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23 May 2006 : Column 1667W—continued
Asbestos-related Cancer
Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government paid out in attendance allowance to people diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer in each of the last three years. [68473]
Mrs. McGuire: The estimated expenditure for constant attendance allowance in 2005-06, where the recipient has asbestos related cancer, is £800,000.
Notes:
1. The figure is an estimate based on D3 and D8 proportions of constant attendance allowance expenditure taken from a 10 per cent. sample of industrial injuries disablement benefit assessments which was then applied to the 100 per cent. industrial Injuries Computer System data and rounded to the nearest £100,000.
2. Asbestos related cancer is defined by the prescribed diseases, D3 (Diffuse Mesothelioma) and D8 (Primary Carcinoma of the lung where there is evidence of either asbestosis or pleural thickening).
Benefit Claims
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days were taken to process a benefit claim in West Dumbartonshire constituency in May (a) 2006, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005. [70420]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the time to rate a claim for jobseeker’s allowance, income support and incapacity benefit was in West Dunbartonshire in May 2006, May 2004 and May 2005. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Our measure of the time taken to process a claim is the actual average clearance time. Since April, national Jobcentre Plus targets have been set for the clearance of claims to jobseeker’s allowance, income support and incapacity benefit, replacing the former Key Management Indicators. The targets have been set at 12 working days for jobseeker’s allowance claims, 11 working days for income support and 18 working days for incapacity benefit.
The actual average clearance times for the West Dunbartonshire area expressed in working days are in the table. As the figure for May 2006 is not yet available details for April 2006 have been included.
| Jobseekers allowance | Income support | Incapacity benefit | ||||
| Target (days) | Clearance time (days) | Target (days) | Clearance time (days) | Target (days) | Clearance time (days) | |
Although the average actual clearance time for incapacity benefit in May 2005 was 27 days, the overall figure for 2005-06 was 16.4 days.
We are also concentrating additional resources on improving our current performance in clearing claims for income support and jobseeker’s allowance.
I hope this is helpful.
Child Support Agency
Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of claimants who decline to identify the father of their child for Child Support Agency purposes. [67810]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the number of claimants who decline to identify the father of their child for Child Support Agency purposes.
Any application made by a parent with care for Income Support or Income- Based Jobseekers Allowance should be accompanied by an application for Child Support maintenance, which requires the identification of the relevant non-resident parent. A parent with care can refuse to provide this identification, in which case one of two outcomes can result:
1. If there are reasonable grounds for believing that a risk to the parent with care or to any of their children living with them exists, and that harm or undue distress could result from identifying the non-resident parent, then 'Good Cause' will be granted and no further action will be taken.
2. If it is determined that no such reasonable grounds exist, then a continued withholding of this information can lead to a loss of benefit under a Reduced Benefit Direction (for old scheme cases) or a Reduced Benefit Decision (for new scheme cases).
In the financial year 2005/06, a claim for Good Cause was approved in 14,800 cases, and a Reduced Benefit Decision/Direction imposed in 14,400 cases.
It should be noted that these figures are derived from management information held by Jobcentre Plus, and thus differ from the information provided by the Agency in Table 2.2 of the Agency's latest Quarterly Summary Statistics (QSS). There are three main reasons for this:
The data in Table 2.2 of the Quarterly Summary Statistics only shows the initial clearance type for those cases that have been cleared, and thus will not show those cases where a claim for Good Cause or the imposition of a Reduced Benefit Decision has been approved, but the case itself has yet to be cleared.
Table 2.2 only shows new scheme cases, whereas the cases above include old scheme and new scheme cases.
Table 2.2 only shows the method by which a case was initially cleared, whereas the numbers given above are for the total number of Good Cause and Reduced Benefit Decisions/Directions approved or imposed in the financial year 2005/06.
Note that the information given is recorded on the basis of cases, rather than claimants. The data therefore reflects this, and volumes are rounded to the nearest hundred.
I hope you find this helpful.
Claim Processing
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many days it took on average to rate a claim for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit in Fife in the most recent period for which figures are available; [70793]
(2) what targets his Department has set for the number of days taken to rate claims for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit in Fife. [70794]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 12 May 2006]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the
chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many days it took on average to rate a claim for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit in Fife in the most recent period for which figures are available and what targets his Department has set for the number of days taken to rate claims for (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) incapacity benefit in Fife. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Our measure of the time taken to process a claim is the Actual Average Clearance Time. For 2005/06, the Jobcentre Plus internal Key Management Indicator (or target) for processing claims for Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance was 12 working days while the figure for Incapacity Benefit was 19 working days. From April 2006, the Key Management Indicator has been upgraded to a full headline Jobcentre Plus target and the figures changed to 11 days for Income Support and 18 working days for Incapacity Benefit. The level for Jobseeker's Allowance remains at 12 days.
The Actual Average Clearance Times for the Fife area are in the table.
| Days | |||
| March 2006( 1) | Cumulative for the period from April 2005 to March 2006 | Key Management Indicator( 2) | |
| (1 )Most recent period available. (2) Actual average clearance time. |
I hope this is helpful.
Customer Management Systems
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent developments have taken place in rolling out the various releases of the Department's Customer Management Systems (CMS); what progress has been made in replacement of CMS by the BPRP/WATCH programme; and if he will make a statement. [69444]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what recent developments have taken place in rolling out the various releases of the Department's Customer Management Systems (CMS), and what progress has been made in replacement of CMS by the BPRP/WATCH programme. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Since CMS was first implemented in 2003 there have been several further releases that have significantly improved system performance. The most recent improvements have been introduced with Releases 3 and 3.5. Release 3 was introduced to all existing CMS sites in October 2005 following user feedback. The release included a significant reduction in the clerical products which previously supported the system, as well as other enhancements.
Release 3.5 was introduced to all existing CMS sites in March 2006 and provided:
improved validation to ensure that information gathered and verified within CMS was transferred electronically to the Income Support Computer and Jobseeker's Allowance Payment systems;
fixes to live running problems; and
other changes to improve the system for staff.
Plans are now in place to introduce Release 4 of CMS in June 2006 and this release will build on the improvements made in Release 3.5 as well as supporting legislative changes.
The longer term future for CMS is being considered as part of the Department's Benefit Processing Replacement Programme (BPRP).
Departmental Contact Centres
Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the percentage of people telephoning contact centres run by his Department who got through on their first attempt between April 2005 and March 2006; and how long it took for them to be called back. [68455]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the percentage of people telephoning contact centres who got through on the first attempt between April 2005 and March 2006; and how long it took for them to be called back. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The available information is in the following table.
| Month | Percentage of calls answered( 1) | Number of days booking ahead for Call backs( 2) (first contact service only) |
| Notes: 1. The percentage of calls answered represents calls made to the first contact service (customers wishing to make a new claim to benefit) and Jobseeker Direct Service (customers inquiring about Jobs). 2. Data on number of days booking ahead has only been collected centrally from October 2005 |
We do not have information on the number of customer calls that are answered on their first or on subsequent attempts.
I hope this is helpful.
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