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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 18 May 2011
Wales
Departmental Billing
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many invoices her Department received in respect of goods or services supplied by tier 1 suppliers between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011; and how many of those invoices were not paid within the period of time specified in the Government's Fair Payment guidance; [55857]
(2) what mechanism her Department has established to ensure its payments are passed through the supply chain to each tier in accordance with the last date for payment defined in the Government's Fair Payment guidance. [55880]
Mr David Jones: Being a small Department, the Wales Office does not procure contractors directly and therefore received no invoices between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011. The Wales Office uses contracts granted by the Ministry of Justice and larger Government Departments.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much her Department spent on special advisers' travel by (a) Government car, (b) private hire car, (c) train, (d) bus, (e) commercial aircraft and (f) private aircraft since May 2010. [56091]
Mr David Jones: In line with the Secretary of State's decision in May 2010 all Wales Office Ministers, Officials and Special Advisers travel standard class rather than first class by rail.
The Wales Office has spent £3,284.70 on train travel for our special adviser since May 2010, which is a significant saving on the previous year when the Department had two special advisers.
We have made no expenditure on Government car, private hire car, bus or any air travel for the special adviser.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the name is of each contractor or supplier of (a) mobile telephone and (b) mobile data services to her Department. [56052]
Mr David Jones: Such devices are obtained by my Department through the central procurement arrangements provided by the Ministry of Justice. Under this arrangement, the suppliers are Vodafone and Orange.
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Devolution
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) whether her Department will lead on the proposal for a process for Wales similar to the Calman Commission on devolution funding; [56146]
(2) what recent discussions she had had on the proposal for a process for Wales similar to the Calman Commission on devolution funding. [56147]
Mrs Gillan: I am considering with Cabinet colleagues how best to take forward the Government's commitment to establish a process for Wales similar to the Calman Commission. I look forward to discussing the issue with the First Minister following his recent reappointment.
Greater Manchester
Mr Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether her Department has made any payment to (a) the Manchester college, (b) Manchester college for arts and technology and (c) City college, Manchester since 1997. [55750]
Work and Pensions
Departmental Accountancy
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether any ministerial directions have been issued to the accounting officer of his Department since his appointment. [52018]
Chris Grayling: No ministerial directions have been issued to the accounting officer at the Department for Work and Pensions since my appointment.
Departmental Billing
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many invoices his Department received in respect of goods or services supplied by tier 1 suppliers between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011; and how many of those invoices were not paid within the period of time specified in the Government's Fair Payment guidance. [55856]
Chris Grayling: The following information details the volumes of payments to suppliers made to the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) suppliers between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011 by the Department:
To note, DWP payment terms are calculated from the receipt of a valid invoice rather than the date of invoice.
Total number of invoices received was 772,209, of which 13,964 payments were made outside the 30 day payment target; 17,906 were made outside the 10 day payment target; and 104,572 were made outside the five day payment target. The Government's Fair Payment guidance relates to the construction sector. The Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) estate is managed under contract by Telereal Trillium so the Department has no direct construction requirements.
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The “Prompt Payment Code”, published by the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) gives a code of practice for prompt payment. DWP has been a signatory of the code since June 2009 and adheres to this through the Prompt Payment Targets.
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanism his Department has established to ensure its payments are passed through the supply chain to each tier in accordance with the last date for payment defined in the Government's Fair Payment guidance. [55879]
Chris Grayling: The Government's Fair Payment guidance relates to the Construction sector. The Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) estate is managed under contract by Telereal Trillium so the Department has no direct construction requirements.
Where DWP suppliers use sub-contractors to deliver a contract, our terms and conditions insist that a provision is included in the sub-contract requiring payment to be made of all sums due by the contractor to the sub-contractor within a specified period not exceeding 30 days from receipt of a valid invoice.
The DWP website confirms that where suppliers use sub-contractors, invoices should be paid within 30 days and sub-contractors are able to report non compliance and a suitable e-mail contact address is provided to enable them to do so.
The “Prompt Payment Code”, published by the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) gives a code of practice for prompt payment. DWP has been a signatory of the code since June 2009 and adheres to this through the Prompt Payment Targets.
Departmental Legal Costs
Mr Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against his Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled in each of the last three years. [54636]
Chris Grayling: The amount of damages paid by the Department for Work and Pensions is not held centrally and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department uses both its own litigation department and external suppliers of legal services in the conduct of its litigation and the costs of these services in relation to civil claims in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled are also not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The amount of claimant costs paid in respect of each of the last three years is as follows:
| Financial year | Claimant costs (£) |
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These figures include some costs that were payable on behalf of the child maintenance and Enforcement Commission which is a non-departmental public body for which the Department provides some litigation services.
