| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Jun 2010 : Column 281W—continued
Funeral Payments
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the maximum amount payable as a funeral payment was last increased. [2089]
Steve Webb: The maximum amount payable to cover disbursements, including funeral directors' fees and items such as the coffin, has been £700 since April 2003. Cremation and burial costs, including the purchase of a grave, are met in full. The average funeral payment awarded in 2009-10 was £1,208.
Future Jobs Fund: West Midlands
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Dudley North, (b) the borough of Dudley and (c) the west midlands have been placed into employment through the Future Jobs Fund. [1507]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
Future Jobs Fund: Wigan
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in (a) Wigan constituency and (b) Wigan local authority area are participating in the future jobs fund. [1633]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
Incapacity Benefit
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to (a) commence and (b) complete the reassessment of those in receipt of incapacity benefit; and what recent changes to this timetable there have been. [1907]
Chris Grayling:
The process of moving incapacity benefit recipients on to a more active benefit regime and giving them the support they need is a serious priority.
We will be doing everything to complete this process as quickly as possible, while ensuring the most vulnerable are supported appropriately.
We will be testing and learning from a small-scale trial, which will run from October 2010. Full migration will begin in early 2011. We expect it to be completed over three years. There have been no recent changes to this timetable.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the timetable is for the Government's planned re-assessment of all current claimants of incapacity benefit for their readiness to work; and whether any targets have been set for the number of people to be removed from incapacity benefit through this re-assessment. [2162]
Chris Grayling: We will be testing and learning from a small-scale trial which will run from October 2010. Full migration will not begin until April 2011. We expect it to be completed in 2014.
All claimants will be removed from incapacity benefits. No targets have been set regarding which benefit claimants will be placed. They will be moved on to either employment and support allowance or other benefits appropriate to their circumstances.
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to publish a response to the accessing compensation consultation; and what steps the Government plan to take to ensure that people who are injured or made ill by their work obtain the compensation to which they are entitled. [2529]
Chris Grayling: The public consultation closed on 5 May 2010. We are currently considering the replies we received and we will publish our response to the consultation in due course.
Industrial Health and Safety
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of health and safety incidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive in each year since 2000 were reported by a trade union official. [1961]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
Industrial Health and Safety: North East
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many industrial health and safety incidents were reported to the Health and Safety Executive in the north-east in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement. [1962]
Chris Grayling: HSE collects data on workplace health and safety incidents through the RIDDOR reporting system (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations). HSE routinely collates injury data at a regional level for reported workplace injuries. Data are also collected on reported dangerous occurrences and gas safety incidents.
Available figures for the north-east, for incidents reported to HSE, are provided in the following table:
| Number of reported injuries | Number of reported dangerous occurrences | Number of reported flammable gas incidents | Number of reported dangerous gas fittings | |
| (1) Provisional. | ||||
Jobseeker's Allowance: North-East
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the amount which will be paid out in jobseeker's allowance over the next (a) 12, (b) 24 and (c) 36 months in (i) the north-east and (ii) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [1966]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
Social Fund
Dr Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to review the benefits of which those making an application for assistance under the social fund must be in receipt prior to submitting their application. [1889]
Steve Webb: The social fund comprises certain regulated payments and discretionary grants and loans. Access to the social fund is usually dependent on receipt of a qualifying benefit. Qualifying benefits are specified income-related benefits and, for certain payments, tax credits. Crisis loans can be paid to people on and off benefit.
We currently have no plans to make any changes but will be keeping eligibility for the social fund under continuous review.
State Retirement Pensions
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on changing the state pension age. [1713]
Steve Webb: Our objective is to ensure that the state pension remains affordable over time. To help achieve this, the state pension age needs to take account of increases in life expectancy. We have announced we will hold a review to determine when it should be increased to 66.
Mr Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in the UK are in receipt of the state pension. [2129]
Steve Webb: As at November 2009, there were 11,312,350 state pension recipients in Great Britain. Information regarding Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study
State Second Pension
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what change he expects to propose to state second pension payments in 2010-11. [1518]
Steve Webb: The legislation which governs the annual review of the rates of benefits and pensions requires that state second pension and additional elements of the state pension are increased each year in line with the growth in prices. The fact that they stayed the same in April 2010 was due to negative price inflation. Under this legislation, when prices continue growing as normal, state second pension and additional elements of the state pension must be increased by that growth.
Unemployment Benefits: Disability
Mr Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the provision of support for people who are unable to work as a result of disability. [1852]
Maria Miller: The Government recognise that some people will not be able to work, or prepare for work, because of a disability. These people will receive unconditional support and will be able to have help to find employment on a voluntary basis.
Financial support for those who are unable to work will be through cash benefits, such as disability living allowance and the employment and support allowance (replacing incapacity benefits).
Unemployment Benefits: Pendle
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people of working age in Pendle (a) are in receipt of out-of-work benefits and (b) have been in receipt of such benefits for at least nine of the last 10 years. [1138]
Chris Grayling: The most recent available information on those people in receipt of out-of-work benefits is in the following table.
Home Department
Union Flag
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on flying the Union flag each day from each official building for which her Department is responsible. [1811]
Nick Herbert: My Department flies the Union flag on 365 days of the year at those buildings which have flagpoles.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special advisers (a) she and (b) each named Minister in her Department (i) has appointed to date and (ii) plans to appoint. [319]
Nick Herbert: I refer to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 3 June 2010, Official Report, column 99W.
Departmental Public Appointments
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) political appointments and (b) other personal appointments she has made since her appointment; and at what estimated annual cost to the public purse. [368]
Nick Herbert: I refer to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 3 June 2010, Official Report, column 99W.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when and in what form she plans to publish a list of all items of expenditure by her Department over £25,000. [278]
Nick Herbert: The Prime Minister has written to Cabinet Ministers reiterating transparency commitments made in the Coalition Programme for Government, and setting out a timetable for achieving them. In particular, all new items of central Government spending over £25,000 will be published online in an open format from November 2010.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |