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28 Jun 2010 : Column 381W—continued
Social Rented Housing: Inspections
Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what inspection rating the Audit Commission has given to each arm's length management organisation since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [4151]
Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Eugene Sullivan, dated 28 June 2010:
Parliamentary Question: What inspection rating the Audit Commission has given to each arm's length management organisation since 2001.
Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
Since 2001, the Audit Commission has published 136 ratings of Arm's Length Management Organisations (ALMOs). The ratings have been produced following an inspection, required by Government, to allow access to capital funding if service provision is assessed as good (two star) or better. The ALMOs are then re-inspected to assess if the ALMO has maintained, or reached, a good (two star) standard of service provision. A copy of the list of ratings showing when they were published is attached.
A copy of this letter will appear in Hansard and a copy of the list has been placed in the Library of the House.
Social Rented Housing: Standards
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate he has made of the number of jobs supported through work on the Decent Homes programme in each of the last five years; [3888]
(2) whether his Department has made a recent estimate of the number of jobs created per £1 million of funding allocated for the refurbishment of existing homes. [3895]
Andrew Stunell: The Department has not made a specific estimate of the number of jobs supported through work on the Decent Homes programme in each of the last five years. However, the Department has estimated that, in 2009, every £1 million of investment in home refurbishment supported 17 net jobs for a year. This figure takes account of direct jobs supported in the industry and indirect (supply chain) jobs. It also takes account of displacement effects, where increased investment in housing refurbishment takes investment (and associated jobs) away from other parts of the economy.
Travellers: Caravan Sites
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to bring forward plans to change the powers available to local authorities to remove Travellers from unauthorised encampments. [4323]
Andrew Stunell: The Government will ensure that, where local councils have made appropriate provision for authorised sites in their area which reflects genuine local need and historic demand, those councils will be given stronger enforcement powers to deal with unauthorised encampments.
The Government are reviewing how this can be achieved and announcements will be made in due course.
Wind Power: Planning Permission
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the planning controls affecting proposals for wind farms near national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty; and if he will make a statement. [3997]
Robert Neill [holding answer 24 June 2010]: The coalition programme states that the Government will radically reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants live, based on the principles set out in the Conservative party publication 'Open Source Planning'. We will publish and present to Parliament a simple and consolidated national planning policy framework covering all forms of development and setting out national economic, environmental and social priorities. We will make an announcement on how we propose to take forward the national planning framework and the implications for specific areas of planning policy shortly.
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to bring forward proposals to amend the planning laws in respect of proposals for windfarms near wetland areas. [4346]
Robert Neill: The coalition programme states that the Government will radically reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants live, based on the principles set out in the Conservative Party publication Open Source Planning. We will publish and present to Parliament a simple and consolidated national planning policy framework covering all forms of development and setting out national economic, environmental and social priorities. We will make an announcement on how we propose to take forward the national planning framework and the implications for specific areas of planning policy shortly.
Work and Pensions
Carers' Benefits
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to provide support for carers seeking to re-enter the workforce after their caring responsibilities have ended. [3464]
Maria Miller: In December 2009, Jobcentre Plus introduced Work Focused Support for Carers (WFSC). This aims to support carers who wish to combine paid work with their caring responsibilities and those carers re-entering the workforce after their caring responsibilities have ended.
WFSC does this by widening the provision of employment support for carers to every carer who works less than 16 hours per week and by the provision of funding for replacement care for those carers on approved activity.
For a period of eight weeks following an end to caring responsibilities a carer will be eligible for support through WFSC.
In addition most Jobcentre Plus offices have now introduced a Carer's Champion personal adviser to help carers with the barriers they may face when looking to re-enter the workplace.
Children: Maintenance
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases were raised with the Child Support Agency by the hon. or right hon. Member for each constituency in the period from May 2005 to May 2010. [2887]
Maria Miller: 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 Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases were raised with the Child Support Agency by the hon. or right hon. member from each constituency in the period from May 2005 to May 2010. [2887]
Management information on correspondence broken down by Parliamentary Constituency is only available at disproportionate costs.
