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Families: Disadvantaged
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the number of troubled families which include family members who have a criminal record. [111140]
Robert Neill: As part of the Troubled Families programme, local authorities will be identifying the target families. This process includes quantifying those involved in crime and antisocial behaviour. More information can be found in the Troubled Families programme financial framework, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria he is using to identify troubled families. [111357]
Robert Neill: I refer the right hon. Member to the Troubled Families Programme Financial Framework, a copy of which has been place in the Library of the House.
Fire Services
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on a floor for grant reductions affecting fire and rescue authorities in years three and four of the spending review period. [111988]
Robert Neill: Following the Local Government Resource Review, we consulted last summer on our proposals for the new Business Rates Retention arrangements which will take effect from 2013-14. We will be consulting on further details on the scheme this summer, and will set out our final proposals in the provisional Local Government Finance settlement later this year.
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what savings fire and rescue services expect to make (a) nationally and (b) in Merseyside as a result of changes to control of the costs of the firefighters' pension scheme; [111990]
(2) if he will publish the savings which will accrue to the fire and rescue service as a result of the changes to control the costs of the firefighters' pension scheme before fire authorities are required to make decisions relating to redundancies and station closures; [111991]
(3) what arrangements he plans to put in place to support fire and rescue authorities that have to consider compulsory redundancies of firefighters as a result of changes in funding. [111992]
Robert Neill:
Employer contribution rates for the reformed Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2015 will be based on a statutory valuation of the scheme prior to its introduction. Until that valuation has been conducted, it would be premature to speculate on future levels of contribution rates for individual fire and rescue authorities. My officials are discussing with finance directors from fire and rescue authorities to establish whether there are
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any bespoke arrangements which fire and rescue authorities might wish to commission separately from the formal valuation process.
It is for individual fire and rescue authorities to manage their workforces in way that delivers value for money. Fire and rescue authorities have flexibility to offer enhanced redundancy compensation to staff who are eligible to be members of the Local Government Pension Scheme. We have received a formal request from the Fire and Rescue Service National Employers for Government to seek to put in place arrangements which extend these flexibilities to all employees of a fire and rescue authority. The Government, of course, understands that authorities will be looking to achieve savings, including in workforce costs, and is considering the employer's request in that context.
Housing
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total capital spend on housing was in each year since 1982; and how much capital spend he expects on housing in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15. [110380]
Grant Shapps: Information on capital expenditure by this Department and its predecessors can be found in the annual reports and accounts that are available in the Library of the House. Annual reports from 2005, containing data from 1999-2000 onwards can be found at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/about/howwework/corporatereports/reportsaccounts/annualreports/
The annual report and accounts for 2011-12 will be laid in the House before the summer recess.
Planned capital expenditure on housing in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 is set out as follows:
| £ million | |
In addition, as part of the London settlement, the following sums have been transferred to the Greater London Authority in respect of capital expenditure on housing:
| £ million | |
Around £19.5 billion is being invested in much needed affordable housing. The Government is investing £4.5 billion to deliver up to 170, 000 new affordable homes from 2011 to 2015 and the total private funding contributed by providers to deliver these properties is around £15 billion. And our approach to reducing the inherited and unprecedented UK deficit has resulted in interest payments for mortgages that are currently the lowest as a proportion of total income since records began, helping families with the cost of living and supporting home owners and potential home buyers.
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Housing: Construction
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many bids have been received to date to the Get Britain Building fund; and how many such bids have been successful; [110412]
(2) how many additional homes above the original estimate of 16,000 homes he estimates will be delivered as a result of the additional £150 million announced for the Get Britain Building fund; [110413]
(3) how many projects have received funding to date from the Get Britain Building fund first announced in November 2011; and what the (a) name, (b) location and (c) score was of each of the housing projects given funding; [110414]
(4) how many projects are now underway after receiving funds from the Get Britain Building fund announced in November 2011; [110415]
(5) what his latest estimate is of the number of homes that will be built as a result of the Get Britain Building fund announced in November 2011; [110416]
(6) how many homes have been built to date as a result of funding from the Get Britain Building fund announced in November 2011; [110417]
(7) how much funding his Department allocated under the Get Britain Building scheme in each region in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15. [110421]
Grant Shapps: Get Britain Building is intended to unlock stalled sites with planning permission to help stimulate construction activity and provide new homes. The programme is intended to address difficulties in accessing development finance faced by some house builders and to help bring forward marginal sites by sharing risk. The £570 million public funding is being made available for this programme on the basis that it is recoverable. The programme will operate by making direct investments in specific projects through loans to address cash flow issues or taking an equity stake to build confidence through risk-sharing.
386 Expressions of Interest were received by the Homes and Communities Agency by the deadline of 30 January 2012. 224 bids were approved to be considered for funding subject to due diligence. 29 additional reserve list projects were added to the shortlist at the beginning of May 2012. The agency is making project approval decisions and reaching agreements with developers on a rolling basis through to July 2012. The precise number of dwellings supported by the funding and additional funding will depend on which individual bids are accepted.
Funding is not allocated on a regional basis, though the location of projects is a factor in the decision-making process. The funding allocated to each locality will depend on which bids are accepted following the due diligence and project approval process. The Homes and Communities Agency are making project approval decisions and reaching agreements with developers on a rolling basis.
Funding is expected to be used in the two years 2012-13 and 2013-14. Reflecting normal build times, homes unlocked by Get Britain Building are expected to be completed in 2013 and 2014. The deadline date for completions is December 2014.
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Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings officials from his Department have had with banks, building societies and mortgage lenders on self-build policy since May 2010; and if he will place in the Library a copy of all the (a) meetings, (b) correspondence and (c) minutes of such meetings. [110469]
Grant Shapps: DCLG officials have worked closely with umbrella organisations like the Building Societies Association in developing the “Self Build Action Plan to promote the growth of self build housing” (National Self Build Association, July 2011) and the framework for the £30 million investment fund to help group projects which will be announced shortly. In preparing the action plan, officials participated in an industry-led finance sub-group, chaired by the Building Societies Association, which looked in detail at the finance challenges facing self builders. Barclays Bank, Nationwide and Hanley Building Society were represented on the sub-group.
Details of the work of this sub-group are set out in the Self Build Action Plan. Officials have held no other meetings with banks, building societies and mortgage lenders with regard to self-build policy.
The Government do not normally disclose specific information about internal meetings which inform the development of Government Policy as it undermines the ‘private space' needed to allow officials to have free and frank discussions with external partners, and advise Ministers on policy options. Without such discussions the objective consideration of all policy options and their implications would be inhibited.
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of planning applications to build new houses were refused permission by local authorities in England in each of the last 20 years. [111772]
Grant Shapps: The number and percentage of residential planning applications in England that were refused permission since 1996-97 is shown in the following table.
| Total residential applications | Number refused | Percentage refused | |
Information on residential planning applications which were refused prior to 1996-97 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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I also refer the right hon. Member to the answer of 12 June 2012, Official Report, column 409W, which notes that the number of granted residential planning permissions rose by 7% in 2011 compared to 2009.
Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been built in each of the towns previously designated as eco-towns to date. [112613]
Grant Shapps: No eco-towns were ever built, illustrating the failure of the last Administration's top-down approach.
Housing: Older People
Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps he is taking to monitor delivery of the New Deal for Older Person's Housing; [110909]
(2) what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on specialist housing for older people. [110910]
Grant Shapps: Ministers within the Department for Communities and Local Government regularly meet colleagues from other Departments to discuss a range of matters.
The Department monitors delivery of the FirstStop information and advice service through quarterly grant reporting objectives agreed with the Elderly Accommodation Counsel, the charity responsible for the service.
The Department also monitors the delivery of support services to home improvement agencies, handyperson services and their local authority commissioners through quarterly contract reporting against an agreed work plan with Foundations, the national body for these services.
Kingston Upon Hull
Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Minister for Housing and Local Government was part of the team from his Department that visited the Hull City Council area on 18 August and 9 December 2011. [112231]
Grant Shapps: The visit of 18 August was by the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark).
The visit of 9 December was by the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill).
I also refer the right hon. Member to my letter to him of 29 May 2012, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
Local Government: Audit
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to develop a mechanism which would trigger intervention in a failing local authority if the Audit Commission were to be abolished; and if he will make a statement. [112038]
Robert Neill:
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member
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for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), has the power to intervene in any local authority if he considers that it is failing in its Best Value Duty, as set out in section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999. This power will not be affected by the abolition of the Audit Commission.
Sector-led support from the Local Government Association is available for councils who experience corporate governance problems.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of local authorities being required to run a procurement process for their audit services every five years. [112039]
Robert Neill: My Department estimates that the total cost to local bodies of running a procurement process for their audit services will be approximately £2.22 million per year. This includes an estimate of the cost of running an EU-compliant procurement process and the cost of managing the contracts. It assumes a collaborative approach, with some local bodies joining up to procure their audit services.
The evidence used in calculating the £2.22 million figure is taken from the Local Government Association’s report, “The impact of EU procurement legislation on councils”, and the National Audit Office’s report, “Central Government’s management of service contracts”. Full details of this calculation and the savings to local bodies are contained in the consultation-stage impact assessment that will be published alongside the draft Local Audit Bill. Overall, the impact assessment estimates that the programme to disband the Audit Commission and introduce a new local audit framework will see savings of £650 million over the next five years, the majority of which will be realised by local bodies.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost of training members of independent audit committees; and whether this training will be funded under the new burdens arrangements. [112065]
Robert Neill: No specific estimates have been made of any potential costs of training members of local auditor panels. Local bodies will be able to avoid or minimise any such costs by recruiting members with existing expertise, and/or by sharing their panel with other bodies. Government intends to issue further guidance on the operation of auditor panels when the new local audit framework comes into effect, and will work closely with the sector to develop this guidance. As set out in the consultation stage impact assessment to be published alongside the draft Local Audit Bill, the new local audit framework is expected to result in significant overall savings for local government.
Local Government: Fraud
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total amount of (a) fraud, (b) overpayments and (c) errors detected by the National Fraud Initiative was in each year since its inception. [112037]
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Robert Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to respond to the hon. Member direct.
I would add that it is our intention to continue with the National Fraud Initiative, notwithstanding the abolition of the Audit Commission. We are liaising with the National Fraud Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions on the matter.
Letter from Eugene Sullivan, dated 18 June 2012:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.
The Audit Commission has run the National Fraud Initiative to prevent and detect fraud, overpayments and errors since 1996. It initially applied only to England and Wales but was extended to Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2000/01 and is now run in partnership with Audit Scotland, the Northern Ireland Audit Office and the Wales Audit Office. It runs on a two yearly cycle, so we cannot provide an annual breakdown of the amounts identified.
The NFI matches electronic data provided by local public bodies and other participants. Where the matching identifies anomalies that indicate potential fraud or overpayments, the matches are passed back to the participating bodies to investigate. They report the results of their investigations via the NFI's secure website and we report these results every two years in a national report. We published our report on the latest exercise, covering 2010/11, earlier this year in May.
To date the NFI has identified a total of £939 million fraud, overpayments and errors across the UK. This total includes actual fraud, errors and overpayments identified and estimates of expenditure that would have been incurred in future years had the fraud, errors or overpayments gone undetected.
We do not analyse reported outcomes between fraud, overpayments and errors as in our experience the categorisation by participants is not consistent. For example, whereas one body might classify something as a fraud on the basis of intent, another would classify it as a fraud only if the case had resulted in a prosecution for fraud.
The total outcomes for each two yearly exercise and the total cumulative outcomes since the NFI's inception in 1996 are summarised in the following table:
| Exercise | |||
| Coverage | Total outcomes (£ million) | Cumulative total outcomes (£ million) | |
Local Government: Procurement
Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library any advice he has received from departmental statisticians relating to research by Opera Solutions on savings in council procurement. [112139]
Robert Neill:
I assume the right hon. Member is referring to a DCLG press release of 16 June 2011 on savings in council procurement, which mentioned the
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organisation Opera Solutions. This press release was cleared by Ministers and civil servants in line with standard procedures.
I would add that Local Government Association’s own findings from its Local Productivity Programme, which has assessed the experience of councils of making savings through collaborative procurement, has identified savings of up to 20% in some service areas. This is evidenced in the procurement, capital and shared assets productivity workstream’s document, entitled “Response to Spending Review, Quick Wins Strategy, October 2010”.
Moreover, the Department has been working with capital and asset pathfinder areas to manage their capital spend and assets more effectively through a bottom-up commissioning approach across the public sector within an area. The projects have shown that adopting a cross-public sector approach can lead to substantial savings of up to 20%.
I also refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 23 February 2012, Official Report, column 893W, on the scope of major savings in the area of local authority procurement.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been purchased using loans provided through the Government's NewBuy Guarantee Scheme. [110449]
Grant Shapps: Quality-assured data on the total number of completions under the industry-led NewBuy Guarantee scheme are not yet available to Government.
The Government expects to make this information available from September 2012.
The purchase of a newly built home is normally completed up to six months after reservation; as of 12 June, the NewBuy Guarantee scheme was only three months old.
