House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 06 Jun 2006 (pt 0007)

Departmental Publications

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what is his Department’s policy for reviewing instructional leaflets it has issued. [51980]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department’s policy is that its leaflets should be reviewed every six months to ensure accuracy of content.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff are employed directly by his Department to process (a) disability living allowance, (b) attendance allowance, (c) carers' allowance and (d) incapacity benefit claim forms, broken down by location; what the average salary is at each grade; and if he will make a statement. [72527]

Mrs. McGuire: Disability living allowance and attendance allowance are processed at the same sites; no further breakdown of staff handling each type of allowance is available. Average salaries are not available; salary bandwidths have been given.

The most recent available information is in the tables.

Number of staff (full-time equivalent) involved in processing disability living allowance and attendance allowance, by location; April 2006
Disability Contact and Processing Unit	1,841.85
Benefit Enquiry Line / Helpline	471.80
Bootle Disability Benefits Centre	134.30
Bristol Disability Benefits Centre	148.00
Edinburgh Disability Benefits Centre	100.84
Glasgow Disability Benefits Centre	116.12
Leeds Disability Benefits Centre	172.04
Manchester Disability Benefits Centre	131.93
Midlands Disability Benefits Centre	353.94
Newcastle Disability Benefits Centre	116.42
Wales Disability Benefits Centre	124.57
Wembley Disability Benefits Centre	314.17
Note: Figures include all administrative grade staff directly involved in processing disability living allowance and attendance allowance claims. Source: Disability and Carers Service management information

6 Jun 2006 : Column 515W

Number of staff (full-time equivalent) involved in processing carer's allowance; April 2006
Carer's Allowance Unit	843.87
Note: Figures include all administrative grade staff directly involved in processing carer's allowance claims. Source: Disability and Carers Service management information

Number of staff (full-time equivalent) involved in processing incapacity benefit claims in each Jobcentre Plus region; March 2006
East Midlands	277.88
East of England	287.88
London	449.43
North East	267.21
North West	683.51
Scotland	509.72
South East	353.61
South West	294.16
Wales	369.01
West Midlands	438.49
Yorkshire and The Humber	395.80
Notes: 1. London includes processing sites outside the London area processing London claims. 2. Figures include all administrative staff involved in processing incapacity benefit claims. Source: Jobcentre Plus management information.

DWP administrative grade pay bands
£
	Minimum	Maximum
Grade AA/Band A	12,340	17,380
Grade AO/Band B	13,990	20,890
Grade EO/Band C	18,160	27,300
Note: The figures given are the highest and lowest applicable to each band. Higher minimums and lower maximums apply in certain particular geographical areas.

Job Vacancies

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies there were on average on the register at job centres in Coventry South constituency in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [71754]

Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 22 May 2006]: Information on Jobcentre Plus vacancy data at parliamentary constituency level is only available from April 2004 and is set out in the following table.

Coventry South parliamentary constituency
Period	Average number of 'live' unfilled vacancies on any given day
2004	2,790
2005	2,280
2006	2,630
Source: Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System

Pension Credit

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of pension credit claimed the extra amount for carers in the last financial year for which figures are available; and how
6 Jun 2006 : Column 516W
many pensioner households received double the extra amount because both partners were eligible to claim. [71189]

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following table:

Number of pension credit beneficiaries with prescribed additional amounts for carers in payment
	November 2005
All pension credit beneficiaries of the extra amount for carers	182,300
One beneficiary with a prescribed additional amount	164,800
Both beneficiaries with a prescribed additional amount	17,500
Notes: 1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 4. Beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. Source: The Department's Quarterly Statistical Enquiry (QSE) five per cent. administrative data.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of pension credit were also in receipt of (a) the lower rate and (b) the higher rate of extra amounts for severe disability in the last financial year for which figures are available. [71191]

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following table:

Number of pension credit recipients with the prescribed extra amount for severe disability
	November 2005
All recipients with an extra amount for severe disability	631,970
Recipients with the extra amount for severe disability—higher rate	46,360
Recipients with the extra amount for severe disability—lower rate	585,610
Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Recipients are those people who claim pension credit either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of pension credit. Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents in the Medway towns local authority area received pension credit in the most recent period for which figures were available, broken down by ward; and what the average payment was. [74714]

James Purnell: The information is provided in the following table:

6 Jun 2006 : Column 517W

Pension credit individual beneficiaries and the average weekly amount of benefit for wards in Medway, November 2005
Ward name	Individual beneficiaries	Average weekly benefit (£)
Chatham Central	885	47.40
Cuxton and Halling	210	39.46
Gillingham North	745	42.60
Gillingham South	650	43.81
Hempstead and Wigmore	175	38.46
Lordswood and Capstone	375	41.71
Luton and Wayfield	835	43.59
Peninsula	615	41.33
Princes Park	295	44.41
Rainham Central	425	36.76
Rainham North	345	36.15
Rainham South	425	38.72
River	340	46.36
Rochester East	600	39.52
Rochester South and Horsted	575	37.20
Rochester West	460	36.85
Strood North	530	42.55
Strood Rural	505	38.68
Strood South	775	39.52
Twydall	940	37.57
Walderslade	460	37.31
Watling	290	39.71
Medway total	11,390	41.02
Notes: 1. The numbers of individual beneficiaries are rounded to a multiple of five. 2. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Totals do not always sum to area total due to rounding. 4. The number of individual beneficiaries includes both claimants and their partners. 5. Wards are based on 2003 ward boundaries. Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data.

Pension Credit Helpline

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone calls were made to the pension credit helpline in (a) March and (b) April; how many of these calls (i) were handled, (ii) received an engaged tone and (iii) were abandoned; and if he will make a statement. [73561]

James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 May 2006, Official Report, column 2036W.

Pensions

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to review the uprating arrangements for UK pensioners who have moved overseas in the context of the publication of the White Paper on Pensions. [73918]

James Purnell: We uprate the State Pension in countries with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement or a legal obligation to do so. We have no plans to change the current arrangements.

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