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15 Mar 2010 : Column 600W—continued
Jobcentres: Courier Services
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on sending customer documents by courier between jobcentres and benefit delivery centres in the last financial year for which figures are available; which courier companies were used; how much was paid to each; and if she will make a statement. [316961]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 22 February 2010]: TNT UK Ltd. is DWP's contracted courier provider that delivers a single dedicated network service that is accessed jointly by DWP and HMRC. In 2008-09 DWP courier service expenditure with TNT was £9.5 million.
Our latest volume information confirms that TNT transport around 13 million items per year for DWP alone-around 11 million standard service (undocumented) where items are not recorded or tracked; and around two million consignments fully tracked (documented) where they are recorded at all stages of their transfer from collection to delivery through the TNT network. DWP has recently moved to a combined DWP/HMRC
dedicated courier service which now carries both standard and fully tracked mail. This new service was introduced on 18 January 2010 . This service provides an industry standard and more secure courier service, provide improved value for money and will reduce the risk associated with the transfer of our courier mail.
Our MI data do not provide specific details of the courier traffic between Jobcentre Plus and Benefit Delivery Centres-although Jobcentre Plus accounts for approximately 90 per cent. of all DWP business courier transfers. However, please note that the level of information available does not detail courier transfers between Jobcentres and Benefit Delivery Centres.
Jobseeker's Allowance: Young People
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) claimants and (b) claimants aged 16 to 24 years registered as new claimants in respect of jobseeker's allowance following the completion of their period on the New Deal without finding employment in each year since the inception of the New Deal. [311758]
Jim Knight: The available information can be found in tables (a) and (b).
We are currently in the process of introducing the Flexible New Deal which replaces the existing New Deals with more flexible, tailored support. The Flexible New Deal will be available in most areas of the country by October 2010.
The small number of people who may finish the Flexible New Deal without finding sustained work, normally at the 24-month point of unemployment, will return to Jobseeker's Allowance at the Supported Work Search stage (Stage 3). This will allow the claimant to make the best use of their experience with the Flexible New Deal provider while being required to actively seek work.
From November this year, we will also be testing two new types of support for those who finish the Flexible New Deal without finding sustained work.
In two pilot areas-Greater Manchester and Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire-people who complete Flexible New Deal without securing employment will undertake either the Work for Your Benefit programme or the Jobcentre Plus based Enhanced Support Period.
Work for Your Benefit is a programme of full-time work experience backed with additional employment support for up to six months. This is designed to help them to build up their work habits and gain practical experience which will be of value to themselves and to employers.
In addition, a new Jobcentre Plus based Enhanced Support Period will deliver more intensive one to one adviser support backed up with a ring fenced Personal Support Fund of £500 per person.
| Table (a): New deal: leavers and leavers to jobseeker's allowance: time series-year of leaving | ||
| As at May: | Total leavers | Leavers to jobseeker's allowance |
| Table (b): New deal for young people-leavers (spells): immediate destination on leaving by time series-year of leaving | ||
| As at May: | Total leavers from new deal for young people | Leavers to jobseeker's allowance |
| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 2. Total leavers in table (a) include leavers from New Deal for Partners, New Deal for 25 Plus and New Deal for Young People. 3. Table (a) does not include New Deal for Disabled People, New Deal for Lone Parents and New Deal for 50 Plus for which leavers data is not available. 4. Year of leaving is the calendar year of leaving New Deal. 5. Immediate destination is measured within two weeks of leaving New Deal, using information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. 6. Latest data are to May 2009. 7. The measure used for New Deal for Partners is Leavers (individuals) as spells are not available. 8. The New Deal for Young People pilots began in January 1998 and full national roll-out occurred in April 1998. 9. The New Deal for 25 Plus programme was introduced in July 1998. 10. Data for New Deal for Partners are available from April 2004 (programme started in May 1999). Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate | ||
Oil: Storage
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reports she has received on alternatives to oil storage tanks at the Oikos site in Haven Road, Canvey; what representations she has received from the Health and Safety Executive on such alternatives; and if she will make a statement. [321603]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 11 March 2010]: The Secretary of State has received no reports on alternatives to oil storage tanks at the Oikos site on Canvey Island or representations from the Health and Safety Executive on such matters.
Consent for the storage of hazardous chemicals at this site, or any alternative sites, is the responsibility of the local planning authority, which for Canvey Island is Castle Point borough council.
HSE's role is to monitor safety at this site. HSE will continue to do this and will assess any significant changes made to the site and to the site's COMAH safety report as a result of any changes that Oikos may propose.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of possible risks to local residents and businesses from the operation of the Oikos Canvey Island site. [321962]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 22 March 2010]: Oikos Oil Storage Ltd. are responsible under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (as amended) for assessing any risks to local residents and businesses from the operations at their Canvey Island site, and for implementing all necessary measures to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences for people and the environment.
Oikos Oil Storage Ltd. has an existing Hazardous Substances Consent from Castle Point borough council to store at its Canvey Island site up to 232,501 tonnes of highly flammable liquids which may include petrol and petroleum mixtures. When the consent was granted in 1992, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) assessed the risks to people off-site from the consented quantity of hazardous substances for the purpose of providing land use planning advice to the borough council. A more detailed assessment was conducted in 2002 to set the current land use planning zones around the site.
Following the explosion and fire at the Buncefield fuel storage terminal, HSE introduced precautionary arrangements to strengthen development controls in the areas closest to sites engaged in filling large storage tanks with petrol at a specified rate.
Petrol is not currently stored at the Oikos Canvey Island site. HSE will review its risk assessment and, if necessary, revise its land use planning advice to Castle Point borough council once Oikos Oil Storage Ltd. provides details of its arrangements for receiving and storing petrol at the site.
Personal Accounts Delivery Authority
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information her Department holds on the number of jobs under the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority contract for scheme administration services to be based in (a) the UK and (b) each other country. [321405]
Angela Eagle [holding answer 9 March 2010]: Staffing numbers required to administer NEST on an ongoing basis will depend upon the number of scheme members.
All the public facing elements of service provision are due to be carried-out by staff based in the UK. Back-office, administrative processing and IT functions are due to be delivered in India. Once fully established, we estimate that between 40 and 45 per cent. of staff will be based in the UK.
Poverty
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of those aged 16 to 24 years old were classed as living in poverty in each financial year since 1996-97. [313162]
Helen Goodman: In response to the recession, the Government have put in place significant additional support for young people through the Young Person's Guarantee and Backing Young Britain campaign. In December 2009, we published 'Investing in Potential', the cross-Government strategy to increase the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds in education, employment and training.
For young people claiming jobseeker's allowance the New Deal has helped almost 900,000 people into work. Independent evaluation found that without New Deal, there would be twice as many young people claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months or more than at present.
The requested information is given in the following table, for periods where data are available.
| 16 to 24-year-olds living in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary median income, 1996-97 to 2007-08 | ||
| Before housing costs | ||
| Million | Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income, sourced from the Family Resources Survey. Both of these documents are available in the Library. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures are single financial years. 4. Figures are for the United Kingdom from 2002-03 onwards. Earlier years are for Great Britain only, as such there is a slight discontinuity between the figures pre-and post-2002-03. 5. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 6. For the Households Below Average Income series, incomes have been equivalised using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) equivalisation factors. 7. Number and percent of 16 to 24-year-olds in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand individuals, or whole percentage point respectively. Source: Households Below Average Income, DWP | ||
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