Private Rented Housing
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the number of homes in the private rented sector that do not meet his decent home standard; what plans he has to decrease that number; and if he will make a statement. [110464]
Andrew Stunell: English Housing Survey shows that standards in the private rented sector are continuing to improve more rapidly than in other sectors. The most recent results were published on 9 February 2012. These show that there was a marked decrease in the proportion of private rented sector homes which were non-decent (from 47% to 37%) between 2006 and 2010.
Local authorities already have a key role in assessing the condition of housing in their area and it is in their interests to collect information across all housing tenures through housing condition surveys.
Under the Housing Act 2004 they also have powers to inspect individual properties and, where appropriate, take enforcement action under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. If a property is found to contain
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serious (category 1) hazards, the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action. This could range from trying to deal with the problems informally at first to prohibiting the use of the whole or part of the dwelling
Rented Housing: Housing Benefit
Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to encourage landlords to accept housing benefit as payment; and what steps he is taking to increase the availability of good quality houses of multiple occupation. [111009]
Grant Shapps: Figures drawn from the Family Resources Survey 2008-09 and the March 2011 Single Housing Benefit Extract data generate an estimate that 32% of private sector renters are in receipt of housing benefit. This suggests that housing benefit claimants continue to be able to access privately rented housing. At present, under the local housing allowance arrangements, housing benefit is paid to claimants in the majority of cases. For some claimants who are likely to run into financial difficulties or have built up significant arrears, payment is made to the landlord. The Government plans to broadly replicate these provisions within universal credit. We have also introduced a new temporary safeguard to allow local authorities to pay housing benefit direct to the landlord where it helps a claimant to secure or retain a tenancy at a reduced rent.
Local authorities now have greater flexibility to plan for and manage houses in multiple occupation in their local area. We amended the planning rules for these in October 2010 to remove the blanket requirement for planning permission for all material changes of use from family houses to small houses of multiple occupation introduced by the previous administration.
The licensing provisions in the Housing Act 2004 also ensure that there are adequate amenities and safety requirements in properties where there are several households sharing basic facilities. In addition to the mandatory licensing of certain high-risk houses of multiple occupation, local authorities have the discretion to extend licensing to smaller types without having to first seek approval from this department. I believe it is right for these local decisions to be made by those who are directly accountable to local communities.
Social Rented Housing
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration he has given to the potential loss of economies of scale of his Department's Tenant Cashback scheme. [110460]
Grant Shapps: Under Tenant Cashback, social tenants that take pride in their homes by taking on routine repairs and maintenance should be able to share in any savings made. Similarly, community groups that take control of communal services, saving the landlord money by delivering a more efficient service, should be able to decide how to reinvest the savings to fund improvements to the local area for the benefit of all residents.
Social housing should act as a springboard to help people make better lives for themselves. The experience of current pilot schemes is showing that Tenant Cashback
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can bring tenants an increasing sense of ownership over their homes and communities, together with real practical benefits such as new skills for tenants, while landlords are seeing a significant reduction in the number of repairs reported.
Our approach allows social landlords to design schemes in consultation with tenants. Landlords can consider the scope for economies of scale alongside the other benefits and efficiencies that can arise through enabling tenants to commission work or to carry it out themselves.
The scheme can help save money for landlords and allow local residents to earn extra cash.
Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many home swaps have taken place under the HomeSwap Direct Scheme in (a) Birmingham, Hall Green constituency and (b) England since the scheme’s inception. [111456]
Grant Shapps: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) on 23 May 2012, Official Report, column 683W, and to the response I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Jack Dromey) on 12 June 2012, Official Report, column 410W.
Social Rented Housing: Second Homes
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the number of social housing tenants who own second homes; and what statistical measures his Department uses to arrive at that figure. [110466]
Grant Shapps: My Department's estimates suggest that between 0.8% and 1.2% of social renting households own another property. This is based on analysis of the Survey of English Housing 2007-08 and the English Housing Survey 2008-09 and 2009-10. This ‘owning another property’ classification is technically a broader definition than ‘second home’ ownership.
Social Services: Children
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the local government funding settlement for 2011-12 and 2012-13, what assessment he has made of changes made to the Revenue Formula Grant needs assessment for Children's Social Care (a) in aggregate and (b) for each local authority relative to the baseline for 2010-11. [111589]
Robert Neill: Relative spending pressures were considered as part of the 2010 spending review and that assessment informed the control totals for the children's social care service block in formula grant for 2011-12 and 2012-13. Equality impact assessments were published by my Department both for the 2011-12 settlement:
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/LGFREqIA.pdf
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1213/eqiasettles.pdf
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Wind Power: Planning Permission
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how he will ensure that local landscape designations will be respected by the Planning Inspectorate in relation to wind turbine applications; and what support is to be offered to local planning authorities in revising and updating local plans. [111659]
Robert Neill: Planning law requires planning decisions to be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. We are clear in the National Planning Policy Framework that local plans are the keystone of the planning system and have underlined the importance of local planning in protecting valued landscapes. We have set out in the framework how its policies should be applied alongside existing and emerging plans.
We are working closely with the Local Government Association and the Planning Inspectorate to provide a range of measures to help local councils update plans as efficiently as possible. This includes guidance from the inspectorate on how to undertake a fast partial review of a local plan, where the issues are limited to discrete policies which do not change the overall plan strategy. This guidance will be published by the inspectorate shortly. A helpline has been available since the framework was published, to answer questions from councils about the implications of the framework for plan making.
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to impose minimum distance requirements between wind farm developments and dwellings. [111665]
Robert Neill: Planning policy does not include an exclusion zone between wind turbines and dwellings. Rather, impacts should be assessed on a case by case basis taking into account the context, such as the local topography.
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether, if a wind energy company has proposed turbines for a sites but has not yet submitted a planning application, such proposals are deemed to be in the planning system. [111667]
Robert Neill: To be considered by the relevant local planning authority a planning application for a wind farm must have been formally submitted and accepted as valid.
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what training has been provided for the Planning Inspectorate to prepare it adequately to evaluate the arguments and evidence presented at public inquiries relating to wind farms. [111672]
Robert Neill:
The Planning Inspectorate ran internal training courses on renewable energy casework for small groups of inspectors in 2007 and again in November 2009. These courses were organised in conjunction with the Centre for Sustainable Energy and were funded by
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the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The training covered the key issues arising in wind farm cases, including noise, landscape and visual impact. The 2009 course also included two presentations from representatives of organisations or groups who were opposed to wind farm development. In addition, a webinar on wind turbines and noise was presented to all inspectors dealing with renewable energy cases in November/December 2010.
