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21 Jun 2010 : Column 71W—continued
Departmental Telephone Services
Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's telephone helplines are 0800 numbers which incur call charges when called from a mobile phone. [3238]
Chris Grayling: The Department has a total of 116 0800 voice telephone lines. Of these, 51 are claim lines which are free for customers to call from the major UK mobile network operators as a result of an agreement reached between the Department and the major operators earlier this year.
The remaining 65 0800 voice telephone lines are in use for the National Benefit Fraud Hotline, Out of Hours services, Emergency Lines, Departmental survey, Jobcentre switchboards and Departmental pilot lines. In such cases, when a customer asks us, we offer to call them back. These 65 are being reviewed as part of the Department's number rationalisation programme which has, in the last year, seen the total volume of voice 0800 numbers reduce from 269 to 116.
Departmental Translation Services
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) documents and (b) other information for which (i) his Department and (ii) its associated public bodies are responsible are published or provided in the UK in languages other than English; for what reason each such publication is required to be made available in a language or languages other than English; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the translation work so incurred in the latest period for which figures are available. [1778]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available as it would incur disproportionate cost.
Electronic Government
Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the contribution of Directgov to increasing the level of digital inclusion. [3431]
Chris Grayling: Digital inclusion is a key driver in the work Directgov undertakes with partners in the voluntary, public and private sector. Directgov's role as part of this agenda is to assist Departments in putting services online in an easy to use, accessible format, and ensuring that there is the widest possible access to those services.
Directgov is actively promoting digital inclusion initiatives aimed at encouraging the public online. Over the last year Directgov has promoted the following events:
Get Online Day
Silver Surfers Day
Pass IT On
Race Online
Online Basics
We believe that Directgov has made substantial progress, and we are committed to working with the Cabinet Office to increase digital inclusion.
Employment and Support Allowance
Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of claimants of employment and support allowance; and if he will make a statement. [2946]
Chris Grayling: The most recent available information is that as at November 2009, there were 425,770 Employment and Support Allowance claimants in Great Britain and abroad.
Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
2. Employment and Support Allowance replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008.
3. Figures are published on:
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study
Employment and Support Allowance: South West
Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been assessed for employment and support allowance at Flowers Hill, Brislington, Bristol; and how many such people had their applications for that allowance rejected following work capability assessments. [2304]
Chris Grayling: Data on the outcomes of the work capability assessments for employment and support allowance claims in Flowers Hill, Brislington are not available.
For the Bristol city council area, which covers Brislington, the number of complete assessments for new employment and support allowance claims received between October 2008 and August 2009, is 2,900. Of these claims, 1,800 were found fit for work.
The Department regularly publishes official statistics on the work capability assessment-the statistics were last updated in April 2010 and published in the report "Employment and Support Allowance: Work Capability Assessment: Official Statistics: April 2010", a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The information is also available on the internet at the following address:
Employment Schemes: Mentally Ill
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has for helping people with mental health problems to find employment and cease being in receipt of benefits. [1719]
Maria Miller: In accordance with the Coalition Agreement, the Government have committed to introducing the Work Programme. The Work Programme will replace most existing employment programmes and will deliver comprehensive support to help longer-term benefit claimants into work, including people with mental health conditions.
The Department also provides a number of specialist employment programmes to help people with higher support needs to find and stay in supported and unsupported employment. Support is tailored to the needs of an individual customer, and includes a focus on the needs of people with mental health conditions as necessary.
From October 2010 we will begin reassessing customers receiving the old style incapacity benefits using the Work Capability Assessment. This will help people to access the right kind of support to help them back to work. It is a big undertaking and we are working on plans to make the change happen as smoothly as possible for all customers, including those with mental health conditions.
Funeral Payments
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many applications have been made for funeral payments in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 2000; [2085]
(2) how much has been paid in funeral payments in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 2000. [2086]
Steve Webb: Information regarding funeral payments for Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The available information is in the tables.
| Number of funeral payment claims received in Great Britain by country and financial year | |||
| England | Wales | Scotland | |
| Funeral payment gross expenditure in Great Britain by country and financial year | |||
| £ million | |||
| England | Wales | Scotland | |
| Notes: 1. Gross expenditure includes awards made after reconsideration or appeal. 2. The number of claims received has been rounded to the nearest 10 and gross expenditure to the nearest £0.1 million. Source: DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System. | |||
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average size of funeral payments made to applicants in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland has been since 2005. [2091]
Steve Webb: Information regarding funeral payments for Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The available information is in the table.
| Funeral payment average award in Great Britain by country and financial year | |||
| £ | |||
| England | Wales | Scotland | |
| Notes: 1. Figures include awards made after reconsideration or appeal. 2. The average award has been rounded to the nearest £1. Source: DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System. | |||
Future Jobs Fund
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of jobs which had been created under the Future Jobs Fund up to 14 June 2010. [3159]
Chris Grayling: The latest official statistics Future Jobs Fund jobs cover the period up to January 2010. The figures show that 8,660 people had started Future Jobs Fund jobs. Further statistics will be released later this summer.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people in Warrington are in employment financed through the Future Jobs Fund. [3280]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
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