EU Law

Mr Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) to which EU directives within his Department's areas of responsibility the Government have formally opted into in each financial year since May 2010; on what dates each such directive was signed; and if he will make a statement; [175486]

(2) what EU directives within his Department's areas of responsibility have come into force without the need for an opt-in decision in each financial year since May 2010; on what dates each such directive came into force; and if he will make a statement. [175507]

Mr Maude: Details of all EU directives that the UK has opted into pursuant to protocol 21 to the treaties on the functioning of the European Union since May 2010 are listed on the Government's JHA opt-in web page at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206297/2JHAopt-inwebpage_update _data_v0_1.pdf

In my right hon. Friend the Minister for Europe’s written ministerial statement of 20 January 2011, Official Report, columns 51-52WS, the Government committed to a number of measures to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny of JHA measures, in particular to make written statements to Parliament on each opt-in decision and to set aside Government time for debates in both Houses in circumstances where there is particularly strong parliamentary interest in an opt-in decision.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Mr Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what estimate he has made of the final overall cost to the public purse of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War; and if he will make a statement; [176882]

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(2) what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the cost to the public purse of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War; and if he will make a statement; [176883]

(3) how many officials are currently employed by the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War, by grade; how this compares with each year since the Inquiry was established; how much has been spent on salaries in each year during this period; and if he will make a statement; [176884]

(4) how much the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War (a) budgeted and (b) spent on security in each year since its establishment; and if he will make a statement; [176885]

(5) what funding the Government plans to allocate to the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War for the financial years (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [176886]

Mr Maude: The Inquiry's expenditure, from its inception to the end of 2012-13, is £7,479,400. As well as the five members of the Committee, the Inquiry is staffed by a Secretariat of 11, with some additional part-time support. Staff costs for 2012-13 were £866,200. The Inquiry is housed in secure accommodation within the government estate. Details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Low Incomes

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to question 173699, what the distinction is between the terms relative low income and poverty as used in respect of national statistics; when this distinction was first introduced; and what policy considerations informed the decision to introduce the term relative low income. [175688]

Esther McVey: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Government use a range of measures to quantify poverty. Relative low income is one measure, and has been used in the Households Below Average Income National Statistics publication for some time. The term relative income was first used in the Households Below Average Income 1979 to 1991/92 publication. Relative low income is an internationally recognised term, and someone is in relative low income if they are in a household that receives less than 60% of the median equivalised net household income (‘average income'). Other main measures of poverty presented in the Households Below Average Income National Statistics publication include:

Absolute low income—where someone lives in a household that receives less than 60% of the average household income in 2010-11 adjusted for inflation;

Combined low income and material deprivation for children—where a child is in material deprivation and lives in households where income is less than 70% of the average household income;

Persistent poverty—where someone lives in a household where income is less than 60% of average income for at least three out of the last four years;

Material deprivation for pensioners; and

Threshold variations for relative and absolute low income—where someone lives in a household that receives less than 50 or 70% of the average household income. These measures are supplementary to the 60% measure.

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We want to develop better measures of child poverty, which include, but go beyond income to provide a more accurate picture of the reality of child poverty and drive the right action. Our consultation on how best to measure child poverty closed on 15 February. The complexity of the issue means that we need to take time to ensure we have the best option for measuring child poverty. We will publish our response as soon as we can.

Ministerial Responsibility

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he plans to publish an updated list of ministerial responsibilities. [176483]

Mr Maude: The list of ministerial responsibilities is currently being updated following the recent Government reshuffle. An updated version will be published shortly.

New Towns: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent discussions he has had on the potential construction of a new town within the boundaries of the Mid Bedfordshire constituency. [175713]

Mr Maude: In line with the practice of previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Secondment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many private sector employees have been seconded by the private sector to (a) his Department and (b) the Prime Minister's Office; what the name was of the company from which they were seconded; and whether any of those employees have worked on drafting legislation; [175672]

(2) how many private sector employees have been seconded by the private sector to his Office; what the name was of the company from which they were seconded; and whether any of those employees have worked on drafting legislation. [175648]

Mr Maude: The Prime Minister's Office and the Deputy Prime Minister's Office are integral parts of the Cabinet Office and are covered by this response.

As part of our Civil Service Reform Programme, we are increasing the dynamism and flexibility of the civil service by making it easier for staff at all levels to move between the civil service and private sector. A new central secondment and interchange programme will deliver 30 outward secondments of our most talented civil servants by April 2014, increasing to 100 secondments by April 2015. These are in addition to the approximate 200 existing secondments and interchanges organised separately by Departments each year.

Since January 2011 there have been 33 secondees into my Department. In line with the practice of previous Administrations, exact numbers are not usually disclosed to protect individual privacy when the numbers are five or fewer. Seven of these secondees came from Ernst and Young.

Information on whether any of the secondees have worked on drafting legislation is not held centrally.

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Deputy Prime Minister

Constituencies

Sheryll Murray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what are the cost implications of delaying the introduction of boundary changes and more equal Parliamentary constituencies until 2018. [901197]

The Deputy Prime Minister: It is for Parliament to determine whether the recommendations of a boundary review should be implemented. The 2013 review was moved to 2018 following an amendment to the Electoral Registration and Administration (ERA) Act 2013.

Provision of £11.9 million was made for the boundary review that was due to report in 2013. At the time that the ERA Bill received Royal Assent in January 2013, the four Boundary Commissions had spent around £7 million on the review, and that expenditure had already been committed.

Travel

Chris Leslie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost of travel within the UK was for his Office in each year since 2010; and how much of this was spent on (a) hire cars, (b) helicopter hire, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence. [176261]

The Deputy Prime Minister: A list of visits made by the DPM within the UK will be published shortly.

Visits Abroad

Chris Leslie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip. [176257]

The Deputy Prime Minister: The Government publish, on a quarterly basis, information about Ministers' visits overseas, and copies can be found in the Library of the House.

Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband

Nigel Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many properties which previously had access to broadband speeds of under 1MBps now receive broadband of speeds greater than 10MBps under the Superfast Britain scheme. [R] [176211]

Mr Vaizey: The information requested is not available, but the Government's broadband programme support is currently helping to make available superfast broadband to 10,000 more premises a week that would not otherwise have been able to get a superfast service.

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Broadband: Dorset

Mr Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in rolling out broadband to (a) towns and (b) villages in Dorset. [176067]

Mr Vaizey: Dorset county council entered into a contract earlier this year to extend superfast broadband coverage to over 70,000 premises that would otherwise not have it. The project is currently in the survey and design phase, prior to network implementation.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the next round of applications will be opened for the rural community broadband fund. [176059]

Mr Vaizey: The Rural Community Broadband Fund which is led by DEFRA has completed three rounds of applications and there are no plans to invite any further applications. The Government have announced, however, that we are investing up to £250 million, locally match-funded, to extend superfast broadband provision from current coverage plans so that 95% of UK premises will have access to superfast broadband by 2017 and we are exploring with industry how to expand coverage further, using more innovative fixed, wireless and mobile broadband solutions, to reach at least 99% of premises in the UK.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with BT on the rollout of broadband in rural areas. [176060]

Mr Vaizey: DCMS Ministers have regular discussions with many different organisations, including about broadband, and including with BT.

Broadband: Wales

Mr Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress her Department is making on rolling out superfast broadband in Wales; and if she will make a statement. [176246]

Mr Vaizey: At the end of October 2013 over 35,000 premises in Wales had had superfast broadband made available to them with support from the Government's broadband programme that would not otherwise of been able to receive a superfast broadband service.

Commonwealth Games 2014

Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) provision is being made and (b) assistance is being provided by her Department to enable firms providing services to the Commonwealth Games in 2014 to make use of their contribution to the Games for marketing and promotional purposes. [176161]

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Mrs Grant: During the Commonwealth Games HMG will be hosting a British Business House for up to three days, at Glasgow City Chambers. This will provide a platform to showcase UK businesses.

Energy

Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress she has made on improving the energy efficiency of her Department. [175974]

Mrs Grant: The Department reduced its energy consumption by 9% in 2012-13. In April 2013 the Department moved into 100 Parliament Street and is now a tenant of HMRC who have responsibility for the energy efficiency of the building.

Football: Finance

Mr Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to support the financial security of non-league football clubs. [176069]

Mrs Grant: It is the responsibility of the football authorities to regulate, but the Government will continue to push the football authorities for tougher regulation from within the game to deliver important financial governance reforms, including a new club licensing system which we expect to address concerns around the financial sustainability of clubs.

Google

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has had with (a) Which?, (b) Consumer Futures and (c) other consumer organisations on the European Commission's anti-trust investigation into Google. [176338]

Mr Vaizey: DCMS has not held any discussions with Which?, Consumer Futures or other consumer organisations on the European Commission’s anti-trust investigation into Google.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has had with the Office of Fair Trading on the European Commission's anti-trust investigation into Google. [176339]

Mr Vaizey: DCMS has not held any discussions with the Office of Fair Trading on the European Commission's anti-trust investigation into Google.