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department has made of the resources and expertise planning authorities have to carry out and enforce wind farm related planning conditions. [111673]
Robert Neill: It is for the local planning authority concerned to assess whether they have the expertise in place and are making available sufficient resources to consider wind farm developments. We are aware, from a review for the Department of Energy and Climate Change by Hayes McKenzie, of concerns about consistency in carrying out wind turbine noise assessments and the challenge this can pose for those who may not be familiar with such assessments. Following publication of this review, the Institute of Acoustics, independent experts in this field, are developing practice guidance.
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider the French National Academy of Medicine's recommendation that the minimum distance between turbines and domestic dwellings should be at least 1.5 km. [111677]
Charles Hendry: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
The Government continues to monitor how various renewable energy issues are tackled in other countries, including the process for consenting Onshore wind-turbine development, and to keep abreast of relevant research.
Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many wind farm applications were submitted for sites (a) in Northamptonshire and (b) nationally in the last 12 months for which information is available. [111770]
Robert Neill: The Renewable Energy Planning Database, available via the Department of Energy and Climate Change's website, recorded five new planning applications involving wind turbines in Northamptonshire between May 2011 and April 2012. During the same period there were 105 such planning applications in England. The information on projects is updated every month, but there may be a time lag in recording new applications or when the status of an application changes.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will issue guidance on the balance to be struck by local planning authorities between granting planning permission for onshore wind farms and the need to protect (a) greenfield sites, (b) green belt sites, (c) Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and (d) national parks. [112082]
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Robert Neill: The National Planning Policy Framework provides guidance to local planning authorities on renewable energy developments and conserving and enhancing the natural environment, including protecting designated areas. The Framework must be taken into account in the preparation of local and neighbourhood plans, and is a material consideration in planning decisions.
Deputy Prime Minister
House of Lords: Reform
Simon Hart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate has been made of the cost per head for staff, salaries and offices of a wholly or partly elected House of Lords. [110913]
Mr Harper: We will publish full cost estimates when we introduce a Bill.
Mr Bone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the timetable is for House of Lords reform. [111338]
Mr Harper: A Bill on House of Lords reform will be introduced before the summer recess, as indicated by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House of Commons, in response to the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Mr Blunkett), on 10 May 2012, Official Report, column 131.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Arms Trade: Vietnam
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what is covered by the defence co-operation memorandum of understanding between the UK and Vietnam negotiated by the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation and signed on 24 November 2011; and if he will make a statement. [112260]
Mr Prisk: Negotiations on the Anglo-Vietnam defence co-operation memorandum of understanding (MOU) were led by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), not UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation. The Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my noble Friend Lord Astor of Hever, signed the document on behalf of the MOD. The MOU is designed to further enhance the bilateral relationship and support the exchange of information in areas such as training and peace support operations.
Business: Dismissal
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many responses have been received to his call for evidence on dealing with dismissal and compensated no fault dismissal for micro businesses. [112621]
Norman Lamb: We have received around 260 responses.
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Business: South-west
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many business mentors were recruited in (a) Devon and (b) the south-west in the latest period for which figures are available. [109574]
Mr Prisk: Get Mentoring is a SFEDI-led (Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative) project, supported by grant funding (from both BIS and the Government Equalities Office) to recruit and train 15,000 volunteer business mentors from the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) community.
To date, over 11,000 volunteers have been recruited through this initiative, around 10% of whom are based in the south-west. This estimate is only approximate and based on the location of the workshop they attended. We do not currently have the data to ascertain how many were recruited from Devon specifically.
Construction: Training
John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment his Department has made of the effects of the Construction Industry Training Board levy on small and medium-sized enterprises in the construction industry. [111477]
Mr Hayes: The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) levy depends on the continued consent of employers. The last levy order was passed by Parliament in March 2012 and includes provision for small firms to be exempt from paying the levy where their expenditure on payroll and sub-contract labour is below £80,000. The order also provided for the introduction of a “taper” that allows employers with combined payroll and sub-contract labour costs of between £80,000 and £100,000 to have to pay only 50% of their levy liability.
The industry itself sets the exemption levels and it is right that they do so. The aim is to strike a balance between making sure small businesses are not overburdened with costs, with the need to ensure that the costs of training are spread fairly across the industry. Tapering levy arrangements around the threshold protects more small firms.
All small firms in the industry are able to access grants and support for training from the CITB irrespective of whether or not they are exempt from paying the levy. In addition CITB assist employers by allowing levy payments to be made in instalments at no extra charge. This is particularly helpful in addressing cash-flow issues for small to medium-size enterprises.
Disclosure of Information
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department spent on the updating of published data in line with the Government’s transparency agenda in each month since September 2011. [110709]
Norman Lamb: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not collect figures on the cost of updating of published data in line with the transparency agenda. To do so would incur disproportionate costs.
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Health Insurance
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff in his Department are entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package. [111109]
Norman Lamb: BIS has no staff entitled to private health care as part of their remuneration package.
International Trade: Staff
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff within his Department are allocated to work on international trade negotiations. [112246]
Norman Lamb: International trade negotiations are handled by the Trade Policy Unit, a joint unit between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for International Development (DFID). At present, the unit has 32 staff from BIS and 15 staff from DFID.
Manufacturing Industries
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department plans to take in response to the recent reduction in UK manufacturing output. [112223]
Mr Prisk: Growth is the Government’s top priority for bringing about a sustained revival in manufacturing output. “The Plan for Growth”, published in March 2011, set out the Government’s strategic aim of achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries. It brings an ambitious and relentless focus to the role Government can play to drive growth; ensuring support and enabling the right conditions for businesses, including those in the manufacturing sector, to thrive and achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth. This work will continue throughout this Parliament.
We are pushing ahead with an 11-point Advanced Manufacturing Action plan which was drawn up in consultation with industry and published as part of the Plan for Growth. We are now making good progress in delivering against these actions, and gave a full report on progress at the March 2012 budget.
Since then, we have announced a number of further key measures supporting the sector including the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative; the Talent Retention Solution; See Inside Manufacturing programme; a package of measures to support energy intensive industries; and a further £1 billion investment in the Regional Growth Fund.
We are also working through joint industry/government councils and other fora to develop strategies in key sectors, including automotive, aerospace and maritime.
New Businesses: Young People
Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of young people expected to start a business in the next 12 months. [109572]
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Mr Prisk: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not estimate the number of businesses expected to start-up in the next 12 months.
However, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reported that in 2010, about 5% of people in the UK aged 18 to 24 said they expected to start a business in the next two to three years.
Analysis of the Office for National Statistics “Labour Force Survey” for 2011 shows that 18% of the newly self-employed population (those in self-employment for less than three months) were aged 16 to 24.
