Members: Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if she will estimate the total number of ministerial replies from her Department to hon. Members in a parliamentary session; and what proportion of such replies are sent (a) by letter and (b) by email; [203310]

(2) what plans her Department has to increase the number of replies sent electronically to letters from hon. Members. [203533]

Mrs Villiers: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, on 7 July 2014, Official Report, columns 5W & 6W.

Security

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether her Department issues advice to officials on personal security; and when this advice was last updated. [203619]

Mrs Villiers: My Department issues advice periodically to officials on personal security. The most recent advice was issued in November 2013.

Wales

Members: Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will estimate the total number of ministerial replies from his Department to hon. Members in a parliamentary session; and what proportion of such replies are sent (a) by letter and (b) by email; [203313]

(2) what plans his Department has to increase the number of replies sent electronically to letters from hon. Members. [203537]

Stephen Crabb: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, on 7 July 2014, Official Report, columns 5-6W.

8 July 2014 : Column 275W

Work and Pensions

Attendance Allowance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long on average claims for attendance allowance for older people took from application to reach a decision in each of the last five years. [203434]

Mike Penning: The data that are available is the actual average clearance time (AACT) which is the average time taken between an application being made and the date the customer was notified of the decision on their claim.

The most recent AACT data is shown in the following table.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the current target turnaround time is from application to decision for attendance allowance for older people. [203435]

Mike Penning: The DWP does not currently have a “target turnaround time from application to decision for attendance allowance”.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time between claim and a decision on attendance allowance was in each of the last five years. [203926]

Mike Penning: The data available in relation to this query show the actual average clearance time (AACT) which is the average time taken between an application being made and the date the customer was notified of the decision on their claim.

The actual average clearance time (in working days) for attendance allowance cases over the previous five years, including the year to date average up to May 2014 is shown in the following table.

Carer's Allowance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time between claim and a decision on carer's allowance was in each of the last five years. [203928]

Mike Penning: The data available in relation to this query show the actual average clearance time (AACT)

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which is the average time taken between an application being made and the date the customer was notified of the decision on their claim.

The actual average clearance time (in working days) for carers allowance cases over the previous five years, including the year to date average up to May 2014 can be found in the enclosed table. This submission does not include data for the 2012-13 reporting year

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in respect of Child Support Agency child maintenance owed to parents with care, how many arrears-only cases there are (a) where money is flowing and (b) where no money is flowing. [203881]

Steve Webb: In March 2014 there were 532,500 Child Support Agency cases which had arrears with no ongoing liability. Of those, there were 37,000 cases where money was flowing and 495,500 cases where no money was flowing.

Note:

This includes cases administered on the 1993 and 2003 Schemes only.

Employment and Support Allowance

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made in helping people with disabilities to access work through the employment and support allowance programme; and if he will make a statement. [203908]

Esther McVey: Jobcentre Work Coaches offer employment and support allowance claimants tailored support from day one of their claim, which includes work experience, skills provision, job search support and access to a range of opportunities available through the Flexible Support Fund.

ESA claimants also have the option of accessing the Work Programme at any point after their Work Capability Assessment for help in getting tailored support provided by contracted providers.

Key findings from the Jobcentre Plus Offer evaluation show that the implementation and delivery of the JCP Offer has been successful. The findings are being used to ensure that we continue to improve our services for all claimants.

Furthermore the DHES set out a vision for a more personalised offer with better integration of services at local level and making better use of high quality small-scale specialist provision. The Department is currently exploring the feasibility of trialling this approach. This includes looking at the role of specialist advisors.

Funeral Payments

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department will review the rate for Social Fund funeral expenses payments. [203946]

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Steve Webb: There are no current plans to review the rate of funeral payments. However, for those who are eligible to be considered for a budgeting loan payment, the scope of this scheme has now been expanded to include funeral costs.

Housing Benefit: Staffordshire

Mr Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit in (a) Cannock Chase and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years. [203634]

Steve Webb: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Further benefit expenditure can be found at the following URL:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables

Members: Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will estimate the total number of ministerial replies from his Department to hon. Members in a parliamentary session; and what proportion of such replies are sent (a) by letter and (b) by email; [203314]

(2) what plans his Department has to increase the number of replies sent electronically to letters from hon. Members. [203538]

Steve Webb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, on 7 July 2014, Official Report, column 5-6W.

Personal Independence Payment

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to deal with backlogs in personal independence payments. [203681]

Mike Penning: We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made and to improve the claims process.

We are working closely with both assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects personal independence payment backlogs to be cleared. [203682]

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Mike Penning: By the autumn, we expect no one to be waiting for an assessment for longer than 26 weeks and by the end of the year, we expect no one will be waiting longer than 16 weeks.

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will recruit additional staff to help clear personal independence payment backlogs. [203683]

Mike Penning: DWP Operations has a large number of employees at the decision maker grade (EO) and we are constantly reviewing our plans to ensure that we have the right number of people to deliver all of our services.

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what comparative assessment he has made of the methods used to assess personal independence payment claims with the methods used to assess disability living allowance claims. [203684]

Mike Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) includes a more objective assessment process than for disability living allowance (DLA), with a face-to-face consultation for most applicants, that enables a more accurate and consistent assessment of individual need. Unlike DLA, eligibility for PIP is not assessed on the type of health condition or impairment an individual may have.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his contribution of 30 June 2014, Official Report, column 642, on DWP: performance, what level of service his Department expects to provide to meet his aim of providing a personal independence payment system that works for those most in need; and how he will measure success. [203900]

Mike Penning: By the autumn, we expect no one to be waiting for an assessment for longer than 26 weeks and by the end of the year, we expect no one will be waiting longer than 16 weeks.

We have committed to two independent reviews of the PIP assessment, the first of which will report to Parliament by the end of this year, and we will carefully consider any recommendations made. The terms of reference for the review are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/simplifying-the-welfare-system-and-making-sure-work-pays/supporting-pages/introducing-personal-independence-payment

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his contribution of 30 June 2014, Official Report, column 647, on DWP: performance, how his Department will demonstrate that no claimant is waiting more than 16 weeks for their personal independence payment by the end of 2014. [203901]

Mike Penning: Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication and the Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release.

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Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the letter of 6 March 2014 from the Minister for Disabled People to Macmillan Cancer Support, for what reason his Department does not consider data on clearance times of personal independence payment normal and special rules claims to be robust enough to be included in the published quarterly statistics. [203902]

Mike Penning: Releasing information on clearance times at this stage would give an incorrect representation of the process since the system has not yet reached maturity.

Professional statisticians determine when a series meets the criteria for publication as official statistics. That stage has not yet in their judgement been reached for this information.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the contracts for personal independence payment assessment providers include performance related incentives or penalties; whether such measures have been used; and what the financial value of those measure is. [203930]

Mike Penning: DWP's personal independence payment (PIP) contracts are output based contracts which include a range of remedies for underperformance against a range of performance measures, including financial penalties in the form of service credits which the Department can apply as appropriate. Service credits have been applied to the contracts. Current details of the value of any service credits applied under the contracts are commercially confidential.

Social Security Benefits

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the times taken to decide claims, measured by actual average clearance time, were for (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance, for the longest and shortest deciles of claims, processed in each financial year since 2008-09. [203912]

Esther McVey: We are unable to provide data for the longest and shortest deciles of claims as this data is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department has recorded as the main disabling condition of people under employment and support allowance and jobseekers' allowance benefit sanctions. [203929]

Esther McVey: The information requested for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not collected for jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time between claim and a decision on attendance disabled living allowance for parents of children aged under 16 years was in each of the last five years. [203927]

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Mike Penning: We are unable to provide data on decisions for disability living allowance for parents as decisions are made for the child under 16 and awarded to their parent, guardian or representative.

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to a jobcentre plus discount travel card to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out. [202677]

Esther McVey: The Jobcentre Plus travel discount card is a discretionary travel discount scheme operated in conjunction with the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC).

There is no evidence to suggest that ATOC have plans to change their approach of targeting support at specific benefit recipients based on specific eligibility criteria.

However, if ATOC were to allow access to all universal credit claimants the cost to DWP would be in the region of £100,000, but the impact on ATOC members would be around £20 million (roughly estimated)

Currently the following UC claimants are entitled to the JCP travel discount card:

Universal credit claimants in the all work related requirements group from 13 weeks to point of work programme referral.

Universal credit claimants not in the all work related requirements group who are actively engaged with a work services coach in returning to employment.

International Development

Bilateral Aid

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much bilateral aid in each country with a UK bilateral aid programme was spent (a) in cash terms, (b) at current prices, (c) as a proportion of that country's total bilateral aid programme in 2009-10 and each year since on procuring (i) goods and (ii) services from private sector suppliers based in the country concerned. [203239]

Justine Greening: To provide an itemised list of goods and services as a proportion of total bilateral aid spend in each country for each financial year from 2009 forward detailing spends would incur disproportionate costs to my Department.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was spent in bilateral aid in each country with a UK bilateral aid programme (a) in cash and (b) at current prices in 2009-10 and each year since. [203358]

Justine Greening: The Department for International Development annually publishes details of its bilateral spend to countries in its Statistics on International Development (SID). The most recent publication can be found by following the link.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-on-international-development-2013-tables

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Bilateral aid, or official development assistance (ODA), is a cash transaction. Current price figures are the same as the cash figure in the year they were reported.

Burma

Mr Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of reports of a food crisis in Chin State, Burma; and what food support her Department is providing in that region. [203271]

Mr Duncan: DFID has contributed to a food security programme in Chin State through the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund which is helping increase agricultural production through activities such as better quality seeds, and also helping farmers get their produce to markets.

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what role private health insurance plays in her Department's plans to promote healthcare in Burma. [203373]

Mr Duncan: DFID does not have any programmes which work on private health insurance in Burma. DFID’s key support is through the Three Millennium Development Goal fund, which works to strengthen public health care systems as well as to contract some private services where they can fill gaps in public provision.

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether it is her policy to continue funding the official census in Burma. [203374]

Mr Duncan: Of the £10 million committed to the census, £9 million has already been disbursed. The remaining £1 million is for data analysis, thematic reports and the dissemination of information.

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) religion are of the 160,000 children proposed to be helped by the Myanmar Education Consortium. [203375]

Mr Duncan: Both boys and girls are being helped by the Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC). The MEC is working across Burma and expects to reach all the major ethnic groups of Burma and the three major religions: Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim.

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what checks and monitoring her Department has put in place to ensure that its funding for education in Burma is not being channelled through Buddhist monasteries where hate speech and anti-Muslim or anti-Christian sentiment are promoted. [203421]

Mr Duncan: Monastic schools are supported by the Monastic Education Development Group (MEDG), an implementing partner of the DFID-funded Myanmar Education Consortium. The MEDG has checks in place to safeguard against involvement in political issues. Where infringements are identified and remedial action is not taken, no further support is awarded from MEDG.

8 July 2014 : Column 282W

Development Aid

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) in cash terms, (b) at current prices, (c) as a proportion of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) and (d) as a proportion of UK Gross National Income was spent by the UK on ODA in 2009-10 and each year since (i) in total, (ii) on multilateral aid, (iii) on bilateral aid (A) in total, (B) in high and middle income countries, (C) in low income countries and (D) in least developed countries (1) on humanitarian relief and (2) for other purposes. [203235]

Justine Greening: The information requested is published in our annual reports, the most recent of which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-reports-and-accounts-2012-13

We do not disaggregate humanitarian assistance in the form requested, but disaggregation by country over the time period is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210430/Total-UK-Net-ODA-Humanitarian-Assistance-recipient-country1.csv/preview

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much Official Development Assistance (ODA) was spent (a) in cash terms, (b) at current prices, as proportion of total UK ODA in 2009-10 and each year since then on procuring (i) goods and (ii) services from private sector suppliers with their head office based in (A) developed and (B) developing countries. [203237]

Justine Greening: To provide an itemised list of goods and services from private sector suppliers for each financial year from 2009 forward detailing spends between developed and developing countries would incur disproportionate costs to my Department.

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much official development assistance was spent in 2009-10 and each year since then (a) in cash terms, (b) at current prices and (c) as a proportion of UK gross national income (i) in total, (ii) by her Department, (iii) by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (iv) by the Ministry of Defence, (v) by the Department for Energy and Climate Change and (vi) by other Government departments. [203359]

Justine Greening: The information requested is published on our website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254053/Table6.csv/preview

Iraq

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if she will take steps to promote collaboration between UK companies and the government of Iraq on development of solar technology to power desalination plants to provide clean drinking water to areas of shortage in that country; [203820]

(2) if she will take steps to promote the development of concentrated solar power in Iraq; [203819]

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Justine Greening: While DFID does not currently fund any work on the development of solar technology in Iraq, in response to the recent crisis we have committed a package of emergency humanitarian assistance totalling £5 million, which will reach over 140,000 displaced people, or 28% of those affected, with life-saving assistance.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if she will estimate the total number of ministerial replies from her Department to hon. Members in a parliamentary session; and what proportion of such replies are sent (a) by letter and (b) by email; [203308]

(2) what plans her Department has to increase the number of replies sent electronically to letters from hon. Members. [203531]

Mr Duncan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided yesterday by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Official Report, column 5W.

Middle East

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with the Israeli government on its plans to liaise with the new Palestinian Government to bring about improvements in the humanitarian situation in the border areas; and if she will make a statement. [203949]

Mr Duncan: British officials from the Embassy in Tel Aviv have regular discussions with the Israeli authorities.

Nigeria

Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK aid has been provided to Nigeria to stem the escalation of Islamic extremist terrorism in the last five years, (a) in the North and Middle Belt and (b) elsewhere in that country; to whom such aid was provided; and in what form in each such case. [203395]

Justine Greening: UK aid to Nigeria is delivered through civil society organisations, technical assistance and UN agencies. DFID does not finance the Government of Nigeria directly. As most UKAID programmes are national in scope, it is not possible to provide regional breakdowns, however since 2011 at least 60% of our funds are focused on Northern Nigeria. The figures for UK Aid to Nigeria for the last 5 years are:

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In 2011, DFID launched a £39 million Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, which supports Federal and State Governments and civil society organisations to tackle the causes of violent conflict and to improve co-ordination within and between state agencies and local populations. The programme operates a grants fund for civil society organisations in priority states in the North, Middle Belt and the Delta.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) in cash terms, (b) at current prices, (c) as a proportion of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) and (d) as a proportion of UK Gross National Income was spent in UK bilateral aid in sub-Saharan Africa in 1996-97 and each year since. [203238]

Justine Greening: The table shows total UK bilateral ODA spent in sub-Saharan Africa from 1996 to 2012. Also shown are the percentages relative to total UK ODA and UK Gross National Income. Bilateral aid, or ODA, is a cash transaction. Current price figures are the same as the cash figure in the year they were reported.