Tourism: Coastal Areas

Mr Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to increase tourism spend in (a) Poole and (b) other seaside resorts. [176084]

Mrs Grant: As part of their Strategic Framework For Tourism in England 2010-2020, VisitEngland developed, in partnership with the industry, an action plan for seaside resorts which seeks to maximise the potential of

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seaside resorts in England and contribute to 5% growth, year on year, in the English tourism market by 2020. Seaside resorts, including Poole, regularly feature in VisitEngland imagery in thematic campaigns, funded through the Government's Regional Growth Fund. New thematic promotions in 2014 will focus on activities such as beach sports, water sports and exploration of the coast—all of which will help increase visitor expenditure in seaside resorts including Poole.

Women and Equalities

Energy

Ian Swales: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what progress she has made in improving the energy efficiency of the Government Equalities Office. [176140]

Mrs Grant: Figures for the Government Equalities Office, which joined DCMS in September 2012 are held by the Home Office, its previous parent Department.

Sexuality

Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what her policy is on advertisements of gay-to-straight conversion therapies; and if she will make a statement. [176166]

Mrs Grant: Advertising in the UK is regulated by the independent Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which is ultimately responsible for setting the standards in advertising. If advertisements mislead or cause harm or distress, the matter will be dealt with first by the ASA.

Work and Pensions

Carers

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent assessment is of the effect on carers of the recent reforms of the welfare system. [175789]

Mike Penning: We have not undertaken an assessment on the cumulative effect on carers of welfare reforms. The Treasury regularly produces analysis of the cumulative impact of all coalition changes, including welfare, on households across the income distribution.

Given the variables involved, the impact of welfare changes cannot be seen in isolation. Even the IFS has acknowledged that the effects of dynamic reforms such as those to disability living allowance and housing benefit cannot be precisely modelled.

We have published assessments of the impact on carers as a result of reforms to disability living allowance and the introduction of personal independence payment in the impact assessment, last updated on 15 May 2012, the equality impact assessment, last updated on 4 May 2012, and a specific policy briefing document detailing the impacts on recipients of carer's allowance published on 9 April 2013. All these documents are available on the Government website at:

www.gov.uk

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Child: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to his Department's publication, strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility, Cm 7990, when his Department plans to commence the proposed six-month period of live running with new cases before introducing child maintenance charges and starting to move the first cases off the old CSA systems. [176285]

Steve Webb: The new child maintenance scheme was opened as a pathfinder and started taking a proportion of new live cases on 10 December 2012. The case load and the proportion of new applications taken has steadily expanded since then and the scheme will be open to all remaining applicants by the end of the year.

As we have previously said, we will only introduce charges and begin closing existing Child Support Agency cases when we are clear the scheme is working well.

Employment and Support Allowance

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions in each of the last five years decisionmakers in his Department have used their powers of supersession to review initial recommendations that claimants were eligible for employment support allowance. [176182]

Esther McVey: The Department does not hold information on the number of occasions when a decision maker has used their powers of supersession, following a repeat work capability assessment, to subsequently determine that ESA should no longer be paid.

Employment and Support Allowance: Chelmsford

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Chelmsford constituency claim employment and support allowance; how many such claimants had their claims turned down in the last year; and how many such people are appealing that decision to the first tier tribunal. [175966]

Esther McVey: Information requested for claims to employment and support allowance (ESA) and work capability assessments (WCA) and appeals at parliamentary constituency level is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The information we do have for the number of ESA claims made, where the initial functional assessment has been completed, showing all outcomes of appeals heard on Fit for Work decisions by month of claim start, Great Britain can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224809/esa_wca_201307_v0c.xls

Funeral Payments

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department paid in social fund funeral payments in the last year for which figures are available; and how much was accounted for by (a) cemetery fees, (b) cremation fees, (c) doctors' fees and (d) other charges. [176393]

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Steve Webb: In 2012-13, the total social fund expenditure on funeral payments was £43.1 million, rounded to the nearest £100,000. The Department does not hold information on the breakdown of this amount into the different fees involved.

The information provided is management information. The Department's preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using official/national statistics but in this case only management information is available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as official/national statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, this amount does not include expenditure on applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the social fund computer system.

Housing Benefit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households received (a) housing benefit and (b) local housing allowance in (i) April 2010 and (ii) the most recent date for which data are available. [175932]

Steve Webb: The information requested for the number of claimants receiving (a) housing benefit and (b) local housing allowance in (i) April 2010 and (ii) the most recent date for which data are available, which is August 2013, can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many tenants subject to the under-occupancy penalty (a) paid more rent for their existing property, (b) have since moved to a smaller property, (c) have been granted an exemption, (d) have a decision on their case pending and (e) have received other financial assistance from his Department in each local authority area since its implementation. [175855]

Esther McVey: The information is as follows.

(a) The most recent data show 522,905 working age housing benefit recipients in Great Britain are currently subject to a deduction in their housing benefit as a result of the removal of the spare room subsidy. The information about how many of those affected are making up the shortfall in rent is not available.

(b) This information is currently not available. An independent evaluation over two years in a range of geographical locations across Great Britain is under way. It includes research on responses to the policy.

(c) The Department recognises that certain people will need an additional room over and above that allocated using the size criteria rules. As such certain easements are in place for groups including foster carers, service families, visiting overnight carers and severely disabled children who are not able to share a room because of their disability. Local authorities are responsible for administering housing benefit and applying the easements.

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Information about how many housing benefit claimants have had an easement to their eligibility applied is not available.

(d) We do not hold this information.

(e) The Department is collecting six-monthly returns detailing DHP awards in each local authority. This includes the number of payments made, but not the number of claimants granted a payment (a claimant can have had more than one application over the period).

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) number and (b) proportion of people affected by the under-occupancy penalty were disabled in each region of the UK. [175883]

Esther McVey: Updated estimates are not available as to the number and proportion of people affected by this measure who are living with a disability.

When the measure was introduced on 1 April 2013, the Department estimated that there could be around 420,000 (63%) households affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy where either the claimant or the partner reported a Disability Discrimination Act recognised disability. However, this figure is reduced to 180,000 (27%) where either the claimant or the partner are in receipt of disability living allowance.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households affected by the under-occupancy penalty include someone in receipt of carer's allowance. [176200]

Esther McVey: We estimate that around 50,000 households affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy policy are in receipt of carer's allowance.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households affected by the under-occupancy penalty include a carer. [176201]

Esther McVey: We estimate that around 60,000 households affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy policy are in receipt of carer's allowance or have an underlying entitlement to carer's allowance.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department was of compiling and publishing its research report, Public perceptions of the removal of the spare room subsidy, published on 8 November 2013; and how much his Department paid to Ipsos MORI for the work undertaken on the report. [176378]

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Esther McVey: The Department paid Ipsos MORI a total of £14,700 for polling on the removal of the spare room subsidy. This included the design of the online poll, the collection and analysis of the data, and the writing of the research report.

Job Creation: Essex

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to create more employment opportunities for young people in (a) Chelmsford constituency and (b) Essex. [175965]

Esther McVey: Our Youth Contract, worth nearly £1 billion, builds on the substantial support already available to help unemployed young people enter work. The contract includes more intensive support for all 18 to 24-year-olds, work experience and sector-based work academy places, and a new wage incentive scheme delivered through the Work programme.

In Chelmsford in the year to October 2013 we have seen a reduction in the youth unemployed claimant count of 115, a 20% fall and in Essex for the same period we seen a reduction in the youth unemployment claimant count of 1,575, a 21% fall.

Jobcentre Plus

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many staff were employed on temporary contracts by Jobcentre Plus in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011, (e) 2012 and (f) January to October 2013; [176391]

(2) how many staff were directly employed by Jobcentre Plus in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011, (e) 2012 and (f) January to October 2013. [176394]

Mike Penning: Jobcentre Plus was re-structured and absorbed into a revised DWP Operations structure in October 2011. Since that point, it has no longer existed as a separate organisation. This means the information the right hon. Member is seeking beyond September 2011 is not available.

The following table combines a response to both the questions the right hon. Member raised in terms of staff employed on temporary contracts and those directly employed by Jobcentre Plus as at December 2008; December 2009; December 2010 and at September 2011. The figures are ‘staff in post', ie people are counted as a single unit irrespective of the hours they work.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobcentre offices there were in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011, (e) 2012 and (f) January to October 2013. [176392]

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Esther McVey: The information requested is detailed in the following table.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker's allowance claimants there were in (a) April 2010 and (b) the most recent date for which data are available. [176019]

Esther McVey: Statistics on the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants in April 2010 and October 2013 can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has set a minimum time requirement for online job searching per week as a condition of receiving jobseeker's allowance. [176219]

Esther McVey: There is no such minimum time requirement for weekly jobsearch. Jobseeker's allowance claimants are required to take all reasonable steps to give themselves the best prospects of finding work. Those steps must be agreed with their adviser and specifically tailored to each claimant's circumstances.

Jobseeker’s Allowance: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker’s allowance claimants in Hull have been sanctioned since 22 October 2012; how many such sanctions have been subsequently overturned; how many such claimants had previously been asked to undertake a literacy course by a jobcentre; and how many claimants were previously claiming employment support allowance. [176414]

Esther McVey: The information is tabled as follows:

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The information requested how many such claimants had previously been asked to undertake a literacy course or how many claimants were previously claiming employment and support allowance (ESA) is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

National Insurance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the maximum distance applicants are required to travel to attend an evidence of identity interview when applying for a national insurance number. [176189]

Esther McVey: No formal assessment has been made of the maximum distance applicants are required to travel to attend an evidence of identity interview when applying for a national insurance number.

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to increase the number of Jobcentre Plus sites that offer evidence of identity interviews for national insurance number applicants. [176271]

Esther McVey: There are no plans to increase the number of Jobcentre Plus sites that offer national insurance number applications.

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications were made for a national insurance number in each of the last five years. [176272]

Esther McVey: The available information on the number of national insurance numbers issued in each of the last five years can be found at and is listed as follows:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool

NINo allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK: registrations to March 2009: 686,000

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nino-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk-registrations-to-march-2009

The total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals in 2009-10: 573,000

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nino-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk-registrations-to-march-2010

The total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK in 2010-11: 705,000

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nino-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk-registrations-to-march-2011

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The total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK in 2011-12: 601,000

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-number-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk

The total number of NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK in 2012-13: 562,000

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nino-allocations-to-adult-overseas-nationals-entering-the-uk-registrations-to-march-2013

National Insurance: Fraud

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fraudulent applications for national insurance numbers were detected in each of the last five years. [176190]

Esther McVey: Jobcentre Plus does not collect statistical information in relation to how many fraudulent applications were detected for national insurance numbers.

Social Rented Housing: Housing Benefit

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many social housing households in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham are subject to the under-occupancy penalty. [176093]

Esther McVey: The information requested for the number of social housing households in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham are subject to the under-occupancy penalty, can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm

Social Security Benefits

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Chelmsford

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constituency and

(b)

England were receiving the major working age benefits in April (i) 2010 and (ii) 2013. [175968]

Esther McVey: Statistics for working age client group claimants, by statistical group in (a) Chelmsford constituency and (b) England can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/203439/tab-tool-guidance.pdf

These data are published each quarter as at February, May, August and November in each year.

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance claims were not paid into a bank account or building society account or a post office card account in 2012-13; and how such claimants received their payments. [176369]

Esther McVey: The vast majority of jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance claimants are paid by Direct Payment into a bank, building society or Post Office card account. Those unable to open or operate an account of any kind are now paid by Simple Payment, a card based method that enables claimants to access their payments at participating PayPoint outlets.

Simple Payment was introduced in October 2012 to replace cheque payments which were vulnerable to fraud. Claimants previously paid by cheque were given help and support to move to alternative payment methods including, where appropriate, Simple Payment.

As at February 2012 the number of jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance claimants not being paid into a bank, building society or a Post Office card account was 77,715. By February 2013 this had reduced to 35,125 due to lower claim volumes and many opting to have their payments made by Direct Payment into an account.

More detailed information is shown in the following table:

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State Retirement Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2013, Official Report, column 1208W, on state retirement pensions, (1) what proportion of the fewer than 40,000 married and widowed individuals affected by loss of derived entitlement to a basic state pension on their spouse or civil partner's contributions have (a) never been to the UK and (b) lived in the UK for less than 10 years; [176034]

(2) what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse if transition arrangements were made for the fewer than 40,000 married and widowed individuals affected by loss of derived entitlement to a basic state pension on their spouse or civil partner's contributions of enabling them to claim for a further (a) 10 years and (b) 15 years. [176035]

Steve Webb: The quoted 40,000 estimate refers only to the number of married or widowed individuals who would be receiving less state pension in Great Britain in 2020 due to the removal of derived entitlement.

It does not cover overseas pensioners, so does not include an estimate of the number of people who might have derived entitlement to basic state pension under the current system without ever having entered the UK. The model used to produce the estimate starts from a base representing 2006-07 and does not include simulation of migration, so the estimate does not cover individuals who arrive in the UK less than 10 years before claiming a single-tier pension.

