| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Jan 2010 : Column 1114W—continued
Source:
Family Resources Survey 2007/08. This survey is known to under-record benefit receipt so the estimate presented here should be treated with caution. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.
Social Security Benefits: Autism
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Minister in her Department is responsible for policy on (a) services provided by Jobcentre Plus for and (b) the eligibility for benefits of people with autism. [310783]
Jonathan Shaw: The Secretary of State has overall responsibility for all policy on benefits and services provided by this Department and its agencies for people with autism.
As the Minister for Disabled People, I am responsible for ensuring that all disabled people, including people with autism, are able to access the appropriate help. Jim Knight, the Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, has ministerial responsibility for Jobcentre Plus, and the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh, is responsible for its administration.
Social Services
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the terms "equivalent level of support" and "no cash losers" used by her Department are regarded as synonymous for the purposes the proposals in the Government's Social Care Green Paper. [307668]
Jonathan Shaw: As we said in the Green Paper, if we do reform disability benefits for older people, anyone receiving an affected benefit at the time of reform would continue to receive an equivalent level of support and protection. We have confirmed that this means they would not experience a cash loss as a result of any such reforms. This is consistent with our Green Paper position.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what assessment she has made of the effect of the Government's policy of no cash losers on the reforms proposed in the Social Care Green Paper; [307670]
(2) whether a person in receipt of (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance prior to the introduction of the proposals contained in the Government's Social Care Green Paper would continue to receive the full social care entitlement following the introduction of those proposals; [307672]
(3) what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of implementing the Government's policy of no cash losers in respect of the Social Care Green Paper; [307673]
(4) what estimate she has made of the number of people who would be eligible for (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance on existing criteria who would cease to receive assistance under each proposal set out in her Department's Green Paper on Social Care; [307679]
(5) pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 206, what plans the Government has to disburse attendance allowance and disability living allowance or a cash equivalent through local authorities. [307683]
Jonathan Shaw: We have not taken any decisions on whether some benefits for older people will be reformed in the new care and support system. If disability benefits for older people are reformed as part of the National Care Service, those receiving the affected benefits at the time of reform would continue to receive the same level of cash support. We will give more details about the National Care Service offer in due course.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the relationship between the group of people who receive (i) attendance allowance and (ii) disability living allowance and groups of people who would receive support under the proposals in the Government's Social Care Green Paper. [307677]
Jonathan Shaw: We have not taken any decisions on whether some benefits for older people will be reformed in the new care and support system. If we do decide to integrate some benefits for older people into the new care and support system, we will provide further details in our White Paper.
The Personal Social Services Research Unit, which is part of the London School of Economics, has been commissioned by the Department of Health to conduct detailed financial modelling of the new care and support system. Their methodology and interim report was published on their website in July:
and in the impact assessment published alongside the Green Paper. This work is ongoing. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
Unemployment
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to reduce unemployment. [304302]
Jim Knight: We are taking decisive steps to reduce unemployment. As part of the Government's commitment to support people into work, £5 billion has been made available since November 2008 to offer extra support to jobseekers to help them find work at all stages of their claim.
The Department has quadrupled the available funding for the Rapid Response Service, which provides advice and support to customers facing redundancy. Also, we launched an enhanced offer to all jobseekers at day one of their claim which includes targeted group sessions in jobsearch techniques, access to local employment partnership vacancies and help with the costs of getting back to work through the Adviser Discretionary Fund.
At the six month point in a claim, all jobseekers now have access to a substantial package of extra support including recruitment subsidies, work-focussed training places, volunteering opportunities and support to become self-employed.
If an individual remains on benefits after 12 months they will be referred to the provider-led flexible new deal programme (currently being delivered in half of the country) and will receive tailored, responsive support to help them get into work. In areas where the flexible new deal is yet to be introduced, customers will access more intensive back to work support through the original new deal programmes.
The Government have also targeted significant new resource on young people in recognition of the particular challenges young people face during a recession. On 29 July, the Government launched a campaign called Backing Young Britain, calling on businesses, charities and government bodies to create more opportunities for young people, such as internships, work experience placements, links to mentors and apprenticeships. Almost 12,000 graduate internships have already become available and thousands more opportunities will follow early in 2010. Over 360 organisations are supporting the campaign, with numbers growing all the time.
Furthermore, on 15 December 2009, we announced in the White Paper "Building Britain's Recovery: Achieving Full Employment" that from January 2010, we will introduce a stronger Young Person's Guarantee, so that all 18 to 24-year-olds who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months will be guaranteed a job, work placement or work-related skills training. In addition, we will offer all young people access to a named personal adviser at the start of their claim and build in more time with an adviser throughout their claim.
As part of that guarantee, the Future Jobs Fund will create 170,000 jobs: 120,000 jobs for young people, and the remaining 50,000 jobs for people of all ages in unemployment hotspots throughout the country. These are real paid jobs-this is job creation, not an employment programme. The first five bidding rounds are already creating up to 98,000 jobs and the first jobs started in October 2009.
