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29 Mar 2010 : Column 706W—continued
You asked the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 23 February 2010, Official Report, column 456W, on Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: surveillance, whether the Commission and its predecessor have made use of (a) covert human intelligence sources and (b) private investigators.
Neither the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, nor the Child Support Agency (when it was an Executive Agency of the Department for Work and Pensions) has made any use of covert human intelligence services or private investigators.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Children: Maintenance
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent progress has been made on the transfer of pre-2003 Child Support Agency cases to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. [323484]
Helen Goodman: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress has been made on the transfer of pre-2003 Child Support Agency cases to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. (323484)
The problems encountered by the Child Support Agency following the launch of the Reforms in 2003 resulted in a decision to defer the bulk transfer of cases from the old (launched in 1993) scheme, to the current (launched in 2003) child support scheme in the meantime, cases were only migrated from the old computer system to the new computer system where they had a link with a case on the new system that made this necessary.
This decision was kept under review and in February 2006 the Government asked Sir David Henshaw to review the entire system of child maintenance. His subsequent report led to the Government's White paper and to the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, which makes provision for a new system of child maintenance the "future scheme".
The future scheme will be introduced from 2011, and all clients on the two existing schemes will then have the opportunity to apply to that scheme or make a private arrangement. It is currently planned that this process will take around three years, after which both of the existing schemes will close. It is not Government policy to undertake a bulk transfer of cases between the two existing schemes in the meantime.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Child Support Agency was owed by non-resident parents on the latest date for which figures are available. [324756]
Helen Goodman: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Child Support Agency was owed by non-resident parents on the latest date for which figures are available.
Information on the amount of child maintenance arrears owed by non-resident parents is routinely published in the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics. This is available through the following link:
As at December 2009, the amount of child maintenance arrears owed by Non-Resident Parents to either Parents with Care or the Secretary of State is £3,783 million. This has decreased from £3,842 million in December 2008. A total of £150m has been collected in arrears in the year January to December 2009. These figure are un-audited.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Council Tax Benefits
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions her Department has had with (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government on the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate. [324744]
Helen Goodman: Discussions at ministerial level took place during the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill and the Government agreed that changing the name of council tax benefit to council tax rebate could have a positive impact on benefit take-up. We want to make the change at the earliest opportunity and discussion take place between officials of Department for Work and Pensions and Communities and Local Government as part of the process for achieving that.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what discussions her Department has held with the Local Government Association on the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate; [324745]
(2) what advice her Department issued to local authorities on renaming council tax benefit as council tax rebate; [324747]
(3) what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities whose IT systems are able to facilitate the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate; and how many local authorities have informed her Department that their IT systems are unable to facilitate this change; [324749]
(4) pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for New Forest West of 15 March 2010, Official Report, column 607, on council tax benefit, what practical issues other than IT systems her Department has identified as barriers to renaming council tax benefit as council tax rebate; what steps her Department is taking to tackle those issues; and if she will make a statement; [324773]
(5) what assessment she has made of the changes required to local authority IT systems to update the change of name; and if she will make a statement; [324774]
(6) what surveys her Department has undertaken of local authorities to assess the capacity of their IT systems to facilitate the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate. [324775]
Helen Goodman: Renaming council tax benefit will have significant impact on the administration of the benefit, with major delivery implications for local authorities. The main impact will be on IT systems, including where these link to Department for Work and Pensions systems. There will also be necessary changes to forms, leaflets and billing arrangements in order to give accurate information to existing customers, and maximise the impact of the change in improving take-up.
Officials are engaging with local authorities in a number of ways. There have been preliminary formal discussions with the local authority associations and with practitioners from local authorities. This will be followed by more detailed survey of the requirements of individual authorities. Proposals have been outlined to the local authority software suppliers to enable them to start to prepare requirements and costs for the changes and enhancements to IT systems.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate her Department has made of the potential number of additional claimants who will claim council tax benefit when it is renamed council tax rebate. [324746]
Helen Goodman: The Government want to ensure people get the help they are entitled to with their council tax bills and has an ongoing programme of work to encourage them to claim. Renaming council tax benefit as a rebate would help remove a barrier that may prevent some people claiming and we have taken steps to make this important change. We have not made an assessment at this time of the precise impact on take-up that renaming council tax benefit may have but are gathering data that will enable us to make a robust estimate of the additional number of people who would claim council tax rebate.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department has taken to draft legislation to facilitate the renaming of council tax benefit as council tax rebate; and when she expects to lay such legislation before Parliament. [324748]
Helen Goodman: The powers we have taken in the Welfare Reform Act 2009 will enable us to make the change of name to council tax rebate quickly through an order, once we have established a timetable that takes into account the full costs and implementation requirements of local authorities.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department and its agencies have spent on rooms for staff leisure in each of the last five years. [324430]
Jonathan Shaw: The information as requested is not available. The Department has a PFI contract for the provision of fully serviced accommodation. We currently occupy around 1,000 buildings under the terms of this contract and pay a per square metre charge known as a facility price. This charge is site specific and does not identify different uses of areas within a property.
A number of sites do have facilities such as gyms, and the vast majority will have rest areas or breakout rooms provided for the relaxation and comfort of staff working there. Often these spaces are dual use fulfilling a function as both areas for rest or leisure, and for more formal uses such as meetings or team sessions.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether her Department provides subsidised gym facilities for its staff. [324551]
Jonathan Shaw: DWP does not provide staff with specific subsidised gym facilities. However, through the DWP discount scheme staff have the opportunity to take advantage of discounts for gym membership.
In addition, gym facilities are provided in some offices for staff who are members of the Health and Social Security Recreational Association (HASSRA) and the Civil Service Sports and Social Club (CSSC). Both HASSRA and CSSC are recreational associations funded primarily by membership subscription.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on interior design in relation to office refurbishments undertaken in each of the last five years. [324686]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) voltage optimisers and (b) equivalent technologies are used within buildings occupied by her Department. [324966]
Jonathan Shaw: DWP occupies the vast majority of its properties under the terms of a PFI contract with Telereal Trillium. Telereal Trillium, on behalf of the Department, is currently evaluating two suppliers of voltage optimisation equipment to determine suitability for the DWP estate. The installation of voltage optimisation specifically for lighting circuits is also being considered.
With regard to similar technologies, Telereal Trillium has recently completed a national project on behalf of the Department to install over 5,300 energy saving electronic control devices, on small to medium refrigeration machines-domestic refrigerators and air conditioning units.
Departmental Expenditure Limits
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the written ministerial statement of 23 February 2010, Official Report, columns 50-68WS, on departmental expenditure limits, whether her Department made a request for resources 4 as part of its supplementary estimate. [322560]
Jonathan Shaw: The written ministerial statement of 23 February 2010 only details changes to the Departments for Work and Pensions departmental expenditure limit. There were no departmental expenditure limit changes for Request for Resources 4 as part of the Spring Supplementary Estimate.
The Voted provision for Request for Resources 4 increased in the Spring Supplementary Estimate by £3,918,000 from £18,721,770,000 to £18,725,688,000 due to an increase in the provision for the grant in aid payment to the Independent Living Fund. This increase can see be seen in the Central Government Supply Estimates 2009-10 Spring Supplementary Estimate-HM Treasury HC 257:
Departmental ICT
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department has spent on maintaining its computer systems, excluding capital purchases, in the last year for which figures are available. [322279]
Jim Knight: External expenditure on application maintenance and support was £66 million in 2008-09.
This maintains and supports all the Departments IT estate, including all the IT systems that support Jobcentre Plus, Pensions Disability and Carers Service and payments systems to provide services to over 20 million people.
The Department ensures the best value for money by contracting for IT standard services by rigorously benchmarking and market testing.
Departmental Location
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department spent on the relocation of staff from posts in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years. [321423]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department has not relocated any staff from posts in Essex or the Castle Point constituency to other parts of the country in the last five years.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 103W, on departmental marketing, how much her Department and agencies have spent on advertising, marketing, public relations and publicity in relation to the (a) Real Help Now and (b) Building Britain's Future themed campaign to date. [320454]
Jonathan Shaw: Real Help Now was introduced to raise awareness of the services and support available to people to help them through the economic downturn. The Department for Work and Pensions spent a total of £365,000 on a range of activities that came under 'Real Help Now'. These activities included leaflets and advertising to promote financial help available to employers for recruitment, a cross government employment summit and promotion of Real Help Now information on businesslink.gov.uk.
DWP's only supporting communications activity for Building Britain's Future is the Backing Young Britain campaign. This campaign is still running and information on costs will only be available when the activity is complete.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on promotional items carrying the Department's branding and logo in the last five years; and what such items have been purchased. [324359]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is not readily available since the management information does not differentiate between the DWP-branded material and that produced for our agencies, Jobcentre Plus, The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service, and our 15 non-departmental public bodies. It could therefore be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the five most expensive hospitality events hosted by her Department and its agencies were in the last three years; and what the (a) cost and (b) purpose was of each. [324664]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department's policies on hospitality are set out in the DWP Hospitality Framework. This framework is based on the principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity, Propriety and Value for Money.
A copy of the DWP Hospitality Framework is being deposited in the Library.
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