Work and Pensions
AWE: Industrial Health and Safety
Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Health and Safety Executive plans to announce its decision on what steps will be taken concerning the Atomic Weapons Establishment following the fire at the Establishment on 3 August 2010; and what the reasons are for the time taken in making this decision. [84837]
Chris Grayling: The investigation into the unfortunate event referred to, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, has been thorough and involved detailed and extensive consideration of the incident of 3 August 2010 and the circumstances preceding it. In line with its published procedures and policies for investigation and enforcement, the HSE is currently awaiting independent legal opinion on its report into the incident before a final decision is made. I understand that this opinion is due to be delivered in early January and a decision will be made and announced soon afterwards by the HSE.
Legal Proceedings
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which organisations that have received funding from his Department have brought legal proceedings against his Department in the last five years; which such organisations were not successful in their actions; and whether his Department (a) applied and (b) was paid for costs in respect of such cases. [83898]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions in-house litigation division dealt with 4,059 potential or actual claims brought against the Department since the beginning of 2007. The additional information requested such as which of the organisations bringing claims received funding from the Department and relating to the success and costs of these actions is not held on a central record. In order to be able to provide answers, it would be necessary to retrieve the majority of these files from our central storage facility which is located outside of London. Each individual file would then have to be interrogated to establish what information is held, some of these cases will be of a considerable size. I would estimate that this would take at least several weeks and would therefore be at a disproportionate cost.
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Judicial Review
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on (a) the recovery of legal costs from failed applicants for judicial review and (b) enforcement of any such recovery; and whether any exceptions apply. [83914]
Chris Grayling: Where the Department for Work and Pensions is successful in litigation it will normally seek an order that costs are payable. However many litigants are legally aided and the order would not therefore be enforced unless there is a change in financial circumstances. Where funds are potentially available the Department will make an assessment on a case by case basis as to whether securing payment will be cost-effective when the costs of enforcement are taken into account. Costs may be awarded against the Legal Services Commission in limited circumstances and are enforced where they are awarded.
Official Hospitality
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what receptions and events have been hosted by his Department since May 2010, including those sponsored by a third party. [84186]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions organises a number of events, both internal and external. These take place throughout the year and are organised by individual teams across the Department.
There is not a centrally held list of all events that have taken place so it is not possible to provide the details requested as it would be at a disproportionate cost to request and collate the information required.
Departmental Publications
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports his Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each. [82998]
Chris Grayling: I can respond to parts of this question, regarding the number and cost of information leaflets and posters that my Department has produced since May 2010.
The Department has reduced the number of its information leaflets from 49 (in May 2010) to 39. Those remaining are leaflets we must make available to ensure individuals are informed of which benefits are available to them, and details of how to plan and claim their pension; particularly for those who are unable to access similar information on the internet. We spent a total of £328,518.08 (print) and £5,085.00 (design) since May 2010, circulating a total of 6.058 million copies to the public.
We maintain a small range of around 20 posters, mostly for use in our 750 Jobcentres. Since May 2010 we have spent £18,563.54 (print) and nothing on design (all done in-house), producing a total of 15,265 individual posters (an average 20 posters per Jobcentre).
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I would note that the majority of information leaflets published have been a continuation of materials that are always in print, such as information to the public about benefit and pension entitlement. Indeed, my Department has actually reduced the cost of these with some recent publications on average 34% less expensive than their predecessors published before May 2010.
On the question about reports, my Department publishes a diverse range of reports across all of its activities; the information is not available/held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Since July 2007, the majority of the Department's design and print is covered by a single print management contract with the iON Consortium, of whom Xerox is the lead supplier.
Employment and Support Allowance
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations his Department has received on the time-limiting of contributory employment and support allowance. [83390]
Chris Grayling: The proposal to introduce a time limit of one year for those claiming contributory employment and support allowance who are placed in the work-related activity group requires primary legislation and is included in the Welfare Reform Bill which is currently being considered by Parliament.
Since this measure was announced as part of the spending review in October, both Ministers and officials have met with a number of representatives from organisations representing disabled people, such as Citizens Advice, Macmillan Cancer Support and Disability Alliance. We are continuing to receive representations from these organisations on an ongoing basis.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what alternatives to a 12-month time limit on contributory employment and support allowance were considered by his Department; and what the reasons were for not pursuing any such alternatives. [83392]
Chris Grayling: The Department considered a number of different periods, but concluded that a time limit of one year gives the best balance between allowing people in the work-related activity group with longer term conditions to adjust to their health condition and paying contribution-based employment and support allowance for an appropriate length of time.
The time limit does not apply to the most vulnerable in the support group nor the poorest on income-related employment and support allowance. It is double the length of time that people can receive contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance. The Department also considered the needs of the taxpayer as well as claimants in making its decision to introduce a time limit.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the potential effects of time-limiting contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) on benefits advice services and other support organisations; and what discussions his Department has had with organisations, such as Citizens Advice, about the effects such time-limiting of contributory ESA will have on their services. [83393]
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Chris Grayling: The impacts of time-limiting contributory employment and support allowance to one year for those in the Work Related Activity Group were set out in the impact assessment, available at the following link:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/esa-time-limit-wr2011-ia-revised-apr2011.pdf
The impacts on benefits advice services and other support organisations have not been quantified due to the uncertainty around take-up of these services by those affected. However, the Department has a programme of regular engagement with stakeholders such as Citizens Advice in order to help ensure that claimants receive the appropriate advice about how the changes may affect them and take any necessary action as a result.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assumptions he made about the rate of reassessment for employment and support allowance of people in receipt of incapacity benefit when calculating indicative volumes for the Work programme. [84567]
Chris Grayling: Our calculation of indicative volumes for the invitation to tender was based on the following assumptions:
around 1.5 million existing incapacity benefits customers would go through reassessment by 2014;
of these, approximately one-quarter would be expected to be assessed fit for work and move off incapacity benefits; and
the remaining three-quarters would be expected to be assessed as having a limited capability for work and move onto employment and support allowance—of these, around three-quarters would be expected to move into the Work Related Activity Group.
The actual volumes of customers referred to the Work programme will be published as Official Statistics, from spring 2012.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applicants for employment and support allowance his Department has decided should (a) receive the allowance in the (i) support group and (ii) work related activity group and (b) not receive the allowance following work capability assessments by Atos Origins which recommended that applicants (A) should and (B) should not receive the allowance. [84952]
Chris Grayling: The Department regularly publishes official statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) and the work capability assessment. The latest report was published in October 2011 and can be found on the internet at the following link:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php? page=esa_wca
Table 2 in the above publication shows statistics on completed initial assessments for ESA claims from October 2008 up to May 2011 (the latest data available). This shows that there were:
101,000 ESA Support Group decisions
253,000 ESA Work Related Activity Group decisions
575,400 Fit for Work decisions.
Of the 575,400 Fit for Work decisions, 564,800 received a Fit for Work recommendation from Atos and 600 received either a Support Group or Work Related Activity Group recommendation. There were also 10,000 clerical
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assessments where the Atos recommendation cannot be determined but the claimant subsequently received a Fit for Work decision from DWP.
