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Local Offices (Industrial Action)
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what areas of work were affected, or not covered at all, as a result of the recent industrial action in (a) Wallasey, (b) Stockton, (c) Redcar, (d) Doncaster, (e) Hull, (f) Leicester, Yeoman Street, (g) Tottenham, (h) Ilford, (i) Bloomsbury, (j) Kensington and (k) Camberwell local offices.
Miss Widdecombe : As can only be expected when industrial action has been taken, all areas of work were affected to some degree in the local offices mentioned and local management had to prioritise work accordingly. The prompt payment of benefits remained the top priority for all these offices. Every effort was made by management and staff to ensure that their offices remained open to the public and to provide a telephone service (although this was necessarily limited in some cases).
Liable Relative Work
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list, by region, the allocated number of staff days for liable relative work during the period 1 April 1990 to 31 December 1990 ; and what was the number used.
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Miss Widdecombe : The staff days allocated and used for liable relative work during the period 1 April 1990 to 31 December 1990 for each region are in the table.
The figures are obtained from the Department's monthly statistical returns. Caution needs to be applied in making direct comparisons between allocations and usage. Allocations include management and common services (typists etc) which may not be included in liable relative usage figures.
Region |Allocated|Used --------------------------------------------------- North East |59,634 |42,249 Midlands |57,789 |35,052 London North |60,984 |34,951 London South |65,241 |29,866 Wales and South West |45,423 |30,018 North West |48,591 |33,337 Scotland |36,126 |26,196
Local Office, Norcross
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many forms DS 1060 were sent out by his Department's office at Norcross, Blackpool, in the period 1 January 1990 to 31 December 1990.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is not available.
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken by his Department's office at Norcross, Blackpool, to answer a letter from (a) a member of the public and (b) an hon. Member.
Miss Widdecombe : (a) A quality assessment study has just been completed at North Fylde central office, which includes Norcross, and this shows that in relation to inquiries by members of the public 62 per cent. of letters were answered in less than three weeks. The study shows an improvement over the findings in the last quality assessment exercise. Further positive efforts to improve this aspect of customer service will continue and the results will be monitored. This study also showed that 78 per cent. of those questioned considered the quality of service given to be good or very good. (b) The precise information is not available in the form requested. However, across the span of the five different benefits the current average lies in the range of five to 12 working days.
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will instigate a review of the level of performance of his Department's office at Norcross, Blackpool.
Miss Widdecombe : The North Fylde office at Blackpool is responsible for processing a wide range of diverse benefits each of which is regularly monitored to establish performance levels. Where deficiencies are shown management action is taken to improve the situation. In the case of a major problem recourse to a full review is available to management and such a step has recently been taken in relation to the War Pensions area of work. We are content therefore that satisfactory performance control mechanisms exist at the North Fylde offices.
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many files have been recorded as lost at his Department's office at Norcross, Blackpool, in 1990.
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Miss Widdecombe : The information is not available in the form requested.Severe Weather Payments
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total number of people who (a) were entitled to and (b) claimed severe weather payments in 1986-87 and, so far as the information is available, in the current winter ; and how many in each case were pensioners.
Mr. Scott : We estimate that about 2.2 million households are eligible to claim cold weather payments this winter, of whom 1.25 million are pensioner households. Information on claims made this winter is not yet available.
Cold weather payments in 1986-87 were made under the previous scheme. I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Moray, (Mrs. Ewing), on 14 February, at col 583, which lists the number of payments. Details are not available of the claims made, or of the numbers of people eligible for payments.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cold weather payments were made each day from 1 February.
Mr. Scott : Information regarding the number of cold weather payments made is collected each calendar month. When it becomes available, the information for February will be placed in the Library.
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Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the additional cost if the cold weather payments were paid to those pensioners who receive (a) £20 a week above the income support maximum and (b) £10 a week above that level.
Mr. Scott [holding answer 15 February 1991] : The estimated costs are for (a) £5.5 million per week and for (b) £4 million per week.
Note : These costs are for payments to those benefit units which have at least one member who is 60 years or over and capital under £1000. These estimates assume all those entitled to a payment make a claim.
Source : Modelled using data drawn from the 1986-87-88 Family Expenditure Surveys.
Research Projects
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the research projects (a) currently underway and (b) planned by the Department in all areas excluding invalidity benefit, giving the title of the research, its estimated cost and its completion date in each case.
Mr. Scott : The tables set out the details of research under way and planned by the Department. A number of additional studies are under consideration to start in 1991-92 depending on available resources but details of these have not yet been fully considered.
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Table A
Research currently underway
Project |Cost |Completion due
|(£ thousands)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maternity rights and benefits |<1>44 |Final report awaited
Consumer views of the attendance |In-house |Completed: final report received
allowance medical examination
Invalid care allowance |142 |Completed: final report received
Disability working allowance research |32 |April 1991
Survey of incomes in and out of work<2>- |67 |Early 1992
Econometric analysis of durations
Survey of incomes in and out of work- |10 |Autumn 1991
further analysis of attitude data
Survey of incomes in and out of work- |In-house |Autumn 1991
replacement ratio analysis
Severe hardship payments for 16/17 year |119 |Final report awaited
olds
Impact of family credit |204 |August 1992
National child development survey- |<1>175 |July 1993
5th sweep
Operation of the social fund |330 |December 1991
Survey of social fund review procedures |<1>10 |April 1991
Survey of credit and debt |<1>11 |April 1991
Preliminary study of people leaving |5 |Completed: Final report recently
certain long-stay institutions | received
Improvements to family expenditure |30 |June 1991
survey grossing up procedures
Family credit and the self-employed |131 |March 1993
Actively seeking work provisions |35 |Awaiting final report
British household panel study |<1>125 |March 1995
Survey of retirement and retirement plans |828 |Autumn 1991
Analysis of data from the survey of |54 |December 1992
retirement, including econometric
modelling
Consumer perceptions of personal |26 |Completed: final report recently
pensions |received
British social attitudes survey |<1>60 |Late 1992 (for 1991 survey)
1991, 1993, 1994
OPCS omnibus survey |<1>41 |May 1991
Information needs of informal advisers |39 |Completed: report recently
| received
Forms design |70 |October 1991
Evaluation of consumer consultations in |42 |Final report awaited
the social security system
Hard to place residents of resettlement |47 |April 1992
units
Survey of admissions to London |In-house |July 1991
resettlement units
Assessment of women users of resettle- |2 |June 1991
ment units and their needs
Housing benefit reviews |100 |Completed: final report received
<1> DSS contribution to joint funded research.
<2> Main stage of the survey of incomes in and out of work completed summer 1990. Results published in:
Erens, B and Hedges, B: Survey of Incomes In and Out of Work (SCPR, 1990) and
Garman, A and Redmond, G: The Changing characteristics of unemployed men, Employment Gazette, September 1990.
Table file CW910225.058 not available
Table B
Planned research
Project |Anticipated |Anticipated completion due
|cost
|(£ thousands)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in income and benefit status over |103 |To be decided
time
Structure of employers' national |To be |To be decided
insurance contributions |decided
Survey of incomes in and out of work- |In-house |Autumn 1991
takeup of in-work benefit
Survey of incomes in and out of work- |16 |December 1991
Econometric analysis of partner activity
Survey of occupational pensions |Awaiting |To be decided
| costings
Information needs of and access to |50 |To be decided
service by minority ethnic groups
Information needs of and access to |50 |September 1991
service by people with disabilities
Annual independent national customer |To be |September 1991
survey |decided
Customer perceptions of resettlement |37 |July 1991
units
Effect of benefit availability on housing |60 |To be decided
decisions
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many parliamentary questions have not been answered because of disproportionate cost over the last year ; and if he will list those that could now be answered due to the effectiveness of the operational strategy of computerisation.
Miss Widdecombe : There have been 33 questions receiving such answers over the last year. It would not be possible to undertake the type of analysis requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Social Fund
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much money has been allocated for loans and grants under the social fund for 1990-91 in each district council area of Wales ; (2) if he will publish the numbers of successful claims for (a) grants and (b) loans under the social fund as a percentage of the total number of applicants for each, in every district council area of Wales in 1990 ;
(3) of the successful social fund applications for (a) grants and (b) loans, how many were allocated to (i) pensioners, (ii) single parents, (iii) disabled people, (iv) families and (v) single people for each district council area in Wales during 1990 ;
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(4) how much money was (a) allocated and (b) utilised as (i) loans and (ii) grants under the social fund in each district council area in Wales during 1990 ; and in each instance what amount of money was set aside for cases which are pending in 1990-91.Mr. Scott : Information is not collected according to district council areas. Statistics for all local offices of the Department on (a) allocations for loans and grants, (b) applications processed and awards made, and (c) expenditure, are in the Library. Awards are made from the year's budget in which they are paid, not the budget for the date of application.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of those in receipt of income support are having deductions made to the repayment of social fund loans ; and what is the average level of repayments by quintile to each of his Department's offices in Derbyshire.
Mr. Scott : The table shows the number of applicants repaying social fund loans at the end of November 1990. It is not possible to provide quintile figures on repayments.
|Number
------------------------------------
Chesterfield |1,338
Derby (Becket Street) |630
Derby (Heritage Gate) |394
Derby (London Road) |980
Ilkeston |646
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of those in receipt of income support are having deductions made for the repayment of social fund loans in each of his Department's offices in Derbyshire.
Mr. Scott : The information provided is for the quarter ending in November 1990.
|Per cent.
------------------------------------------
Chesterfield |7.6
Derby (Becket Street) |5.4
Derby (Heritage Gate) |6.2
Derby (London Road) |7.8
Ilkeston |9.4
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many local offices in Nottingham and the United Kingdom are currently giving community care grants from the social fund to (a) high priority applications only, (b) high and medium priority applications only and (c) high, medium and low priority applications.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has consulted small firm organisations on the new instructions to be issued to employers following the implementation of the Statutory Sick Pay Act 1991.
Mr. Scott : We consulted the National Federation of the Self Employed and Small Businesses, the Forum of Private Business and the Confederation of British Industry on the draft statutory sick pay leaflet on small employers relief (NI 278). A number of useful comments were made and incorporated in the leaflet, which is now being distributed to all employers.
Industrial Injuries
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to add further categories of workers to those who can be assessed for industrial injuries disablement benefits when it is established they suffer from industrial deafness, including those whose industrial deafness arose from work in the coal mining industry.
Mr. Scott : The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council advises the Secretary of State on the prescription of occupations under the industrial injuries scheme. Work involving the use of pneumatic percussive tools for mining coal and work in the immediate vicinity of these tools when in operation are already prescribed occupations for occupational deafness purposes.
Benefit Uprating
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the reason for the interval between the uprating announcement and the payment of uprated benefits ; and if he will make a statement.
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Miss Widdecombe : The administrative complexities of changing the level of payment for several million beneficiaries receiving a wide range of different benefits means that a considerable period of time is required between the announcement and payment of uprated benefits.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which benefits have been uprated in line with inflation since 1979 ; and which have not.
Mr. Jack : The Government are now spending more on social security, in real terms, than ever before. Expenditure increased by £14.5 billion in real terms at 1990-91 prices between 1979-80 and 1990-91, a real increase of 35 per cent.
Taking the period since 1979 as a whole, all weekly benefit rates have been uprated in line with inflation, or better in some cases, with the exceptions of child benefit, statutory sick pay and sickness benefit. These have been uprated but not always in line with inflation.
Family Credit
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he hopes to conclude his inquiries into the error in calculation of family credit for Mr. Mike Rawlinson of Totnes, South Devon (Ref. YR 008417C) and the delay in vetting the claim ; when payment, together with arrears will be made ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : A revised maximum award of family credit of £54.15 a week is being issued today, including all the arrears due. Entitlement could not be recalculated until necessary further information regarding Mr. Rawlinson's employment had been received. I shall write to my hon. Friend with details of this case.
Mean-tested Benefits
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, further the answer to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) on 19 February 1991 Offical Report, columns 105-6, what contribution each means-tested benefit makes to the £0.9 billion difference between (a) and (b).