These figures do not include some costs in relation to motor accident claims in 2008-09 which were handled under outsourced arrangements.
In answering this question, the Department has assumed that the term “civil claims” refers to claims issued in England and Wales, in the courts of civil jurisdiction. The figures provided do not therefore include employment-related claims pursued through the Employment Tribunals.
The increase in spend in 2010-11 can be attributed to the final resolution of costs payable in a case that had been heard in the Court of Appeal in 2008.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the name is of each contractor or supplier of (a) mobile telephone and (b) mobile data services to his Department. [56053]
Chris Grayling: The department sources its mobile telephone and mobile data services through a contract with BT plc. BT in turn subcontract these services to Vodafone plc.
Employment Schemes: Barking and Dagenham
Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many voluntary organisations will be involved in the delivery of the Work programme in Barking and Dagenham; and what proportion of the supply chain this figure represents. [55277]
Chris Grayling: Nationally there are over 300 first tier third sector organisations. In addition, there are a significant number of organisations providing ad-hoc support as customer requirements dictate.
The competition is still underway at the moment. When contracts have been signed, further details of the contracts will appear on Government websites (Contract Finder) as part of the ongoing commitment to the Transparency agenda.
Incapacity Benefit: Glasgow
Mr Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of incapacity benefit in Glasgow South West constituency are receiving incapacity benefit because of (a) alcohol dependency, (b) drug dependency and (c) obesity-related illnesses; and if he will make a statement. [53919]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is given as follows.
| Condition in Glasgow South West parliamentary constituency—August 2010 | ||
|
|
IB/SDA | ESA |
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| “—” denotes nil or negligible. Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. To qualify for incapacity benefit (IB), claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work called a personal capability assessment. Under the employment support allowance (ESA) regime, new claimants have to undergo the work capability assessment. From April 2011 incapacity benefit recipients have begun to also undertake this assessment. The medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefit or employment and support allowance. So, for example, a decision on entitlement for a customer claiming IB or ESA on the basis of mental and behavioural disorders would be based on their ability to carry out the range of activities assessed by the personal/work capability assessment. 3. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment and support allowance from October 2008. 4. Data include people in receipt of benefit and also those who fail the contributions conditions but receive a national insurance credit, ie ‘credits only cases’. Source: DWP Information Directorate 100% WPLS. |
Justice
Aiding and Abetting
Esther McVey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 11 May 2011, Official Report, columns 1259-60W, on joint enterprise, what steps he is taking to ensure the prosecution of all those in a gang or group involved in the commission of
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offences; and if he will conduct a review of the common law practice of joint enterprise. [56014]
Mr Blunt: The law on joint enterprise already provides that members of a group who embark on an agreed plan to commit an offence may all be found guilty. The question of whether to prosecute an individual gang member involved in the commission of an offence is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service taking account of all the evidence available. We are not planning a review at this stage.
Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties
Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fixed penalty notices for disorder were issued for (a) shop theft and (b) criminal damage in each police force area in each year since their introduction; and how many such notices remain unpaid. [55929]
Mr Blunt: The number of penalty notices for disorder issued and the payment rate for the offences of retail theft and criminal damage by police force area, in England and Wales, from 2004 to 2009 can be viewed in tables 1 and 2.
It is not possible to make an accurate assessment of how many penalty notices remain unpaid as once fines are issued in default of payment, they are indistinguishable from other fines. The overall payment rate for all fines in the financial year to March 2011 was 93%.
| Table 1: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued, paid and percentage paid for persons aged 16 and over, for criminal damage by police force area, England and Wales 2005-09 (1) | |||||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||
| Police force area | PNDs issued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs issued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs issued | Paid | Percentage |
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| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |||||||
| Police force area | PNDs issued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs issued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs issued | Paid | Percentage |
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| (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |||||||||
| Table 2: Number of penalty notices for disorder issued, paid and percentage paid for persons aged 16 and over, for retail theft by police force area, England and Wales 2005-09 (1) | |||||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||
| Police force area | PNDs i ssued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs i ssued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs i ssued | Paid | Percentage |
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| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |||||||
| Police force area | PNDs i ssued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs i ssued | Paid | Percentage | PNDs i ssued | Paid | Percentage |
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| (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |||||||||