable people at risk, with allowances for levels of deprivation and cost differences. Therefore the distribution formula calculates 'target allocations' for each authority based on the level of need for housing related support.
Local authorities submit an annual return on the total expenditure on Supporting People in the financial year. Local authorities also provide a quarterly snapshot of the number of household units available (i.e. the capacity of housing related support services).
Tenant Services Authority
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the terms of reference of the Tenant Services Authority's new advisory group on investigating new forms of tenancy and part-ownership are. [292625]
John Healey: The formation of an advisory group was announced by the chief executive officer of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) at the National Housing Federation conference in September. The objective of the group is to review the needs of prospective tenants and the role of mutual and community forms of ownership in meeting those needs, while identifying options that may help meet the needs of people unable to access affordable housing in places they want to live and work.
The terms of reference for this group are currently being developed.
Tony Clements
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 16 July 2009, Official Report, column 655W, on Tony Clements, whether Mr. Tony Clements works with any Minister in his Department in a political advisory role; and what the (a) terms and (b) duration of his employment are. [294535]
Barbara Follett: Mr. Clements is employed as civil servant, and does not, therefore, work in a political advisory role. He has a one-year fixed-term contract, with standard terms and conditions.
Travelling People: Caravan Sites
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what targets for numbers of additional Traveller pitches have been proposed in the most recent version of each regional spatial strategy; and what period of time is proposed for meeting this target in each such strategy. [292805]
Mr. Malik: The number of additional Gypsy and Traveller pitches needed in each region, and the proposed time frame, is as follows:
| Draft regional spatial strategies | ||
| Strategy | Time frame | Pitches |
| Finalised regional spatial strategies | ||
| Strategy | Time frame | Pitches |
Travelling People: Racial Discrimination
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether Travellers will be able to apply for grants from the Tackling Race Inequalities Fund. [293258]
Mr. Malik: Yes. The Tackling Race Inequalities Fund (TRIF) was announced in February 2009, to support third sector organisations working to tackle race inequalities (and promote equality of opportunity for people of all ethnic groups). My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced the 27 third sector organisations on 21 July 2009, Official Report, column 119WS. Two of these organisations (The Rural Media Company and Friends, Families and Travellers) will be working with the Gypsy, Roma and Travellers communities. The grant funding is for two years until the end of March 2011.
Valuation Office: Surveillance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Valuation Office Agency has undertaken surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [294624]
Barbara Follett: The Valuation Office Agency has not undertaken any surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 since the Act came into force.
Work and Pensions
Asbestos: Licensing
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2009, Official Report, column 553W, on asbestos: documents, (1) how many and what percentage of electronic files held since 1984 were retained after the seven-year review held in accordance with the Health and Safety Executive's document retention policy; [294168]
(2) how many and what percentage of paper files held since 1984 were retained after the nine-year review held in accordance with the Health and Safety Executive's document retention policy. [294169]
Jim Knight: The information is not readily available in an accessible format and could therefore be provided only at disproportionate time and cost.
Departmental Advertising
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on advertising in each newspaper in the latest year for which figures are available. [289483]
Jim Knight: Government policies and programmes affect the lives of millions of people and in order for them to have the desired effect they must be communicated effectively while representing value to the taxpayer. We want everyone to claim all the help they are entitled to.
The DWP provides services for over 20 million people, from helping the most vulnerable pensioners to getting people back to work and much of this Department's communications activity is aimed at raising awareness of these vital services and entitlements. Our communications also contribute to the Department's work to tackle benefit fraud.
The channels used for advertising in the media are firstly via the advertising and media buying roster of the Central Office of Information (COI) for campaign and editorial requirements, and, secondly, via local and national newspapers for recruitment and low value, low complexity adverts on behalf of DWP agencies.
The Department's spend on newspaper advertising for 2008-09 is as follows:
| Spend on newspaper advertising for 2008-09 | |
| Total value (£ million) | |
| Note: Costs given are for media spend only and exclude the cost of creative work, research, production of supporting materials or launch events. Sources: 1. Central Office of Information source-COI 28 September 2009 2. DWP direct advertising source-DWP Commercial Intelligence | |
We are not able to provide the breakdown of costs by publication as we use so many that we would incur disproportionate cost in trying to identify each individual publication listed in the spend data files.
Employment and Support Allowance
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the average time taken to process (a) an employment support allowance (ESA) claim where a medical certificate was required and (b) an ESA claim where a repeat or duplicate request for a medical certificate was made was in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by benefit delivery centre; [293414]
(2) how many requests have been made for medical certificates for the purpose of processing employment support allowance (ESA) claims in the most recent period for which figures are available; and how many duplicate or repeat requests have been made for medical certificates for the purpose of processing ESA claims, broken down by benefit delivery centre in each case. [293425]
Jonathan Shaw: 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 questions asking what the average time taken to process (a) an Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claim where a medical certificate was required and (b) an ESA claim where a repeat or duplicate request for a medical certificate was made in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by benefit delivery centre; and how many requests have been made for medical certificates for the purpose of processing Employment and Support Allowance claims in the most recent period for which figures are available; and how many duplicate or repeat requests have been made for medical certificates for the purpose of processing ESA claims, broken down by benefit delivery centre in each case. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Performance against our average processing time targets are published on the Jobcentre Plus external website. The clearance times for Employment and Support Allowance are not yet part of Jobcentre Plus's targets. They will form part of the published target suite from April 2010 and will be placed on the website shortly afterwards.
The reason for the delay in publishing the official figures is because it is necessary for Jobcentre Plus to first collect an appropriate amount of performance data with which to inform and set a relevant target level.
We are currently exploring whether we can develop some official statistics on processing times for Employment and Support Allowance new claims in the near future.
Jobcentre Plus does not collate any information on requests for medical certificates so we are unable to supply the information requested with relevance to this element.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of those who stopped claiming employment and support allowance before their assessment was completed were (a) in work, (b) claiming jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and (c) not recorded as being in work or claiming JSA up to the end of August 2009. [294741]
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