§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when Sure Start maternity grant leaflets were distributed to Job Centre Plus local offices; and what steps he has taken to ensure that(a)all Job Centre Plus local offices were supplied with leaflets from the start of the scheme and (b)staff were fully briefed about it. [176771]
§ Mr. PondThe "Good News for Babies" leaflet was produced in March 2000 when the Sure Start Maternity Grant (SSMG) replaced the Maternity Payment. Over 440,000 leaflets were distributed to local offices using
£ million real terms 2004–05 prices Unemployment benefit
Supplementary benefit/ income support paid to the
unemployed
Jobseeker's allowance
(contribution based)
Jobseeker's allowance (income
based)
Total 1979–80 2,091 1,675 — — 3,766 1980–81 3,469 2,152 — — 5,621 1981–82 4,211 3,741 — — 7,953 1982–83 3,467 5,932 — — 9,399 1983–84 3,308 7,195 — — 10,503 1984–85 3,314 7,832 — — 11,146 1985–86 3,166 8,396 — — 11,562 1986–87 3,348 8,372 — — 11,720 1987–88 2,684 7,286 — — 9,971 1988–89 1,892 5,205 — — 7,097 1989–90 1,171 4,201 — — 5,372 1990–91 1,287 4,352 — — 5,639 1991–92 2,238 5,861 — — 8,099 Note The GDP deflator used to convert figures to real terms was published at Budget.
86W
Unemployment benefit
Supplementary benefit/ income support paid to the
unemployed
Jobseeker's allowance
(contribution based)
Jobseeker's allowance (income
based)
Total 1992–93 2,378 7,268 — — 9,646 1993–94 2,172 7,546 — — 9,718 1994–95 1,684 6,718 — — 8,402 1995–96 1,388 6,074 — — 7,462 1996–97 715 2,872 405 2,232 6,223 1997–98 — — 564 4,059 4,623 1998–99 — — 547 3,558 4,106 1999–2000 — — 518 3,157 3,675 2000–01 — — 498 2,714 3,213 2001–02 — — 510 2,320 2,830 2002–03 — — 545 2,214 2,760 2003–041 — — 543 2,074 2,617 12004 figures are in 2004–05 prices. Notes: 1.Supplementary benefit for the unemployed was replaced by income support for the unemployed in April 1988. 2.Unemployment benefit and income support for the unemployed were replaced by jobseeker's allowance contribution based and jobseeker's allowance income based in October 1996. 3.Totals may not sum due to rounding to nearest million. 4.Figures for 2003–04 are estimated ou Turn. the Department's internal distribution network. The leaflet was also available on the DSS/DWP website. In addition a number of other departmental leaflets were revised to include information on SSMGs and were available to local offices from April 2000.
Staff dealing with the Social Fund and those with customer contact were briefed in advance of the proposed SSMG scheme in November 1999. A detailed procedural bulletin, covering initial training and guidance, was issued on 16 February 2000. The Social Fund new entrant training was also amended to include SSMG procedures by April 2000.