The Government believe that in order to deliver a simple, modern state pension which recognises people's contributions to the economy and wider society, it is necessary to remove the facility to rely on a spouse or civil partner's national insurance record at the earliest opportunity. Furthermore, the Government believe that the broad crediting regime to sufficiently recognise individuals' contributions to society has been in place for long enough to ensure that no one who reaches state pension age today will have those contributions overlooked.

To put in place any transitional arrangements beyond those we have already provided for women who chose to pay the Reduced Rate Election at any point in the 35 years prior to their state pension age would introduce substantial complexity into the new system for a significant minority of people reaching state pension age after 6 April 2016.

The ‘transition arrangements' in the question propose to provide men and women who are, as at 2020, projected to be receiving a notionally lower state pension due to the removal of derived entitlement with the ability to draw a Category B pension for a period of 10 and 15 years respectively, before withdrawing that Category B pension. The Department has not costed such a proposal.

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) whether existing pensioners in receipt of pensions credit will continue to receive passported benefits towards housing costs under the proposals for the new single tier state pension; [176177]

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(2) whether an individual retiring after 6 April 2016 with no other income, will also be entitled to the full support available for housing and council tax under the proposals for the single tier state pension. [176178]

Steve Webb: Existing passporting arrangements will continue to apply to those already in receipt of pension credit at the point when the single tier state pension is introduced. They will also apply to those making a claim to pension credit if they reach state pension age before 6 April 2016.

All people, regardless of when they reach state pension age, will be able to make a claim for housing benefit, if they are not passported to it from pension credit, subject to meeting the relevant criteria.

The full single tier pension itself will be set above the level of the standard minimum guarantee for a single person in pension credit. Those on low incomes may also be entitled to support with council tax, subject to the criteria set by the relevant local authority.

State Retirement Pensions: Poole

Mr Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women in Poole constituency are expected to benefit from the new single tier pension. [176065]

Steve Webb: Those individuals who reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016 may receive a single-tier pension, provided they satisfy the minimum qualifying period (which will be set at no higher than 10 years). This means women born on or after the 6 April 1953 may receive a single-tier pension. Their exact amount of state pension will be determined by their national insurance record.

The Department estimates, using the 2011 census, that there are approximately 35,000 women living in Poole who are born after this date.

We are not are able to determine at a constituency level how many of these individuals would receive a higher state pension than if the current system had remained in place.

At a national level we estimate around 650,000 women who reach state pension age in the first 10 years after the single-tier pension is introduced will receive an average of £8 per week more in state pension due to the single-tier valuation.

Notes:

1. Estimate from census rounded to the nearest 5,000.

2. National estimate rounded to the nearest 50,000.

Statistics

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions the UK Statistics Authority has criticised his Department over its use of statistics since May 2010. [176390]

Esther McVey: Correspondence between the UK Statistics Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions can be found here:

http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/correspondence

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Translation Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on interpreters and translation services in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012. [176377]

Mike Penning: We do not have a breakdown of data for the individual agencies within the Department for Work and Pensions.

The amount spent by the Department for Work and Pensions on Interpreter Services, Foreign Language Document Translations, Braille, BSL and Audio, and Welsh translation for the financial years 2009-10 through to 2011-12 was:

Unemployment Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were receiving out-of-work benefits in (a) April 2010 and (b) the most recent date for which data are available. [176096]

Esther McVey: Statistics for those receiving out-of-work benefits are available on the Working Age Client Group data, by statistical group, and can be found at:

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https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

These data are published each quarter as at February, May, August and November in each year. The latest data is May 2013.

Universal Credit

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseekers are claiming universal credit in (a) Worsley and Eccles South constituency, (b) the North West and (c) the UK. [176389]

Esther McVey: The first set of official statistics on UC caseloads has been pre-announced for release on 3 December and we will publish the available information at this point. Release dates are shown on UK National Statistics website:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/release-calendar/index.html? newquery=%22Universal+Credit+Official+Statistics%22&lday=3& lmonth=&lyear=&uday-&umonth=&uyear=&theme=&source-agency=&pagetype=calendar-entry

Work Programme: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2013, Official Report, column 521W, on Work Programme: Wales, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Work programme in Wales. [176415]

Esther McVey: The most recent official statistics on the Work programme can be found through the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/work-programme-statistics--2

Work programme performance statistics up to the end of September 2013 will be released on 19 December 2013.