Culture, Media and Sport
Archaelogy and Cultural Heritage
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent steps her Department has taken to involve and interest young people in (a) archaeology and (b) heritage; and if she will make a statement. [122629]
Mr Vaizey: Involving and interesting young people in archaeology and heritage are key aims of the Department, of English Heritage (EH) and of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). EH engages young people through programmes such as Discovery Visits which invite school children to explore and learn from the historic properties in English Heritage's care.
In 2011-12 there were nearly 640,000 educational visits to EH's historic properties, collections and tailored learning activities and resources. EH also provides funding for the Council for British Archaeology's Young Archaeologists' Club, the only UK-wide club for young people up to the age of 17 interested in archaeology.
This year EH was awarded £2.7 million by the Department for Education for the Heritage Schools Initiative that, working with the heritage sector over three years, will encourage schools to use their local heritage in delivering the curriculum.
All projects supported by HLF deliver learning outcomes and many engage children and young people directly in activity that helps them learn about their built environment. HLF estimates that over 26,000 of its projects and more than £4.4 billion of its funding has benefited children and young people across the UK.
2012 marks 10 years of HLF's successful Young Roots programme though which young people aged 11-25 deliver local heritage projects and learn new skills. HLF has awarded £27.5 million to over 1,300 Young Roots projects led by young people, including over £400,000 in youth-led projects specifically focused on archaeology.
Through the newly-formed Cultural Education Partnership Group, HLF, other lottery distributors and EH are seeking to align their strategies so as to maximise the number of high quality cultural education opportunities for children and young people in England.
Arts
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the contribution of the creative industries to local economies in each region. [122628]
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Mr Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not currently produce regional data for creative industries estimates, either for employment or for gross value added (GVA). It has, however, published regional data on creative industries for the number of enterprises (head offices) and local units (workplaces) on a consistent basis for the last three years. This can be found by clicking on the ‘Key findings and table’ documents located on the following webpage:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/publications/8682.aspx
On the ground, economic research has not been undertaken since the abolition of the regional development agencies. However, Creative England—a national agency that invests in and supports creative ideas, talent and businesses in film, TV, games and digital media—is liaising with, for example, local enterprise partnerships, raising funds for research and doing a major research project with EC funds on creative clusters. Creative England recently partnered with Birmingham county council on a scoping of the creative sector.
Broadband
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many local authorities had had Broadband Delivery UK audits before 1 September 2012; and how many such local authorities have had those audits agreed. [122792]
Mr Vaizey: Under the terms of the BDUK grant agreement with local authorities, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport can carry out audits of projects, but to date, no audits have taken place and there are no immediate plans to audit any of the local broadband projects.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many local authorities have been required to have a new additional audit by Broadband Delivery UK in (a) September, (b) October and (c) November 2012. [122793]
Mr Vaizey: Under the terms of the BDUK grant agreement with local authorities, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport can carry out audits of projects, but to date, no audits have taken place and there are no immediate plans to audit any of the local broadband projects.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when the next negotiations with the EU on state aid, broadband and Broadband Delivery UK will take place. [122794]
Mr Vaizey: I can confirm that it is our understanding that the Commission is on track to issue its final decision in late October/early November which will allow projects to get under way.
Information and Communications Technology
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many IT systems which cost over £1 million and were introduced since May 2010 are in use in her Department. [122470]
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Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many IT projects have been developed for her Department since May 2010. [122475]
Hugh Robertson: Since May 2010, four IT projects have been developed by the Department.
Newspaper Licensing Agency
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what the cost to her Department was of Newspaper Licensing Agency licences for scanned content for each year since 2010. [122734]
Hugh Robertson: The cost of the Newspaper Licensing Agency licence for digital press clippings to the Department, is set out in the following table:
| Cost (net) (£) | |
| (1) These costs include media monitoring activity for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. | |
Work and Pensions
Atos Healthcare
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what correspondence he has received from any Minister in the Scottish Government on Atos Healthcare; and if he will place copies of any such correspondence in the Library. [122634]
Mr Hoban: We receive correspondence from Ministers across Great Britain on both the work capability assessment (WCA) and Atos Healthcare. We are committed to continually improving the WCA, and Ministers’ ongoing interest in the assessment highlights the need to build on the improvements already made.
Carer's Allowance
Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what plans he has to increase the earnings threshold for carer's allowance; [122632]
(2) what plans he has to synchronise minimum wage rises with the earnings threshold for carer's allowance. [122633]
Mr Hoban: There are no current plans to increase the earnings threshold, or to synchronise minimum wage rises with the earnings threshold for carer's allowance.
