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Timeplan
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if her Department is reviewing Timeplan's licence to operate. [36603]
Alan Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
The requirement for employment agencies to be licensed was removed by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. I shall shortly be putting forward proposals for revised employment agency regulations that will greatly strengthen the requirements on agencies supplying teachers and others who work with vulnerable people.
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SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Royal Commissions
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the Royal Commissions undertaken since 1978, the terms of reference and the total costs for each one. [35962]
Mr. Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
Four Royal Commissions have been established since 1978. These are as follows:
- Criminal Procedure [3 February 1978]
Criminal Justice [14 March 1991]
Long Term Care for the Elderly [17 December 1997]
Reform of the House of Lords [ 18 February 1999].
Details of costs are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Public Appointments
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people from Warrington, North he has appointed to non-departmental public bodies since 1997. [39452]
Mr. McCartney: My right hon. Friend has appointed no one from the Warrington area to non-departmental public bodies since 1997.
Pensions
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of public sector employees are in (a) funded occupational pension schemes, (b) non-funded schemes and (c) neither. [40113]
Mr. McCartney: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received on the operation of section 67 of the Pensions Act 1995; and whether this will fall within the scope of the Pickering Review. [39999]
Mr. McCartney: The Pickering Simplification Review is a comprehensive re-evaluation of private pensions legislation, and section 67 of the Pensions Act 1995 is included in the report's remit. The review has held an extensive consultation exercise, which has generated a considerable number of submissions. These submissions have highlighted a number of areas of pensions law, including section 67 of the Pensions Act 1995.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many retirement pensioners are resident abroad, broken down separately for each country with more than five per cent. of the total, and for the remainder collectively; and if he will indicate for each country separately whether a reciprocal payment agreement is in place. [40689]
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Mr. McCartney: The information requested is in the table. There are reciprocal agreements with Spain, Republic of Ireland and the USA, as well as some countries included in "Other" in the table.
| Country | RP recipients |
|---|---|
| Total | 874.0 |
| Australia | 223.0 |
| Canada | 142.5 |
| Republic of Ireland | 89.6 |
| Spain | 45.6 |
| USA | 113.8 |
| Other | 259.6 |
Notes:
1. Figures exclude Northern Ireland and Channel Islands cases.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100 and are shown in thousands.
3. Based on a 5 per cent. sample from the Pension Strategy Computer System at 30 September 2001.
SERPS (Publicity)
Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what further plans he has to publicise the rule changes to inherited SERPS. [40938]
Mr. McCartney: We have taken a series of steps to ensure people are made aware of the remedial measures we have taken to rectify the problems created by the failure to publicise adequately the 1986 legislative changes to Inherited SERPS.
These measures, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced to the House on 29 November 2000, and which subsequently became law on 20 March 2001, were: to postpone any change to the rules on inherited SERPS until October this year; ensure existing pensioners, and people due to reach state pension age before this October were not affected by the change; and phase the reduction for people within 10 years of state pension age—allowing them time to plan ahead.
During the course of last year, the Department wrote to all existing pensioners, and those whose state pension age falls before 5 October 2002 to reassure them that, in the event of their death, the new rules on Inherited SERPS will not affect their spouses.
We are now going further to ensure that people understand the changes. From 11 March, the Department will start writing to some 5½ million people within 10 years of state pension age—those who, under the new rules, can pass on between a maximum of 90 per cent. and 60 per cent. of their SERPS to a surviving spouse.
The letter, and the accompanying leaflet, will not only explain how the changes may affect them, but will also give them the opportunity to request an estimate of the SERPS they can pass on, and impartial information on financial planning.
In addition, from August this year, we will run a media campaign to further disseminate information on the changes to the public at large.
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We have taken action to ensure that the Department's staff are aware of the new rules, and the Department will also provide a dedicated helpline 0845 600 6116 or textphone 0845 602 1913 to answer further queries and provide information to members of the public.
Fraud and Error
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the proportion of claims for the children's premium in income support and jobseeker's allowance which have been (a) fraudulent and (b) incorrect. [25988]
Mr. McCartney [pursuant to his reply, 4 February 2002, c. 757W]: There is not a "children's premium" in income support or jobseeker's allowance. People claiming either benefit may claim for dependent members of their household. The latest information on the levels of fraud and error from claiming incorrectly for the number and type of dependents is in the report "Fraud and Error in Claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance from April 2000 to March 2001" a copy of which is available in the Library. However, it is not possible to disaggregate the number of cases in which fraud and error is attributable solely to incorrect claims for dependent children.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Volunteers
Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many members of his staff in each of the past two years have been granted a day's paid leave to work as a volunteer; and if he will make a statement. [39731]
Mr. Leslie: A survey of Cabinet Office staff in 2001 indicated that at least 4.7 per cent. of staff undertook a wide range of voluntary activities. Records of special paid leave are not held centrally, however, and it is therefore not possible to say how many applications for special paid leave were specifically for volunteering.
Cabinet Office has always supported the civil service tradition of allowing both paid and unpaid leave for voluntary public duties, and the Department's provisions allow staff the opportunity to do voluntary work of any kind on at least one day a year without loss of pay.
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Civil Servants
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister further to his answer of 7 February 2002, Official Report, column 1130W, on civil service entrants, what is being done to publicise the fast stream development programme to students at institutions of higher education other than Oxford and Cambridge. [38313]
Mr. Leslie: Action taken to publicise the fast stream development programme to students at universities other than Oxford and Cambridge has included the following:
- (i) the Cabinet Office Outreach Officer has given careers presentations to promote and raise awareness of the fast stream to ethnic, cultural and religious societies at the following universities: York, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Birmingham, Leeds Metropolitan, University of Central England and Aston;
- (ii) serving fast streamers gave career presentations at 44 other universities throughout the UK in 2001;
- (iii) of 60 undergraduates participating in the 2001 summer development programme, which provides a six-eight week work placement, and training at the civil service college, 55 came from 27 other universities other than Oxford and Cambridge;
- (iv) 26 of the undergraduates who participated in the 2001–02 winter training course at the civil service college came from universities other than Oxford and Cambridge;
- (v) a group of 24 disabled undergraduates, none of them from Oxford and Cambridge universities, participated in "Dunchester's Millions", a civil service policy game organised with Workable in November 2001. In the last 12 months this training and awareness activity has also been facilitated at three other universities;
- (vi) 23 disabled undergraduates from other universities accepted work placements in the civil service over the summer vacation 2001. A similar programme in conjunction with the charity Workable will run again this summer.
- (vii) career advisers from 38 other universities are scheduled to attend the civil service selection board as observers of the fast stream recruitment process between February and May this year as part of our strategy for raising awareness.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister at which graduate fairs the fast stream development programme was publicised last year. [38314]
Mr. Leslie: The fast stream development programme was publicised last year at the following graduate recruitment careers fairs:
| Fair | Date (2001) | Student visitors |
|---|---|---|
| University of Central Lancashire Graduate Fair | 6 June | 800 |
| Gradunet Virtual Fair | 14 June | 200 |
| University of Newcastle Careers Fair | 18 June | 1,400 |
| University of Manchester and UMIST Graduate Fair | 21 June | 3,000 |
| University of Birmingham Graduate Fair | 22 and 23 June | 8,362 |
| University of London Careers Service Recruitment Fair | 27 and 28 June | 11,527 |
| Diversity UK—Ethnic Minority Fair, London | 31 July and 1 August | 1,500 |
| Manchester Diversity Fair | 17 October | 1,500 |
| Sheffield Universities Recruitment Fairs | 24 October | 4,500 |
| University of St. Andrews Graduate Fair, Fife | 24 October | 850 |
| University of Aberdeen Recruitment Fair | 1 November | 800 |
| University of Teesside's Careers Fair | 2 November | 950 |
| ACFF Diversity Fair, London | 13 November | 2,200 |
| University of Dundee Graduate Fair | 14 November | 900 |
| Napier University Recruitment Fair, Edinburgh | 14 November | 830 |
| University of Birmingham Graduate Fair | 6 and 7 November | 5,157 |
| University of Manchester and UMIST Graduate Fair | 13 and 14 November | 2,729 |
| University of London Careers Service Recruitment Fair | 5 and 6 December | 7,000 |
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Dr. Kumar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is being done to make the senior civil service more representative of the population; and how this is publicised across Government. [38316]
Mr. Leslie: The latest figures for October 2001 released on 21 February show that the civil service is making progress on tackling under-representation at senior levels:
- 25.3 per cent. of the senior civil service are women, up from 17.8 per cent. in 1998. The target for 2004–05 is 35 per cent.
21.2 per cent. of those in the top 600 posts are women, up from 12.7 per cent. in 1998. The target for 2004–05 is 25 per cent.
1 2.3 per cent. of staff at senior civil service level are from a minority ethnic background, up from 1.6 per cent. in 1998. The target for 2004–05 is 3.2 per cent.
1 1.8 per cent. of staff at senior civil service level have a disability, up from 1.5 per cent. in 1998. The target for 2004–05 is 3 per cent.
1 These figures exclude data on ethnicity and disability in MOD.
In June 2001, the Cabinet Office launched the Elevator Partnerships, as a pilot informal mentoring scheme for women. The aim of the scheme is partnership between 50 senior women and 50 junior women who appear to be static in career terms, with the aim of encouraging career confidence.
All Departments were given the opportunity to participate in the pilot. An evaluation of the pilot in the summer will be used to encourage Departments to set up similar schemes.
The Cabinet Office has launched "Pathways", a central development programme targeted at minority ethnic staff with the potential to rise to senior levels. There is an annual trawl across all Departments for participants and there is a page dedicated to the scheme on the civil service website.
There is also an annual bursary scheme for disabled civil servants who have the potential to reach a senior management position (at least Grade 7) in the civil service. The scheme provides access and funding for training opportunities and personal development. Applications are invited annually through advertisements in Government publications.
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