here - United Kingdom Parliament

857W
Written Answers
1 DECEMBER 2010
Written Answers
858W
extension to 31 August 2015 to facilitate the delivery of
incapacity benefit reassessment. The new disability living
allowance assessment service from 2013, is not included
in the extension contractual arrangements but will be
awarded through a competitive tendering process.
The scope of the medical services agreement is to
provide medical advice to Department for Work and
Pensions; Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs; Service
Personnel and Veterans Agency and Tribunals Service
to support decisions in relation to a number of benefits
and pensions, including but not limited to:
Incapacity benefits
Employment and support allowance
Industrial injuries disablement benefits
Disability living allowance (to be competed in 2013)
Attendance allowance
Statutory sick pay/statutory maternity pay
Child trust fund
War pension
Vaccine Damage Payment scheme
Financial Assistance scheme
Compensation Recovery scheme
Appeals tribunal service
Occupational Health
Following a competitive tender exercise the occupational
health framework agreement between Atos Healthcare
and the Department for Work and Pensions was awarded
on 30 May 2008 by the Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions.
The framework agreement went live on 3rd August
2008 and was for a period of three years, with an option
to extend for a further two years. The Department for
Work and Pensions is currently considering the option
to extend.
The scope of the occupational health framework
ensures the Department has access to professional
occupational health guidance, enabling obligations under
the Equality Act (especially in respect of disabled workers)
to be fulfilled and also to prevent or resolve instances of
sickness absence. Such guidance will normally be about
the applicability of the Equality Act; the effect of illness
on an employee’s functional capability; and measures
that can be taken to reduce the effects of illness on
functional capability or to rehabilitate an employee
from sick leave to work. Services available via the agreement
include but are not limited to:
Attendance management support
Pre-employment health screening
Audiology screening
Absence related case conferences
Atos also provide IT services to the Department
under the Stand Alone Support Services (SASA) Contract.
The covers the provision of development, support,
enhancement and consultancy services for mostly small
scale DWP IT applications.
Children: Maintenance
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average
difference between the amounts paid by clients of the
Child Support Agency on the (a) pre-2002 and (b)
post-2002 scheme. [24372]
Maria Miller: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement
Commission is responsible for the child maintenance
system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner
to write to the hon. Member with the information
requested and I have seen the response.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the
Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive
reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child
Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance
and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what
estimate he has made of the average difference between in amounts
paid by clients of the Child Support Agency on the (a) pre-2002
and (b) post-2002 scheme. [24372]
The table shows average collections on cases administered
under old scheme rules compared to average collections on cases
administered under current scheme rules for each quarter.
Average collections have been calculated by dividing the total
amount of maintenance collected and arranged under each scheme
by the number of cases paying maintenance as at the end of each
quarter.
Total collections and caseload figures include cases administered
on the CS2 and CSCS computer systems as well as cases administered
off system. However, the value of maintenance direct payments
within the collections figure only include off system cases from
April 2008.
Average collections and arrangements will be directly impacted
by the average assessment value. The average assessment of Old
Scheme cases is significantly lower than Current Scheme cases
due to differences in policy between the schemes. The majority of
cases in receipt of benefit on the Old Scheme are nil-assessed,
whereas cases in receipt of benefit on the Current Scheme are
given a weekly assessment of £5.00. 29% of cases on the Current
Scheme have an assessment between £0.01 and £5.00, which
significantly reduces the average assessment value.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Table 1: Average monthly collections and arrangements by scheme
£
Month
Average monthly
collections/
arrangements old
scheme
Average monthly
collections/
arrangements
current scheme
Difference
December
179 125 54
2006
March 2007 184 129 55
June 2007 181 128 53
September
186 135 51
2007
December
186 142 44
2007
March 2008 192 142 50
June 2008 194 137 56
September
199 142 57
2008
December
197 142 54
2008
March 2009 200 138 62
June 2009 194 136 57
September
195 137 59
2009
December
196 136 60
2009
March 2010 184 135 48
June 2010 180 133 47
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to the nearest £1.
2. Figures include value of maintenance collected as well as value of
maintenance direct arrangements.