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863W<br />
Written Answers<br />
1 DECEMBER 2010<br />
Written Answers<br />
864W<br />
We will be making clearer as we move towards the<br />
Bill exactly how the measure to cease paying mobility<br />
component of DLA to people in care homes will affect<br />
particular groups.<br />
Employment Schemes<br />
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State<br />
for Work and Pensions how many companies have<br />
expressed an interest in applying for contracts under<br />
the Work Programme. [26262]<br />
Chris Grayling: 102 organisations, SPV or consortia<br />
submitted bids in respect of the DWP Framework for<br />
the Provision of Employment Related Support Services.<br />
A list of organisations that submitted bids can be found<br />
on the Supplying DWP website<br />
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/supplying-dwp/<br />
Those organisations that were accepted onto the<br />
framework were notified on 25 November and a list has<br />
also been published on the Supplying DWP website.<br />
Only those organisations that have been successful in<br />
being admitted to the framework as prime contractors<br />
will be invited to tender for Work Programme contracts.<br />
Organisations will only be able to bid in lots w<strong>here</strong> they<br />
have been successful in the framework competition.<br />
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State<br />
for Work and Pensions what (a) assumptions and (b)<br />
calculations his Department made when formulating<br />
its estimate of the market value of Work Programme<br />
contracts contained in the framework agreement for<br />
the provision of employment-related support services.<br />
[26263]<br />
Chris Grayling: Assumptions and calculations on the<br />
estimated value of Work Programme contracts and<br />
indeed other contracts which will be let from the framework,<br />
were developed from information on the value of existing<br />
welfare to work programmes. These took into account<br />
the intention to radically simplify the array of existing<br />
employment programmes and deliver co<strong>here</strong>nt, integrated<br />
support more capable of dealing with complex and<br />
overlapping barriers to work. Estimates were broad in<br />
order to provide transparency to the market and to<br />
ensure that the framework would be able to meet<br />
requirements to be the principal vehicle for sourcing all<br />
employment related support services for the full life of<br />
the Framework, not just for DWP, but also for other<br />
eligible contracting authorities. Calculations also took<br />
into account the need to deliver greater value for money<br />
on future welfare to work contracts.<br />
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State<br />
for Work and Pensions whether he plans to place any<br />
restrictions on sub-contracting within the procurement<br />
processes for the Work Programme. [26264]<br />
Chris Grayling: T<strong>here</strong> are no plans to place any<br />
restrictions on sub-contracting within the procurement<br />
processes for the Work Programme. Evaluation of bids<br />
will, at least in part, depend on the quality of their<br />
supply chain.<br />
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State<br />
for Work and Pensions what the geographical areas are<br />
for contracting for each type of back-to-work<br />
provision; and what geographical areas t<strong>here</strong> will be for<br />
contracts under the Work Programme. [26265]<br />
Chris Grayling: The DWP Framework for the Provision<br />
of Employment Related Support Services will be divided<br />
into 11 geographical lots. The lots are: South East,<br />
South West, London, East of England, East Midlands,<br />
West Midlands, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber,<br />
North East, Scotland, Wales. Contracts let under the<br />
framework may be across all lots, cover a specific lot or<br />
a smaller geographical area(s) within a lot.<br />
Employment Schemes: Scotland<br />
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for<br />
Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of<br />
the likely effect of the proposed universal credit on<br />
work incentives in Scotland. [25774]<br />
Chris Grayling: Universal credit will make work pay.<br />
It will enable workers to retain more of their earnings<br />
when they enter work, providing stronger financial incentives<br />
to take job opportunities than under the current system.<br />
Establishing a single withdrawal rate and eliminating<br />
the hours rules currently present in working tax credit<br />
has the potential to create a much more flexible labour<br />
market, w<strong>here</strong> workers will be able to work the number<br />
of hours that most suits their needs and those of their<br />
employer.<br />
The integration of in and out of work support through<br />
universal credit will also greatly reduce the risks people<br />
perceive around the continuity of financial support as<br />
they move into and leave work.<br />
We expect the impacts in Scotland to be broadly the<br />
same as for Great Britain as a whole.<br />
Housing Benefit<br />
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State<br />
for Work and Pensions pursuant to the contribution<br />
by the Minister of State for Work and Pensions of<br />
9 November 2010, Official Report, column 154, on<br />
housing benefit, what the evidential basis was for his<br />
assessment of the change in private rents since November<br />
2008. [26345]<br />
Steve Webb: The source of the private rental data was<br />
the Find A Property index. This has been used by the<br />
DWP and wider Government since 2008, when CLG<br />
stopped producing their own private rental index. The<br />
Office for National Statistics does not publish up-to-date<br />
private rental data.<br />
Further details of the evidential base are available at:<br />
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/wpsc-analytical-supp.pdf<br />
Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for<br />
Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of<br />
the likely effects on levels of housing benefit payments<br />
of the implementation of his Department’s decision to<br />
merge high rental and low rental areas; and if he will<br />
make a statement. [26379]<br />
Steve Webb: We will be considering the areas in which<br />
local housing allowance rates are set in the context of<br />
our proposal to uprate local housing allowance rates