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24 Mar 2010 : Column 322W—continued
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 3 November 2009, Official Report, column 816W, on departmental telephone services, whether her Department awarded contracts for the provision of services relating to its main customer contact number. [324117]
Jonathan Shaw: All telephony services are provided to the Department under a contract with BT; this contract covers all customer contact numbers.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what methodology her Department used to determine whether answers to Questions in the formulation "if she will set out with statistical information related as directly as possible to the tabling hon. Member's constituency the effects on that constituency of her Department's policies since 1997" could be provided without incurring disproportionate cost; and if she will make a statement. [323876]
Jonathan Shaw: When deciding whether a response to a parliamentary question is likely to incur disproportionate cost, DWP staff follow the guidance set by the Cabinet Office which is as follows:
7.26 There is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold (DCT) which is the level above which Departments can refuse to answer a PQ. The current disproportionate cost threshold for written questions (the limit does not apply to oral questions) is £800 (from 20 January 2010)(6).
7.27 Since 1991 the disproportionate cost threshold (DCT) has been set by HM Treasury at eight times the average marginal cost of answering Written Parliamentary Questions. Marginal cost is judged as the direct cost of civil servants' time. Average marginal cost is based on a one-month sample of all Written parliamentary Questions answered by those departments with the highest volume of questions. Such samples are taken on a quinquennial basis. In years between quinquennial samples, the Treasury applies indexation to the DCT, but only increases it in £50 steps to avoid the need for frequent small changes. HM Treasury has established the average cost of answering of a written PQ as £154.00 and an oral question as £425.00.
7.28 Where officials are recommending that a question is not answered due to disproportionate cost, a note setting out the reasons, justifications and the full costs should be provided to the responsible Minister. The cost estimate should be based on a calculation of the cost of civil servants of the relevant grade working for the required length of time to assemble the information. Cabinet Office guidance for officials drafting answers to PQs refers to the fact that 'where information is being refused on the grounds of disproportionate cost, there should be a presumption that any of the requested information which is readily available should be provided.' A Minister may still decide to answer a question, even if providing the answer results in costs above the DCT, for example, on public interest grounds.
7.29 It is practice in some departments to agree to provide a Member information initially refused (on disproportionate cost grounds) by paying the balance over the disproportionate cost threshold. However, this option may not be available if the relevant officials would not in practice be available to do the work.
7.30 It should be noted that the 'disproportionate cost' answer is intended to be used where the information is held in an accessible form but is expensive to identify. It is not for cases where the information is not held at all (in the latter case the answer would say 'the information is not held' or similar).
7.31 The suggested wording for a disproportionate cost answer is:
"The information is not readily available/held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost."
Newspaper Licensing Agency
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what payment from (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies to the Newspaper Licensing Agency was made in each of the last 10 years. [315587]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Work and Pensions was created in June 2001. The payments made to the Newspaper Licensing Agency (excluding VAT) in each full year since then are set out in the following table. The press cuttings to which they refer cover the whole range of the Department's businesses including the Pension, Disability and Carers Service, and Jobcentre Plus.
The volume of cuttings has increased considerably throughout the recession as mentions of the work of Jobcentre Plus have increased. Since December 2008
this has also included coverage from regional titles. A review of the Department's licensing arrangements for press cuttings is currently under way.
| £ | |
Pensions
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many and what proportion of those employed in the (a) public and (b) private sector were contributing to a pension plan in each of the last 10 years; [321491]
(2) how many and what proportion of (a) public and (b) private sector employees had no pension provision in each of the last 10 years. [321492]
Angela Eagle: The available information is set out in the following tables. These estimates relate to employee pension participation in employer-sponsored pension schemes and the data are presented at the employee jobs level rather than an individual level, as an individual may have more than one job and the pension provision may vary between jobs. In the circumstances, there may be some double counting both within and between sectors for those employees with more than one job.
| (a) Number of public sector employee jobs by pension provision | ||||
| Total with pension provision( 1 ) (thousand) | Percentage | Total without pension provision (thousand) | Percentage | |
| (1) All employees including those whose pay was affected by absence. Notes: 1. 1997 is the first year for which ASHE pension membership data are available. 2. Public sector includes central Government, local authorities, public corporations and nationalised industries. 3. Figures will include some employees who are members of a pension scheme but not making an employee contribution, for example through a salary sacrifice scheme. 4. Figures for number of jobs are for indicative purposes only and should not be considered an accurate estimate of employee job counts. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), United Kingdom. | ||||
| (b) Number of private sector employee jobs by pension provision | ||||
| Total with pension provision( 1) (thousand) | Percentage | Total without pension provision (thousand) | Percentage | |
| (1) All employees including those whose pay was affected by absence. Notes: 1. 1997 is the first year for which ASHE pension membership data are available. 2. Private sector includes employees from private companies, sole proprietors, partnerships, and non-profit institutions serving households. 3. Figures will include some employees who are members of a pension scheme but not making an employee contribution, for example through a salary sacrifice scheme. 4. Figures for number of jobs are for indicative purposes only and should not be considered an accurate estimate of employee job counts. Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), United Kingdom. | ||||
Unemployment Benefits
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claims there were for (a) incapacity benefit and (b) employment and support allowance in each year since 1997. [317648]
Jonathan Shaw: We are currently looking closely at the process of migrating incapacity benefits customers to employment and support allowance, to develop a detailed strategy.
We are using the work capability assessment in employment and support allowance to fairly and accurately assess an individual's functional capability and therefore their entitlement to benefit. The assessment will correctly identify those people who have limited capability for work because of a physical or mental health condition, and will ensure that people who are able to undertake work related activity receive the support they need to help them prepare to get into work.
The available information is in the tables.
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