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4 Nov 2009 : Column 1088W—continued
Recruitment: Finance
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many employers have (a) applied for and (b) secured funding from her Department to recruit people who have been unemployed for more than six months in (i) Basingstoke, (ii) Hampshire and (iii) England; [296418]
(2) what the cost to her Department has been of funding for employers to recruit people who have been unemployed for over six months since the inception of that funding scheme in (a) Basingstoke, (b) Hampshire and (c) England. [296421]
Jim Knight [holding answer 29 October 2009]: Information on the number of employers applying for and receiving payments through the recruitment subsidy is not available in the format requested. Many of the employers claiming the subsidy have outlets throughout the country, and make their claims on an aggregated basis; it is not possible to identify where the individuals for whom they are claiming are employed.
On 14 October 2009, official statistics were released on the take-up of the Six Month Offer across the UK. This showed that 5,990 jobseeker's allowance customers had used the recruitment subsidy between April and July this year. Provisional data for August also showed that a further 1,500 jobseeker's allowance customers have used the recruitment subsidy.
Information on the cost to the Department of funding for employers to recruit people who have been unemployed for over six months is not available.
The Government have pledged £0.5 billion over two years from April 2009 to fund the additional support from six months, which includes the recruitment subsidy for employers.
State Retirement Pensions
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the change to the number of pensioners eligible for a full state pension was following the reduction in the number of qualifying years required. [286336]
Angela Eagle: The reduction to 30 in the number of qualifying years required for entitlement to a full basic state pension will only take effect for people reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010. As a result of this and other changes in the 2007 pension reforms we estimate that an extra 60,000 people reaching state pension age in 2010-11 will be entitled to a full basic state pension.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on the state pension as a proportion of gross domestic product in each year since 2005. [297409]
Angela Eagle: The information is in the following table:
| Expenditure on state pension as a proportion of gross domestic product | ||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Notes: Figures are for Great Britain. Figures are rounded to the nearest million and are in cash terms. State pension expenditure for 2008-09 only is provisional outturn, other years is outturn. State pension comprises basic, additional and Category D. Source: GDP figures: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/gdp_deflators.xls State Pension expenditure from DWP benefit expenditure tables, Table 3: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Alltables_Budget2009_Values.xls | ||||
Unemployed: Training
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance her Department has issued to Jobcentre Plus staff on referrals to (a) employment subsidy vouchers, (b) train to gain, (c) training places, (d) volunteering and (e) help for self-employment on offer as part of the six month offer to the unemployed; and if she will place in the Library a copy of such guidance. [271713]
Jim Knight: Guidance to support the six month offer was made available to Jobcentre Plus staff via the DWP internal website on 23 March 2009. The guidance has been constantly reviewed and updated in line with emerging policy.
Final guidance on the bulk payment process for the recruitment subsidy voucher was issued to Jobcentre Plus staff on 24 April and was also made available via the DWP internal website from 27 April. Interim guidance was made available to Jobcentre Plus staff prior to this, pending final decisions on the process design.
The written guidance has been supplemented with a range of other products for Jobcentre Plus staff.
I have arranged for a copy of the guidance issued to support implementation of the six month offer to be placed in the Library.
Widowed People: Social Security Benefits
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many widows and widowers (a) in total and (b) under 35 years old have received (i) the bereavement payment, (ii) widowed parents' allowance and (iii) bereavement allowance in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [295605]
Helen Goodman: The available information is shown in the following tables:
| Bereavement benefits by type of bereavement benefit for recipients under age 35, Great Britain | |||||
| As at February each year | Total | Bereavement allowance not age related | Bereavement allowance age related | Widowed parents' allowance with dependants | Widowed parents' allowance without dependants |
| Bereavement benefits by type of bereavement benefit for recipients of all ages, Great Britain. | |||||
| As at February each year | Total | Bereavement allowance not age related | Bereavement allowance age related | Widowed parents' allowance with dependants | Widowed parents' allowance without dependants |
| (1) Nil or negligible. Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. 'Widowed parents' allowance without dependants' includes women who were pregnant when widowed. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |||||
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