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Procurement
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many contracts his Department had with (a) Capita, (b) Serco and (c) ATOS in the last 12 months. [103170]
Norman Lamb: The information is as follows:
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills central finance system records payments on a transactional rather than contractual basis. To answer the question it would be necessary to examine the details of every individual purchase order to Capita and Serco and to then link each to a particular contract in consultation with the original commissioning business unit. This is a manual exercise which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department made no payments to ATOS in the financial year 2011-12.
Student Loans
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish a list of for-profit higher education providers; and how many students took out student loans in respect of studies with such providers in each year since 2006. [100853]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 19 March 2012]: The Department does not hold comprehensive information on whether higher education (HE) providers are classed as for-profit or not-for-profit institutions. All Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded HE providers are considered to be ‘not for profit’. However, some non HEFCE funded HE providers provide courses of HE, on a for-profit basis, but others do not—and the Department does not distinguish between the two. I have, however, placed a list in the Libraries of the House showing the number of students that took out student loans in respect of studies with all types of private providers in each year since 2006.
Undertakers: Standards
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will introduce a statutory code to promote good practice in the services offered by funeral directors. [102421]
Norman Lamb: The Government are committed to reducing regulation, and there are no plans to introduce statutory consumer codes. We believe that voluntary codes such as the Consumer Code Accreditation Scheme (CCAS) currently run by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) provide assurances to consumers about the quality of the service they are buying.
On 11 April 2012, the Government published their response to the consultation on Empowering and Protecting Consumers. We are inviting the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) to establish a successor to the Consumer Code Approval Scheme (CCAS) from April 2013 on a self-funding basis. In the meantime, the OFT will continue to maintain the CCAS for existing members and progress well-advanced
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applications. Discussions with code sponsors are continuing on the development of the new scheme and the TSI will be consulting widely on a mechanism for self-funding.
Although there is no existing consumer code for funeral services, both the National Society of Allied & Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and the National Association of Funeral Directors (NADF) operate codes of practice. I encourage SAIF and NADF to consider whether to develop a consumer code for their industry, working with the TSI.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan
16. Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the US Administration during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington DC on ending the combat role of British troops in Afghanistan. [102867]
Mr Hague: My discussions supported those of the Prime Minister and President Obama, which reaffirmed the plan for the transition of security responsibilities. As Afghan capability continues to develop, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops will increasingly move to a support role. British troops will no longer be in a combat role by the end of 2014.
21. Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on co-ordination of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan. [102872]
Alistair Burt: The UK continues to take all opportunities to discuss the next stages of the international security assistance force (ISAF) mission with partners. Forthcoming opportunities include the NATO joint Foreign and Defence Ministerial this week, in advance of the Chicago summit in May.
Iran
20. Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on Iran; and if he will make a statement. [102871]
Mr Hague: I am in regular contact with my European colleagues on Iran. Most recently my officials met with Iran alongside France, Germany, the United States, China and Russia in Istanbul on 14 April to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.
Iraq
22. Dame Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of due process and fairness in trials in Iraq. [102873]
Alistair Burt:
We continue to have concerns about the administration of justice in Iraq. We have repeatedly called on the Iraqi Ministry of Justice to improve
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transparency and to move away from confessional-based evidence. We will continue to identify opportunities to help the Government of Iraq to improve justice.
Sri Lanka
23. Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of human rights in Sri Lanka. [102874]
Alistair Burt: We continue to have concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka including disappearances, political violence, reports of torture in custody and restrictions on free expression. We raise our concerns directly with the Government of Sri Lanka and call upon them to investigate reports of human rights abuses wherever they occur.
Sudan and South Sudan
24. Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan on the ongoing dispute over oil. [102875]
Mr Bellingham: We have made representations on numerous occasions to both Governments on the ongoing oil dispute, and the importance for the economic development of both countries for an agreement to restart oil production soon. I had extensive discussions with both parties during the African Union summit in Addis Ababa in January, when they came close to signing a deal. We are continuing to support the mediation efforts of the African Union led by former President Mbeki.