In total there were 597,100 Atos recommendations of Fit for Work, however 32,400 of these recommendations were overturned and placed in either the Work Related Activity Group or the Support Group by DWP.
Note that all figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and as a result may not sum to totals.
Employment Schemes
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to provide targeted support for employment in areas where the (a) rate of long-term unemployment increases above and (b) job density ratio falls below a specific threshold; and if he will make a statement. [84249]
Chris Grayling: The Department remains committed to tackling long-term unemployment wherever it is located, through its ambitious welfare reforms. The Work Programme has replaced much of the complex range of employment support previously on offer and allows private, public and voluntary partners to come together to find innovative and flexible local solutions to help people into work. Universal credit will ensure the welfare system always incentivises work and ensure that work always pays.
The Department is also modernising the way Jobcentre Plus delivers its services. A flexible delivery model enables Jobcentre Plus to deliver labour-market solutions tailored to the needs of the local labour market. The Government are seeking the active engagement of employers, partners and claimants themselves in every community in Britain to help tackle rising unemployment. These measures ensure that targeted support is already being delivered by knowledgeable staff, who understand local issues, at the 740 Jobcentres at the heart of communities.
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to ensure funds from the Youth Contract programme flow proportionally to areas with high incidences of long-term unemployment and economic inactivity. [84348]
Chris Grayling: We are currently working to design the details of the support available through the Youth Contract and will be making further information available over the coming weeks.
However, I can tell the hon. Gentleman that elements of Youth Contract support are targeted at young people who are longer-term unemployed so that more money will flow to areas where longer-term unemployment is higher. Specifically:
increased adviser time will be available from month three of a JSA claim for 18 to 24-year-olds who have not yet entered the Work programme, with weekly signing from month three.
Work experience placements are available to 18 to 24-year-olds claiming JSA from week 13 of their claim,
The wage incentive scheme will be delivered through the Work programme. This will ensure that it is targeted at long-term unemployed young people and those who face the most significant disadvantages.
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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the right to data in the Open Services White Paper will apply to the Work Programme; and if he will make a statement. [84569]
Chris Grayling: The Department is committed to open government and open data and is exploring the scope for new open data measures.
The Department currently expects to publish official statistics on referrals to the Work Programme from spring 2012 and job outcome figures from autumn 2012. We expect to make these publicly available by various breakdowns including age; gender; ethnicity; disability; provider; local authority; parliamentary constituency; and contract package area. However, this is dependant on the availability and quality of data from the administrative systems.
The exact details of what Work Programme official statistics we will publish will be available once we have developed more detailed requirements and are confident that the data are of sufficient quality to publish.
An information note detailing the Work Programme official statistics release strategy can be found at the following website:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php? page=statistical_summaries
Included in the note is an invitation for feedback on the type of statistics users would like to see made available for the Work Programme.
As soon as we are confident we have reliable data we will pre-announce an exact release date via this website and on the UK Statistics Authority publication hub. Statistics will be published in the DWP quarterly statistical summary and via an internet based tabulation tool offering users bespoke breakdowns of the headline statistics.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2011, Official Report, column 375W, on employment schemes, whether he has received any representations claiming that Work programme prime contractors are referring clients to volunteer centres without making payments to those centres; and if he will make a statement. [84754]
Chris Grayling: It has been brought to my attention that one or more Work programme prime contractors may have made inappropriate approaches to volunteer centres. We have made it clear to Work programme providers that, while we encourage them to forge productive relationships with local partners, they should not approach volunteer centres to supply unpaid support for their service delivery models.
Employment Schemes: Personal Records
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what personal information is passed from Jobcentre Plus to a provider when a jobseeker is referred to the Work Programme. [84566]
Chris Grayling: Personal information passed from Jobcentre Plus to a provider when a jobseeker is referred to the Work programme will vary depending on individual circumstances but will include some or all of the following:
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Full name including title
National insurance number
Full address including post code
Telephone number including std code
Other telephone number (mobile)
Qualifications
Driving licence
Job preferences
Employment history
Preferred hours
Disability status—notification that the participant has informed Jobcentre Plus that they are disabled
Child care needs/arrangements.
Employment: Young People
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether voluntary and community sector organisations will be eligible to receive wage subsidies under the Youth Contract. [84568]
Chris Grayling: Sustainable paid jobs in the voluntary sector will be eligible for the wage incentive scheme. The scheme will be delivered through the Work programme and we will be talking to employers, providers and other key stakeholders, including the voluntary and the community sector, as we develop the detailed design.
Future Jobs Fund
Mr Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were placed in employment through the future jobs fund in each parliamentary constituency since October 2009. [83930]
Chris Grayling: There have been 105,230 job placements under the future jobs fund for the period October 2009 to March 2011.
A table containing the number of job starts for each parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library.
Housing Benefit
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of income received by households affected by the household benefit cap is accounted for by (a) housing benefit and (b) council tax benefit. [83185]
Chris Grayling: Our modelling estimates that out of the households affected by the household benefit cap, the mean proportion of income accounted for by housing benefit is between 20% and 30%.
The mean proportion of household income accounted for by council tax benefit is very small, the modelling estimates that it is less than 5%.
Analysis of those affected by the benefit cap has been modelled using survey data; as such there is a degree of uncertainty around the results.
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what methodology will be used to calculate future discretionary housing payment allocations in relation to the Government's planned increase. [84400]
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Steve Webb: The Government’s contribution towards discretionary housing payments for 2012-13 will be £60 million.
The methodology for 2012-13 constitutes two parts; £20 million has been allocated based on the midpoint between Government contribution and the actual amount spent by a local authority in 2010-11; the £40 million balance has been allocated to each local authority based on their share of the anticipated losses by housing benefit claimants as a result of the reforms to the local housing allowance.
Details of this allocation could be found in HB/CTB S10/2011 (revised)
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/s10-2011.pdf
which we sent to all local authorities to advise them of the 2012-13 discretionary housing payments allocations.
The methodology for allocating the Government’s contribution towards discretionary housing payments in 2013-14 will be decided by discussions with local authorities representatives and the Department during the summer/autumn of 2012.
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many 25 to 34 year olds he expects to be affected by the introduction of the single room rate in each local authority area. [84773]
Steve Webb: The requested information has been published in the equality impact assessment of the increase to the shared accommodation rate age threshold.
A copy has been placed in the Library and it is available on the DWP website at
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-hb-shared-accommodation-age-threshold.pdf
Housing Benefit: Brent
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claim the shared accommodation rate of housing benefit in Brent North constituency; and what estimate he has made of the likely change in this number should the age limit increase from 25 to 35 years. [84037]
Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
Estimates of the number of people claiming the local housing allowance at the shared accommodation rate and the numbers affected by the increase in the age limit have been published at local authority level as part of the equality impact assessment, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
The equality impact assessment is also available on the internet at
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-hb-shared-accommodation-age-threshold.pdf
In the London borough of Brent, it is estimated that at March 2010 1,670 people received local housing allowance at the shared accommodation rate and that 710 would be affected by the age limit increase.
Housing Benefit: Private Rented Housing
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the proposed abolition of direct payment of local housing allowance to private landlords. [84941]
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Steve Webb: At present, housing benefit under the local housing allowance (LHA) arrangements is paid to claimants in the majority of cases. For some claimants who are likely to run into financial difficulties, payment is made to the landlord. The Government do not plan to abolish this provision. Work is ongoing to define the details of support under universal credit, but the approach for private sector renters will build on the existing local housing allowance arrangements.
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with private landlords on the proposed abolition of direct payment of local housing allowance. [84942]
Steve Webb: Departmental officials have a regular dialogue with landlord groups.
At present, housing benefit under the local housing allowance (LHA) arrangements is paid to claimants in the majority of cases. For some claimants who are likely to run into financial difficulties, payment is made to the landlord. The Government do not plan to abolish this provision.
Housing Benefit: Wales
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households claiming (a) housing benefit and (b) local housing allowance in (i) Wales and (ii) each local authority in Wales have non-dependent residents living in the household. [84653]
Steve Webb: The information requested is not currently available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department does collect information on numbers of non-dependents from the housing benefit/council tax benefit data source (single housing benefit extract) but to assess the completeness of recording and quality assure the figures to answer this question would incur disproportionate cost.
Notes:
1. From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed housing benefit/council tax benefit data electronically from local authorities. Over time these will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics, as the information supplied is quality assured.
2. Housing benefit caseload and average weekly amounts are available at local authority area level and these are published on the Department's website at:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbctb
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged between 25 and 35 in each local authority area in Wales in receipt of housing benefit and not currently in receipt of the shared room rate will be affected by the change of the eligibility age for shared room rate. [84706]
Steve Webb: The requested information has been published in the equality impact assessment of the increase to the shared accommodation rate age threshold.
A copy has been placed in the library and it is available on the DWP website at:
http://www.dwp.Gov.uk/docs/eia-hb-shared-accommodation-age-threshold.pdf
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Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in receipt of housing benefit or local housing allowance in Wales contain (a) one, (b) two or (c) three or more non-dependent residents earning more than £200 a week. [84940]
Steve Webb: The information requested is not currently available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department does collect information on numbers of non-dependents from the housing benefit/council tax benefit data source (the single housing benefit extract) but to assess the completeness of recording and quality assure the figures to answer this question would incur disproportionate cost.
Notes:
1. From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed housing benefit/council tax benefit data electronically from local authorities. Over time these will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics, as the information supplied is quality assured.
2. Housing benefit caseload and average weekly amounts are available at local authority area level and these are published on the Department's website at:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbctb
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of housing benefit or local housing allowance also claim out-of-work benefits in (a) Wales and (b) each local authority area in Wales. [84943]
Steve Webb: The Family Resource Survey estimates that there are 100,000 benefit units in Wales, in receipt of both housing benefit and out-of-work benefits.
Estimates are based on survey data, and only allow for breakdowns to Government office region level, so information at local authority level is not available.
Notes:
1. The Family Resources Survey is a nationally representative sample of UK households. Data for 2009-10 were collected between April 2009 and March 2010.
2. The figures from the Family Resources Survey are based on a sample of households which have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the Family Resources Survey to Government office region population by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
3. Results have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 benefit units.
4. The Family Resource Survey captures information on housing benefit and local housing allowance, but does not explicitly differentiate between the two.
5. Out-of-work benefits cases have been defined as benefit units with at least one adult in receipt of one or more of the following benefits: income support, job-seeker's allowance, employment and support allowance or incapacity benefit.
6. The Family Resources Survey is known to under-record benefit receipt and so estimates should be treated with caution.
7. A benefit unit is defined as a single adult or a married or cohabiting couple and any dependent children; from January 2006 same-sex partners (civil partners and cohabitees) are included in the same benefit unit.
8. A dependent child is defined as an individual aged under 16. A person will also be defined as a child if they are 16 to 19 years old and they are:
Not married nor in a civil partnership nor living with a partner; and
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living with parents; and
In full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged Government training.
Source:
The Family Resources Survey 2009-10
Income Support: Mortgages
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants receiving income-related benefit were receiving support for mortgage interest in each month of the last five years in each Jobcentre Plus budget area. [83831]
Chris Grayling: The total numbers of claimants of pension credit (PC), income support (IS) and jobseeker's allowance (JSA) receiving mortgage interest by region, from May 2007 to May 2011, are available in the Library.
Pensioners: Income
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of pensioners had a net annual income of (a) up to £5,200, (b) £5,201 to £10,400, (c) £10,401 to £20,800, (d) £20,801 to £40,000, (e) £40,001 to £80,000 and (f) over £80,000 in (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK in the latest year for which figures are available. [84266]
Steve Webb: The following table shows the percentage of pensioner units with net income in each band. Figures for Scotland are estimated by combining three years' data from 2007-08 to 2009-10. Figures for the UK are based on 2009-10 data. Reliable estimates of the percentage of pensioners receiving between £40,000 and £80,000 per year and over £80,000 per year are not possible with the data source, so the two groups have been combined.
| Pensioner units with annual net income in each band | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| Up to £5,200 | £5,200 to £10,400 | £10,400 to £20,800 | £20,800 to £40,000 | Over £40,000 | |
| Notes: 1. Net income before housing costs is gross income less income tax payments, national insurance contributions, contributions to occupational and private pension schemes, local taxes, maintenance and child support payments, and parental contributions to children living away from home. 2. Based on survey data and as such subject to a degree of sampling and non sampling error. 3. All figures are rounded to the nearest 1%. Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding. 4. Due to the small sample sizes involved in estimates below a national level, three years' data have been combined and the income band has been deflated to the appropriate year's prices. 5. A pensioner unit is either a single person over pension age or a couple in which at least one person is over pension age. Source: Family Resources Survey. | |||||
Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis
Mr Andrew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he plans to take to ensure that people with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) other long-term degenerative conditions are not required to take part in a face-to-face assessment for personal
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independence payment where sufficient evidence is available to qualify them for the benefit without the need for an assessment that is face-to-face. [82985]
Maria Miller: The assessment for personal independence payment will be carried out by a trained, independent health professional. It will involve consideration of written evidence from the claimant and from relevant people involved in supporting them—such as their GP, hospital consultant or social worker. In most cases, we also expect the claim process to involve a face-to-face consultation between the claimant and the health professional, providing an opportunity to explore in detail the impact of their impairment on their everyday life.
While we believe that face-to-face consultations will be an important part of the process, we have made very clear that we intend to deliver this policy in a sensitive and proportionate way. For example, where we already have enough written evidence on which to make an accurate assessment, it would be inappropriate—and a waste of public money—to require individuals to attend a consultation. Individuals with long-term degenerative conditions are particularly likely to have such evidence available to support their claim.
We do believe that decisions on whether a consultation is appropriate should be made on a case-by-case basis—not based simply on the claimant's impairment type. This reflects the more personalised approach inherent to the new benefit. The only exception to this is for people claiming under the terminal illness provisions, who will not be required to attend a face-to-face consultation as part of their claim.
We are still developing the claims and assessment processes for personal independence payment and we will continue to work with disabled people and their organisations as we do so.
Postcodes
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department uses postcodes for purposes other than the postage of mail. [84185]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) uses postcodes in a variety of ways: for work allocation; contacting customers; research; matching records; and providing specific local payments. Specific examples include:
the administration of the Cold Weather Payment Scheme;
to draw samples for inclusion in research studies and to contact people regarding involvement in research initiatives;
to allocate work from specific areas to the right Pensions Processing Centre;
to automatically route state pension and pension credit telephone enquiries from the national number, to the appropriate pension centre;
Direct mailing initiatives, for example regarding benefit take-up;
identifying areas where there are high volumes of vulnerable customers such as customers with disabilities, vulnerable pensioner groups etc.;
to investigate benefit and tax credit claims in a specific high fraud risk area, in order to uncover fraudulent claims.
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Social Security Benefits: Durham
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who will cease to receive (a) incapacity benefit and (b) all benefits in North West Durham constituency as a consequence of his proposed changes to the benefits system. [84008]
Chris Grayling: No such estimate has been made.
The impacts of the proposed changes to the benefit system as set out in the Welfare Reform Bill are available in the associated impact assessments at the following link.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare%2Dreform/legislation %2Dand%2Dkey%2Ddocuments/welfare%2Dreform%2D bill%2D2011/impact%2Dassessments%2Dand%2Dequality/
The impacts of these proposals have been calculated at an aggregate, Great Britain, level and cannot be reliably broken down for smaller geographical areas.
The main forthcoming change to incapacity benefits is the proposal to time limit contributory employment and support allowance (ESA) to one year for those in the Work Related Activity Group. This is expected to affect around 700,000 people by 2015-16, of which around 60% are expected to be fully or partially compensated by income-related ESA, so will retain entitlement to ESA.
The remaining 40% are not expected to qualify for income-related ESA because they have other income, including that from a partner. These people will no longer receive ESA benefit payments, but will be able to retain national insurance credits by becoming an ESA credits-only claimant. They may also see increases in other benefits such as tax credits and housing benefit.
Social Security Benefits: Expenditure
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total expenditure was on welfare benefits excluding pensions, in each parliamentary constituency in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [84874]
Chris Grayling: The available information for 2010-11 has been placed in the Library.
Benefit expenditure by parliamentary constituency is available only for the following benefits:
attendance allowance;
bereavement benefits;
carer's allowance;
disability living allowance;
incapacity benefit;
severe disablement allowance;
income support;
jobseeker's allowance;
pension credit;
state pension;
winter fuel payments; and
employment and support allowance.
Benefit expenditure by parliamentary constituency can be found using the following URL:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/PC_expenditure.xls
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Social Security Benefits: Peterborough
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of families in Peterborough constituency who will be affected by the proposed benefit cap from April 2013; and if he will make a statement. [84631]
Chris Grayling: We published an impact assessment for the introduction of the benefit cap on 16 February 2011. It can be found on the Department's website at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/household-benefit-cap-wr2011-ia.pdf
It estimates that, if the benefit cap were applied in full, around 50,000 households in Great Britain would have their benefits reduced by the policy. Sample sizes are too small to yield reliable results for areas smaller than the overall impacts for Great Britain.
Unemployment: Ex-servicemen
Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the number of former armed forces personnel who are (a) unemployed and (b) long-term unemployed; [83540]
(2) what estimate he has made of the average length of time it takes an individual to find work after leaving the armed forces. [83541]
Maria Miller: The Department for Work and Pensions does not routinely record whether benefit claimants are former armed forces personnel. We are looking into ways of improving knowledge on the employment and benefit outcomes of ex-service personnel.
Universal Credit
Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on its proposals on the universal credit to date. [83925]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has spent £41.2 million to date on the proposed delivery of universal credit; (£3.4 million in 2010-11 and £37.8 million in 2011-12 to the end of October).
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with local authorities on delivery of the universal credit; and if he will make a statement. [84565]
Chris Grayling: We are engaged with local authority staff at all levels. Local authorities are a key partner and we need to utilise their expertise, skills and success in order to design a modern welfare system that makes the most of the best of national and local services and delivers them from the most appropriate place.
There is a local authority chief executive represented on the Universal Credit Programme Board; the Local Government Association (LGA), Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) are represented on the Universal Credit Senior Stakeholder Board, Universal Credit Transition Working Group, the Finance and
5 Dec 2011 : Column 104W
Commercial Working Group and the Local Authority Associations Steering Group. We also have seconded staff to key positions from many local authorities.
We have also commenced a programme of visits to give individual local authorities an opportunity to feed directly into the UC programme as well as UC programme staff an opportunity to see the reality on the ground for local authorities.
Additionally, the Minister with responsibility for welfare reform, Lord Freud, has met with representatives from both the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, and the Local Government Association at which universal credit was discussed. Ministers will continue to engage with these local authority groups in the lead up to universal credit delivery.
Winter Fuel Payments
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider increasing the level of winter fuel payments over the next four years for pensioners over the age of 80. [84955]
Steve Webb: Decisions on the rate of winter fuel payments for future winters are generally made as part of the annual Budget cycle.
Winter Fuel Payments: Newport East
Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in winter fuel payments to residents of Newport East constituency in 2010-11; and how much he expects to be paid to such recipients in 2011-12. [84760]
Steve Webb: The amount of winter fuel payments made to residents of Newport East constituency in 2010-11 was £3.3 million.
The number of people receiving winter fuel payments is expected to reduce slightly each winter due to the rise in the qualifying age linked to women's state pension age. However we expect the numbers to be broadly similar in winter 2011-12.
If the Newport East share of the total Great Britain expenditure in 2010-11 was maintained in 2011-12, the projected expenditure would be approximately £2.6 million.
Further published benefit expenditure tables can be found at the following address:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
Source:
DWP statistical and Accounting Data.
Work Capability Assessment
James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the potential effects of work capability assessment decisions on the level of unemployment since May 2010. [82922]
Chris Grayling: It is not possible to estimate the effects of the work capability assessment decisions on the level of unemployment.
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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 24 November 2011, Official Report, columns 569-70W, on work capability assessment, how many reassessments of incapacity benefit claimants have resulted in a recommendation to his Department that the claimant (a) should not receive employment and support allowance (ESA) or (b) should receive ESA in the (i) support group or (ii) work related activity group; and in how many such reassessments his Department's decision was different to the original Atos decision. [84951]
Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available. Information on the number of work capability assessments (WCAs) completed can be provided using the Department's management information system, but to know the outcomes of the WCAs and the variation from the Atos recommendation requires individual level data.
Due to the overall length of the incapacity benefits reassessment process, information on the entire process including the final outcomes and subsequent destinations of claimants being reassessed is not yet available. Individual level data are being collected, but it will take time to complete because of the overall length of the reassessment process. The Department plans to publish data on the outcomes of the reassessment process, but only once they have been quality assured and are considered robust.
Deputy Prime Minister
Departmental Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day received a substantive answer within five working days in each of the last six months. [85051]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The information is not held in the format requested.
Of the 20 questions tabled to me for answer on a named day between 1 June and 30 November 2011, 19 were answered substantively on the specified date.