Further measures to tackle unemployment were also announced in the White Paper. These include:
from early 2010, access to the self-employment credit will be available from 13 weeks of unemployment;
for customers aged 50 and over, we will provide new specialist back to work support by using external providers to address their specific needs; widen access to work trials and ensure that those with significant barriers to employment get early access to the six month offer;
an enhancement of the better off in work credit, so that it will ensure that long- term benefit recipients will be at least £40 a week better off in work. Implementation of the new credit will begin in October 2010; and
a commitment to implement from October 2011 an improved earnings disregard for lone parents with children aged less than seven-a new tapered disregard will be tested in the progression to work pathfinders.
Unemployment: Graduates
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her Department's estimate is of the number of people who graduated from university in 2009 and who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in (a) England and (b) each local authority in the North West; and if she will make a statement. [310096]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not available.
Energy and Climate Change
Climate Change: International Co-operation
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the role played by (a) China and (b) the US at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009; and if he will publish each document submitted by the UK to other national delegations during the conference. [309999]
Joan Ruddock: Both China and the US were active participants at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit and were among the countries represented in the discussions and drafting of the Copenhagen Accord. The UK negotiates as part of the EU and therefore all formal submissions we have made to the UNFCCC have been as part of the EU. The EU made one submission during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference-the EU presented its fifth National Communication under the UNFCCC on 7 December. A copy is available in the Library of the House.
Departmental Fines
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what powers (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) have to impose administrative penalties; what the statutory basis is for each such power; and how much (i) his Department and its predecessor and (ii) each of its NDPBs have recovered in administrative penalties in each year since the inception of his Department. [309261]
Joan Ruddock: Under the Gas Act 1986 and the Electricity Act 1995, Ofgem is able to impose penalties upon licence holders who breach licence conditions and under the Competition Act 1998 it may impose penalties for breaches of competition law. Details of the penalties Ofgem has imposed on individual companies under these provisions can be found on their website. The following table details the total value of penalties paid since these provisions were introduced in 2000.
| Total value of fines paid (£) | |
| (1 )Reduced on appeal to the CAT to £30,000,000; pending decision by court of appeal. | |
These sums are paid into the consolidated fund.
This apart, the request would involve disproportionate cost to answer in its entirety.
Offenders
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many employees of his Department have been convicted of a criminal offence of each type in each year since 1997. [308511]
Joan Ruddock: DECC was formed on 3 October 2008. There are no records of any staff having been convicted of any criminal offences since the Department's formation.
Renewables Obligation
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the level of investment risk to companies participating in the construction of (a) non-offshore wind and (b) other renewable energy projects in circumstances in which the number of renewables obligation certificates (ROCs) to be allocated is not determined until the time of commissioning of a project; and for what reasons he decided that the number of ROCs to be allocated in respect of offshore wind projects should be determined at the construction stage. [305177]
Mr. Kidney: The number of ROCs to be allocated to any project is determined at the time of accreditation by Ofgem. In order to provide certainty to investors, wholesale revisions to the banding regime (ROCs/MWh for each technology) will only be made in accordance with a scheduled banding review. Details of any changes to banding levels following a scheduled banding review will be published 18 months before they will take effect.
In response to evidence of a significant increase in the costs of offshore wind projects reaching financial close, we conducted an early review of the banding level for offshore wind. As part of the review process, we consulted during summer 2009 on two proposals for providing an uplift in support for offshore wind projects: one based around the timing of contract-signing and
completing a foundation in the water, and an alternative proposal based around accreditation. These proposals were intended to ensure that any additional support was directed at those projects which we believed would not otherwise be able to proceed. In light of responses to the consultation, we decided to determine eligibility based on accreditation, in line with established RO policy for all other technologies.
Wind Power: Noise
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2010, Official Report, column 636W, on wind power: noise, for what reasons he endorses the current maximum permitted night-time noise limit from onshore wind turbines. [310705]
Mr. Kidney: As stated in my answer of 7 January 2010, the 43 decibel night-time limit in the ETSU-R-97 guidance is derived from the 35 dB(A) sleep disturbance criteria referred to in Planning Policy Guidance 24 (Planning and Noise).
ETSU-R-97 describes a framework for the measurement of wind farm noise and gives indicative noise levels thought to offer a reasonable degree of protection to wind farm neighbours, without placing unreasonable restrictions on wind farm development or adding unduly to the costs and administrative burdens on wind farm developers or local authorities. The suggested noise limits in ETSU and their reasonableness have been evaluated with regard to regulating the development of wind energy in the public interest. We have no robust new evidence to suggest that the current guidance is not achieving its aim.
International Development
Departmental Advertising
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what advertising campaigns his Department has been responsible for in each of the last three years; which such campaigns (a) commenced and (b) continued in 2009-10; and what the cost of each such campaign has been. [310208]
Mr. Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not been responsible for any advertising campaigns in the UK in the last three years. DFID works in over 100 countries across the world and advertising can play a significant role in achieving development programme objectives including the promotion of health issues. It is not possible to disaggregate these costs from development programme expenditure without incurring disproportionate costs.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on (a) print, (b) online, (c) television and (d) radio advertising in each of the last five years; how much has been spent on advertising in 2009-10 to date; and what percentage of advertising expenditure in each year was managed by the Central Office of Information. [310232]
Mr. Michael Foster: DFID works in over 100 countries across the world and advertising can play a significant role in achieving development programme objectives including the promotion of health issues. It is not possible to disaggregate these costs from development programme expenditure without incurring disproportionate costs.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |