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30 Mar 2006 : Column 1189W—continued
Rural Planning
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the rural planning announcement made on 16 March 2006 was first discussed internally within the Department for Regional Development. [61620]
Mr. Woodward: The preparation of Draft Planning Policy Statement 14—"Sustainable Development in the Countryside" commenced with publication of an Issues Paper in June 2004. The option of a more restrictive policy for development in the countryside has been considered since then. The final decision for a more restrictive policy was made in early December 2005.
Sexual Offences (Children)
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were convicted of offences involving sexual attacks on children in Northern Ireland in 2005. [61422]
Mr. Hanson: At present, Northern Ireland court proceedings and sentencing data sources do not include victim information in relation to the commission of an offence. Therefore, it is only possible to provide the number of convictions for those offences which, by their definition, identify a child as the victim, for example, indecent assault on child or gross indecency with child. Table 1 provides the number of such convictions broken down by offence.
Data beyond 2003 is currently not available.
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Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people living in Northern Ireland in January (a) 2001 and (b) 2006 were on the sex offenders register. [61423]
Mr. Hanson: There were 265 persons living in Northern Ireland subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in January 2001 and 813 in January 2006.
Victims' March (Dublin)
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Republic of Ireland authorities have sought assistance from the police in Northern Ireland regarding the whereabouts of persons resident in Northern Ireland in relation to the disturbances in Dublin on 25 February. [57976]
WORK AND PENSIONS
Agency Staff
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed by non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which he has responsibility in 2004–05 in (a) total and (b) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (c) London. [35949]
Mrs. McGuire: Information on the number of staff in the Department's agencies and its non-departmental public bodies is in the following table.
Notes:
1. HSE is Health and Safety Executive.
2. Figures are civil service full time equivalent posts (rounded, at point in time 31 March 2005, except for HSE where figures are as at 1 April 2005). Columns may not sum due to rounding.
3. Staff on paid maternity leave are excluded.
4. Temporary staff are included.
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Attendance Allowance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average waiting time was for an upgrade from the lower rate of attendance allowance to the higher rate in the latest period for which information is available; and whether there is a mechanism for speeding up such an upgrade based on the urgency of the case. [60774]
Mrs. McGuire: The administration of attendance allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Terry Moran, dated 30 March 2006:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for an upgrade from the lower rate of attendance allowance to the higher rate in the latest period for which information is available; and whether there is a mechanism for speeding up such an upgrade based on the urgency of the case.
The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
The information requested regarding what the average waiting time was for an upgrade from the lower rate of attendance allowance to the higher rate is not available.
Claims made under the Special Rule" provision would receive urgent consideration over and above the norm. The special rules cover people who suffer from a progressive disease that is so severe that they are not expected to live longer than six months.
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fraudulent benefit claims were (a) detected and (b) prosecuted in each year since 1997. [56247]
Mr. Plaskitt
[holding answer 6 March 2006]: We do not collect information on the number of fraudulent benefit claims detected by local authorities. Information on the number of fraudulent benefit claims detected by DWP is provided in the tables. For the years 1997–8 and 1998–9 there was a broader definition of 'detected fraud', much of which did not lead to an immediate change in benefit entitlement. For those years, the figures are as follows.
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| Referrals counted as fraud | Total sanctions(18) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 483,814(19) | 11,523 |
| 1998–99 | 420,766(19) | 12,964 |
(18) From December 1998 the system of criminal sanctions was extended to introduce administrative penalties and cautions as an alternative to prosecutions.
(19) Before 1999 a different system for counting cases was used. Figures from 1999 are not comparable with previous figures.
Source:
Fraud Information by Sector (FiBS) & Organised Fraud (OF) Resource Management.
From April 1999 there was a major change in the method of measuring effective cases, limiting the count only to those cases with an immediate change in benefit entitlement. In view of this change, figures from 1999–2000 are set out in the table.
(20) From December 1998 the system of criminal sanctions was extended to introduce administrative penalties and cautions as an alternative to prosecutions.
Notes:
On the fall in detected cases after 1999:
1. In line with the fall in benefit fraud there has been a reduction in the stock of fraud, leading to fewer referrals and fewer cases for investigation.
2. There has also been a more focused approach to investigation with a more selective referral management system. This has enabled us to concentrate on the more serious criminal investigations to maintain the level of sanctions imposed where fraud has been detected.
3. The development of new initiatives such as data matching with other agencies has also played a significant part in this more targeted approach to fraud investigation.
4. We are also introducing a new customer compliance approach as a more effective method of dealing with the lower level frauds that do not need to be investigated to the criminal standard.
Source:
Fraud Information by Sector (FiBS) & Organised Fraud (OF) Resource Management.
Information regarding the number of prosecutions for benefit fraud is in the table.
Notes:
1. For DWP, prosecutions include convictions and acquittals and are totals of Counter fraud Investigation Service and Organised Fraud cases. For local authorities, prosecutions equate to the number of court summons issued.
Figures for prosecutions by local authorities are not available prior to 2001–02.
Source:
1. For DWP: fraud Information by Sector (FiBS) & Organised Fraud (OF).
2. Resource Management.
3. For local authorities: from 2001–02 onwards the numbers of prosecutions and convictions are taken from subsidy claim forms. Prior to this the numbers are taken from management information returns.
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