Procurement
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total (a) number and (b) value of contracts issued by (i) his Department and (ii) bodies for which he is responsible which were awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises was in the latest period for which figures are available. [111186]
Norman Lamb: BIS's spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been reported in the Cabinet Office report, “Making Government business more accessible to SMEs—One Year On”:
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-government-business-more-accessible-smes-one-year
Research
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the abolition of his Department's R&D scoreboard, how he proposes his Department will obtain information on the level of R&D spend in the UK by (a) public and (b) private sector organisations. [111472]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 14 June 2012]:Information on the level of R&D spend in the UK by public sector organisations will be obtained from the Government R&D (GovERD) survey that goes out annually to all Government Departments and research councils. The data are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of the gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) which also includes R&D expenditure by the higher education sector and businesses. Detailed breakdowns of departmental spend is published on the website of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in SET Statistics.
Information on the level of R&D spend in the UK by private organisations will be obtained from the:
Business Enterprise R&D data (BERD) produced by ONS which is based on survey data and published annually;
Bi-annual UK Innovation Survey, which is based on a sample of firms with 10 or more employees and which includes data about R&D.
These data are complemented by the EU R&D scoreboard.
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department's R&D scoreboard cost to produce; and from what budget that cost was taken. [111473]
Mr Willetts
[holding answer 14 June 2012]: The annual externally contracted costs of producing the R&D scoreboard were £400,000. This was paid for from
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the Business Finance and Innovation budget. In addition there was an internal project management overhead of about £5,000.
Science: Research
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress he has made on implementing the Government's Strategy for Life Sciences published in November 2011; and if he will make a statement. [111631]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 14 June 2012]: The Government are committed to early delivery of the Strategy for UK Life Sciences. We have appointed two independent life sciences champions, Sir John Bell and Chris Brinsmead, to oversee and drive implementation forward.
Early achievements on implementing the various commitments in the strategy include:
The launch of the Biomedical Catalyst jointly administered by the Technology Strategy Board and Medical Research Council. This three-year £180 million programme opened for applications in April 2012 to UK businesses (SMEs) and academics looking to develop innovative solutions to health care challenges either individually or in collaboration. It will support the maturation of an idea from concept to commercialisation.
The Clinical Practice Research Datalink was established on 29 March 2012. This provides researchers with access to patient data for clinical trials recruitment and observational studies.
Clinical Trials Gateway website and mobile applications for iphone, ipad and android devices have been launched. The website will provide patients and the public with information about clinical trials in the UK, with the anticipation that this will lead to patients feeling empowered to participate in clinical research.
At Budget 2012 the Government confirmed the launch of the Patent Box from April 2013. This will be phased in over five years from 2013 to give a reduced 10% rate of corporation tax on profits from patents and certain other similar types of Intellectual Property.
The UK Strategy for Regenerative Medicine was published on 28 March 2012. The Regenerative Medicine funding scheme, known as the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform, is open for calls to fund research hubs.
Progress is being made on the establishment of a Cell Therapy Catapult in London by the Technology Strategy Board through the appointment of Keith Thompson as chief executive officer for the Cell Therapy Catapult on 1 May.
The Sector Skills Council, Cogent, has developed an action plan to attract the best talent into the life sciences workforce. Progress includes:
Nine higher level apprenticeships incorporating a Foundation Degree in Applied Bioscience Technology commenced in February 2012. The apprenticeships form a pilot programme and provide an alternative pathway for entry into the industry at technician level. Our ambition is to deliver 420 apprenticeships over the next five years.
The Technical Apprenticeship Service (TAS) which acts as a one-stop shop for life sciences employers to access the apprenticeship programme has been up and running since January 2012.
The Society of Biology launched their undergraduate degree accreditation programme on 20 March 2012 following successful completion of a 2011-12 pilot programme.
The Strategy for UK Life Sciences has been developed for the long-term to ensure the UK retains its position as a global leader in this field, and that the industry continues to deliver sustainable year-on-year growth. The impact of the strategy may take 10 to 15 years to be fully realised.
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Student Loans Company
Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to improve standards of customer service at the Student Loans Company; and if he will make a statement. [111399]
Mr Willetts: This Department is committed to supporting the Student Loans Company (SLC) in its efforts to improve its customer service. The SLC has recently introduced website changes, a new knowledge management system, improved quality controls and greater automation to processing and customer call systems.
The SLC is increasingly focused on significant investment to sustain and replace its aging ICT systems, critical to enhancing customer service in the future.
Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria are used to measure customer satisfaction at the Student Loans Company. [111400]
Mr Willetts: For financial year 2012-13, this Department has agreed an annual overall customer satisfaction target of 70.1% with the Student Loans Company (SLC). The target comprises student satisfaction, re-payer satisfaction and student sponsor satisfaction and covers service attributes including ease of filling applications, ease of contacting SLC, and SLC resolving issues fully. The overall customer satisfaction level achieved in April was 76.4% which was 2.6% higher than in March.
Additional customer satisfaction measures apply to SLC's call centre service which provide for an 81% target rating for advisers, 74% for call outcome and 80% for consistency of information. Performance against these measures in April was 83%, 79% and 80% respectively.
Customer satisfaction is a key priority for the SLC and this Department is committed to supporting the company to meet its targets. Performance against targets is reviewed monthly by this Department and the SLC board, and targets are revised annually to raise service levels balanced against the availability of resources.
Students: Finance
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 16 April 2012, Official Report, column 294W, on students: finance, what maximum level of funding has been allocated to the provision of student loans for those enrolled on designated higher education courses; and what sanctions are in place if that limit is exceeded. [110988]
Mr Willetts: Funding for student loans is demand-led with eligibility and entitlement determined by the Education (Student Support) Regulations. The Department closely monitors expenditure in all areas and will take action necessary to deal with any specific risks of overspending.
Institutions funded by the Higher Education Council for England (HEFCE) are allocated a student number control each year. This sets the upper limit for recruitment in that year. If that total is exceeded HEFCE has the power to withdraw teaching grant in subsequent years to cover the additional costs of meeting the student support for those additional students.
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We have announced in our response to the Higher Education White Paper and the associated BIS technical consultation that we will introduce measures to bring alternative providers, and those further education (FE) colleges that do not receive HEFCE funding, into the formal student number control system, alongside other providers. We will consult later this year on the process for applying these changes.
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department made campaign materials on part-time student finance available; and what outlets have been used to promote the campaign. [112132]
Norman Lamb: A leaflet specific to part-time student finance was produced in spring 2011 and distributed to all of our higher education stakeholders, including membership organisations such as Universities UK, Guild HE, University Marketing Forum and others, to ensure the sector was well informed of the changes to part-time student finance.
