| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Jan 2010 : Column 925W—continued
Employment and Support Allowance
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether benefits are paid to a claimant appealing against a decision not to be moved from the work category to the support employment allowance category. [312727]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 25 January 2010]: Employment and support allowance continues to be paid to customers who are in the work related activity group pending the outcome of an appeal against a decision not to award the support component of the benefit.
Employment and support allowance can also be paid pending the outcome of an appeal where a decision has been made that the customer does not have limited capability for work following a work capability assessment.
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of employment and support allowance claimants scored enough points to be considered unable to work in 2009. [313318]
Jonathan Shaw: If an employment and support allowance claimant completes assessment they are placed in one of three groups:
Support group (for those with severe disabilities)-they receive a higher rate of benefit entitlement overall and exemption from mandatory involvement with Pathways to Work.
Work related activity group-they receive higher rate of benefit than those on jobseeker's allowance and are mandated to engage with Pathways to Work.
Fit for work-the employment and support allowance claim should cease although individuals can ask for a reconsideration or appeal if they disagree with the decision.
People in the support group are not assessed on the basis of points scored but on the basis of the nature and severity of their condition. Most people in the work related activity group claim employment and support
allowance on the basis of scoring enough points against an assessment of their functional capability.
The latest data on the assessment of employment and support allowance claimants was published on 19 January 2010 and can be found:
This shows that 12 per cent. of employment and support allowance claims are placed in the work related activity group (or 23 per cent. of those claims which complete assessment). Note that 9 per cent. of people in the work related activity group are placed there on the basis of their condition (e.g. uncontrollable diseases) or their work capability assessment is deferred (e.g. hospital in-patients) rather than points scored.
Employment and Support Allowance: Mentally Ill
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of applicants for employment and support allowance with mental health problems were classified as (a) unfit to work and (b) fully fit to work in 2009. [313317]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is not available.
Future Jobs Fund
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of jobs created under the Future Jobs Fund scheme have been taken up by 18 to 24 year-olds; and if she will make a statement. [312705]
Jim Knight: Information on Future Jobs Fund starts is not currently available but will be made available from spring 2010 through a statistical release that is planned to cover the whole of the Young Persons Guarantee. This is normal practice for DWP employment programmes and it allows time for input from the UK Statistics Authority and for the information to be collected, understood, verified and reported.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Future Jobs Fund jobs have been taken up by those leaving jobseeker's allowance; and if she will make a statement. [312872]
Jim Knight [holding answer 25 January 2010]: Information on Future Jobs Fund starts is not currently available but will be made available from spring 2010 through a statistical release that is planned to cover the whole of the Young Persons Guarantee. This is normal practice for DWP employment programmes and it allows time for input from the UK Statistics Authority and for the information to be collected, understood, verified and reported.
Hotels
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hotel room nights were booked by officials in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies in each year since 2007; and how much (i) her Department and (ii) its agencies spent on the fees of third party agents in booking hotel accommodation in each of those years. [309064]
Jim Knight: All official travel within the Department is carried out in accordance with the requirements of both the Civil Service Management Code:
and Departmental Business Travel Policy, which enable staff to stay overnight in hotel accommodation when travelling on detached duty for business purpose.
The following room nights were booked by DWP staff in the Department in each full financial year since 2007-08.
| Room nights | |
The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service merged into a single Agency in April 2008. The figures in the table need to be seen in the context of the Department's total staffing of over 100,000. The Department's booking agent is remunerated on a commission share basis by the hotels with whom it books accommodation and the Department itself pays no booking fees.
Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 20 July 2009, Official Report, columns 848-9W, on Jobcentre Plus: telephone services, what progress has been made in her Department's discussions with the Telephone Helplines Association and mobile telephone companies; what assessment she has made of the merits of automated textback helplines; for what reasons her Department does not instruct its operators to offer callbacks; and if she will make a statement. [308317]
Jim Knight: I am very pleased to be able to report that the Department for Work and Pensions has now signed an agreement with six of the largest mobile operators to provide free calls from mobiles to our 0800 claims lines.
The agreement will be phased in during January and, by the end of January, all customers who use Vodafone; T-Mobile; 02; Orange; Virgin Mobile and Tesco Mobile to call our 0800 claims lines will no longer be charged by their service provider. We expect the remaining 24 or
so mobile operators to join the agreement meaning that by April 2010 all calls from mobiles to our 0800 claims lines should be free to the caller.
With this agreement we have achieved a significant step towards making a reality of our policy of free calls to our 0800 claims lines for all our customers.
The Department is currently exploring the use of SMS text messaging as a means of communicating with customers. As part of that work we will consider whether text messaging is a suitable way of customers requesting a call-back. In the meantime, where a customer calling either our 0800 or 0845 services asks us, or raises concerns over the cost of the call, we will offer to call them back.
Maternity and Paternity Pay
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether she has made an estimate of her Department's expenditure on statutory (a) maternity and (b) paternity pay for people from each income quintile in each year since 1997. [313568]
Helen Goodman [holding answer 26 January 2010]: No.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) when she expects to reply to the letter dated 23 November 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. P. McCarty; [310494]
(2) when she plans to reply to the letter dated 23 November 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. P McCarty. [311508]
Jim Knight: A reply was sent to my right hon. Friend on 15 January 2010.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) when she expects to reply to the letter dated 30 November 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. S. Winter; [310496]
(2) when she plans to reply to the letter dated 30 November 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mrs Alice Winter. [311510]
Jim Knight: A reply was sent to my right hon. Friend on 15 January 2010.
Offenders
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees of her Department and its agencies have been convicted of a criminal offence of each type in each year since 1997. [308521]
Jim Knight:
Information on the number of employees of the Department and its agencies who have been convicted of criminal offences and the type of offence in each year since 1997 is set out in the following table.
The data is provided to the Department by the Home Office and is not available prior to 2006.
| Number of convictions by year ( 1 January to 31 December) | ||||
| Agency | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 2006 | ||||
| Number of convictions by Agency | ||||
| Nature of Offence | Jobcentre Plus | Corporate Centre | Child Support Agency | Pension, Disability and Carers Service |
| 2007 | ||||
| Number of convictions by Agency | ||||
| Nature of Offence | Jobcentre Plus | Corporate Centre | Child Support Agency | Pension, Disability and Carers Service |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |