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19 July 2010 : Column 108W—continued
Schools: Finance
Mr Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the proportion of his Department's expenditure on education to be delivered to schools directly in 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [956]
Mr Gibb: Revenue funding for maintained schools currently goes through local authorities. We have inherited a needlessly complex system of funding which it is our intention to simplify.
The core element of maintained school revenue funding is the Dedicated Schools Grant, which the Department distributes to local authorities, who then allocate it to schools in consultation with their Schools Forum. The total Dedicated Schools Grant allocation for financial year 2010-11 is £30.6 billion (this is post the removal of an estimate of academy recoupment). Data on school budgets for 2010-11 are an Official Statistic that are due to be published in September 2010 and will be titled 'Financial reports on Local Authority planned budgets for their education and children's social care functions: 2010-11 (section 251 formerly s52)'. These Official Statistics will also inform how much of the Dedicated Schools Grant has been held centrally by the local authority. In 2009-10 approximately £26.1 billion, excluding funding from the Learning and Skills Council, was budgeted for schools directly as reported by local authorities as at November 2008. This represents approximately 88% of the Dedicated Schools Grant for 2009-10 of £29.6 billion (post recoupment for Academies). Assuming that the proportion of the Dedicated Schools Grant that is passed to schools remains constant, is approximately £27.0 billion would be passed directly to schools in 2010-11.
In addition to the Dedicated Schools Grants there are several grants which are fully passported direct to schools via the local authority. The totals for these grants for financial year 2010-11 are:
School Standards Grant and School Standard Grant (Personalisation) = £1.6 billion;
School Development Grant = £1.9 billion.
In addition, there are some grants where a component of the grant may be held by the local authority if agreed by the Schools Forum but else otherwise are passed to schools:
Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant = £202 million;
School Lunch grant = £76 million.
Total Devolved Formula Capital grant payable to maintained schools amounts to £600 million in 2010-11, after deducting an advance of £377 million that was made in 2009-10. The equivalent figure for Academies (i.e. net of advance), excluding 80 September 2010 openers which have the grant paid to them via their local authorities, is £12.3 million.
Academies are funded directly by the Department through the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA). Academy funding includes a school budget share which is based on the principle of equivalency of funding within any particular local authority. In addition, there are start-up grants, funding in lieu of local authority centrally retained budgets for activities that academies are responsible for, a grant for VAT and other grants as paid to maintained schools for which academies are also eligible. Academies are funding on an academic year basis. The financial year 2010-11 cost is not precisely known as academic year 2010-11 allocations are not complete for all academies. However, the initial transfer
to the YPLA for grant to open academies for financial 2010-11, as set out in the agency's remit letter, is £1.72 billion.
Until the above-mentioned Official Statistics are published, it is not possible to proportion out the funding that is allocated to schools precisely. However, considering the above estimates, approximately 67% of the Department's planned expenditure on schools of £49.084 billion would be passed to schools directly in 2010-11. This equates to 57% of the total £57.775 billion of the Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2010-11 as reported in the Departmental Annual Report 2009.
Special Educational Needs
Annette Brooke:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils of (a) primary and (b)
secondary school age with statements of special educational needs are placed in short stay schools in each local authority area. [7556]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 12 July 2010]: The legislative provision which changed the name of pupil referral units to short stay schools was to be commenced on 1 September 2010. We have decided to delay commencement and plan to introduce provisions in Parliament in due course to repeal the name change. In the meantime pupil referral units (PRUs) will continue to be called by that name.
The requested information relating to PRUs is shown in the following table.
Work and Pensions
Housing Benefit
19. Jane Ellison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the level of housing benefit payments on people's willingness to seek employment. [8944]
Maria Miller: Welfare dependency has grown over the last 10 years: 4.9 million people are now claiming out of work benefits-the highest level since 1998-99.
Work should pay; we must do more to improve incentives to start, and stay in, work. Housing benefit payments of up to £2,000 a week give people little chance of ever escaping benefit dependency and making work worth while.
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of households in receipt of local housing allowance of more than (a) £400 for a four or five bedroom property, (b) £340 for a three bedroom property, (c) £290 for a two bedroom property and (d) £200 for a one bedroom property in Lewisham East constituency in 2010-11. [6588]
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of households in receipt of weekly local housing allowance of more than (a) £400 for a four or five bedroom property, (b) £340 for a three bedroom property, (c) £290 for a two bedroom property and (d) £200 for a one bedroom property in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Argyll and Bute and (iii) Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency. [6641]
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of people resident in Cynon Valley constituency in receipt of weekly local housing allowance of over (a) £400 for a four or five bedroom property, (b) £340 for a three bedroom property, (c) £290 for a two bedroom property and (d) £200 for a one bedroom property in 2010-11. [6782]
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of people in Birmingham, Erdington constituency in receipt of weekly local housing allowance of over (a) £400 for a four or five bedroom property, (b) £340 for a three bedroom property, (c) £290 for a two bedroom property and (d) £200 for a one bedroom property in 2010-11. [6941]
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in Clwyd South constituency in receipt of weekly local housing allowance of over (a) £400 for a four or five bedroom property, (b) £340 for a three bedroom property, (c) £290 for a two bedroom property and (d) £200 for a one bedroom property. [7001]
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in East Lothian constituency in receipt of local housing allowance of (a) over £400 per week for a four or five bedroom property, (b) over £340 per week for a three bedroom property, (c) over £290 per week for a two bedroom property and (d) over £200 per week for a one bedroom property in 2010-11. [7182]
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in Bristol East constituency in receipt of weekly local housing allowance payments of (a) over £400 for a four or five bedroom property, (b) over £340 for a three bedroom property, (c) over £290 for a two bedroom property and (d) over £200 for a one bedroom property in 2010-11. [7240]
Steve Webb: The information is not available at the constituency level.
An exercise is being undertaken to add other geographical areas to the housing benefit data: this will include parliamentary constituencies. It is hoped this exercise will be completed by early 2011.
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of social sector tenants in East Lothian constituency whose housing benefit payments will be reduced in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; what estimate he has made of the average reduction in weekly payments of that allowance; and what estimate he has made of the effect of those reductions on the level of revenue from housing accruing to East Lothian council. [7185]
Roberta Blackman-Woods:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of social sector tenants in the City of Durham constituency whose housing benefit payments will be reduced from their current levels in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; what his estimate is of the average weekly reduction in benefit for such people; what
estimate has been made of the effects of such reductions on the local authority's housing revenue; and what assessment has been made of the effect of the reductions on new build in the social sector. [8471]
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of social sector tenants in Newport East constituency whose housing benefit payments will be reduced from their current levels in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; what his estimate is of the average reduction in benefit of such people; what estimate has been made of the effects of such reductions on the local authority's housing revenue; and what assessment has been made of the effect of the reductions on new build in the social sector. [8478]
Steve Webb: I refer the hon. Members to the written answer I gave on 8 July 2010, Official Report, columns 435-37 to the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Rosie Cooper).
Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of private sector tenants in East Lothian constituency whose local housing allowance payments will be reduced in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the average reduction in weekly payments of that allowance to such tenants. [7189]
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of private sector tenants whose local housing allowance payments will fall in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the average reduction in such weekly payments. [7233]
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of private sector tenants in Edinburgh East constituency whose local housing allowance payments will fall in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the average reduction in weekly payments of that allowance in each such year. [8193]
Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of private sector tenants in City of Durham constituency whose local housing allowance will be reduced from its current level in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; and what his estimate is of the average amount of reduction for such a tenant in each of those years. [8463]
Steve Webb: We will publish an impact assessment for the housing benefit changes that will affect the calculation of local housing allowance rates on 23 July 2010.
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider phasing in the proposed reductions to housing benefit over a three-year period in areas likely to be significantly affected. [9124]
Steve Webb: The Department is taking a phased approach to reductions in the housing benefit rates. Some of the measures aimed at reducing local housing allowance rates will come into force in April 2011, but the measure to set rates at the 30th percentile will not come into force until October 2011. Existing customers will not be affected by these changes until their claim is reviewed by the local authority, usually on the anniversary of the date they originally made their claim.
There will be staged increases in the rates of non-dependant deductions in the income-related benefits from April 2011. In order to minimise the impacts on customers and their non-dependants, we will introduce these changes in three phases.
We intend to introduce further measures, which require primary legislation, from April 2013. These are: set local housing allowance rates according to the consumer price index; restrict housing benefit for working age tenants in the social rented sector, where people live in a property that is too large for their needs; and reduce housing benefit entitlement by 10% for customers who are claiming jobseeker's allowance after one year.
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the proposed reductions in housing benefit will apply to those already in receipt of the benefit. [9126]
Steve Webb: The Government intend to apply those measures that will reduce local housing allowance rates to existing customers. However, these customers will not be affected until their claims are reviewed by the local authority, which usually takes place on the anniversary of the date they originally made their claim.
The Department for Work and Pensions is considering the detailed policy design for housing benefit measures that require primary legislation: set local housing allowance rates according to the consumer price index; restrict housing benefit for working age tenants in the social rented sector, where people live in a property that is too large for their needs; and reduce housing benefit entitlement by 10% for customers who are claiming jobseeker's allowance after one year. It is too early to say how these changes will be applied to customers who are in receipt of housing benefit when they come into force.
Youth Unemployment
20. Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce the level of youth unemployment. [8945]
22. Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce the level of youth unemployment. [8947]
23. Mrs Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce the level of youth unemployment. [8948]
Chris Grayling: The Government are committed to tackling youth unemployment. Young people are able to access a comprehensive range of opportunities, support and advice that will help them find employment.
Next year we will introduce our Work Programme. This will offer integrated employment support to young people, regardless of the benefit that they claim.
Pension Calculations
21. Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received on the use of the consumer price index to calculate final salary pensions. [8946]
Steve Webb: The Government have received representations from a number of organisations and individuals.
Future Jobs Fund
24. Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of young people who have found permanent employment through the future jobs fund; and if he will make a statement. [8949]
Chris Grayling: This information is not available. We are currently planning an evaluation strategy for future jobs fund. This is likely to look at the destinations of people who have participated in the Future Jobs Fund.
Work Capability Assessment
25. Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects on people with long-term mental illness of the implementation of the recommendations of the internal review of the work capability assessment. [8950]
Maria Miller: Implementing the recommendations of the internal review will ensure that the work capability assessment is fairer, more consistent and transparent with greater provision for claimants with severe disability due to mental health conditions.
There will also be additional provision for claimants who are awaiting or in between courses of chemotherapy, and for those with certain communication problems. The recommendations will also take greater account of how someone has adapted to their health condition or disability, and will simplify the wording of the assessment.
Children: Maintenance
Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for child maintenance were made under the current scheme which led to an outstanding assessment or continuing claim under the old scheme in respect of the same absentee parent being moved to be dealt with under the current scheme in each year since the inception of the current scheme. [9358]
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 Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary
of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner. As the Child Maintenance Commissioner is currently on annual leave I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for child maintenance were made under the current scheme which led to an outstanding assessment or continuing claim under the old scheme in respect of the same absentee parent being moved to be dealt with under the current scheme in each year since the inception of the current scheme. [9358]
A new scheme application can have a financial impact on an existing old scheme case when either the non-resident parent or the parent with care on the new application is also the non-resident parent or parent with care on the existing case. In this situation, the old scheme cases in question will also be converted to the new scheme. This is called reactive conversion. In some cases, the partners of non-resident parents or the partners of parents with care may also trigger a reactive conversion.
The table below shows the number of cases moved to the current scheme in each year since its inception.
| Converted cases | |
| Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. | |
Departmental Civil Servants
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees of his Department attended Civil Service Live in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010; and what estimate he has made of the (i) employee working hours taken up by and (ii) cost to his Department of such attendance in each such year. [9049]
Chris Grayling: Civil Service Live events are owned and managed by the private company Dods (the publishers of Civil Service World), who bear all of the financial risks.
The overall delegate numbers for Civil Service Live in 2008, 2009 and 2010 were approximately 6,000, 8,000 and 7,700 respectively. Delegate registration is managed centrally by Dods. The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold a record of the number of its staff who attended. Employees were expected to attend for no more than one working day.
Civil servants do not pay to attend Civil Service Live events. The Department has paid some travel and subsistence costs for employees. These costs are not held centrally and cannot be disaggregated at reasonable cost; staff will have followed the travel and subsistence guidelines set by the Department.
Departmental Leave
Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the cost to his Department of privilege days awarded to staff in his Department. [9540]
Chris Grayling: No official estimate has been made of the cost to the Department of privilege days.
The actual cost is dependant on when the privilege days falls, how many people take leave on that day, and what work is re-prioritised or re-scheduled as a result of the absence.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 26 May 2010, Official Report, columns 2-3WS, on savings (2010-11), under what budgetary headings the £535 million of savings allocated to his Department will be made. [6831]
Chris Grayling: The Chancellor and Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced in-year savings of £6.243 billion on 24 May 2010. The Department for Work and Pensions' contribution to this was £535 million. The cost saving will be made from budgets for the young persons guarantee, the six month offer, IT and other project investment, cost reductions from major suppliers, staff savings by implementing a recruitment freeze and not renewing the contracts of some fixed term-appointments, reductions in discretionary spending (which includes business travel and office expenses) and reducing the cost of our buildings. These savings can be achieved without affecting service delivery to customers, including the guarantee of an offer of a job, training or work experience for young people.
Disability Living Allowance
Phil Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the (a) rate of uptake and (b) monetary value of unclaimed benefits relating to disability living allowance in respect of disabled (i) children and (ii) adults in each of the last 10 years. [8645]
Maria Miller: Estimates of the rate of take-up and amount of unclaimed disability living allowance are not available.
Phil Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his plans to introduce a medical assessment for disability living allowance from 2013 will include child claimants. [8649]
Maria Miller: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) on 6 July 2010, Official Report, column 212W.
The Chancellor announced in his emergency Budget that the Government will reform disability living allowance to ensure support is targeted on those with the highest needs and will consider carefully how reforms will impact on children.
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much he intends to reduce expenditure on disability living allowance award in each year to 2015; what steps he plans to take to achieve such reductions; and if he will make a statement. [9226]
Maria Miller: The Budget announced that we will introduce a new objective assessment for disability living allowance from 2013-14 and will begin to uprate the benefit by the consumer prices index (CPI) from 2011-12. The estimated savings from forecast expenditure resulting from these changes are in the following table.
| Impact of Budget measures for disability living allowance | ||
| £ million, nominal | ||
| New assessment | Uprating by CPI | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are for Great Britain only. 2. The estimates cover the impact of: (a) not reducing uprating in April 2011 by the 1.5% that was paid from April 2010, which had been assumed in previous plans to be clawed back; and (b) changing the price index for uprating from the retail prices index or the Rossi index to the consumer prices index with effect from the April 2011 uprating. 3. Estimates have been revised by DWP forecasting division during the finalisation of benefit level forecasts and are consistent with economic assumptions from Budget 22 June 2010. 4. Estimates of savings are only available up to 2014-15 at present. Source: DWP calculations | ||
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each category of disability receive disability living allowance awards at the (a) higher and (b) lower rate. [9314]
Maria Miller: The information on the numbers of people in each disabling category receiving disability living allowance is contained in the following tables.
| Arthritis | Muscle/ j oint/bone disease | Blindness/v isual disease | Stroke related | Learning difficulty | |
| Mental health causes | Epilepsy | Deafness | Malignant disease | Chest disease | |
| Back ailments | Heart disease | Parkinson's disease | Diabetes M ellitus | Renal disorders | |
| AIDS | Skin disease | Frailty | Multiple Sclerosis | Other | |
| Notes: 1. DLA figures are from 5% sample data. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 2. The preferred statistics on benefits are now derived from 100% data sources. However, the 5% sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100% data sources, in particular, more complete information on the disabling condition of DLA claimants. DWP recommends that, where the detail is only available on the 5% sample data, or disabling condition (DLA) is required, the proportions derived should be scaled up to the overall 100% total for the benefit. This has been done here. 3. Caseload totals show the number of people in receipt of DLA , and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 4. Where more than one disability is present only the main disabling condition is recorded. 5. A diagnosed medical condition does not mean that someone is automatically entitled to DLA. Entitlement is dependent on an assessment of how much help someone needs with personal care and/or mobility because of their disability. These statistics are only collected for administrative purposes. 6. Numbers of 500 or less are based on very few sample cases and are subject to a high degree of sampling variation. 7. These figures should be used as a guide to the current situation only. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate | |||||
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from representatives of disability groups on the proposal in the June 2010 Budget (a) to introduce medical assessments for disability living allowance and (b) to amend other aspects of the allowance. [9340]
Maria Miller: Ministers have received a number of representations (in writing and in person) from disability groups on the proposals to introduce a new objective assessment for disability living allowance from 2013-14 and to uprate the benefit in line with the consumer prices index from 2011-12 onwards.
As we develop our proposals, we will continue to engage constructively with disabled people and a broad range of representative organisations to ensure support is effectively targeted on those with greatest need and distributed on a consistent basis, while continuing to tackle the inequalities that can arise from severe disability.
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