| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
Companies House: Performance Targets
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Barry Gardiner) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I have set Companies House the following targets for the year 2006–07:
to ensure that the following services: Companies House Direct, WebCheck, and Web-Filing, are available for 99 per cent of the time between the hours of 7 am and midnight, Monday to Saturday;
to achieve 40 per cent take-up for electronic submission of documents 1 by the end of 2006–07 and 75 per cent take-up by the end of 2007–08;
to achieve for 2007–08 a reduction in real terms of 10 per cent compared to 2004–05, in the unit cost of the range of transactions covering registration, company search and active register size;
to achieve a score of more than 85 per cent in each quarterly Companies House Customer Satisfaction Survey;
These are targets that are common to other executive agencies:
to achieve, taking one year with another, a 3.5 per cent average rate of return based on the operating surplus expressed as a percentage of average net assets;
to pay all bills due within 30 days, or on other agreed credit terms, on receipt of goods or services or a valid invoice whichever is later;
the chief executive to reply within 10 days to all letters from Members of Parliament delegated to her for reply.
1 A document is an individual transaction that a company can make with Companies House to submit or register information.
Contingencies Fund
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (John Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The approval of the Department for Work and Pensions spring supplementary estimate via the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) (No. 2) Bill will not occur until the end of the month. Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £1,252,950,000 has been sought in the department's spring supplementary estimate. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £750,000,000 will be met by a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund.
Crossrail
Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Alistair Darling) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
30 Mar 2006 : Column WS97
The Government are aware of the concerns that have been expressed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and others in the borough about the impacts of Crossrail in Tower Hamlets. Many of those concerns centre on the works proposed in the Bill in and around Hanbury Street to use a site for launching tunnel boring machines and associated works at Pedley Street and Mile End Park for removal of excavated material.
After many months of detailed work with Cross London Rail Links (CLRL) and Transport for London, a solution has been identified that should significantly reduce the implications of Crossrail works for the local community.
The work carried out by CLRL has involved a fundamental review of its tunnelling strategy. CLRL has concluded that by a major recasting of the construction programme it is possible to accommodate the major part of the tunnelling activities from the two tunnel boring machine launch sites already proposed at Royal Oak in west London and between Canary Wharf and Custom House in the Docklands area of east London. As a result Crossrail would not need to launch tunnel boring machines from Hanbury Street in east London.
The new tunnelling strategy will significantly reduce the environmental impacts of Crossrail construction in the borough of Tower Hamlets, and we believe they would be positive overall for London. There would be no need for the works between Hanbury Street and Pedley Street or the conveyor along the Great Eastern main line. Mile End Park would not be needed as a site for stockpiling excavated material. A shaft will still need to be constructed at Hanbury Street for ventilation and intervention, but this will be a much smaller structure involving less work and so reducing disruption to the local community. I have asked CLRL urgently to consider these residual impacts so that they can be further ameliorated. An environmental assessment of the alternative strategy will be published in due course.
CLRL's assessment is that constructing the central Crossrail tunnel in this new way will not increase overall the project's programme or budget.
CLRL will in due course write to all affected petitioners setting out the details of the alternative tunnelling strategy and the implications for Hanbury Street. This will happen in good time for hearings on these issues in the Bill Select Committee.
Department for Work and Pensions: Agency Targets and Business Plans
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (John Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
30 Mar 2006 : Column WS98
I am today able to announce the annual performance targets in 2006–07 for each of the executive agencies of the Department for Work and Pensions. The targets I have agreed are set out below.
Further information on the plans of the Pension Service, Child Support Agency, Disability and Carers Service and the Rent Service in 2006–07 is contained in their individual business plans which have been published today. Copies have been placed in the Library. Copies of the Jobcentre Plus business plan will be made available in due course.
To achieve a total points score of 13,500,000 based on the job outcomes Jobcentre Plus achieves
* As JOT is a new measure the JOT points level is not comparable to the level set under the Job Entry Target for 2005–06.
To ensure that specified key Jobcentre Plus business processes are delivered efficiently, accurately and to specified standards in 94 per cent of cases checked.
Monetary Value of Fraud and Error Target
By March 2007 to continue to ensure that losses from fraud and error in working age income support and jobseeker's allowance amount to no more than current (March 2006) levels of loss or no more than 5.2 per cent of the monetary value of these benefits paid during the year, whichever represents the lower figure (as measured against the 1998 baseline).
To achieve an 84 per cent customer service level in the delivery of the standards set out in the customers and employers charters
At least 86 per cent of employers placing their vacancies with Jobcentre Plus will have a positive outcome.
Average Actual Clearance Times Target
To process claims, within specified average actual clearance times for incapacity benefit, income support and jobseeker's allowance—18 days, 11 days, and 12 days respectively.
By 2008, be paying pension credit to at least 3.2 million pensioner households while maintaining a
30 Mar 2006 : Column WS99
focus on the most disadvantaged by ensuring that at least 2.2 million households are in receipt of the guarantee credit.
Improve working age individuals' awareness of their retirement provision such that by 2007–08 15.4 million individuals are regularly issued a pension forecast and 60,000 successful pension traces are undertaken a year.
Issue winter fuel payments for 2006–07 (over 99 per cent of all automatic payments and successful claims received before 23 September 2006) by Christmas 2006.
Reduce sick absence rates to eight days per capita.
Ensure that 95 per cent of telephone calls received by the Pension Service centres are answered by customer advisers and less than 1 per cent of attempted telephone calls receive the engaged tone or message.
Achieve a pension credit accuracy rate of at least 96 per cent.
Achieve a state pensions' claims accuracy rate of at least 98 per cent.
Collection rate: new and old scheme
By 31 March 2007, where maintenance is paid through the collection service the agency will collect, on average across both the new and old schemes, 90 per cent of the amount due.
By 31 March 2007, in 65 per cent of cases across both the new and old schemes in which a liability to pay maintenance exists, the non resident parent has either made a payment via the collection service, or a maintenance direct arrangement is in place. In addition, further ensuring that at least this level of performance is achieved for those new scheme cases in which the parent with care is on income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance.
By 31 March 2007, the agency will clear 55 per cent of new applications within 12 weeks of receipt and 80 per cent in 26 weeks.
By 31 March 2007, the agency will have reduced the volume of uncleared new scheme applications by 25 per cent of the amount outstanding by the end of March 2006.
By 31 March, 2007, accuracy on the last decision made for all new or old scheme maintenance calculations carried out and checked in previous 12 months to be correct to the nearest penny in at least 87 per cent of cases.
The agency will collect arrears equivalent to 40 per cent of the amount accruing due to non-payment of regular maintenance between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007.
30 Mar 2006 : Column WS100
Ensure that for the period 1 April 2006 to 30 September 2006 at least 90 per cent of calls to the DLA/AA Helpline, our national telephone service, are answered first time and from 1 October 2006 ensure that at least 92 per cent of calls are answered first time.
Ensure that less than 1 per cent of all calls attempted to the DLA/AA Helpline receive an engaged tone/automated message.
Increase the percentage of customers satisfied with the service provided by Disability and Carers Service to 85 per cent, an increase of 2 per cent above the 2005 customer satisfaction survey.
Clear new claims for disability living allowance within an average of 39 working days, new claims for attendance allowance within an average of 19 days and carer's allowance within an average of 15 working days.
Achieve an accuracy rate of 90 per cent on decisions on claims for disability living allowance and 92 per cent for attendance allowance.
Achieve a financial accuracy rate of 98 per cent on carer's allowance payments.
Reduce sick absence to eight average working days lost.
Meet the efficiency challenge by delivering a staffing level of 6,038.
Reduce the cost of processing benefits to:
| £ | |
| AA/DLA claims | 164.92 |
| AA/DLA live load | 8.64 |
| CA claims | 97.93 |
| CA live load | 8.69 |
95 per cent of Local Reference Rent (LRR) Housing Benefit determinations to be upheld on redetermination.
95 per cent of all fair rent valuations that are checked as part of our quality assurance processes are verified as being accurate.
Local Authority Housing Benefit Department Customers: Our target is to ensure that at least 95 per cent of our local authority customers rate our service as satisfactory or better during 2005–06.
30 Mar 2006 : Column WS101
Fair Rent Customers and Housing Benefit Inspections: Our target is to ensure that at least 95 per cent of our fair rent customers, and those housing benefit claimants whose properties we inspect, rate our service as satisfactory or better during the year.
To increase productivity by 7 per cent by the end of the year.
To reduce cost per case by 6 per cent in real terms by the end of the year.
| Next Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |