§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they intend to apply rural proofing to benefit claim procedures within the Department for Work and Pensions. [HL3476]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham):The department is modernising the services we provide to our customers. We are providing improved access to services and benefits through telephone centres and the Internet. Jobcentre Plus has new, dedicated caller offices. The Pension Service local service provides appointment-based surgeries in locations regularly visited by pensioners such as local community centres, Welfare Rights and Age Concern outlets.
We are committed to ensuring that everyone is able to access our services, whether they live in urban or rural areas. Increased accessibility is one of our key objectives in modernising welfare delivery. This modernisation is helping us to deliver the commitment made in the rural White Paper to ensure access to "high quality public services—services often delivered in new ways, and through new outlets".
97WAThe decisions we make about where and how we deliver services are based upon consultation with our partners. These include local authorities and regional development agencies, and reflect local circumstances and most importantly, the needs of the local community. The consideration of rural issues is an integral part of the consultation process.
The rural proofing checklist produced by the Countryside Agency forms part of the initial planning process and, where appropriate, the Countryside Agency itself is consulted as a stakeholder. We produce an internal annual rural proofing report for the Countryside Agency; this includes examples of how the department has addressed service delivery issues in rural areas. We also regularly discuss policy development and implementation with Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the Countryside Agency.