Employment and Support Allowance
Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions a decision by his Department in relation to eligibility for employment and support allowance has been overturned without the claimant undertaking a formal appeal process in each month since May 2010. [122624]
Mr Hoban: The information requested is not available.
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Housing Benefit
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of housing benefit claimants (a) of all ages and (b) under 26 were (i) in work and (ii) unemployed in the latest period for which figures are available. [123052]
Steve Webb:
The number of claimants of housing benefit (HB) who are unemployed is not available.
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Information is only available for those HB claimants whose claim is passported and who receive jobseeker’s allowance (income-based). The Department does collect information on those in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance from the housing benefit data source (the single housing benefit extract) but to assess the completeness of recording and quality assure the figures would incur disproportionate cost.
Such information as is available is in the following table.
| Housing benefit recipients, non-passported and in employment, Great Britain, May 2012 | ||||
| All non-passported | Of which: In employment | Percentage of all HB recipients who are in employment | ||
| Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Recipients are as at second Thursday of the month. 3. Case load data are rounded to the nearest 10, percentages to one decimal place. 4. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data are available monthly from November 2008 and May 2012 is the most recent available. 5. This data refers to people receiving housing benefit not in receipt of a passported benefit and are recorded as being in employment if their local authority has recorded employment income from either the main claimant, or partner of claimant (if applicable), in calculating the housing benefit award. People receiving passported benefits who are working part-time cannot be identified and are therefore not included in this analysis. Source: Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) | ||||
Housing Benefit: Young People
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the potential effects of the withdrawal of housing benefit from those aged under 25 years on levels of (a) homelessness and (b) poverty in each of the next four financial years. [122977]
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his policy is on the removal of housing benefit for people aged under 26 years; [123055]
(2) what discussions he has had with (a) the Social Development Minister in Northern Ireland and (b) the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on future changes to the age of eligibility for housing benefit; [123147]
Steve Webb: Current Government policy does not include withdrawing housing support from people aged under 25.
Jobcentre Plus
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints have been made by users of Jobcentre Plus against staff in the last five years by (a) region and (b) Jobcentre Plus office. [123145]
Mr Hoban: The information requested is provided in the following tables:
| Jobcentre Plus Customer Complaints Level 1 and 2—2008-09 to 2010-11 | ||||||
| Complaints category: Helpfulness/courtesy of staff | ||||||
| Regions: | ||||||
| National | East Midlands | East of England | London | North East | North West | |
| Complaints category: Helpfulness/courtesy of staff | |||||||
| Regions: | |||||||
| National | Scotland | South East | South West | Wales | West Midlands | Yorks and Humber | |
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| Jobcentre Plus Customer Complaints Level 1 and 2—2011-12 to date | ||||||||
| Complaints category: DWP staff do not treat me with respect | ||||||||
| Groups: | ||||||||
| National | Central England | London and Home Counties | Southern England | North West | North Eastern England | Wales | Scotland | |
The tables show a breakdown of complaints made about Jobcentre Plus staff in the last five years. From 2008-2009 to 2010-11 the breakdown is provided by region. Following the introduction of a new complaints handling process, the data from 2011-12 are now recorded at group level. Office level data are not available as returns are made by JCP districts. DWP have eight standard complaint categories. In 2011-12 JCP aligned with these categories, so while the complaints from 2008-09 to 2010-11 are recorded as complaints about the helpfulness/courtesy of staff, the complaints from 2011-12 to date are recorded under the category ‘DWP staff do not treat me with respect’.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people can continue to receive jobseeker's allowance while waiting for Criminal Records Bureau clearance to take up a new job. [122789]
Mr Hoban: Jobseeker's allowance is payable whenever a claimant is available for and actively seeking work.
It is possible for a person to restrict the type of work they are willing to take as long as they can show they still have a reasonable chance of finding work within this restriction, for example, a jobseeker might wish to restrict their availability to temporary jobs until the Criminal Records Bureau check has been completed.
Jobseeker's Allowance: Peterborough
Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged 50 and over were claiming jobseeker's allowance in Peterborough constituency in each quarter since 2001; what proportion of the working population such people represented; and if he will make a statement. [121756]
Mr Hoban: The information on jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 50 and over in Peterborough parliamentary constituency as a percentage of the working age population for each quarter from February 2001 to August 2012 is as follows:
| Claimants aged 50 and over | Claimants as percentage of working age population (%) | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are computer held cases only. 2. Claimant figures are rounded to the nearest 5, percentages to one decimal place. 3. Percentages are calculated using working age ONS Mid-Term population estimates and include females aged 16 to 59 and males aged 16 to 64 from the relevant parliamentary constituency. 4. Caseload data are published at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/Default.asp Source: 100% Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems ONS Mid Term population estimates 2001 to 2010 | ||
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Poverty: Children
Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children were living in poverty in Scotland in each of the last 10 years. [123143]
Esther McVey: Estimates of the number and proportion of children living in poverty in the United Kingdom are published in the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. Estimates specifically for Scotland are published in the Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland series.