Falklands
Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government are providing to Falkland Islanders; and if he will make a statement. [102869]
Mr Jeremy Browne: The British Government's support for the Falkland Islanders is unequivocal. We are fully committed to the Islanders' rights to decide their own future, and develop their economy. In this 30th anniversary year the greatest memorial there can be to the sacrifices made by our servicemen is to protect a prosperous and secure future for the Falkland Islands and its people.
India
Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the government of India on the sentence of capital punishment in the case of Balwant Singh Rajoana. [102987]
Mr Jeremy Browne: It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments strongly to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. The recent announcement that the Indian authorities were to carry out the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana was deeply concerning and I raised this case with the Indian High Commissioner on 28 March. I welcome the stay of execution issued on 28 March to allow the Indian President to consider an appeal for clemency and will continue to monitor developments closely.
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We regularly make clear our position on the death penalty, both bilaterally and through the European Union, to the Indian Government. On 11 April, the EU presented a demarche to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs about the possible resumption of executions. We intend to raise the issue of the death penalty at the upcoming EU-India Human Rights Dialogue.
North Korea
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the forced repatriation of North Korean refugees. [102482]
Mr Jeremy Browne: We have raised our concerns with the Chinese Government on a number of occasions about the treatment of North Korean refugees upon repatriation, and urged them to allow access by the relevant UN organisations to North Korean citizens resident in China. This formed a part of discussions at the 19th Round of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January 2011.
We will continue to raise the issue of North Korean refugees with the Chinese Government, and to work to address this issue through multilateral institutions.
Tibet
Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the Chinese government the number of self-immolation cases in Tibet and surrounding provinces. [102994]
Mr Jeremy Browne: I raised my concerns about self-immolations with Vice Foreign Minister Madame Fu Ying during my visit to China in November last year. I also wrote to the Chinese ambassador regarding the situation at Kirti Monastery and called for restraint. I made a statement on 25 January following reports of shootings of protesters in Tibetan areas, calling for restraint, and for resolution of underlying grievances.
The right hon. Lord Howell of Guildford, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, raised our concerns about the situation in Tibet with the Deputy Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Hao Peng, on 7 December.
Officials in London have also raised their concerns with the Chinese embassy here, and staff at our embassy in Beijing have done likewise with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant provincial authorities. Our officials in China make regular visits to Tibetan areas. We remain in frequent contact with the relevant authorities regarding access to these areas.
This issue was also discussed at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January.
Treasury
Expenditure: Catering
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on complimentary refreshments for (a) staff and (b) visitors in the latest period for which figures are available. [101453]
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Miss Chloe Smith: The latest figures available for refreshment costs are from April 2011 to February 2012. The figures are not separately recorded to identify which of these costs were for staff and which were for external visitors. The figures for the last three years are shown in the following table:
| Financial year | Total spend (£) |
Costs for refreshments have significantly reduced compared to previous years, due to changes in the Department's travel and subsistence guidance restricting the use of working lunches and the ordering of refreshments.
Civil Servants: Code of Practice
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many investigations into breaches by civil servants of the civil service code of conduct occurred in his Department in each month from May 2010 to March 2012. [103160]
Miss Chloe Smith: No investigations into breaches of the civil service code were started in the period since May 2010.
The Civil Service Commission’s annual report for 2010-11 sets out the number of approaches handled by the commission for the period at:
http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Annual-Report-10-11.pdf
Pay
Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum. [97029]
Miss Chloe Smith: 22 HM Treasury officials are paid between £100,000 and £142,499 a year. Five officials are paid £142,500 or more a year.
The Government are committed to public sector pay restraint, and believe that senior managers should show leadership in this area. In addition to the pay freeze policy that is currently in place, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), signs off the salaries of any individuals earning over £142,500, in areas under ministerial control.
Excise Duties: Fuels
Mr Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of Northern Ireland of recent trends in the price of petrol and diesel; [102755]
(2) what estimate he has made of the total amount of revenue raised from duty and VAT on petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland in each year since 2007. [102958]
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Miss Chloe Smith: Fuel price effects on the economy are assessed by the Office of Budget Responsibility as part of its economic and fiscal forecasts:
http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk
The Treasury does not hold regionalised information on tax receipts from transport taxes.
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of zero-carbon homes that will have been built as a result of the incentive offered by the Stamp Duty Land Tax relief offered on such houses up to the end of the scheme. [102338]
Miss Chloe Smith: HMRC received 93 claims for the SDLT relief offered on zero-carbon homes between 1 October 2007 and 31 December 2011. Analysis has not been undertaken on whether or not these properties would have been built in the absence of the relief.
Loans: Republic of Ireland
Mark Reckless: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of whether the bilateral Irish loan will continue to rank above private sector debt, such as the holdings of Irish gilts, in the event of a restructuring or if it will now have a lower level of priority in line with that of eurozone credit, extended under the European Financial Stability Facility, following the eurozone agreement of 20 June 2011. [100333]
Mr Hoban [holding answer 19 March 2012]:The Government have agreed to provide a bilateral loan of £3.2 billion to Ireland, as part of an international package of financial assistance. The Government expect to be repaid in full.
There is a convention that multilateral loans, such as those involving the IMF, rank senior in any loan agreement. In the case of Ireland, that means principally its loan from the IMF, but also its loan from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, which is backed by the EU budget.
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer said to the House on 15 December 2010, when debating the Loans to Ireland Bill, the UK's bilateral loan to Ireland will rank equally with euro area loans from the European Financial Stability Facility, and the other bilateral loans, from Sweden and Denmark.
The 20 June 2011 statement from euro area finance Ministers makes no reference to Ireland and its programme of assistance, including the UK bilateral loan.
Lost Property
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [100886]
Miss Chloe Smith: The following items have been reported lost or stolen from the Department during the 12 months ending December 2011:
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| Item | Number lost or stolen |
The total cost of replacement is estimated at £13,105.
All the laptop computers involved in these thefts were encrypted devices which are not accessible without a security token and two different passwords. No tokens or passwords were left with these items, and so there was no data loss, and steps were taken, as soon as the theft of the electronic items were reported, to ensure that they provided no means of access to any of the Department's IT systems.
Procurement
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of contracts issued by (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which he is responsible were rewarded to small and medium-sized enterprises in the latest period for which figures are available. [100374]
Miss Chloe Smith: The European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 defines a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) as a company with a headcount of less than 250 full-time equivalents and either an annual turnover of no more than €50 million (£41.6 million) or a balance sheet that does not exceed €43 million (£35.8 million).
Between January and December 2011 the proportion of the contracts let by HM Treasury and agencies with suppliers classified as SMEs against this definition was:
| Percentage | |
Project Merlin
Sammy Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish Project Merlin targets for each UK region; and whether such targets have been met in the latest period for which figures are available. [102433]
Mr Hoban: Project Merlin was a UK wide aggregate commitment. There were no regional targets set under the Project Merlin agreement.
The Bank of England published the final results for Project Merlin on 13 February. In 2011, UK banks lent over £214 billion to British businesses—a 20% increase compared with 2010, exceeding the overall lending target by £24 billion. Figures also showed a 13% increase in SME lending compared with 2010, with SME lending rising to over £74 billion.
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Smuggling
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he made of the total value of seizures of (a) illegal tobacco and (b) alcohol in each of the last five years. [102657]
Miss Chloe Smith: Owing to the variations in the potential sales value of excise goods, reliable estimates of total value are unavailable.
Estimates of the value of the tax (excise duty and VAT) on tobacco and alcohol products seized by HMRC and UKBA in each of the last five years are:
| HMRC and UK Border Force tobacco (cigarettes, hand rolling tobacco, chewing tobacco, cigars) seizures | |
| Tax (£) | |
| (1 )These figures do not include cigars. | |
| HMRC and UK Border Force alcohol (beer, spirits, wine) seizures | |
| Tax (£) | |
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he made of the value of duty that the Exchequer will lose from tobacco and alcohol smuggling in 2012-13. [102658]
Miss Chloe Smith: Estimates of the value of duty lost to the Exchequer from tobacco and alcohol smuggling in 2012-13 are not available.
The latest estimates of losses in duty associated with illicit sales of tobacco products, beer and spirits are for 2009-10. These were published in “Measuring Tax Gaps 2011”:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/measuring-tax-gaps.htm
Solar Power
Caroline Flint: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the (a) removal of enhanced capital allowance and (b) reduction of the standard rate of capital allowance for expenditure on solar PV on likely future levels of take-up of solar PV. [102953]
Miss Chloe Smith: These changes take effect from April 2012. Solar PV has never qualified for enhanced capital allowances. The Government’s assessment of the impact of fixing the rate of capital allowances for expenditure on solar PV was included in the tax information and impact note accompanying draft Finance Bill 2012 legislation, published at the time of the autumn statement on 6 December 2011.
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Stamp Duty Land Tax
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he commissioned from (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Office of Budget Responsibility a behavioural analysis of the potential effects of his proposed changes to stamp duty. [102530]
Miss Chloe Smith: The policy costings for the changes to stamp duty land tax included behavioural analysis. Details of the behavioural effects considered are available in the published policy costing note (pages 21-23):
http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget2012_policy_costings.pdf
The policy costing was undertaken by HM Revenue and Customs. The policy costing and its underlying methodology were certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility as representing a reasonable and central view given the information currently available.
Taxation: Bingo
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the bingo industry on the relationship between bingo gross profits tax and total tax receipts from the gaming sector. [100978]
Miss Chloe Smith: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with, and receive representations from, a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the usual policymaking process. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Taxation: Gambling
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to bring forward (a) consultation and (b) legislation on a place of consumption-based taxation regime for remote gambling. [102404]
Miss Chloe Smith: The written ministerial statement of 27 March 2012, Official Report, columns 106-107WS, provides a list of planned Treasury consultations and estimated dates of publication:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cmallfiles/mps/commons_hansard_4777_wad.html
A 'place of consumption'-based taxation regime for remote gambling will be legislated in a future Finance Bill.
Tonnage Tax
John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value of concessions given by (a) Inland Revenue and (b) HM Revenue and Customs to shipping companies in respect of the tonnage tax scheme was in each year since 2000-01. [R] [100694]
Miss Chloe Smith: The following table provides estimates of the difference between accruals of tax liabilities for the UK shipping industry through tonnage tax and what they would otherwise have been under standard UK corporation tax since 2005.
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| Calendar year | Reduction in tax liabilities (£ million) |
Estimates are not yet available for 2010, as records may be incomplete due some tax returns not yet being submitted. Estimates are not available before 2005 due to insufficient data.
Vodafone Group
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many contracts Vodafone has been awarded by his Department in the last 12 months; [103232]
(2) what contracts his Department has with Vodafone. [103233]
Miss Chloe Smith: HM Treasury has one contract with Vodafone Corporate Ltd. This is for mobile telephony services. In April 2011, this contract was extended to April 2015.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times the permanent secretary in his Department has met Vodafone representatives in the last 12 months. [103234]
Miss Chloe Smith: The permanent secretary has not met any representative of Vodafone during the last 12 months.
Work Experience
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2011, Official Report, column 680W, on departmental work experience, how many people (a) worked as an intern, (b) undertook a work experience placement and (c) worked as a volunteer in his Department in accordance with the hiring criteria set out in that answer in the last 12 months for which data are available; and how many such people were employed other than according to those criteria. [100746]
Miss Chloe Smith: The Treasury participates in the two-week Civil Service Whitehall Internship Programme which was announced through the Social Mobility Strategy in April 2011. This programme provides Year 12 College level students with an opportunity to undertake a two- week work experience placement in a Government Department. The programme is designed to increase professional experience and workplace skills and is aimed at students from under-represented backgrounds. Treasury offered two internships on this programme in 2011 and will offer a similar number of placements for the 2012 intake.
The Treasury also offers internships to graduates and undergraduates through the Summer Diversity Internship Programme (SDIP). The programme is aimed at black and minority ethnic university students and those from lower socio-economic groups and seeks to provide talented candidates with 6-9 week training placements in
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Government Departments. The Treasury offered three internships across the Department in 2011.
There is no central record of unpaid placements, which are occasionally arranged on an ad-hoc basis.
Work and Pensions
Access to Work Programme: Birmingham
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding from the Access to Work Scheme has gone to support people in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency in each of the last five years. [103003]
Maria Miller: Information on Access to Work spend is only available from 1 April 2007 onwards and is currently only available up to 31 March 2011.