An information campaign about the reforms to higher education student finance ran from May 2011 to February 2012 which cost £2.61 million. Messaging to part-time applicants was a feature of the campaign, but it is not possible to disaggregate this activity as a portion of the total spend. To coincide with this new campaign, the leaflet specific to part-time students was rebranded and reissued to align with the other campaign materials.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) also set up a stakeholder reference group in late 2011 comprised of key representatives from organisations with an interest in part-time students. This group was formed specifically to seek advice and input on tailoring communications aimed at prospective mature part-time students in particular. The group reviewed existing materials and a new core script aimed at part-time students was developed and issued to over 400 Higher Education stakeholders in February 2012. This sought to address the needs and concerns of the prospective part-time audience more specifically, for instance around eligibility and repayment terms.
Since March 2012, we have updated and reissued materials for the academic year 2013/14 and distributed further video case studies to the higher education sector in order to deliver the messages on part-time student finance more widely. A new single part-time page collating all relevant student finance information was also created on DirectGov and the link to it widely disseminated.
The members of the BIS stakeholder reference group have been cascading these resources to their audiences via their own channels to ensure maximum reach for our messaging to part-time students. Members of the group include unions, higher education institutions (HEIs), mission groups and other sector bodies. We are working in close collaboration with the Student Loans Company on this activity.
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department has allocated to promoting the part-time student support scheme in the academic year (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13. [112133]
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Norman Lamb: An information campaign about the reforms to higher education student finance ran from May 2011 to February 2012 and cost £2.61 million. Messaging to part-time applicants was a feature of the campaign, but it is not possible to disaggregate this activity as a portion of the total spend.
In 2012-13 the projected expenditure is £1 million. This is for the Student Finance Tour which will target young people and mature students in schools, further education (FE) and sixth form colleges who intend to apply for both full and part-time courses in 2013/14. The tour will include leaflets, video case studies and presentation material which all provide clear details of the student support package for part-time students.
We have developed a suite of specific part-time materials in collaboration with the higher education sector and we continue to work with them to ensure the messages to potential mature part-time students about student finance are disseminated as widely as possible through their own channels.
Students: Loans
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what market research and testing his Department conducted in determining the name of 24+ Advanced Learning Loans; and what definition of the word advanced was most common amongst student respondents. [111793]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 14 June 2012]:We tested a range of names with over 100 colleges and training organisations, through a Skills Funding Agency survey, and with learners through the Online Learning Panel. Feedback from this testing showed that the name should be clear, and should specify the age group and level of provision loans will be available for.
24+ Advanced Learning Loans will be available for learners aged 24 and above studying at Level 3 and above, from the 2013/14 academic year.
Mr Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what identification and information the Student Loans Company will require from those applying for a 24+ Advanced Learning Loan in order to assess eligibility. [111794]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 14 June 2012]:In line with current practice for HE loans, for identification the Student Loans Company (SLC) will require a UK passport number which will be checked with the Identity and Passport Service. For non UK Passport holders, the SLC will require their passport, and for those with no passport, the SLC will require a birth certificate.
Application forms, to gather further information with which the SLC can assess eligibility, will require:
Personal details (name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, nationality)
National insurance number (required for repayment purposes)
Contact details (address, phone number, e-mail address)
Residential status (including residence history)
Details of previous support from SLC
Details of the Training provider
Details of the course the loan is required for
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Wind Power
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of (a) wind turbine towers and (b) wind turbines installed in the latest year for which figures are available were made in the UK. [111011]
Mr Prisk: The Government do not collect data on the proportion of onshore or offshore wind turbines or wind turbine towers that were installed in the UK that are made in the UK. However, the Government's Renewable Energy Roadmap (July 2011) outlined ambitions for offshore wind energy of up to 18GW by 2020. The Government are working with UK industry to ensure that it is aware of that market opportunity and capable of competing successfully to win significant market share. However, the latest report by K-Matrix on the low carbon environmental goods and services sector shows that the sector, including wind, continues to grow in the UK:
http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-sectors/green-economy/market-intelligence/market-data
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the global market share of wind turbine manufacture of UK companies. [111012]
Mr Prisk: The Government do not produce estimates of the global market for wind turbine manufacture or the UK manufacturing share of it. However, an independent report produced by K-Matrix and commissioned by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills estimates the UK and global turnover for the wind market (offshore and onshore) and numbers of UK companies involved. These estimates include economic activity across all aspects of the supply chain. K-Matrix estimates that turnover in the UK wind market in 2010-11 was around £14 billion (including all supply chain activity), which is 3.6% of the global wind market.
Work and Pensions
Child Maintenance
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that effective enforcement action is taken so that parents receive child maintenance. [112140]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that effective enforcement action is taken so that parents receive child maintenance. [112140]
The Commission has at its disposal a range of strong enforcement powers, intended to ensure all parents fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children, and we are using all of the powers available to us where it is appropriate to do so—for
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example, we are increasing the use we make of deductions from non-resident parents' bank accounts and orders for sale of their property. In fact, the latest figures in the March 2012 Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics show deduction of monies from bank accounts has trebled since 2009. Additionally, driving disqualifications for non-payment have risen eightfold since 2008. Enforcement information is routinely published in the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics which is available using the following link:
http://www.childmaintenance.org/en/pdf/qss/Qss_mar_2012.pdf
In the future, the introduction of the new child maintenance scheme will bring greater automation and in turn more alerts to identify quickly people who fall into debt. Once the new scheme is introduced, this will give us additional capacity to pursue effective debt collection, including taking tougher enforcement action more quickly against those who continue to evade their responsibilities.
The Government has recently reconfirmed its commitment to introducing further enforcement powers for use against parents who refuse to pay, when the time is right. The proposed forthcoming integration of the child maintenance system into the Department for Work and Pensions will ensure full Ministerial accountability for the use of these far-reaching powers.
Consumer Prices Index
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the consumer prices index with housing costs included, which is being developed by the Office for National Statistics, might be used in future for the uprating of (a) state benefits and pensions and (b) public sector pensions. [111959]
Steve Webb: The Office for National Statistics is currently consulting on the methodology for reflecting owner occupiers' housing costs in a new additional measure of consumer price inflation. We will need to consider the range of issues, including the outcomes of this consultation, before coming to any conclusion about the most appropriate measure for the purposes of uprating state benefits and pensions and public sector pensions in the future.
Disclosure of Information
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on the updating of published data in line with the Government's transparency agenda in each month since September 2011. [110720]
Chris Grayling: The Department for Work and Pensions is a large customer facing organisation and staff routinely publish and update large amounts of statistics and research, procurement, expenditure and staffing information which all constitute elements of the DWP's wider transparency commitments. Assessing the cost of updating this information since September 2011 solely in relation to the Government's transparency agenda and differentiating it from normal business would exceed the disproportionate cost limit.