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The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets four income-based UK-wide targets to be met by 2020. The targets are based on the proportion of children living in households with relative low income, absolute low income, combined low income and material deprivation and persistent poverty (all before housing costs have been taken into account).
Relative low income and absolute low income figures for the last 10 years and combined low income and material deprivation for the last seven years for Scotland can be found in table 1 as follows:
| Table 1. Child Poverty Statistics for Scotland—number and percentage of children falling below various thresholds, 2001-02 to 2010-11 | ||||||
| Relative low income (BHC) | Absolute low income (BHC) | Combined low income and material deprivation | ||||
| Thousand | Percentage | Thousand | Percentage | Thousand | Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on the Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland: 2010-11 data sourced from the 2010-11 Family Resources Survey (FRS) and are available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00394961.pdf 2. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication “Households Below Average Income” (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equivalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living and is available at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai_arc 3. The relative low income child poverty measure captures the number of children who live in a household with an equivalised income below 60% of contemporary median income, Before Housing Costs (BHC). 4. The absolute low income child poverty measure captures the number of children who live in a household with an equivalised income below 60% of 1998-99 median household income held constant in real terms. 5. The combined low income and material deprivation measure captures the number of children who live in a household with an equivalised income below 70% of contemporary median income and have a material deprivation score of 25 or more. A suite of questions designed to capture the material deprivation experienced by families have only been captured since 2004-05 and are therefore only available from this year onwards. 6. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 7. Numbers and percentages of children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 children or percentage point. Source: Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland: 2010-11 | ||||||
Figures for persistent poverty are published in a separate statistical release called Persistent Poverty in Scotland and can be found in table 2 as follows:
| Table 2. Persistent Child Poverty Statistics (%) for Scotland 1999-2002 to 2005-08 | |
| Persistent Poverty (BHC) (%) | |
| Notes: 1. These statistics are based on the Persistent Poverty in Scotland data sourced from the British Households Panel Survey (BHPS) and are available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00395002.pdf 2. The persistent child poverty measure captures the number of children who have lived in a household with an equivalised income of less than 60% of contemporary median income for at least three of the last four years, BHC. 3. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 4. Percentages of children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Source: Persistent Poverty in Scotland | |
Social Security Benefits: Disqualification
Mr Ward:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Bradford district were sanctioned under his Department's mandatory work
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activity scheme for failing to participate in the scheme whilst claiming job seeker's allowance. [123021]
Mr Hoban: The number of individuals claiming jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) that have had sanctions applied for failing to participate in mandatory work activity in Bradford local authority between 16 May 2011 to 30 April 2012 is 130.
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate: JSA Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database.
State Retirement Pensions
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of women born between 6 June 1951 and 5 December 1953 who will reach state pension age before men born during the same period; if he will estimate (a) the number of such women who will receive a state pension of less than £140 per week and (b) the average state pension of (i) women and (ii) men born during this period; what recent discussions he has had about pensioner poverty among pensioners who will reach pension age before the single tier state pension scheme starts; and if he will make a statement. [121557]
Steve Webb
[holding answer 18 September 2012]:Women born between 6 June 1951 and 5 December 1953 reach state pension age between 6 September 2012 and 6 November 2018 so information on actual amounts of state pension is not yet available. The Department's forecasting models suggest that around 1 million women
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and around 2.2 million men will start to receive state pension between April 2012 and March 2019:
(a) Around 510,000 of these women are estimated to have a gross state pension of less than £140 per week (in 2012-13 earnings terms) or around 50% of all women in this cohort. For the men starting to receive state pension over the same period around 460,000 are estimated to have a gross state pension of less than £140 per week (in 2012-13 earnings terms) or around 20% of all men in this cohort.
(b) The average (median) amount of gross state pension for women in this group is estimated to be around £140 per week. The average (median) amount of gross state pension for men starting to receive state pension over the same period is estimated to be around £185 per week.
The estimates above are for gross state pension amounts which include additional pension rights accrued in private pension schemes during periods of contracting out. They do not include income from means tested benefits.
(c) The Government want all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement. Pension credit provides a safety net for the poorest pensioners by topping up income to a minimum amount, and Government have restored the earnings link for the basic state pension and given a “triple guarantee” that the basic state pension will increase by the highest of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%.