Duchy of Cornwall
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Duchy of Cornwall is an Office of State. [85022]
Mr Harper: The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate that funds the public, charitable and private activities of the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
Education
Academies: Private Finance Initiative
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what reports he has received of planned academy schools not going ahead due to difficulties with private finance initiative arrangements; which schools have been affected; when he expects to resolve this issue; and when he expects the planned academies to go ahead. [75334]
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Mr Gibb [holding answer 18 October 2011]: A number of banks which finance PFI contracts have raised concerns as to whether local authorities have the legal power to make payments in relation to PFI academies. They are withholding their consent to PFI schools becoming academies until these concerns are resolved beyond doubt.
At the same time, a number of banks have been happy to proceed and a number of schools with PFI contracts have successfully converted to become academies. 16 schools have been affected while 24 have converted to become academies.
Local authorities do currently have the power to make these contractual payments on academies' behalf. However, we recognised the demand for this to be clarified more explicitly, which is why we have now amended the Academies Act 2010 accordingly. We hope and expect that the affected schools will now be able to proceed with their applications to convert to academy status.
Academies: Redditch
Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the effect of academies on educational (a) equalities and (b) attainment in Redditch. [83023]
Mr Gibb: We believe that teachers and head teachers know best how to run schools. Academies give them the freedoms and flexibilities to help drive up standards, narrow the gap in educational attainment and ensure that all pupils are equally able to fulfil their potential.
There are no results available for the one academy in Redditch, Trinity High School, as the school converted to academy status in August 2011.
Bus Services: Concessions
Mr Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the need to provide concessionary bus fares for 16 to 18-year-olds following the raising of the participation age. [82338]
Mr Gibb: Under our proposals to raise the participation age, 16 to 18-year-olds will have a duty to participate, but not necessarily in full-time education. Young people aged 16 to 18 will still be able to leave school and will have a range of options they can take and many young people will also undertake part-time work while they are studying.
Transport represents one of the main costs associated with participation post-16. That is why the £180 million 16-19 Bursary Fund introduced from September 2011, will have the flexibility to help meet transport costs for individual students.
This sits alongside the duty on local authorities to publish a statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people of sixth form age to attend post-16 education.
Child Protection
Steve McCabe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the publication by the National Deaf Children's Society entitled Social
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care for deaf children and young people: a guide to assessment and child protection investigations for social care practitioners; and whether his Department has any plans to
(a)
promote and
(b)
disseminate the guide and associated audit tool. [82530]
Tim Loughton: The guide was considered by the Munro Review and highlighted as an example of good practice in meeting particular needs. It is for the National Deaf Children's Society and not Government to promote and disseminate the guide and associated audit tool further.
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he last had contact with the Local Safeguarding Children Board in Birmingham on arrangements for deaf children; and if he will review the existing arrangements. [82531]
Tim Loughton: Ministers have not had contact with the Local Safeguarding Children Board in Birmingham on this issue recently. The Local Safeguarding Children Board, rather than Government, is best placed to decide priorities in that locality.
Procurement
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible are taking to ensure that they meet the Government's buying standards for food and catering. [83795]
Tim Loughton: The Department for Education's and its public bodies' caterers must comply with Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering. The Department ensures through its contract management process that updates are received quarterly with regard to the compliance with the standards.
Education: Romford
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding his Department has provided to (a) (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools and (b) sixth forms and colleges in Romford constituency in 2010-11. [83144]
Mr Gibb: Figures are not available for the parliamentary constituency of Romford as data are collected at a local authority level. The Department funds local authorities for their pupils and not individual maintained schools. The total funding provided by the Department for Education in the London borough of Havering in 2010-11 is shown in the following table:
|
|
£ million |
|
Dedicated Schools Grant, other schools grant and academy funding |
|
Employment: Young People
Mr Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make an assessment of (a) the teaching of basic skills in schools in improving the employability of
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school leavers and
(b)
the findings of the British Chambers of Commerce's Skills Report on the confidence of businesses in recruiting school-leavers with A-levels. [83701]
Mr Gibb: The Government are committed to improving the employability of school leavers. In her report on vocational education, Professor Wolf found that achievement in English and maths is fundamental to future employment. We are currently implementing Professor Wolf’s recommendations to improve the vocational offer for 14 to 19-year-olds by ensuring that more young people achieve at least grade C in English and maths GCSE by the age of 19. We have also introduced the English baccalaureate to encourage young people to study English and maths and those GCSE subjects which are most likely to help them progress to further study or employment.
The British Chambers of Commerce report points to a lack of confidence among many businesses in recruiting a school leaver with A levels. The Government are totally committed to ensuring that A levels are robust, rigorous and relevant—to match the best education systems in the world and to keep pace with businesses' and universities' demands. We are working with Ofqual on implementing our commitment, set out in “The Importance of Teaching—The Schools White Paper 2010”, to establish a stronger role for higher education (HE) and learned bodies in the design of A levels.
Free Schools
Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many civil servants in his Department are employed to work on free schools policy. [83475]
Mr Gibb: As at 24 November 2011, there are around 100 civil servants in the Department’s Free School Group employed on policy and implementation work in connection with free schools, and about a further 20 involved with university technical colleges and studio schools.
Further Education: Finance
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the total funding is for 16 to 18 education (a) in total and (b) per capita in (i) Birmingham, (ii) Newcastle, (iii) Wakefield, (iv) Manchester, (v) Leeds, (vi) Liverpool, (vii) Coventry, (viii) Bristol, (ix) Sheffield, (x) Bradford, (xi) Leicester and (xii) Nottingham in each of the next five years. [82766]
Mr Gibb: The most recent Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) grant letter for 2011-12 sets out the total budget for the YPLA this financial year(1). The total budget for 16 to 19 education and training places in the financial year 2011-12 is over £7.5 billion. It is not possible to split out the funding for 2011-12 on a city basis because funding is predominantly allocated directly to 16 to 19 providers rather than via local authorities or regional/city bodies. The 16 to 19 funding allocations to individual providers (excluding 16 to 18 apprenticeships) are available on the YPLA website, however, at the following web address:
http://www.ypla.gov.uk/aboutus/ourwork/funding/allocations/
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Details on the indicative funding for 16 to 19 participation in education and training beyond 2011-12 are not yet agreed.
(1) http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/ypla/ypla-Revisions_to_the_ 2011-2012_Grant_Letter-le-sep11-v1.pdf
Higher Education: Admissions
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average UCAS points score of first year undergraduate students was in each of the last 10 years. [81246]
Mr Willetts: I have been asked to reply.
