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22 Jun 2010 : Column 178W—continued
Carers' Benefits
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to provide support for carers combining caring responsibilities with paid employment. [3473]
Mr Davey [holding answer 21 June 2010]:I have been asked to reply.
The Department intends to carry out a refresh of the previous Government's carers strategy and, as part of that, will consider how carers can be supported to effectively combine caring responsibility with paid employment.
The right to request flexible working is currently available to employed parents of children aged under 17, parents of disabled children under 18 and carers of certain adults. The Government are already committed to extending the right to request flexible working to all employees. This will ensure that individuals within the wider caring structure, e.g. grandparents and neighbours, will be able to take a more active role in caring, whilst managing their work and family lives effectively. This extension will also help to remove the stigma attached to flexible working requests at the moment. We will be consulting with business on how best to do it.
Departmental Official Cars
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) make, (b) model and (c) place of manufacture is of the car allocated for the use of each Minister in his Department. [1490]
Chris Grayling: Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions currently use a pool of four allocated drivers and four cars: three Toyota Prius T3s, manufactured in Japan, and one Jaguar XJ TDVi Executive manufactured in the UK.
Notice has been served on the contract on a fifth car, a Honda Civic ES Hybrid, manufactured in Japan. The 90 day notice period for this car expires in August. The car is currently retained by the Government Car Service.
Under the revised Ministerial Code the number of Ministers with allocated cars and drivers will be kept to a minimum, taking into account security and other relevant considerations. Other Ministers will be entitled to use cars from the Government Car Service Pool as needed.
The Department and the Government Car and Despatch Agency are working together on the transition to the new arrangements.
Disability Living Allowance: Peterborough
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each ward of Peterborough constituency are claiming disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement. [2796]
Maria Miller: The information is in the following table.
| Disability living allowance claimants at ward level in Peterborough parliamentary constituency: November 2009 | |
| Ward | In payment |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest five; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Caseload show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they in hospital. 3. Wards in Peterborough taken from the Office of Public Sector Information site at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ 4. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster) May 2005 General Election constituencies. 5. The sum of these wards will not match the total for Peterborough constituency due to some wards overlapping into other constituencies. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study | |
Employment Schemes: Young People
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the number of young people who will have been unemployed for one year or more in 2010-11 of the ending of the (a) youth guarantee and (b) Future Jobs Fund; [3860]
(2) what estimate he has made of the change in spending on jobseeker's allowance consequent on the ending of the (a) Future Jobs Fund, (b) Jobseeker's Guarantee and (c) youth guarantee in 2010-11; [3861]
(3) what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the number of people aged 18 to 24 years claiming jobseeker's allowance of (a) the end of the youth guarantee, (b) the end of the Future Jobs Fund and (c) changes in the number of university places in 2010-11. [3864]
Chris Grayling: The Young Person's Guarantee and Future Jobs Fund have not ended in 2010-11. The Government will ensure that people in danger of long-term unemployment get the support that they need to find work through the Work Programme, and will therefore not be introducing the Jobseeker's Guarantee.
Future Jobs Fund
Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Future Jobs Fund in helping unemployed people into work in (a) Manchester and (b) Trafford. [3104]
Chris Grayling: The Future Jobs Fund has not ended. All grants that have been agreed will be honoured, and by March 2011 over 100,000 jobs will have been funded nationally. The most recent Official Statistics covering the period October 2009 to January 2010 show that there were 1,300 recorded Future Jobs Fund starts in the Jobcentre Plus north-west region. The information requested on specific boroughs is not available.
The Future Jobs Fund created temporary, short term jobs, and the grants did not include any incentives to move people into permanent posts. The Government are investing £150 million to create 50,000 new apprenticeship places which will equip people with the skills they need and allow people to move into a long-term job. Next year we are also introducing a new single Work Programme which will provide better targeted support and deliver long lasting benefits with a greater focus on sustained employment.
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect on levels of employment in (a) Greater Manchester, (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and (c) the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside of ending the Future Jobs Fund. [3275]
Chris Grayling: The Future Jobs Fund has not ended. All grants that have been agreed will be honoured and by March 2011 over 100,000 jobs will have been funded nationally. The most recent Official Statistics, covering the period October 2009 to January 2010, show that there were 1,300 recorded Future Jobs Fund starts in the Jobcentre Plus north-west region. The information requested on Greater Manchester, and specific boroughs, is not available.
The Future Jobs Fund created temporary, short-term jobs, and the grants did not include any incentives to move people into permanent posts. The Government are investing £150 million to create 50,000 new apprenticeship places which will equip people with the skills they need and allow people to move into a long term job. Next year we are also introducing a new single Work Programme which will provide better targeted support and deliver long lasting benefits with a greater focus on sustained employment.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of jobs created in Warrington by the Future Jobs Fund. [3840]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available.
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobs planned to be funded through the Future Jobs Fund by April 2012 will not be funded. [3862]
Chris Grayling: We expect that up to 111,000 people will have started a Future Jobs Fund job before it ends next year.
The Future Jobs Fund created temporary, short term jobs, and the grants did not include any incentives to move people into permanent posts. The Government are investing £150 million to create 50,000 new apprenticeship places which will equip people with the skills they need and allow people to move into a long term job. Next year we are also introducing a new single Work Programme which will provide better targeted support and deliver long lasting benefits with a greater focus on substantial employment.
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department had with voluntary sector providers of the Future Jobs Fund prior to his announcement of the ending of the fund. [3863]
Chris Grayling: The Future Jobs Fund has not ended, and we are honouring all existing commitments to providers. We have received virtually no representations on this issue, and we are working closely with providers and future providers on the implementation of the Work Programme which will help young people move into sustained employment rather than temporary jobs.
Jobcentre Plus: Digital Technology
Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the principles of digital inclusion are taken into account in the provision of services by Jobcentre Plus. [3482]
Chris Grayling: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked the Chief Executive to provide the right hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Darra Singh dated 22 June 2010:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking (i) what steps his Department is taking to ensure and (ii) whether he has made a recent assessment of the extent to which, the principles of digital inclusion are taken into account in the provision of services by Jobcentre Plus. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus recognises the importance of digital inclusion for our customers, especially those who are most disadvantaged and face the greatest barriers to work.
Many Jobcentre Plus services are available through digital channels, including searching for job vacancies, the Benefit Adviser Service on Directgov and the option of making a claim online for
contributions-based Jobseeker's Allowance. We aim to help customers develop the skills and confidence to use these services together with the growing number of on-line services provided elsewhere in the private, voluntary and public sectors.
We are looking at a range of ways to address digital exclusion. These include the appointment of digital inclusion champions in Jobcentres and better signposting to help customers access support from our partners, such as the advice and provision available through UK Online in England and equivalents in Wales and Scotland. We see this work as important in tackling barriers to internet access which, with more employers using online recruitment to fill vacancies, is a real barrier to customers finding work.
Tackling digital exclusion is essential to addressing wider social mobility and ensuring that all our customers can benefit from the improvements that digital technologies can provide in helping them move from welfare to work.
Jobseeker's Allowance: Per Capita Costs
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to the public purse of each unemployed person in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. [3481]
Chris Grayling: The average Department for Work and Pensions benefit expenditure per jobseeker's allowance claimant was £5,100 in 2009-10.
Notes:
1. Figure is rounded to the nearest £100.
2. The figure includes jobseeker's allowance, and housing benefit and council tax benefit paid to jobseeker's allowance claimants.
3. The figure is subject to change as final out-turn data on housing benefit and council tax benefit are not yet available.
4. The figure does not include any other benefit or tax credits paid to jobseeker's allowance claimants, nor jobcentre plus, local authority or employment programme costs associated with such claimants.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions statistical accounting data
Pension Funds: Regulation
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether he plans to review the regulatory framework for the consideration of environmental, social and governance risks by pension funds; [2838]
(2) if he will bring forward legislative proposals for the compulsory disclosure by pension funds of (a) the environmental, social and governance issues taken into account in their investment policy, (b) the way in which that policy is implemented and (c) the way in which shareholder rights are exercised; [2839]
(3) whether he plans to review the operation of the (a) Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005 and (b) Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000. [2840]
Steve Webb: The law already requires that an occupational pension scheme's 'Statement of Investment Principles' must include a declaration of the extent to which social, environmental and ethical considerations are taken into account in the schemes investments. The statement must also include the scheme's policy (if any) in relation to the exercise of the rights (including voting rights) attaching to the investments.
While the Government fully support the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical behaviour, we have no plans at present to review the environmental, social and governance requirements set out in the existing regulatory framework, or to introduce new legal requirements relating to pensions schemes' investment policy or the way in which shareholder rights are exercised.
Other aspects of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005 and the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000, may need to be reviewed in the light of other developments such as the workplace pension reforms planned for 2012.
Social Fund
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on reform of the Social Fund. [2496]
Steve Webb: We are currently considering all areas of departmental policy, including the Social Fund.
The consultation on the proposals set out in the Green Paper 'Social Fund Reform: debt, credit and low income households' (Cm 7750) closed on 7 June 2010. We will consider the responses to the consultation as we develop proposals for wider welfare reform.
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