Source:
(a) and (b): The Department's PENSIM2 simulation model October 2012 and DWP Forecasting Division: Budget 2012. Figures relate to Great Britain only.
Telephone Services
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what enquiry and claims telephone lines his Department operates which are (a) free to the caller and (b) may incur a charge to the caller; and what the principal access number is of each. [123146]
Mr Hoban: The information is as follows:
| List of 0800 and 0845 numbers operated by Contact Centre Services (CCS), Pensions Service and Disability and Carers Service (DCS) | ||||
| Business | Service line | Telephone number | Cost incurred/free (if calling from a BT landline) | Free to call from mobile providers?(1) |
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| Table 2 | |
| Primary benefit inquiry | 0845 Numbers |
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| Textphone services | |||
| Business | Service line | Number | Cost incurred/free (if calling from a BT landline) |
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Debt Management does not operate any inquiry lines that are free to the caller. They have three inquiry lines as follows:
All these numbers incur charges to the caller which are dependent on the service providers' tariff.
In addition Debt Management has one geographic inquiry line: 44 161 904 1233 This is specifically for customers living abroad (as the non-geographic numbers do not always work from overseas). Charges for these calls will be at the service providers' international tariff.
The Child Maintenance Group do not have any 0800 free to call customer numbers. Their customer facing numbers are prefaced by 0845 which are typically charged at between 1p and 10.5p per minute from a landline. Calls from mobile phones generally cost between 12p and 41p per minute.
Any call a customer makes will incur a charge and this is dependent upon their service provider and whether the call is made from a landline or mobile.
Our telephony is not split between inquiries and claims. Child support telephony are geographical numbers based upon the home address of the parent with care for the six different regional areas, for our customers with claims which have been active since 2003. There is a separate number for customers with active claims prior to 2003, and a dedicated number for employers. The numbers are as follows:
| Number | |
Universal Credit
Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department is of the (a) helpline and (b) training for hon. Members and their staff on the introduction of universal credit. [122770]
Mr Hoban: We are developing our plans to support hon. Members and their staff during the introduction of universal credit: costs are therefore not yet available. We will use the opportunity of our pathfinder approach to develop and test support arrangements which balance the need to provide appropriate advice and to focus our investment on the service offered to claimants.
Stephen Timms:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place on his Department's website a record of the actions from meetings of the
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Universal Credit Finance and Commercial Working Group which have taken place since January 2012. [123043]
Steve Webb: The Universal Credit Finance and Commercial Working Group is a joint forum with local authorities to discuss and assess financial impacts of DWP's universal credit programme and related matters. The DWP website currently contains summaries of transactions of this group from some previous meetings. We are developing a new, more secure and interactive web application that will allow for more discussion and access to documents and transactions from this and other bodies. When this is available we will ensure that the records are brought up to date.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will update his Department's website to include the minutes of the meetings of the Local Authority Transition Working Group which have taken place since the last published minutes in February 2012. [123044]
Steve Webb: The Local Authority Transition Working Group is an important forum to engage with local authorities about all aspects of DWP's universal credit programme. The DWP website currently contains summaries of transactions of this group from some previous meetings. We are developing a new, more secure and interactive web application that will allow for more discussion and access to documents and transactions from this and other bodies. When this is available we will ensure that the records are brought up to date.
Welfare Reform Act 2012
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Minister for Social Development and (b) the Finance Minister in Northern Ireland on introducing operational flexibility and mitigation measures for the implementation of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 in Northern Ireland. [123053]
Mr Hoban: Ministers from both Administrations meet regularly to discuss these issues and others of mutual interest.
Work Capability Assessment
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will consider contracting work capability assessments to the NHS. [123140]
Mr Hoban:
The current contract end date for provision of Work Capability Assessments is August 2015. Future provision will be contracted for through our Health and Disability Assessment Framework which was let in April 2012. The Framework has been let for an initial five year period and can be extended for a further two years. NHS are not among the suppliers on the Health and Disability Assessment Framework and so will not be invited to tender directly. Organisations who are on the Health and Disability Assessment Framework may choose
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to subcontract the delivery of assessment services and so there is the potential for the NHS to become involved in that capacity.
Work Programme
Stephen Timms:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2012, Official Report, column 166W, on employment
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schemes, when during the autumn he plans to conduct the next exercise to determine the proportion of Work programme attachments which are referred to tier one and tier two voluntary sector organisations. [123037]
Mr Hoban: An exercise looking at the proportion of Work programme referrals to voluntary sector organisations in tier one and two of supply chains is currently under way, and is expected to be completed before the end of autumn 2012.