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26 Jan 2010 : Column 759W—continued
Cold Weather Payments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will make it her policy to determine the award of cold weather payments by geographical area rather than by postcode. [312574]
Helen Goodman: Determining the award of cold weather payments by regional areas rather than postcode districts would not reflect temperature variations in local areas effectively enough to enable the finite resources of the scheme to be targeted at those in most need.
Departmental Internet
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which websites her Department's staff are prevented from accessing from departmental networked computers. [311466]
Jim Knight: The information is not available in the format requested. The Department's staff are prevented from accessing 22 website categories from the Department's networked computers. The categories are:
Adult/Sexually Explicit
Alcohol and Tobacco
Chat
Criminal Activity
Downloads
Gambling
Games
Hacking
Illegal Drugs
Intolerance and Hate
Peer-to-Peer
Personals and Dating
Phishing and Fraud
Proxies and Translators
Ringtones/Mobile Phone Downloads
Spam URLs
Spyware
Streaming Media
Tasteless and Offensive
Violence
Weapons
Web-based E-mail
Jobseeker's Allowance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what percentage of pupils permanently excluded from school in (a) England, (b) the north-east and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland claimed jobseeker's allowance within three months of leaving school in the latest period for which figures are available; [302998]
(2) what estimate she has made of the average length of time permanently excluded pupils who subsequently claimed jobseeker's allowance claimed before finding full-time employment in the latest period for which figures are available; [302999]
(3) what proportion of 16 year-olds in (a) England, (b) the north-east and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency who left school without five GCSEs at grade A* to C began to claim jobseeker's allowance within six months of leaving school in the latest period for which figures are available. [303140]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not available.
Jobseeker's allowance is not usually payable to under 18s, except those in severe hardship.
Information on whether a claimant of jobseeker's allowance is or was a permanently excluded student is not collected by the Jobcentre.
Academic qualifications are collected by the Jobcentre when a claimant applies for jobseeker's allowance however these are not collected on the datasets used to analyse jobseeker's allowance claimants.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people who reached the end of their entitlement to contribution-based jobseeker's allowance went to (a) claim income-based jobseeker's allowance, (b) claim Class 1 national insurance credits only (c) claim another out-of-work benefit and (d) left benefits in each month since January 2008; [313105]
(2) what estimate she has made of the number of claimants at the end of an entitlement to contribution-based jobseeker's allowance who (a) went on to claim income-based jobseeker's allowance, (b) went on to claim Class 1 national insurance credits only, (c) went on to claim another out of work benefit and (d) left benefits altogether in each year since 1997. [313267]
Jim Knight: The requested information is not available.
Jobseeker's Allowance: Morecambe
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps her Department has taken to assist those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency to secure employment. [311559]
Jim Knight: Government's priority is to ensure that everyone who is out of work has the support they need to find a job. As part of this commitment, the Government have made up to £5 billion available since November 2008 to offer substantial new support to jobseekers, and particularly young people, during the recession.
In April 2009, 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 access to additional financial support towards the costs associated with finding work. We have also quadrupled funding to the Rapid Response Service which provides advice and support to people facing redundancy.
When they reach six months of unemployment, all jobseekers are now able to access a substantial new package of support including recruitment subsidies, work-focused training places, volunteering opportunities and support to become self-employed.
Government have also introduced substantial new support to help young people during the recession, particularly through the Future Jobs Fund, where Lancashire county council have already been successful in a bid to create up to 503 Future Jobs Fund jobs in the local area which will provide valuable opportunities for people in the area.
The support will be further enhanced from 25 January with the introduction of the Young Person's Guarantee, which guarantees all 18 to 24-year-olds who reach six months of unemployment access to a job, training or work experience. From April 2010, young people will be required to take up one of the places on offer before they complete 10 months on benefit.
Young people will also be given access to a named Jobcentre Plus Personal Adviser at the start of their claim and have more time with an adviser throughout their claim. And we are offering many more young people day one access to the substantial support that is normally available at six months.
In addition, 18 to 24-year-olds in Morecambe and Lunesdale who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months have access to the New Deal for Young People, and customers aged 25 and over who have been unemployed for 18 months have access to the New Deal 25 Plus programme. The new Flexible New Deal, which builds on the success of the existing New Deal programmes and offers more personalised and flexible support, will be introduced in Morecambe and Lunesdale from April 2010.
Maternity Benefits: Preston
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women resident in Preston have been awarded the Sure Start Maternity Grant since its introduction. [311076]
Helen Goodman: The information is not available.
Pathways to Work
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with mental health problems have been referred to the Pathways to Work programme since its inception; and how many of them (a) were referred to the Condition Management Programme, (b) moved into employment and (c) moved back on to benefits within 12 months of moving into employment. [310556]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 13 January 2010]: Official statistics are routinely published for employment programmes such as Pathways to Work. Official statistics on Pathways to Work job entries are available up to January 2009 and are published at:
Up to April 2009, 100,810 individuals with a mental health condition in Provider-Led Pathways areas and 293,550 individuals in Jobcentre Plus Pathways areas, had started the Pathways to Work programme.
Up to April 2009, 39,760 individuals with a mental health condition had been referred to the Condition Management Programme in Jobcentre Plus Pathways areas. Figures are not available for Provider-Led Pathways.
Up to January 2009, 10,070 individuals with a mental health condition in Provider-Led Pathways areas and 54,340 individuals in Jobcentre Plus Pathways areas, had started employment through the Pathways to Work programme.
In order to look at whether customers have moved back onto benefit within 12 months of starting work, we need to consider an earlier cohort of customers, to allow time to capture any movement back onto benefit.
Up to May 2008, 37,380 individuals with a mental health condition in Provider-Led Pathways areas and 253,310 individuals in Jobcentre Plus Pathways areas, had started the Pathways to Work programme. Of which 2,110 in Provider-Led Pathways areas and 43,450 individuals in Jobcentre Plus Pathways areas had moved into employment by May 2008. Of which, 740 individuals (35 per cent.) in Provider-Led Pathways areas and 17,590 individuals (40 per cent) in Jobcentre Plus Pathways areas had moved back onto benefit within 12 months of moving into employment.
The figures relate to those customers whose GPs' diagnosis of their main disabling condition is mental health condition.
The Government also offer other support to help people with a mental health condition get and keep jobs. Access to Work is a specialist disability programme that helps disabled people overcome work-related obstacles. It is flexible, easy to access and shows high levels of satisfaction from disabled people and their employers. We are doubling the budget for Access to Work to £138 million by 2014 to ensure that everyone who can benefit from the programme is able to access it. We have also developed a range of improvements to the programme, including changes to ensure the programme helps people with mental health conditions more effectively. We will be discussing these changes with stakeholders over the next few months, with the intention of beginning implementation from April 2010.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. Medical condition information is obtained from the individuals GPs' diagnosis of their main disabling condition and is based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. Medical breakdowns are currently available for incapacity benefit /severe disablement allowance customers but not for those of employment and support allowance.
3. Official statistics use both HMRC data and return to work credit data to calculate how many Pathways customers have moved into employment. This may not include some self-employed people and low earners who fall below the HMRC threshold and do not claim RTWC.
4. If a person has started Pathways or entered employment more than once in the period, then their first Pathways or employment spell is counted.
Source:
DWP Jobcentre Plus and Provider-Led databases
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the announcement of the review of the Pathways to Work scheme in her Department's White Paper on Building Britain's Recovery, who will conduct the review; what timetable has been set for that review; when she plans to publish the findings of the review; and what her latest assessment is of the performance of the Pathways to Work scheme. [311575]
Jim Knight
[holding answer 18 January 2010]: The review of the support we offer to disabled Jobcentre Plus customers and those with health conditions began in November 2009. It is being conducted by the Department
for Work and Pensions. As part of the review we are engaging with a range of delivery partners and external stakeholders and have asked for views from any interested party at
The findings of the review and proposals for future support for disabled customers and customers with health conditions will be published in the spring.
Early evidence from the initial Pathways pilots was very positive, showing that people enquiring about incapacity benefit in Pathways areas were 25 per cent. more likely to be in work at 18 months. Official statistics for the number of job outcomes for those participating in JCP-Led and Provider-Led Pathways are available on the Department's website
This shows that since October 2003 and as of January 2009 more than 173,000 people have moved into work through Pathways.
Social Security Benefits
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) England, (b) Essex and (c) Braintree constituency receive (i) income-related and (ii) contributory employment and support allowance; and how many of these are in paid employment. [312077]
Jonathan Shaw: Information on the number of people in paid employment receiving employment and support allowance is not available. The available information is in the table.
| Employment and support allowance, benefit case load: May 2009 (thousand), in England, local authorities in Essex and Braintree parliamentary constituency | |||||
| Benefit type | |||||
| Area | Total | Contribution based only | Both | Income based only | No payment-credits only |
| Notes: 1. Case load figures are expressed in thousands and rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008. 3. The figures relating to employment and support allowance have been thoroughly quality assured to National Statistics standard however it should be noted that this is a new benefit using a new data source which may not have reached steady state in terms of operational processing and retrospection. Hence most recent data shown is provisional. 4. Figures are published on: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/esa.asp 5. Figures for the number of employment and support allowance claimants in paid employment are not available. 6. Benefit type-The benefit type is defined as pay status at the case load date-this may differ to the status at the start or end of the claim. 7. Local authority-The figures for Essex county are comprised of Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Tendring and Uttlesford local authorities. 8. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |||||
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