Personal Independence Payment
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to allow people who have hearing loss and who are participating in the personal independence payment pilots to write to, email or text officials to request a paper form; what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the claim process for young people with hearing loss; and if he will make a statement. [156536]
Esther McVey: We provide a textphone facility for people with hearing loss who cannot make a PIP claim by telephone. We will also accept telephone claims from people acting on behalf of the claimant and, where they have no one to provide this support, claimants can request a paper version of the PIP claim form in writing from a DWP PO Box address.
We are committed to enabling communication with claimants who are deaf or hard of hearing. We have standard processes in place to support deaf people, and a range of guidance to help staff to understand the help required and support available through alternative formats.
The introduction of PIP offers an opportunity to work towards redesigning business processes and facilitate a move to digital options in the future, including the ability for claimants to request a form by e-mail.
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Personnel Management
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials in his Department were employed in human resources functions in each of the last five years; at what grades such staff were employed; and what the total cost of his Department's human resources functions was. [156679]
Mr Hoban: The costs of the HR function and the staff (full time equivalents) employed are detailed in table 1 following. The HR function described is consistent with the definition of HR provide by the Cabinet Office publication “Common Areas of Spend”.
| Table 1: Total cost and staff number of DWP HR | ||
| FTE | Total cost of HR (£000) | |
The figures above exclude Child Maintenance Group.
Since 1 April 2011 DWP has hosted Civil Service Employee Policy (CSEP) which is part of Civil Service HR and provides services across Government. The costs and staff (full time equivalents) employed on this service are detailed in table 2 following.
| Table 2: Total cost and staff numbers of CSEP | ||
| FTE | Cost of CSEP (£000) | |
It should be noted however that this service is fully charged out and therefore the costs and staff of this service that are relevant to DWP are already included in table 1 above.
The full grade breakdown to support this analysis is not captured routinely and is therefore not available.
Regulation
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department; [155806]
(2) what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in, one out and (ii) one in, two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended; [155829]
(3) if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were. [155972]
Mr Hoban: The process for monitoring and collating cost information on amendments to statutory instruments and revocations is through the Government’s Statement of New Regulation (SNR).
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There have been five Statements of Regulation, since the first published in April 2011. They list new regulations coming into force from 1 January 2011, and their impact under One-In, One-Out. From January 2013, the statements capture the effect of new regulation under the new One-In, Two-Out system. The Department complies with the process by contributing to the Government’s statements and separately publishing its new measures including Health and Safety Executive (HSE) measures (from January 2012) in its own statements (publications are now available on gov.uk).
My Department has reviewed and responded to requests to amend or revoke regulations through the Red Tape Challenge:
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www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
For health and safety regulations, through the Government’s response to Lord Young’s review of health and safety laws “Common Sense, Common Safety”; the Government’s health and safety reform programme, “Good Health and Safety, Good for Everyone” and the Löfstedt Review: “Reclaiming health and safety for all: An independent review of health and safety legislation”.
Regulations in scope for One-In, One-Out or One-In, Two-Out, including HSE measures, are listed in the following table, including the cost information that is available.
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Remploy
Mr Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many bids he has received for the Remploy Marine Textiles division to date. [154109]
Esther McVey: I am unable to state how many bids were received for the Marine Textiles business as this information is commercially confidential and Remploy does not disclose it.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995
Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to include work-related road deaths under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. [156537]
Mr Hoban: Revised Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) will be introduced in October 2013. There are no plans to widen the scope of reportable incidents under RIDDOR to include further work-related road deaths or incidents.
Scotland
Mr David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the legislation his Department has sponsored which has devolved powers to the Scottish Parliament and powers within such legislation since 1998. [156237]
David Mundell: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Scotland Office.
Scotland Office is responsible for maintaining and strengthening the devolution settlement; together with lead policy Departments we have delivered a programme of Scotland Act orders that have provided additional powers to the Scottish Parliament, as well as delivering the Scotland Act 2012 that enhanced the devolution settlement and provided the largest transfer of financial responsibility since 1999.
Further devolution to the Scottish Parliament is principally achieved by way of amendments to schedules 4 and 5 of the Act. Since 1998 the following changes to those schedules have been made. These are presented in summary form.
Amendments to schedule 4 of the Scotland Act 1998
Power to modify the Scotland Act 1998 regarding financial assistance for opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament.
Powers to modify certain provisions of the Scotland Act 1998 requiring any sum to be payable out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund.
Power to provide that proceedings brought in a court or tribunal against a member of the Scottish Government under the Scotland Act 1998 on human rights grounds have to be brought before the end of a limitation period (since repealed by Scotland Act 2012).
Amendments to schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998
The making of payments to any political party for the purpose of assisting members of the Parliament to perform their parliamentary duties.
A power to allow the Scottish Parliament to conduct a referendum on the independence of Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom, subject to certain conditions.
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Financial and economic matters
Powers to set a rate of income tax to be paid by Scottish taxpayers, and taxes in relation to land transactions and landfill.
The interception of any communication made to or by a person detained at a place of detention.
The regulation of air weapons.
Powers in relation to business associations which are social landlords, including in relation to winding up proceedings and procedures giving protection from creditors.
Powers to provide financial assistance for the provision of services (other than postal services and services relating to money or postal orders) to be provided from public post offices.
Powers to impose requirements on Scottish public authorities about the preparation and submission of strategies relating to the provision of rail services.
Powers to transfer functions of passenger transport executives or passenger transport authorities relating to rail services, and the allocation of such functions among relevant authorities.
The promotion and construction of railways which start, end and remain in Scotland.
Power to impose requirements on Scottish public authorities about the preparation and submission of strategies relating to the provision of air services.
Powers to provide occasional financial or other assistance to or in respect of individuals for the purposes of meeting an immediate short-term need, arising out of exceptional services, to avoid risk to the individual’s well-being, or enabling qualifying individuals to establish or maintain a settled home.
Fire safety on construction sites and on certain premises, including those concerned in the manufacture or storage of chemicals, explosives or flammable materials.
Amendment to part 1 of the Scotland Act 1998
Power to make provision as to the conduct of elections for membership of the Scottish Parliament, and the questioning of such an election and the consequences of irregularities. Made by the Scotland Act 2012 and yet to be brought into force.
Separation
Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to help separated parents work together in the best interests of their children. [157122]
Steve Webb: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to his previous question number 155876, on 20 May 2013, Official Report, column 543W.
On 20 May we announced the next steps in reforming the child maintenance system in a way that incentivises separated parents to collaborate in the interests of their children, available at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130520/wmstext/130520m0001.htm#1305205000011
This is supported by up to £20 million of investment in the Help and Support for Separated Families initiative. So far, we have awarded £6.5 million to seven organisations, to provide 280,000 families with assistance, which we will carefully evaluate.
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Social Fund
Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was awarded by his Department in social fund payments to each English local authority in 2011-12. [156071]
Steve Webb: A table providing the amount awarded for Community Care Grants, Crisis Loans and Budgeting Loans in each lower tier local authority in England in 2011-12 will be placed in the Library.
Data for the regulated Social Fund (funeral payments, cold weather payments and sure start maternity grants) are not available at local authority level.
Social Security Benefits
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the press release issued by his Department on 24 May 2012, what his most recent assessment is of the date when all new claims to current benefits and credits will be entirely phased out. [156916]
Mr Hoban: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my answer of 18 March 2013, Official Report, column 501W. Claims to universal credit started in our Pathfinder from 29 April 2013. Pathfinder will focus on new single, unemployed people, with or without rented housing costs and will replace means tested jobseeker's allowance for this group of claimants. If these claimants then move into work, they will be eligible to claim universal credit, not working tax credit.
Universal credit will then progressively roll-out in a managed way across the country from October 2013. This will ultimately include all claims from people both in and out of work, with everyone eventually claiming the new benefit by 2017.
Mr Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government have spent on welfare in (a) current prices and (b) real terms in respect of (i) pensions, (ii) disability benefits, (iii) unemployment benefits, (iv) lone parent benefits, (v) widowhood benefits and (vi) other benefit disbursements in each year since 1997. [157007]
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Mr Hoban: The information requested is published and can be found at:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
GB expenditure data can be found in the link labelled “Tables from 1948-49 to 2017-18”.
Table 1a shows GB expenditure by DWP benefit in nominal terms and Table 1b shows GB expenditure by DWP benefit in real terms (2013-14 prices). More detailed benefit expenditure information can be found in the individually labelled tabs in this publication.
Social Security Benefits: Older People
Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what welfare benefits are available to people over the age of 80 years. [157141]
Steve Webb: Benefits specific to people aged 80 and over are the over 80 state pension and the age addition to the state pension. People aged 80 and over also receive an additional £100 in their winter fuel payment.
In addition, they may be eligible for a range of other benefits including pension credit, housing benefit, attendance allowance, and localised help with their council tax.
Social Security Benefits: Stafford
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were claiming (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) lone parents allowance, (e) carer's allowance and (f) other out-of-work benefits in Stafford constituency in (i) the most recent month in 2013 for which data are available and (ii) the corresponding month in each of the last 10 years. [156585]
Mr Hoban: Statistics on the number of people in the Stafford constituency who received (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) lone parents, (e) carer's allowance and (f) other out-of-work benefits are shown in the following table:
| Recipients of out-of-work benefits in Stafford parliamentary constituency: 2003-12 | ||||||
| November each year: | Jobseeker’s allowance | Employment and support allowance | Incapacity and severe disablement allowance | Income support—lone parents | Carer’s allowance | Income support—others on income related benefits |
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| Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. The out of work benefits which are included in this analysis are: Jobseeker's allowance Employment and support allowance Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance Carer's allowance Income support—lone parents Income support—others The figures in the table will include overlaps as claimants can be entitled to more than one of the above benefits. 3. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) for new claims from October 2008. 4. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster) These constituencies are used for the Westminster parliament. For the May 2005 general election, the constituencies in Scotland changed and are included in the tables from May 2005 onwards. For the May 2010 general election, constituencies in England and Wales changed and are included in the tables from May 2010 onwards. 5. Data for 2013 are not yet available. 6. This information is published on the ONS website at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/Default.asp Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study | ||||||
State Retirement Pensions
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will commission research to establish the level of annuities purchased by people who have contracted out of additional elements of the state pension. [155830]
Steve Webb: People who contracted out of the additional state pension on a defined contribution basis (which was abolished in April 2012) would have purchased annuities from insurance companies and other annuity providers. The Government do not hold information on the level of annuities purchased by people who have contracted out of the additional elements of the state pension, and commissioning bespoke research on this would be at a disproportionate cost.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the decile amounts of the additional pension accrued by (a) men and (b) women reaching state pension age were in (i) the latest year for which figures are available and (ii) each of the previous five years. [156159]
Steve Webb: The following table provides the weekly deciles amount of the additional pension accrued by men and women reaching state pension age in 2011-12, and for each of the previous five years. The figures are in cash terms, include inherited amounts and are rounded to the nearest pound.
| Deciles amounts (£ per week, cash terms) of additional pension by gender and by year reached state pension age | ||||||||||
| Percentiles | ||||||||||
| 10(th) | 20(th) | 30(th) | 40(th) | 50(th) | 60(th) | 70(th) | 80(th) | 90(th) | ||
| Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5% sample. Figures are extracted from March dataset of each year. | ||||||||||
Telephone Services
Mr Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of double-handled calls made to his Department's call centres in the last period for which figures are available; what the cost was of handling such calls; and what assessment he has made of the effect on customer service of such reforms. [155272]
Mr Hoban: During April 2013, 502,360 benefit inquiry calls out of a total 2,424,346 made to the Department's working age contact centres were unable to be resolved at the first point of contact and were handed over to a Benefit Centre. This represented 20.7% of calls.