The following table shows the Access to Work spend in Birmingham, Ladywood constituency in each of the last four full financial years(1):
(1) Source:
Access to Work database. Amounts are rounded to the nearest £1,000.
| Financial year | Access to work spend (£) |
Atos
Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will undertake a value for money and efficiency audit of the work that Atos carries out for his Department. [97120]
Chris Grayling: DWP Contract Management process ensures regular review of performance and value for money considerations. This activity is undertaken across all our suppliers as a matter of course.
Care Homes: Disability
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Department for Communities and Local Government and (b) local authority representatives on estimating any increases in residential care costs which may arise from increased use of publicly-funded care homes as a result of reductions in the level of benefit paid to disabled people. [101824]
Maria Miller: There have been extensive discussions with the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Local Government Association and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about a range of issues.
Personal independence payment will support those disabled people who face the greatest challenges in living an independent life.
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Such support could well reduce the likelihood of individuals requiring the services of publicly-funded care homes along with other local authority interventions.
Child Benefit
Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy that a woman with a child under 12 who no longer receives child benefit due to household earnings will also have linked national insurance payments removed. [102711]
Steve Webb: The proposal announced in the Budget to apply an income tax charge on families in receipt of child benefit where someone has an income of more than £50,000 will not affect national insurance credits for state pension entitlement.
Child Maintenance
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to Figure 14 of the report by the National Audit Office on Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: Costs Reduction, HC 1793, what assumptions the Commission made on the level of (a) the application charge, (b) charges for enforcement, (c) collection deductions levied on parents with care and (d) collection surcharges levied on non-resident parents when estimating future fee income. [102533]
Maria Miller: Figure 14 of the report by the National Audit Office shows estimates based on illustrative assumptions about charging levels made at that time. These were as follows:
a £20 application fee with an exemption for victims of domestic violence;
collection charges of 10% for the parent with care and 20% for the non-resident parent; and
enforcement charges ranging from £50 to £600.
These assumptions reflected the ranges set out in the Green Paper “Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance”. Only the application fee is finalised at this point in time. The Government are still considering the precise levels of the other charges and detailed proposals will be brought forward later in the year when we consult on the charging and case closure regulations.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his proposal to reduce the application charge for use of the future statutory child maintenance scheme to £20 for all applicants, whether he has any plans to review the level of the future calculation only charge. [102532]
Maria Miller: With the application fee for the full child maintenance service now set at £20, with no fee payable by victims of domestic violence, Ministers have decided that a separate calculation only service is no longer necessary. Applicants will be able to either use the online calculator or make an application to the full service.
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Pay
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials in his Department received a bonus in each year since 2007. [78139]
Chris Grayling: Currently 50% of DWP employees earn £21,000 or less. 88% of staff in DWP's three lowest grades earn between £14,400 (national minimum) and £28,100 (the inner London maximum).
In 2010-11 the average end of year payment across the three lowest grades was £375.
End-of-year and in-year awards have been used since DWP was formed in 2002 under the previous Government.
In-year cash awards and end-of-year awards were introduced by the previous Government and have been in place in DWP since its formation in 2002.
DWP introduced vouchers as an in-year award in 2007 under the previous Government.
The Department operates two pay-related employee reward schemes. They comprise end-of-year non-consolidated performance payments and in-year non-consolidated performance awards.
Performance payments and awards are a key element of the Department for Work and Pension's reward strategy, supporting performance improvement, employee engagement and delivery of key business objectives. This is in line with Government policy.
| End of year performance payments | ||
| Number of recipients | Number of employees | |
| Note: Average payment across DWP for 2010-11 was £428 | ||
| In year performance payments—Cash | |||
| Number of recipients | Number of employees | Average value (£) | |
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| (1)In year performance award information only available from 2007-08. | |||
| In year performance payments—Vouchers | ||
| Number of vouchers (2) | Voucher value | |
| (1) In year performance award information only available from 2007-08. (2) Number of vouchers issued does not correspond to number of staff receiving them. Number of staff in receipt is not necessarily recorded. The number of vouchers figure is the number DWP received from our provider. | ||
Disability Living Allowance
Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of disability living allowance applications in (a) the year prior to and (b) the year following Atos Healthcare being awarded the BPO Medical Services Contract were approved (i) initially and (ii) following appeal. [103043]
Maria Miller: The Medical Service Agreement with Atos commenced on 15 March 2005.