The table below provides the volume of correspondence received from MPs which includes both case specific and general correspondence.
| MP correspondence | |
| Notes: 1. Information provided up to March 2010. 2. MP hotline data included from April 2008. 3. Prior to March 2009, figures for MP direct (where an MP contacts someone in the organisation other than the Commissioner/Chief Executive) include only complaints and not general enquiries. 4. Multiple correspondence may be received for a single complaint. | |
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Departmental Consultants
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contracts his Department has entered into with external consultants since the Government came into office; and what the (a) name of the consultants, (b) terms of reference of the work, (c) monetary value of the contract and (d) expected date of completion of the work is in each case. [3595]
Chris Grayling: DWP has entered into two contracts since the Government came into office:
(a) the name of the consultants for both contracts is Oliver Wyman Consulting Ltd
(b) terms of reference of the work for both contracts is:
To support the Minister for Welfare Reform and departmental team in developing an implementation plan for reform of the benefits system. This will include, but is not limited to, (1) Assessing
options for streamlined payment methods, (2) Auditing existing DWP dynamic models, and ensuring best practice is captured to underpin robust analysis, and (3) Developing preliminary scenarios and business cases for specific reforms to the payment levels of benefits for in-work households.
(c) monetary value of the contracts:
Contract 1-£13,888
Contract 2-£13,000
(d) expected date of completion of the work in both cases is 23 August.
Departmental Reviews
Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2010, Official Report, column 137W, on Government departments: reviews, what reviews his Department is undertaking; and what the (a) purpose and (b) timescale of each is. [2588]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions will be carrying out the reviews necessary to enable it to meet the commitments set out in the Coalition Agreement and announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget on 22 June 2010.
On 24 June 2010, the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Thornby and Yate (Steve Webb) announced two key reviews as part of the Government's strategy to reinvigorate retirement Official Report, columns 21-22WS.
We are currently drawing together plans for other reviews and will provide more detailed information in due course.
Disability Living Allowance
Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households are in receipt of disability living allowance in (a) England, (b) Leicester and (c) Leicester West constituency. [4606]
Maria Miller: The information requested is not available by household. Recipients of Disability Living Allowance are as follows:
| November 2009 | |
| Total | |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Constituencies used for the Westminster Parliament of May 2010. 3. Figures 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 are in hospital. Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data. | |
Disability Living Allowance: Wythenshawe
Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in each ward of Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency are in receipt of disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement. [4641]
Maria Miller: The information is as follows:
| Disability living allowance claimants at ward level in Wythenshawe and Sale East parliamentary constituency: November 2009 | |
| Ward | In payment |
| Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest five; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Case loads 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 are in hospital. 3. Wards in Wythenshawe and Sale East are allocated using 2003 Census Area Statistics (CAS) wards and Lower Super Output Areas (SOA) in England and Wales and Data Zones in Scotland. 4. Constituencies used are for the Westminster Parliament of May 2010. 5. Parliamentary constituency is allocated by a 'best fit' methodology to the new Westminster parliamentary constituencies. Further information is available on the Office for National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/west-parl-con.asp Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data. | |
Employment and Support Allowance
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment and support allowance claimants who have been found fit for work (a) are in employment, (b) are in receipt of each type of benefit and (c) are of unknown status. [2625]
Maria Miller: The available information on the outcomes of employment and support allowance claims is published in the form of official statistics on the Department for Work and Pensions website. The statistics detail the number of claims allocated to the Support Group, Work Related Activity Group and those found Fit for Work. 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.
There was a total of 517,900 claims for employment and support allowance from 27 October 2008 to 31 August 2009. The results of the initial work capability assessment are set out in the following table.
The available information is in the table.
| Employment and support allowance on-flows of claim start and result of initial functional assessment | ||
| Outcome | Number | Percentage |
| Note: 1. Percentages do not sum due to rounding. Source: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_wca/esa_wca_27042010.pdf | ||
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