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28 Jun 2010 : Column 386W—continued
The full publication is also available on the internet at the following address:
Information on the employment status and benefit take-up of claimants found Fit for Work is not currently available.
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) policies and (b) practices are in place to ensure that vulnerable people who apply for employment and support allowance who are found fit for work receive benefits to which they are entitled. [2627]
Chris Grayling: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what policies and practices are in place to ensure vulnerable people who apply for Employment and Support Allowance and are found fit for work receive benefits to which they are entitled. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
People of working age who are found fit for work receive a letter telling them that they are no longer entitled to Employment and Support Allowance. The letter also explains that the decision can be looked at again, and that Employment and Support Allowance may continue pending an appeal to an independent tribunal.
They are also advised that they may be able to claim Jobseeker's Allowance if they are unemployed and are given information on how to make a claim. Claims for Jobseeker's Allowance are normally made by telephone through our contact centre network or on-line through the Directgov Internet site. For those who are unable to use a telephone or computer Jobcentre Plus has arrangements in place to provide a face-to-face claim service at the nearest Jobcentre.
To be eligible for Jobseeker's Allowance people generally have to be available immediately for work for 40 hours per week and take steps each week to actively seek work. However, easements within the Jobseeker's Allowance rules allow our advisers to take account of physical or mental health conditions when considering whether the steps taken to seek work in any week are reasonable. Similarly, they can consider reasonable limitations in availability for work, taking account of physical or mental condition. This could affect the type of work which a customer could undertake, the number of hours they could work each week or the distance they are able to travel to take work. As you would expect, our advisors will discuss all the available options with each person on an individual basis.
We also have specialist Disability Employment Advisers in each district who have in-depth knowledge of the locally available programmes and services for those with disabilities. They can help to identify suitable job opportunities and liaise with employers and external partners on behalf of those using Jobcentre Plus services.
Future Jobs Fund
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people have been employed through the Future Jobs Fund in each region; and how much has been spent under the fund in each region. [4362]
Chris Grayling: The available information is in the tables.
| Future Jobs Fund starts in Great Britain by country/region: October 2009 to January 2010 | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. These figures are official statistics and are published periodically by the Office for National Statistics. The latest release may be found at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/jsa/ypg/ypf_fjf_24052010.pdf 2. The Future Jobs Fund is not available in Northern Ireland. 3. Due to the way Future Jobs Fund data are collected using informed consent, the number of unknown characteristic values may be significantly higher when compared with other Young Persons Guarantee strands. Source: First set of official statistics on the Young Person's Guarantee. | |
It is not possible to provide actual spend by region at this time. The following table provides the total value of grants issued by region.
| Future Jobs Fund grants awarded in Great Britain by country/region as at 19 June 2010 | |
| £ million | |
| Notes: 1. The figures provided are for total grants awarded as agreed by the Department for Work and Pensions as at 19 June 2010 by Jobcentre Plus region (analogous with Government office regions). These may be subject to downward revision. 2. Bids which encompass more than one region are shown as "National". Source: Department for Work and Pensions internal Management Information on the grants awarded. | |
Housing Benefit
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the effect on the level of demand for affordable housing of reductions to housing benefit in each of the next five years. [4532]
Steve Webb: Ministers from this Department regularly meet with their colleagues in other departments including those at Communities and Local Government to discuss cross cutting issues.
Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households receive housing benefit of more than (a) £250 per week for a one bedroom property, (b) £290 per week for a two bedroom property, (c) £340 per week for a three bedroom property and (d) £400 per week for a four bedroom property in (i) England, (ii) Leicester and (iii) Leicester West constituency. [4607]
Steve Webb: At March 2010, for housing benefit claims in England assessed under the local housing allowance arrangements, our records show there were:
3,340 recipients with a one-bedroom entitlement receiving over £250 per week;
6,970 recipients with a two-bedroom entitlement receiving over £290 per week;
2,710 recipients with a three-bedroom entitlement receiving over £340 per week; and
1,010 recipients with a four-bedroom entitlement receiving over £400 per week.
In the Leicester local authority there were no households receiving housing benefit above the levels specified.
Information is not available at the constituency level.
Notes:
1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 recipients.
2. The Single Housing Benefit Extract does not have bedroom entitlement recorded in 6% of the local housing allowance cases so there may be some underestimation in the numbers reported.
Source:
Single Housing Benefit Extract
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales are in receipt of housing benefit in excess of £100,000 per year. [4634]
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were paid more than £100,000 per year in housing benefit in the latest period for which figures are available. [4674]
Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
Incapacity Benefit: Bexley
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency have had their entitlement to incapacity benefit reassessed in each of the last three years. [3305]
Chris Grayling: Data on the number of people in Bexleyheath and Crayford that have had their entitlement to Incapacity Benefit reassessed in each of the last three years are not available.
Jobcentre Plus: Manpower
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the number of staff employed in Jobcentre Plus offices of the changes to benefit entitlement proposed in the 2010 Budget HC61. [4654]
Chris Grayling:
The change in conditionality for lone parents announced in the Budget on 22 June will not
come into effect until 2011-12, so there is no immediate impact on Jobcentre Plus staff. The Department publishes its overall staffing and spending plans for each Spending Review period and the current plans finish in 2010-11. The Department for Work and Pensions plans for 2011-12 to 2014-15 will be announced on 20 October 2010 in the Spending Review settlement set out by HM Treasury.
Pension Credit
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the pension credit minimum income guarantee is to be revised in line with the basic state pension increase in (a) 2012-13 and (b) subsequent years. [4648]
Steve Webb: In 2011, in the event that the basic state pension is increased by more than earnings under the terms of the 'triple lock', the Government's intention is that as a minimum all single pension credit recipients will benefit from the full cash value of this increase. For 2012-13 and in subsequent years decisions about rates of benefit and pensions will be decided in light of actual earnings and price growth as part of the normal budget process. There is a statutory requirement that the pension credit standard minimum guarantee will be uprated in least in line with earnings.
Pregnant Women: Grants
Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households received the Sure Start maternity grant for a second child in (a) England, (b) Leicester and (c) Leicester West constituency in the latest year for which figures are available. [4604]
Maria Miller: The number of Sure Start maternity grants awarded is available only by Government Office Region and Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Budget Area, not by local authority or parliamentary constituency. The exact number of awards for a second or subsequent maternity in England in 2009-10 is not available, but is estimated to be 125,000 (rounded to the nearest 1,000).
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of women who will not now be entitled to claim Sure Start maternity grant under the Government's proposals in each year to 2014-15. [4663]
Steve Webb: From April next year the Sure Start maternity grant will be concentrated on helping low income parents cope with the additional costs resulting from the birth of their first child. The expectation is that most of the goods and equipment bought for the first child will be reused for any subsequent children.
During the first two years of the operation of the Sure Start maternity grant 2000-01 to 2002-03, the value of the grant increased three times from £200 to the current £500. Had the original £200 payment been increased with prices it would now be worth £246.
The estimated numbers of Sure Start maternity grants which will not now be awarded in Great Britain for second and subsequent children as a consequence of this proposal are:
| Number of awards | |
| Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand. | |
Social Security Benefits
Yvette Cooper:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the monetary value of each benefit to be paid by his
Department (a) under current uprating rules and (b) uprated in line with the consumer price index in each year to 2015-16. [4664]
Steve Webb: The information requested is provided in the following table for the main working-age benefits(1) paid by the Department for Work and Pensions that will now be uprated by the consumer price index as announced in the recent emergency budget.
These rates are estimated using the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts for growth and are consistent with the analysis published in the Budget Report 22nd June 2010. These rates are indicative only as actual levels of inflation are likely to differ from forecasts.
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | ||
| (1) From 2011 the only main pensioner benefit subject to uprating by reference to price inflation will be the additional state pension. Additional state pension is mainly earnings related and therefore payable at a wide variety of rates. | ||||||
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