The latest information is given in the following table and has been provided by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Final figures for 2011 have not yet been released.
| Average UCAS tariff points score of UK domiciled accepted applicants 2002 to 2010 (1) | |
| Year of entry (2) | Average score (3) |
| (1) The UCAS Tariff was first introduced in the 2002 application cycle. (2) Includes applicants who applied in each of these years for deferred entry in the following year. (3) The Tariff has only been reported for applicants domiciled in the UK, and excludes those with a tariff score of 0, or where the tariff score is not known. The scores cover only those qualifications notified to UCAS via the Awarding Body Link (ABL). Results available through the ABL arrangements cover a variety, but often limited number, of examination sittings depending upon the qualifications and the awarding body concerned—in many instances results are restricted to the most recent summer sittings (although GCE A levels cover qualifications sat in the last 18 months and SQA for a much longer period). Those qualifications that were not part of ABL arrangements, or those where the data upon which the qualification sat fell outside of the ABL arrangements, or where qualifications for which qualifications could not be analysed e.g. BTEC, have not been reported. | |
School Meals: Standards
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has plans to bring forward proposals to repeal or amend the provisions of the Education (Nutritional Standards for School Lunches) (England) Regulations 2006. [81134]
Sarah Teather: The School Food Regulations 2006 came into force in September 2006. The Department has no plans to repeal the regulations, as our policy is to increase the take-up of healthy school lunches. We are currently considering whether the regulations need updating, for example to keep in line with the guidelines of the Statutory Advisory Committee on Nutrition.
Schools: Admissions
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many representations he has received on shortages of (a) primary school places and (b) secondary school places in Lambeth in the last 12 months. [83852]
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Mr Gibb: On 10 November 2011, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), received a delegation led by local Members of Parliament and senior officers from Lambeth and Southwark borough councils to discuss primary school place issues. The Department has also received written representations from Lambeth council about the methodology used to allocate the additional £500 million basic need funding. Discussions with Lambeth council officers continue, but the allocation of funding announced on 3 November 2011 was made in an equitable manner, based on 2011 schools capacity data and 2013/14 pupil forecast numbers provided by the local authority.
Schools: Colchester
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many demountable classrooms there were in Colchester constituency in (a) May 1997 and (b) May 2010. [84741]
Mr Gibb: Information is not held centrally on numbers of demountable classrooms in Colchester in 1997 and 2010.
Special Educational Needs
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to review the level of special educational needs (SEN) funding allocated to academies within the remit of local authorities that already undertake a SEN audit. [82603]
Mr Gibb: Funding for pupils with high cost special educational needs (SEN) is the responsibility of local authorities. Specific arrangements vary from local authority to local authority.
The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) has recently consulted on wide-ranging reforms to school and academy funding, which include proposals relating to high cost pupils. The results of this consultation and further consultation on detailed future proposals will be announced in due course.
University Technical Colleges
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made on the potential effect of university technical colleges on the development of (a) green energy and (b) other emerging markets. [82875]
Mr Gibb: The development of university technical colleges (UTCs) provides the opportunity for universities and employers to establish new schools specialising in technical education to meet economic and skills needs. These may well include green technologies and other emerging priority areas which are important to economic growth both locally and nationally.
There are 17 UTC projects in the pre-opening phase. They have a variety of specialisms including the Bristol and South Gloucestershire UTC specialising in engineering and environment technologies, the Daventry UTC specialising in new technologies which include environmental sustainability and sustainable construction,
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the Nottingham UTC specialising in advanced manufacturing and low carbon technologies, and the Wigan UTC specialising in manufacturing engineering and green energy and environment technologies.
We are committed to at least 24 UTCs before the end of the Parliament. These will help ensure that more school leavers each year have had a high quality technical education enabling them to go on to higher or further education, employment or an apprenticeship, while addressing the needs of employment and the economy.
International Development
Stephen Crouch
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what meetings (a) he, (b) his Ministers and (c) senior officials of his Department have had with Stephen Crouch since May 2010. [84702]
Mr Duncan: Details of all Ministers external meetings are available on the DFID website:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-DFID/Our-organisation1/Ministers/
and are published every quarter in the normal way.
Women and Equalities
Civil Partnerships: Ceremonies
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) of 15 September 2011, Official Report, column 1180, on civil partnership ceremonies, which organisations have registered their (a) support for and (b) opposition to legal reform to permit homosexual marriage; and if she will make a statement. [84168]
Lynne Featherstone: We announced on 17 September 2011 our intention to publish a formal consultation on equal civil marriage in March 2012. This would allow us to make any legislative changes before the end of this Parliament.
From now until the publication of the consultation we will be meeting with a wide range of people with an interest in this issue, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups and religious and non-religious organisations to help shape the formal consultation document. These discussions have been held on a confidential basis and we have not asked organisations to register their support or opposition for this policy. When the consultation opens in March 2012, we will welcome comments from a wide range of organisations and individuals.
Attorney-General
Crown Prosecution Service: Grimsby
Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Attorney-General what estimate he has made of the redundancy costs resulting
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from the closure of the Grimsby office of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); what the financial saving to the CPS will be; and what his estimate is of the travel costs of CPS staff coming from Hull to handle cases in Grimsby as a result of the closure of the CPS Grimsby office. [84251]
The Attorney-General: No staff were made redundant following the closure of the Grimsby office of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). However, local managers took the decision to give preference, under the voluntary exit scheme, to those based in Grimsby who did not wish to move to the Hull office. The principal financial saving will be approximately £150,000 in rent and associated building costs. This figure will be offset by travel assistance given to relocated staff for the first three years. There is no extra cost in staff travelling to Grimsby from Hull, as managers have agreed to deploy those staff living near the court who will travel there from home.
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Attorney-General how many staff of Grimsby Crown Prosecution Service Unit have (a) transferred to Hull Crown Prosecution Service and (b) taken redundancy under the voluntary exit scheme following the closure of the Grimsby unit. [84339]
The Attorney-General: Of the staff previously based at the Grimsby office, 22 are now based at Hull. One works from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) office based at Lincoln at his own request. Three are working from offices within the courts at Grimsby and 15 took advantage of the voluntary exit scheme.
Austin Mitchell: To ask the Attorney-General what consultations his Department had with (a) police in South Humberside, (b) North East Lincolnshire Council, (c) hon. Members representing constituencies near Grimsby and (d) Grimsby and District Law Society before the decision was made to close the Grimsby Office of the Crown Prosecution Service. [84340]
The Attorney-General: The decision to close the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) office at Grimsby was taken after it became apparent that the primary lease holders were leaving, and it would not be possible to stay in that building. The CPS consulted with the police and the courts as key partners.
On the basis that the decision to close the Grimsby office was an operational matter for the Service, wider consultation was not considered.
Crown Prosecution Service: ICT
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what funding the Crown Prosecution Service has allocated to the introduction of tablet devices as part of its Transforming Through Technology programme. [84320]
The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is conducting commercial discussions with a view to introducing tablet devices as part of its Transforming Through Technology (T3) programme. No funding has yet been allocated while the commercial discussions continue.
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Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General whether the tablet devices being introduced by the Crown Prosecution Service as part of its Transforming Through Technology programme have been subject to a health and safety assessment. [84321]
The Attorney-General: The tablet devices that are being introduced as part of the Transformation Through Technology (T3) programme are covered by the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992. Those CPS staff who use the new devices will be advised to undertake a display screen equipment self-assessment. These assessments should cover the use of the tablet device in all locations and with all software applications. Following the assessments, should staff require adaptations or additional equipment this will be provided on an individual basis.
In addition to the display screen equipment self-assessments, local health and safety managers will be updating workplace risk assessments which will include the use of tablet devices in CPS offices, court rooms, and other sites as necessary. Local health and safety managers will also be updating manual handling risk assessments which will include the movement of tablet devices and any peripheral equipment by CPS staff.
