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11 Jan 2010 : Column 650W—continued
Ruth Mackenzie
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the job specification is of his Department's expert adviser Ruth Mackenzie; what the difference is between a special adviser and an expert adviser in his Department; and on what contractual terms Ruth Mackenzie is employed. [308798]
Mr. Simon: Ruth Mackenzie's role is to provide expert advice on cultural and broadcasting issues. She is on secondment from the Manchester International Festival. She was appointed by the Department, with the agreement of the Civil Service Commissioners. She is subject to the full requirements of the Civil Service Code-unlike special advisers who, as set out in the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, are exempt from some of its requirements and are directly appointed by Ministers.
Visits Abroad: Olympic Games
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department are planning to attend the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February 2010 in an official capacity; and at what cost. [310257]
Mr. Simon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) on 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 44W.
Work and Pensions
Attendance Allowance: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people in the Leeds city area claimed attendance allowance in each of the last five years; [306575]
(2) how many people in Leeds West constituency claimed attendance allowance in each of the last five years. [306576]
Jonathan Shaw: The available information is in the table.
| Attendance allowance-cases in payment in Leeds local authority area and Leeds West parliamentary constituency | |||||
| As at May each year | |||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Source: DWP Information Directorate; Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study | |||||
Cold Weather Payments
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times cold weather payments have been triggered in post code (a) FK10 and (b) PH1 since October 2009. [309655]
Helen Goodman: The cold weather payment scheme runs from 1 November to 31 March each year. Between 1 November 2009 and 6 January 2010 cold weather payments were triggered three times each in post code areas FK10 and PH1.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long on average elapsed between the occurrence of weather conditions triggering cold weather payments and such payments being made in 2008-09. [309743]
Helen Goodman: The payment of cold weather payments is a fully automated process. Once a cold weather payment is triggered, it takes three working days to make a payment into a customer's account. For the very small number of claims that are maintained clerically, it takes slightly longer to make a payment, but average times are not recorded.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account is taken of wind chill factors in the triggering of cold weather payments. [309744]
Helen Goodman: The cold weather payment scheme does not take account of wind chill factors.
Cold Weather Payments: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions cold weather payments have been triggered in MK post codes since October 2009. [310220]
Helen Goodman: The cold weather payment scheme runs from 1 November to 31 March each year. Up until 7 January 2010 post code MK has triggered twice.
Council Tax Benefits
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on proposals to rename council tax benefit as council tax rebate; [308712]
(2) what work her Department has undertaken to assess the merits of renaming council tax benefit as council tax rebate; and if she will make a statement; [308713]
(3) when she expects the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate to take place; and if she will make a statement. [308750]
Helen Goodman: We are committed to making this change at the earliest opportunity. This change does have significant operational and delivery implications for local authorities. There will need to be numerous changes to their computer systems and to those used by Jobcentre Plus and Pension, Disability and Carers Service. Before we can be clear about the timetable for introducing the change we need to do further work to assess the full costs and the practical implications, including the impact it will have on take-up by conducting further research.
We have been and will continue to work closely with local authorities and their IT suppliers to assess the impact and costs of these changes and the fit with other initiatives the Department and local authorities have to deliver, so that renaming can be introduced at the earliest opportunity.
Departmental Training
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many overseas training courses were attended by her Department's civil servants in the latest period for which figures are available; how many civil servants attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course. [305891]
Angela Eagle: The Department does not hold records on the information requested centrally; individual business units retain records locally and as such this information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Employment and Support Allowance
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of individuals undergoing a work capability assessment following an application for employment and support allowance (ESA) have been found to be (a) ineligible for ESA, (b) eligible for work-related ESA and (c) eligible for support group ESA in each quarter since the inception of that allowance; and how many and
what proportion of applicants for incapacity benefit were found to be ineligible as a result of undergoing the personal capability assessment in the latest year for which figures are available. [300388]
Jonathan Shaw: Such information as is available is published in 'Employment Support Allowance: Work Capability Assessment statistical release (October 2009)', a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
The publication is also available online at:
The published data summarise work capability assessment results for employment support allowance claims in Great Britain up to the end of February 2009.
Information on the results of the personal capability assessment is not available.
The available data, however, are based on recorded advice from Atos, rather than the Decision Maker's final determination. The final outcomes of cases may change. This will be further compounded by reconsiderations following additional medical evidence and the outcomes of appeals.
The available information is in the tables.
| Monthly employment and support allowance on-flows by claim start and result of medical assessment | ||||||
| 2008 | 2009 | |||||
| October | November | December | January | February | Total | |
| 1. Figures are round to the nearest 100. 2. Around 3 per cent. of assessments are made clerically. These figures are not included in this table. Source: Department for Work and Pensions benefits data and Atos Healthcare medical assessment data | ||||||
| Monthly employment and support allowance on-flows by claim start and result of medical assessment expressed as percentages | ||||||
| 2008 | 2009 | |||||
| October | November | December | January | February | Overall | |
The data presented combine three main data sources:
benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions covering new employment and support allowance claims between October 2008 to February 2009;
medical assessment data sourced from Atos Healthcare covering assessments completed between October 2008 and August 2009; and
appeals data sourced from Tribunals Service covering appeals heard up to July 2009.
The tables present assessment results by breaking down cohorts of employment and support allowance benefit claims. This is presented for claim starts to February 2009. Beyond this date the results are not reliable as many claims are still within the process.
National Statistics on employment and support allowance on-flows and caseload are published on the Department for Work and Pensions Tabulation Tool. Latest data available show there were 195,500 new employment and support allowance claims between 27 October 2008 and 28 February 2009.
Note that rounding and exclusion of clerical claims means the figures in the first table won't match the Tabulation Tool figures exactly.
52 per cent. of these employment and support allowance claims were assessed resulting in the following outcomes:
5 per cent. were assessed as suitable for the support group;
11 per cent. were assessed as suitable for the work related activity group; and
36 per cent. were assessed as being fit for work.
The remaining 48 per cent. either left employment and support allowance before completing assessment or assessment is still in progress.
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