Employment Schemes
Hugh Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) young people, (b) lone parents, (c) people with disabilities and (d) people in total gained work as a result of attending government
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programmes in (i) York, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber, (iii) England and (iv) the UK in (A) 1992 and (B) each year since 1992. [111427]
Chris Grayling: To provide the requested statistical breakdown for all Government programmes since 1992 would incur disproportionate cost.
Employment Schemes: Wrexham
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which organisations in Wrexham which provided assistance for employment support allowance will not provide assistance under the Work programme. [109846]
Chris Grayling: Prior to the Work programme, ESA customers in the Wrexham area who needed help to look for work were referred to our Pathways to Work contracted provider, A4e.
Under the Work Programme, ESA customers are now referred to one of two prime contractors: Jobfit, who then subcontract to BTCV, or Working Links, who deliver directly to claimants.
Housing Benefit
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will estimate the number of people who will have their housing benefit capped who will move from employment to unemployment as a result of the cap; [111701]
(2) what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the housing benefit cap on transient population movement to seaside towns. [111703]
Steve Webb: The Department has commissioned a consortium of academics and research organisations led by Ian Cole, professor of housing studies at Sheffield Hallam university, to undertake an independent review of the impact of changes to the local housing allowance system of housing benefit.
Elements of the research are impacts on employment and a spatial analysis of the effects of the changes that will examine movement from one local authority to another.
The Department published a report of early findings on 14 June and a copy of the report has been lodged in the House Library.
The report found that in high rent markets such as London one third of claimants-respondents looked for a job and a similar proportion say they will look for a job to meet a shortfall in their rent. Nationally the respective averages are slightly lower (27% and 32%).
The Department of Communities and Local Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government are working in close partnership with the DWP and contributing to the costs of the review.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with local authority leaders whose authorities include the principal seaside towns on the potential effects of benefit caps on seaside towns. [111704]
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Chris Grayling: Engagement between the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and local authorities (LAs) is paramount to ensure the support needs for all potentially impacted claimants are met. On 21 March 2012, Robert Devereux, DWP Permanent Secretary, and Sir Bob Kerslake wrote jointly to all LA chief executives regarding planning for Welfare Reform, including the introduction of the benefit cap.
At a strategic level, the Local Government Association (LGA) and DCLG are working alongside DWP and other Government Departments to prepare for the introduction of the benefit cap.
The impact of the benefit cap will vary across the country both in terms of the job/training opportunities available and the housing support that may be required and as such the approach to implementing support mechanisms will be tailored to the specific geographic area.
Locally, DWP district managers are leading engagement with LAs to support those potentially impacted. DWP officials responsible for design and implementation of the benefit cap will be seeking assurance that DWP and LA operational staff are working together to identify and manage issues relevant to the local area, this will include those issues that may be specific to seaside towns.
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of families who will leave their existing homes in Poplar and Limehouse constituency as a consequence of the introduction of the benefit cap on 1 April 2013. [111716]
Chris Grayling: The information is not available.
The benefit cap will mean that people on benefit will face choices about housing costs similar to those faced by people in work. But it will not necessarily mean that they will need to move from their home. Even within the limits of this cap, households will still be able to receive significant amounts of financial assistance from state welfare payments and if a member of the household moves into work and becomes eligible for working tax credit they will be exempt from the impacts of the cap.
We know which people are likely to be affected by the cap and following the passing of the Welfare Reform Act we have a year to work with them before the cap is introduced. Jobcentre Plus will contact every potential benefit cap claimant to ensure that they are offered the opportunity to discuss employment support and to ensure they are getting the help they need, including early access to the Work Programme.
If further help is needed, local authorities will be able to consider making discretionary housing payments. Additional resources will be made available for this in the right areas to provide short-term, temporary relief to families who may face a variety of challenges. We will provide up to £75 million for this purpose in 2013-14 and a further £45 million in 2014-15.
Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of (a) the number of families in Poplar and Limehouse constituency who will be affected by the benefit cap to be introduced on 1 April 2013, (b) the number of children so affected and (c) the average level of reduction in benefit rate for those families. [111759]
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Chris Grayling: The information is not available at parliamentary constituency level.
On 23 January 2012 the Department published an updated Impact Assessment for the household benefit cap, which estimated that in Great Britain 67,000 households would be affected by the cap in the first year of its implementation (the financial year 2013-14).
Following the concessions made in the House of Commons on 1 February, we estimate that the introduction of an exemption for those in receipt of the support component of employment support allowance and a grace period of 39 weeks for claimants who have been in employment for 52 weeks or more before leaving work will reduce the number of households affected by the cap to around 57,000.
This assumes that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work Programme to move as many into work as possible.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy that universal credit claimants whose housing costs payments switch to being paid directly to their landlord should switch back after a period to being paid to the tenant; and if so (a) after what period and (b) in what circumstances he proposes the switch back should occur. [112451]
Chris Grayling: There are no plans to automatically resume direct payment to the tenant after a fixed period, but we envisage having a process of periodic reviews of whether a tenant is able to manage their own finances.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter of 16 April 2012 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Novlyn McFarquhar. [112733]
Chris Grayling: I refer the right hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 268W.
Occupational Pensions
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to seek the views of employers participating in the early stages of the automatic enrolment implementation scheme as part of the Workplace Pension Reform Evaluation Strategy. [111926]
Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions published its plans for evaluating the Workplace Pension Reforms on 4 July 2011, available at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep764.pdf
Early insight into employer views forms a key part of the Department’s evaluation plans. It will be captured using the Department’s qualitative research with employers
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and the pension regulator’s quarterly employer research. This will be supported by the Department’s 2011 and 2013 quantitative employer pension provision surveys.
As well as inclusion in evaluation reports, information will also be made public through publications linked to each of the data sources used. The pensions regulator’s spring and autumn 2011 reports form part of the baseline against which to assess employer views and will be included in the first evaluation report that will be published in July 2012.
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/ecr-tracker-research-report.pdf
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/ecr-employer-tracker-research-2011.pdf
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria the Workplace Pension Reform Evaluation Strategy will use to measure the effects of automatic enrolment. [111927]
Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions published its plans for evaluating the workplace pension reforms on 4 July 2011, available at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep764.pdf
The evaluation strategy is structured around eight key evaluation questions which will assess the effects of the reforms against the intermediate policy objective of getting more people to save for their retirement and the long-term objective to increase pensioner incomes, reduce pensioner poverty and improve living standards for pensioners. The evaluation questions were developed by a cross-Government steering group. Views on the scope and the more technical methodologies for measuring the effects of automatic enrolment were also sought from a range of stakeholders including organisations representing employers and individuals, pension providers, academics and research organisations.