The information requested is in the following table:
| Disability living allowance | ||
| % | ||
| New claim awards | Appeals successful | |
| Source: Department for Work and Pensions RDA60205 and RDA60209 reports—DLA Management Information Statistics. | ||
Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of failed disability living allowance applications in the last year are now subject to appeal. [103093]
Maria Miller: The information requested is unavailable because the management information held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on appeals does not enable us to distinguish between appeals made following decisions on failed applications and other decisions which may have impacted on a claim and to obtain this would be at disproportionate cost.
Housing Benefit
Mr Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of local housing allowance have had their rate altered to the shared accommodation rate in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) St Helens, (c) Merseyside and (d) England. [103121]
Steve Webb: The information is not available.
The age threshold for the shared accommodation rate was increased from 25 to 35 in January 2012, but will not have taken effect for all claimants until the end of 2012.
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The early impacts of this change will be examined as part of the independent evaluation of reforms to the local housing allowance.
Estimates of the number of claims likely to be affected at local authority and regional level have been published, and are available on the internet at:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/eia-hb-shared-accommodation-age-threshold.pdf
Pensions
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households are in receipt of the pension credit guarantee credit. [102923]
Steve Webb: The information requested is in the following table:
| Household recipients of pension credit guarantee credit | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. 3. These figures are published on the Department's Tabulation Tool at: http://83.244.183.180/100pc/dla/tabtool_dla.html 4. Figures provided are as at August 2011. 5. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate 100% Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |
Personal Independence Payments
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what role Warbreck House will play in processing personal independence payments; [102738]
(2) what role Warbreck House will play in the processing of disability living allowance (a) between 2012 and 2016 and (b) after 2016. [102739]
Maria Miller: On the 12 March 2012, Official Report, column 10WS, I published a written ministerial statement which detailed the Government's plans regarding the introduction of personal independence payment. Within this statement I also confirmed that Blackpool Benefits Centre (Warbreck House) will undertake personal independence payment reassessment activity for existing disability living allowance claimants aged 16 to 64.
Processing work currently undertaken by Warbreck House will continue between now and October 2013. Reassessment of existing disability living allowance claimants is due to begin in October 2013 at Warbreck House. We plan to have asked all disability living allowance claimants (aged 16-64) if they want to claim personal independence payment by March 2016.
We have also announced that Warbreck House will administer attendance allowance. Warbreck House is part of the national DWP Benefits Delivery network and no decisions have been made at this time concerning 2016 and beyond while we focus on the important changeover from disability living allowance to personal independence payment.
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Personal Independence Payments: Fylde Coast
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether Personal Independence Payment claims relating to children will be processed on the Fylde Coast. [102740]
Maria Miller: On 12 March 2012, Official Report, column 10WS, I published a written ministerial statement which detailed the Government's plans regarding the introduction of personal independence payment. The statement also confirmed that disability living allowance would continue for children under the age of 16 and that those claims would be administered by the network of Benefits Centres which deal with disability benefits claims.
We do not plan to extend personal independence payment to new or existing claims for children from 2013. The needs of children are very different to those of adults and we want to build on our experience of developing and delivering the assessment for claimants of working age before considering children. We will consult on any substantive changes to the arrangements for children.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Farmers: Loans
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the role of enterprise loans in encouraging young people to become farmers. [102239]
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Mr Prisk: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
We know that young people can struggle to access the finance they require to start their own businesses and that is why we have announced at Budget that we will introduce a programme of enterprise loans for young people between the ages of 18 and 24. As a first step, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will design and run a one-year pilot programme—in 2012-13—to test different ways of delivering enterprise loans.
Enterprise loans will provide young people who want to start a business with not only a small amount of capital to do so, but also some support in the forms of training and mentoring. We aim to get the scheme up and running and evaluated in time for Budget next year.
In the meantime, we have already put in place a package of information, advice and support for start-ups and for existing firms, available at:
www.businesslink.gov.uk
our online information service for businesses, which we have recently updated and improved. For start-ups, we have a tailored section, called My New Business, which includes a range of online information, training modules, and practical guides.
In addition, we have facilitated the creation of a new national network of experienced business mentors, available at:
www.mentorsme.co.uk
This portal provides access to find over 15,000 experienced business people who want to help mentor those starting out.