For Pensions age calls, 15,319 out of a total 200,766 received in April 2013 by the Department's external provider were unable to be resolved at the first point of contact and were transferred to a Regional Pension Centre. This represented 7.6% of calls handled by the provider.
The cost of double handled calls to the Department and the volumes of internal handoffs for Pension age calls are not routinely captured. The analysis required to provide them would be at a disproportionate cost.
Improvement activity across working age operations is currently being developed and implemented by the Department to improve the resolution of customer inquiries at the first point of contact and so reduce the volumes of calls being double handled.
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Tractors: Accidents
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many accidents have been caused by tractors in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [156502]
Mr Hoban: Details of the number of work-related injuries to workers and members of the public in Great Britain involving wheeled tractors reported to all enforcing authorities including the Health and Safety Executive, in all industries in each of the years from 2006-07 to 2010-11 are set out in the following table. The figures include fatal, major and “over three day” injuries.
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
Training
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year. [155439]
Mr Hoban: At the moment, Department for Work and pensions IT systems only allow us to collate information at total spend level and by individual but not by individual training course. The total number of enrolments to attend publicly funded training courses in each of the last five years is detailed as follows:
| Period | DWP total enrolments |
The total cost of departmental publicly funded training courses over the last five years is detailed as follows:
| Period | DWP total expenditure (£ million) |
With regard to the 10 highest (training course) fees in each of the years, the information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The non-departmental public bodies IT systems only allow the collation at total spend level. The total amount of money spent per year on training in the NDPB in each of the last five years is detailed as follows:
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| Period | NDPB total expenditure |
| Note: In 2012-13 only ILF, NEST and the Ombudsman made returns in that year. | |
The NDBP IT systems do not allow us to collate information on the number of NDPB officials attending publicly funded training courses nor will the IT systems allow the collation of the 10 highest (training course) fees in each of the years. The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Universal Credit
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the cost of implementation of universal credit; and if he will make a statement. [155755]
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what savings his Department expects to make from the mandatory revisions for universal credit and for the period of instituting a mandatory revision before any appeal is accepted. [156276]
Mr Hoban: Mandatory reconsideration is an integral part of the universal credit design. A separate estimate of savings is not available.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many non-dependent adults in households in (a) Great Britain, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Scotland and (e) each parliamentary constituency in Great Britain will be affected by the introduction of housing cost contribution in respect of payments of universal credit in respect of non-dependent adults living in those households; and what the average weekly loss thereby in each category will be; [156539]
(2) how many households in (a) Great Britain, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Scotland and (e) each parliamentary constituency in Great Britain will be affected by the introduction of housing cost contribution in respect of payments of universal credit in respect of non-dependent adults living in those households; and what the average weekly loss thereby in each category will be. [156591]
Steve Webb: The Government believe that it is reasonable that someone living in a claimant's home should be asked to contribute towards the rent. For example, universal credit will ensure that a single person, who is not a homeowner and is aged between 21 and 25, will receive at least £246.81 per month—out of which we are expecting them to contribute only £68 per month. This contribution will be expected only where the person is either in work or there is an expectation that they should be working. It will not be expected if the person is aged under 21, a carer, responsible for a young child, or in receipt of a specified disability benefit.
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It is not possible to isolate the impact of the housing cost contribution from the other constituent parts of universal credit.
Transitional protection will ensure that there will be no cash losers where claimants move to universal credit, providing circumstances remain the same.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the introduction of housing cost contribution in respect of payments of universal credit in respect of non-dependent adults living in those households, on each decile of the population in each nation and region of Great Britain; and what the average weekly loss thereby in each decile will be. [156589]
Steve Webb: The Government believe that it is reasonable that someone living in a claimant's home should be asked to contribute towards the rent. For example, universal credit will ensure that a single person, who is not a homeowner and is aged between 21 and 25, will receive at least £246.81 per month—out of which we are expecting them to contribute only £68 per month. This contribution will be expected only where the person is either in work or there is an expectation that they should be working. It will not be expected if the person is aged under 21, a carer, responsible for a young child, or in receipt of a specified disability benefit.
It is not possible to isolate the impact of the housing cost contribution from the other constituent parts of universal credit.
Transitional protection will ensure that there will be no cash losers where claimants move to universal credit, providing circumstances remain the same.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-dependent adults aged (a) 21-24 and in receipt of jobseeker's allowance and (b) 21-24 who are being assessed for their capability to work in households in (i) Great Britain, (ii) England, (iii) Wales, (iv) Scotland and (v) each parliamentary constituency in Great Britain will be affected by the introduction of housing cost contribution in respect of payments of universal credit in respect of non-dependent adults living in those households; and what the average weekly loss thereby in each category will be. [156590]
Steve Webb: The Government believe that it is reasonable that someone living in a claimant's home should be asked to contribute towards the rent. For example, universal credit will ensure that a single person, who is not a homeowner and is aged between 21 and 25, will receive at least £246.81 per month—out of which we are expecting them to contribute only £68 per month. This contribution will be expected only where the person is either in work or there is an expectation that they should be working. It will not be expected if the person is aged under 21, a carer, responsible for a young child, or in receipt of a specified disability benefit.
It is not possible to isolate the impact of the housing cost contribution from the other constituent parts of universal credit.
Transitional protection will ensure that there will be no cash losers where claimants move to universal credit, providing circumstances remain the same.
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Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the effect on levels of youth homelessness in (a) Great Britain, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Scotland arising from the introduction of the housing cost contribution from payments of universal credit in respect of non-dependent adults living in those households who will receive universal credit. [156592]
Steve Webb: The Government believe that it is reasonable that someone living in a claimant's home should be asked to contribute towards the rent. However, individuals aged under 21 will not be expected to make a housing cost contribution, and so we do not anticipate this change to have a detrimental effect of homelessness for this group.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assistance his Department plans to provide to people making a claim for universal credit who are prevented from using a computer as a consequence of their health condition. [156841]
Mr Hoban: The universal credit online system has been built to Web Content Accessibility guidelines including assistive technologies in order for claimants to be able to use it.
We will also offer alternative routes; via telephone where an agent will complete an online claim form on a claimants behalf or direct assistance in a local office, a local delivery partner or in exceptional circumstances a home visit.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what areas the IT system for universal credit will be rolled out in autumn 2013; and what the expected timescale is for the remaining areas. [156906]
Mr Hoban: Universal credit will progressively roll-out in a carefully managed and controlled way from October 2013 with all those who are entitled to UC claiming the new benefit by 2017.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assumptions on (a) forecast caseload and (b) IT delivery timescales were made in his Department's initial bid to the Treasury for funding to implement universal credit. [157006]
Mr Hoban: The assumptions on the forecast caseload at the time of the bid to Treasury for funding are set out in the White Paper "Universal Credit: Welfare that Works" CM7957 Chapter 4, Paragraph 21.
The assumption on the IT delivery timescale at the time of the bid to Treasury for funding was that a system would be ready to start by October 2013.
Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many meetings his Department has had with the Department for Education on the treatment of free school meals under universal credit. [157404]
Mr Hoban:
The Department has formal meetings twice a month. However, due to the importance of the treatment of free school meals under universal credit we
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have ad hoc meetings, telephone conversations and email correspondence on a weekly basis at the present time.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much of the universal credit spending envelope was spent to the most detailed figure available in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; and how much he forecasts will be spent to the most detailed figure available in (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15. [157423]
Mr Hoban: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 15 May 2013, Official Report, column 329W.
Of the £2 billion budget, spend in 2011-12 was 5%, and in 2012-13 16%. Plans continue to be developed to support the gradual roll-out from autumn 2013 within budget.
Universal Credit: Ashton Under Lyne
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes have been made to Jobcentre Plus staffing in Ashton-under-Lyne to support delivery of the universal credit pathfinder. [157504]
Mr Hoban: To support the delivery of the universal credit pathfinder a total of 152 full-time equivalent operational staff will be allocated to new posts. In Ashton Jobcentre 21 staff will be supporting universal credit delivery by the end of July 2013. Staffing requirements have been calculated based upon the forecast numbers of new claims to universal credit. All staff delivering universal credit will have been given targeted training and support.
Vacancies
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects new statistics on the number of vacancies by constituency to be released. [156763]
Mr Hoban: National statistics on vacancies at UK-level continue to be reported each month via the ONS Vacancy Survey. A user consultation by DWP on the changes to the Jobcentre Plus vacancy series was conducted last year and has been published on the DWP statistics web pages. Statistical information for some geographies below national level is already available via the Universal Jobmatch MI tool and some improvements, including the addition of breakdowns by parliamentary constituency, have been suggested. DWP is currently agreeing with Monster Worldwide Limited, the Universal Jobmatch supplier, a timetable for prioritising and implementing these improvements, subject to funding. Further details will be released as soon as they are available.
Work Capability Assessment
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of specialist training given to Atos health care professionals in relation to fluctuating conditions; and what plans he has to ensure that sufficient support is offered to the work-related activity group to ensure that people with fluctuating conditions in that group have suitable options. [156840]
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Mr Hoban: All health care professionals (HCP) who carry out the WCA are trained to ask about and take account of fluctuation. Training on variable and fluctuating conditions is delivered throughout the learning path for the HCPs employed by Atos Healthcare during their initial course and continues throughout their training and professional development. In addition to discussing variability during the course, all HCPs are provided with learning materials at the initial stages to cover a range of variable conditions. During the consolidation phase of new entrant training fluctuating conditions are further discussed.
In addition to this initial training material, HCPs have a range of learning resources available, including distance learning packs and continuing medical education products, to aid understanding of fluctuating conditions. There is also a specific learning pack available on variability which addresses multiple issues with assessing fluctuating conditions.
In relation to the support offered to those in the work-related activity group; support is available through either Jobcentre Plus or the Work programme. A claimant's medical circumstances are taken into account when considering requiring them to undertake a specific activity. Claimants are encouraged to discuss the impact of their condition on their support needs, while advisers/providers will be well-placed to understand and reflect the needs of claimants to help them successfully move towards employment.
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on publishing statistics on the number and percentage of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful appeals for (i) repeat functional assessments and (ii) incapacity benefit reassessments as part of the quarterly bulletin of Work Capability Assessment statistics. [157009]
Mr Hoban: The Department continually reviews our statistical publications and will consider adding this information to the existing publication, subject to available resource. Amendments to the publication will be announced in advance in line with UK Statistics Authority guidelines.
Work Programme
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants in their second year of the Work Programme have not had a job outcome to date. [156762]
Mr Hoban: Once referred by Jobcentre Plus, individuals can remain on the Work programme for two years. Statistics on those having spent 24 months on the programme will be published for the first time in September 2013, for those referred in June 2011.
The statistics will be published here:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wp
Mr McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are used to evaluate companies involved in the Work Programme. [157137]
Mr Hoban: The Department evaluates Work programme providers against delivery of their minimum service standards and contractual performance levels. Minimum service standards are published on the gov.uk website and can be viewed via:
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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/minimum-service-delivery-standards-for-work-programme-providers
Individual provider contracts are available on the Contracts Finder pages of the gov.uk website at:
https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
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In addition the Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Work programme which includes a study of providers' delivery models, aiming to understand the success, or otherwise, of different ways of delivering the programme, as chosen by providers under our minimum prescription framework.