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what the weight is of the tablet devices being introduced by the Crown Prosecution Service as part of its Transforming Through Technology programme; and whether lecterns will be required in courtrooms to enable their use. [84322]
The Attorney-General: The tablet-style device weighs 1.8 kg.
As part of the deployment of the tablet-style devices, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will not routinely be equipping courtrooms with lecterns. The Department has sourced various styles of lectern for use with tablet devices if they should be needed. These will be trialled as part of the tablet deployment programme.
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what estimate he has made of the proportion of the Crown Prosecution Service's planned budgetary savings from (a) voluntary staff redundancies and (b) the Transforming Through Technology programme. [84323]
The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) estimates that voluntary staff redundancies will account for 15% of the planned budgetary savings in the current spending review period.
The CPS estimates that the Transforming Through Technology programme will account for 13.5% of the planned budgetary savings in the current spending review period.
Departmental ICT
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what assessment his Department has made of how long the tablet devices being introduced as part of the Transforming Through Technology programme will be in service. [84319]
5 Dec 2011 : Column 114W
The Attorney-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is currently introducing the use of tablet devices as part of its prosecution of cases. The tablet devices currently being used in trials will be used until at least 2015. The length of time that a particular device may stay in service will be examined as part of the trials that are being conducted in December 2011 and January 2012 prior to wider roll-out in February and March 2012.
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Prices
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received from the retail and drinks industry on the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol. [84380]
Anne Milton: The Home Office has lead responsibility within Government for alcohol pricing issues. In the last three months, the Department of Health’s alcohol policy team has received two representations from the retail and drinks industry on the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol.
A search of the Department’s ministerial correspondence database has not identified any correspondence received since 1 September 2011 from the retail and drinks industry about the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol.
Antibiotics
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of viable new antibiotics in development or testing; and what recent assessment he has made of the development pipeline for antibiotics. [84281]
Mr Simon Burns: Currently there are two new agents in development with the potential to act against the difficult to treat multi-resistant Gram negative bacteria(1).
We are actively encouraging further drug development and pressing for greater research collaboration at an international level as recommended in the new European strategic action plan(2).
(1 )European Medicines Agency/European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: Joint technical report: the bacterial challenge—time to act.
www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Report/2009/11/WC500008770.pdf
(2 )Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council Action plan against the rising threats from Antimicrobial Resistance (COM (2011) 748).
Cancer: Drugs
Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in each primary care trust area have received NHS medication through the Cancer Drugs Fund since its creation. [84344]
Mr Simon Burns: Information at primary care trust level is not collected centrally.
5 Dec 2011 : Column 115W
The Cancer Drugs Fund was launched on 1 April 2011 to help thousands of cancer patients access the drugs their clinicians believe will help them. We made an additional £50 million available to strategic health authorities (SHAs) in 2010-11 to support improved access to cancer drugs.
Since 1 October 2010, this funding has helped over 7,500 cancer patients in England to access the cancer drugs their clinicians recommended.
Information on the number of patients who received treatment in each SHA under the interim cancer drugs funding arrangements in 2010-11 (from October 2010 to March 2011) and under the Cancer Drugs Fund in 2011-12 (to September 2011) is shown in the following table.
| Number of patients (1) | ||
| SHA | 2010-11 (October to March) | 2011-12 (April to September) |
5 Dec 2011 : Column 116W
| (1) Some individual patients may be double counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment. Source: Information supplied to the Department of Health by SHAs | ||
Capita
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts his Department has awarded to Capita since May 2010; and what the (a) monetary value and (b) net worth was of each such contract. [83924]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department has awarded 194 contracts to Capita and its related organisations since May 2010.
The following table shows the number of contracts and monetary value.
| Supplier name | Number of purchase orders | Purchase order value (£) |
| Note: A Purchase order represents an individual contract with Capita. | ||
Children: Finance
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding in total (a) was paid in 2010-11 and (b) will be paid in 2011-12 to (i) the Family Planning Association, (ii) After Adoption Yorkshire, (iii) the National Children's Bureau, (iv) UK Youth, (v) Youthnet, (vi) the Children's Society and (vii) the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; and if he will make a statement. [84755]
Anne Milton: The Department can confirm that funding was allocated to the named organisations as follows:
| £ | ||
| Recipient organisations | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
It should be noted that funding for 2011-12 represents the latest allocations and additional funding could be allocated in the remaining months of the financial year.
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the most recent meeting took place of the executive of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence; and what matters were discussed at that meeting. [84633]
Anne Milton: The most recent meeting of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence was on 15 November 2011.
Discussions at that meeting covered performance, financial, legislative and strategic matters.
Minutes of the meeting are not yet published. Minutes of previous meetings are available on the council’s website at:
www.chre.org.uk/council/59/
Death Certificates
Mr Andrew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what impact assessment his Department has undertaken of the proposed transfer of responsibility
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for the certification of deaths from primary care trusts to upper tier local authorities; [84692]
(2) if he will make it his policy to evaluate pilots of proposed responsibilities for certification of deaths before proceeding with the transfer of such responsibilities to upper tier local authorities; [84693]
(3) what public consultation he is undertaking on the proposed transfer of responsibility for certifying deaths. [84694]
Anne Milton: The transfer of responsibilities from primary care trusts to local authorities for appointing medical examiners and related activities for death certification was agreed with the Department for Communities and Local Government alongside the transfer of wider responsibilities for public health. Local authorities already manage the coroners and registration services, both of which will require collaborative working with the new medical examiner services.
The Department of Health is working with local government organisations to ensure that the new service is sustainably resourced. There will be full consultation on the new arrangements in spring 2012.
Dementia: Research
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on research on the (a) causes and (b) treatment of dementia since 2010. [84085]
Paul Burstow: Dementia is a research priority for the Government. Through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Policy Research Programme, the Department funds a wide range of research on dementia including research on causes, diagnosis, treatment, and organisation and delivery of health and social care services. The Department’s expenditure on dementia research increased from £12.7 million in 2009-10 to £18.6 million in 2010-11. Expenditure specifically on causes and treatment cannot be disaggregated from these figures.
The NIHR has issued a themed call on dementia. This call extends across the translational pathway, covering the fields of cause, cure and care, including prevention. In addition, four new NIHR biomedical research units in dementia will receive a total of £18 million over five years from April 2012.
5 Dec 2011 : Column 118W
Advisory Services
Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contribution his Department has made to the cross-Government review of advice funding announced in July 2011. [84338]
Paul Burstow: The Government announced on 21 November 2011 that the Cabinet Office would be conducting a review of the free advice service sector to ensure that people continue to have access to good quality free advice services in their communities.
Work has now started on the review which will conclude early next year with recommendations to Ministers.
The review will build on work that has already been done across Government on funding issues facing the not-for-profit advice sector.
The review is considering the funding environment for free advice services, likely levels of demand, and how Government can play a positive role.
The review will be led by Cabinet Office who will be involving other Departments with an interest in free advice services. The Department of Health is keen to ensure that people continue to have access to good quality free advice in their communities and will therefore play an active role in the review.
Departmental Communications
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) press officers, (b) internal communications officers, (c) external communications officers, (d) communications strategy officers and (e) other positions with a communications remit were employed by (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) each non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department on the most recent date for which figures are available. [84190]
Mr Simon Burns: An organogram for the Department's communications staff is available at:
http://data.gov.uk/organogram/department-of-health
Current figures were collated in March 2011. Updated figures from September 2011 will be published imminently.
Staffing figures for the Department's agency and non-departmental public bodies are included in the following table:
| Communications | Figures (whole time equivalent) as at: | (a) Press officers | (b) Internal communications officers | (c) External communications officers | (d) Communications strategy officers |
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| (1) Appointments Commission has one post holder who undertakes all Communications activity and it is not possible to determine the split between the roles (a) to (d) (2 )Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence has one post holder who undertakes all Communications activity and it is not possible to determine the split between the roles (a) to (d) (3) Health Protection Agency has a total of 29 staff who work across all these disciplines. (Of these, 19 staff are locally embedded across the country; six are sited at Colindale; two at Chilton; one at Porton; and one at head office). (4) The HTA has a communications team of four people who are generalists. (5) Denotes executive agency. | |||||
Judicial Review
Mr Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which organisations that have received funding from his Department have brought legal proceedings against his Department in the last five years; which such organisations were not successful in their actions; and whether his Department (a) applied and (b) was paid for costs in respect of such cases; [83889]
(2) what his policy is on (a) the recovery of legal costs from failed applicants for judicial review and (b) enforcement of any such recovery; and whether any exceptions apply. [83912]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department dealt with 137 potential or actual judicial review claims brought against it in the last five years. The additional information requested such as which of these organisations has received any funding from the Department and the success of these actions is not held on a central record. To provide this information would involve examining open files and recalling closed files from storage. This could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
The Department’s policy on recovery of legal costs follows that of the Treasury Solicitor’s Department. The Department will always seek an order for costs when successful in litigation, provided that it is both legally possible and appropriate in the circumstances. However, as many litigants are legally aided, an order is not pursued unless there is a change in financial circumstances.
Official Hospitality
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what receptions and events have been hosted by his Department since May 2010, including those sponsored by a third party. [84189]
Mr Simon Burns: Since May 2010, the Department has held 25 receptions and events have been held; 19 in Skipton house and six in Richmond house, including Remembrance Sunday in both 2010 and 2011. Four have been sponsored by third parties.
Departmental Pay
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any senior staff in (a) his Department and (b) its Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are paid by means of payments to a limited company in lieu of a salary; and if he will publish his policy on such payments. [85077]
Mr Simon Burns: No civil servants in the Department, employed either on permanent or fixed-term contracts are paid by means of payments to limited companies. Similarly, no senior staff of the Department's Executive agency, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or its other non-departmental public bodies are paid in this manner.
It is not the Department's policy to permit payments to civil servants by way of limited companies.
Procurement
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which services his Department has outsourced in each of the last five years. [84234]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department's central procurement database does hold information on expenditure with external suppliers. However, it does not have a category for outsourced services. To obtain this information we would need to contact each business area and directorate in the Department requiring them to check their records to obtain information about the services that were previously performed internally, but then have been outsourced. This undertaking would amount to a substantial effort across the Department and could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
Regulations
Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what regulations his Department introduced in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2009-10; and what the estimated cost of implementation was in each case. [84361]
Mr Simon Burns: The analysis of central records required in order to provide the information requested could be carried out only at disproportionate cost.
Health Services: Males
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to ensure cardiovascular disease in men is diagnosed as early as possible; [84285]
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that type 2 diabetes in men is diagnosed as early as possible. [84286]
Mr Simon Burns:
The NHS Health Check programme is a national public health programme for people in
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England aged 40-74. The purpose of the programme is to identify an individual's risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes, and for that risk to be managed through appropriate follow up.
The programme is aimed at tackling inequalities, including inequalities in gender. Primary care trusts are, therefore, commissioning programmes which aim to reach those who are not in touch with formal healthcare, including programmes to increase the take up of the NHS Health Check among men.
In addition, there are a number of strands of work to ensure cardiovascular disease and diabetes are recognised and treated early in all patients, including:
Raising awareness of the symptoms of stroke through the Act FAST campaign so that people get to hospital quicker and receive life saving treatment.
Use of statins (cholesterol lowering drugs). Around 6-8 million people are receiving statins, saving an estimated 10,000 lives every year. These are now also available over the counter rather than solely by prescription enabling more people to benefit.
Tackling atrial fibrillation (AF). NHS Improvement is working with general practitioners (GPs) to ensure a systematic approach to the identification, diagnosis and optimal management of patients with AF; developing clear guidelines on anticoagulation to ensure that patients who have AF are appropriately anticoagulated, and continuing to promote opportunistic, screening for AF with the Atrial Fibrillation Association and the Stroke Association.
The guidelines and algorithm published by NHS Diabetes and the Royal College of GPs in March 2011 will help GPs diagnose diabetes accurately for every patient. The new audit tools that have also been developed will help GPs to share information and look at similar cases to help to resolve even the most difficult of cases.
GP training includes acquiring competence in recognising and managing appropriate aspects of diabetes.
Health Services: Sexual Offences
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps the Government have taken to improve the provision of health services to victims of sexual crime in the West Midlands. [84088]
Anne Milton: In 2010-11, the Home Office and the Department jointly funded the development of a health needs assessment of sexual violence in the West Midlands Police Force area and awarded grants to improve forensic medical services at the Rowan centres in Castle Vale and Walsall. The health needs assessment is complete and local partners are considering how best to develop sexual assault referral services to meet needs.
Health: Children
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill on (a) patient safety and (b) safeguarding children in London. [84546]
Mr Simon Burns:
Clause 20 of the Health and Social Care Bill inserts section 13Q into the National Health Service Act 2006 and is intended to give the NHS Commissioning Board responsibility for the functions currently carried out by the National Patient Safety
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Agency in respect of reporting and learning from patient safety incidents. The intention is to ensure that patient safety is embedded into the health service through commissioning and the contracts commissioners agree with providers.
The NHS Commissioning Board will be uniquely placed in the system to utilise the information gathered by the reporting and learning function to support, encourage and enable safety improvement in the NHS. It will be able to combine insight from safety reporting with operational knowledge, leadership, authority and system oversight, to ensure appropriate levers, initiatives and support are provided to the NHS to improve safety.
It is essential that current safeguarding responsibilities are sustained and taken over by new organisations such as clinical commissioning groups. NHS bodies have a statutory duty to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, and are statutory members of Local Safeguarding Children Boards. These duties will transfer to the new organisations under the Health and Social Care Bill.
In response to a recommendation in Professor Eileen Munro's review of child protection, the Department of Health and the Department for Education published on 31 October a work programme, co-produced with key partners, to ensure that effective arrangements to safeguard children are central to the health reforms.
As part of that programme, work is in hand to develop an accountability framework for the NHS contribution to safeguarding children, setting out more detail on the proposed new arrangements. This will set the framework for development both within the NHS and in local partnership arrangements.