The workplace pension reforms baseline evaluation report will be published in July 2012 at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rrs-index.asp
The report aims to describe the landscape before the implementation of the reforms in the context of the evaluation questions. This will be the first in a series of annual publications.
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to minimise the industry-specific administrative obligations of auto-enrolment for (a) agency workers and (b) agencies who frequently change position. [111928]
Steve Webb: Automatic enrolment into a workplace pension scheme is designed to tackle the problem of increased longevity coupled with widespread under saving for retirement. It extends the opportunity to save for retirement to moderate to low earners, those individuals who would not usually have access to an employer's pension, and those who work in employment sectors that have tended not to provide pension schemes. This includes people who use temporary work as a stop gap between permanent employment, a stepping stone into permanent employment and those who choose agency work as a preferred working pattern.
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In the case of employment agencies, the automatic enrolment duty rests with the Agency. The Agency—rather than the client company(ies) with whom the person is placed—will automatically enrol a temporary worker and calculate contributions on wages payable. The duty continues while the person is employed by that Agency, irrespective of a change of client(s) to whom the person is assigned, unless the person opts out.
Following the recommendations of the independent ‘Making Automatic Enrolment Work’ Review commissioned by the coalition Government, we have taken significant steps to minimise the administrative burdens of the workplace pension reforms for all employers. These include introducing an automatic enrolment earnings trigger set above the point from which contributions are calculated to reduce the problem of penny packet contributions. For this tax year we have aligned the automatic enrolment rates with existing payroll thresholds to simplify the administrative burden. And we have provided for an optional waiting period which allows an employer to defer a worker's automatic enrolment date by up to three months. This is intended, in particular, to benefit those employers, including agencies, who employ temporary workers.
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the (a) cost and (b) administrative burden of opt-outs from the automatic enrolment regulations for temporary workers. [111929]
Steve Webb: Our approach to assessing the cost and burden of automatic enrolment on business was to look at the impact on business as a whole, including the agency worker sector.
Our estimates of administrative costs for opt-out and associated refunds for all employers suggest the costs are around £14 million in year one and £3 million in ongoing years. These figures are in 2011-12 earnings terms.
David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 27 March 2012, Official Report, column 1044W, on occupational pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the Workplace Pension Reforms Evaluation Strategy is suited to smaller employers. [112126]
Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions published its plans for evaluating the workplace pension reforms on 4 July 2011, available at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep764.pdf
The Department is committed to a full evaluation of the impact of the workplace pension reforms. Analysis will draw on a range of information, such as management information reports, existing continuous surveys of individuals and employers, panel data, and where appropriate, research commissioned by the Department. It will therefore be possible to measure outcomes at different stages, and by a range of employer characteristics, including analysis by employer size.
The baseline evaluation report based on the Workplace Pension Reforms Evaluation Strategy will be published in July 2012 and will describe the landscape before the
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implementation of the reforms, including analysis by employer size. It will also contain a comprehensive list of data sources.
Older Workers
Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people between the ages of 60 and 65 claiming pension credit were eligible for jobseeker's allowance in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [112254]
Steve Webb: We do not have the information available. Men between the pension credit qualifying age and their own state pension age can choose to claim either pension credit or jobseeker's allowance provided they meet the eligibility conditions.
| Males aged 60 to 64 claiming pension credit in Great Britain | |
| Number of males | |
| Notes: 1. Figures provided assume that pension credit is available from age 60. However, the qualifying age for pension credit is increasing in line with the increase in women's state pension age. At November 2011 the qualifying age for pension credit was between 60 and 10 months and 60 and 11 months, at November 2010 the qualifying age for pension credit was between 60 and three months and 60 and four months. Current data do not allow analysis that takes account of the increase in qualifying age. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Pension credit household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. 4. These data are available on the Departments tabulation tool at http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html | |
Pensioners: Poverty
Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of pensioners in Wales aged 75 years or over live in relative poverty. [111552]
Steve Webb: Estimates on the proportion of pensioners in poverty are published in the Households Below Average Income series, including breakdowns separately by region and by age.
The latest poverty statistics for 2010-11 can be found on the Department’s website at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2011/index.php ?page=contents
Information on relative poverty by age and country or region combined, however, is not available.
Personal Independence Payment
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how people in receipt of disability living allowance who reach retirement age shortly after the introduction of the personal independence payment will be treated if there is insufficient time between the introduction of the personal independence payment and the point at which they retire to complete the application and assessment processes. [110905]
Maria Miller: All existing claimants to disability living allowance (DLA), who are aged between 16 and 64 when personal independence payment (PIP) is introduced on 8 April 2013, will be invited to claim PIP and will be assessed for the new benefit if they choose to claim it.
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As set out in our ongoing consultation, ‘DLA reform and Personal Independence Payment - completing the detailed design’, we will begin to reassess existing DLA claimants from October 2013. Therefore anyone reassessed for entitlement to PIP who is over the age of 65 at the time they are assessed will have their eligibility determined according to their age on 8 April 2013. These arrangements will ensure that individuals are able to access all components of PIP without any age restriction applying, even if their needs have increased since reaching age 65. This ensures everyone is treated equally irrespective of their age at the time of their reassessment.
Poverty
Hugh Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of (a)
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children,
(b)
pensioners and
(c)
households were living in poverty in (i) York, (ii) Yorkshire and the Humber, (iii) England and (iv) the UK in each year since 1992. [111437]
Steve Webb: Data for York are unavailable due to insufficient sample size, data on a consistent basis are unavailable for GB, England and Yorkshire and Humberside before 1994-95 and not available for the UK before 1998-99.
Tables 1 to 3 as follows show the numbers and proportion of children, pensioners and households falling below 60% of contemporary median equivalised income both Before and After Housing Costs.
| Table 1: Number and proportion of children living in households below 60% of median equivalised household income, Before and After Housing Costs, 1994-95 to 2010-11 | ||||||
| Before Housing Costs | ||||||
| Yorkshire and the Humber | England | United Kingdom | ||||
| Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | |
| After Housing Costs | ||||||
| Yorkshire and the Humber | England | United Kingdom | ||||
| Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | |
| Table 2: Number and proportion of pensioners living in households below 60% of median equivalised household income, Before and After Housing Costs, 1994-95 to 2010-11 | ||||||
| Before Housing Costs | ||||||
| Yorkshire and the Humber | England | United Kingdom | ||||
| Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | |
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| After Housing Costs | ||||||
| Yorkshire and the Humber | England | United Kingdom | ||||
| Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | Number | Proportion | |