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25 Feb 2010 : Column 728W—continued
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) people and (b) households received local housing allowance in each of the last eight quarters. [316800]
Helen Goodman: The local housing allowance arrangements were rolled out from 7 April 2008 and apply to customers in the deregulated private rented sector who make a new claim for housing benefit or to existing customers who change address. Of the 1.34 million housing benefit customers who live in private rented sector accommodation 0.90 million (70 per cent.) have had their benefit assessed according to the local housing allowance rules.
Information is not available in relation to households.
The most recent available information is in the table.
| Housing benefit recipients-local housing allowance tenants: Great Britain, November 2008 to October 2009 | |
| Month | LHA tenants |
| Notes: 1. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 2. Local housing allowance tenants may include a small number of non-LHA cases making a new claim since 7 April 2008. This will include recipients in caravan accommodation. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 4. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 5. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data are available monthly from November 2008 and October 2009 are the most recent available. 6. Data are published on table 4 at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/HBCTB_release_JAN10.xls 7. Details on the number of LHA tenants are not available prior to the introduction of SHBE. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE). | |
Housing Benefit: Scotland
Mr. Tom Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether her Department takes steps to check whether the landlords of housing benefit recipients in Scotland are properly registered with local authorities. [318071]
Helen Goodman: No. It is for local authorities in Scotland to ensure landlords are properly registered under guidance from the Scottish Executive.
All private landlords in Scotland must be registered (or have applied for registration) with the local authorities where they let private property. Once an application has been submitted it is assessed by the relevant local authority who determines whether the landlord is fit and proper. There are a number of sanctions available to local authorities if a landlord fails to register, or continues to let property after being refused registration. The sanctions include reporting the case to the Procurator Fiscal for prosecution. However, the most popular and successful sanction so far has been the rent penalty notice (RPN). If a local authority serves such a notice, it suspends the tenant's liability to pay rent for the period of the notice. If an RPN is used, the tenant is notified to stop paying rent and, if housing benefit is in payment, the local housing benefit office is informed that an RPN is in place and that housing benefit should not be paid for the period of the notice.
Immobilisation of Vehicles
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department and its predecessors have paid in vehicle clamping charges incurred on (a) privately-owned and (b) publicly-owned land in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [302738]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not available.
Jobcentre Plus
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what outreach work is undertaken by Jobcentre Plus; and what plans she has for the future of such work. [313078]
Jonathan Shaw: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what outreach work is undertaken by Jobcentre Plus, and what plans she has for the future of such work. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus has locations across the country providing outreach services which meet the needs of customers and communities, reaching the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in society. These outreach services complement our core services delivered through other channels.
There are various outreach schemes that Jobcentre Plus operates. Among them are: District Community Outreach, which provides ease of access to advice and support within the local community; Prison Outreach which provides specific support to prisoners as part of their preparation for release by offering both benefit and job broking advice; and School Gates which is a support initiative to increase the amount of employment and enterprise support provided to parents in and around their child's school.
In addition there is a small team of advisers working directly in community locations in three Jobcentre Plus Districts-Merseyside, South London, and South Tyne and Wear Valley. Their objective is to work with partners locally, in particular with social housing providers, to engage with residents, challenge attitudes to worklessness and offer a holistic service to address the barriers that prevent individuals or households from finding work.
Recognising this early success we announced in the White Paper an extension to this approach. Therefore, we will be funding 11 new teams in addition to the original three, from April 2010.
For the future, I see outreach being a continued way of delivering our services. We will continue to work with partners at a local level to establish new and innovative ways of sharing premises, facilitate the provision of more cohesive local services, promote our services to a wider customer base and potentially reduce overall Government estate costs.
I hope this information is helpful.
Jobcentre Plus: Disclosure of Information
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been made to Jobcentre Plus managers by whistleblowers in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [316616]
Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many complaints have been made to Jobcentre Plus managers by whistleblowers in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The Department only holds information on the number of employees within Jobcentre Plus that have contacted the Department's Whistleblowers' Hotline. This information is detailed below for each of the last five years.
| The number of employees within Jobcentre Plus contacting the Department's Whistleblowers' Hotline | |
| Period of Referral | Number of referrals |
Source: Jobcentre Plus Management Information
Jobcentre Plus: Termination of Employment
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of Jobcentre Plus staff have had their contracts terminated for each reason of termination in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [316601]
Jim Knight: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many and what proportion of Jobcentre Plus staff have had their contracts terminated for each reason of termination in each of the last five years. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The tables in the attached annex contain the numbers and proportions of staff who have had their contracts terminated, as well as termination reason. The information covering proportions sets out staff as a percentage of the average number of people in the organisation in each of the years in question.
Information has been provided from April 2006 which are the earliest available data.
I hope this is helpful.
| Annex | ||
| Reason | Number of leavers | Percentage of headcount |
| Source: Dataview IT System | ||
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