Miss Widdecombe : The savings which would be made by the reduced payment of income-related benefits would approximately be of the following magnitude : income support, £250 million ; housing benefit, £330 million and community charge benefit : £180 million. Where income- related benefits are raised to prevent loss of entitlement, there are some extra costs, approximately £100 million, associated with an increase in pensioner premiums.
Pensions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what procedures exist to credit a pension to someone working in the United Kingdom who is (a) a United States citizen and (b) a citizen of another EC country.
Mr. Jack : A United States citizen who has worked and paid social security contributions in the United Kingdom will receive a retirement pension under United Kingdom domestic law if he has paid sufficient contributions to qualify. If he has not paid enough contributions for this
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purpose but he has also been covered by the United States insurance scheme, the social security convention between the United Kingdom and the United States of America provides for insurance in both countries to be combined to help him to satisfy the qualifying conditions for a United Kingdom pension. Any United Kingdom pension resulting from this calculation will be payable in the proportion that the United Kingdom insurance bears to the combined insurance.The United Kingdom pension for a European Community national who has worked in more than one EC country is calculated in accordance with Council regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71. The social security records of all the EC countries concerned are combined as though they were United Kingdom insurance and the pension rate is then calculated in proportion to the actual United Kingdom insurance in the combined total. A separate calculation is made of entitlement under domestic law alone and the United Kingdom pension is then paid at the higher of the two results. Special rules exist for cases where the person has been insured for less than a year in any one EC country.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will issue to every state earnings-related pension holder an annual statement which will include the amount of pension to be paid on retirement.
Miss Widdecombe : The Department does notify certain national insurance contributors if their national insurance record is not sufficient in any one tax year for that year to count towards their basic pension entitlement, but there are no plans to issue annual statements to state earnings-related pension holders.
People are able to obtain details of their current or future possible state retirement pension entitlement by requesting a pension forecast from the retirement pension forecast unit at Newcastle.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consideration he has given to allowing state earnings-related pensions participants to make additional voluntary contributions ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : Although people who have a reduced basic pension entitlement may, under certain conditions, be able to pay extra voluntary contributions to enhance their entitlement, there are no current plans to extend this to state earnings-related pensions.
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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons over the age of 60 years are in receipt of state retirement pensions or other equivalent income ; and how this figure would be affected if the entitlement to a pension was given to men who retired at 60 years.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 21 February 1991] : There are aproximately 10 million people in receipt of retirement pension. It is estimated that there are around 1.4 million men between the age of 60 and 64 who might qualify for retirement pension if pension age for men is reduced to 60.
National Insurance Fund
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what saving for the national insurance fund has been achieved by transferring out expenditure on industrial injury benefit, maternity pay and statutory sick pay ;
(2) which benefits have been transferred since 1979 to the Consolidated Fund from the national insurance fund.
Mr. Jack : The Social Security Act 1990 provided for expenditure on industrial injuries benefits to be met directly from the consolidated fund and for the national insurance fund to be reimbursed from the consolidated fund for the costs of statutory sick pay and statutory maternity pay, these benefits being non-contributory. The relevant amounts for the 1991 tax year are estimated to be £574 million in respect of industrial injuries benefit, £956 million in respect of statutory sick pay and £332 million in respect of statutory maternity pay, making a total of £1.862 billion.
Since 1979 there have been no other transfers of benefit costs from the national insurance fund to the consolidated fund.
Male Earnings
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of average male earnings the upper earnings limit represents ; and what percentage it represented in each year since 1978-79.
Mr. Jack : The information requested is in the table.
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|<1>Average weekly|Weekly upper |Upper earnings
|earnings adult |earnings limit |limit as a
|males |percentage of
|£ |£ |average earnings
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April
1978 |89.10 |120.00 |1978-79 |134.7
1979 |101.40 |135.00 |1979-80 |133.1
1980 |123.80 |165.00 |1980-81 |133.3
1981 |140.50 |200.00 |1981-82 |142.3
1982 |154.50 |220.00 |1982-83 |142.4
1983 |164.70 |235.00 |1983-84 |142.7
1984 |178.80 |250.00 |1984-85 |139.8
1985 |192.40 |265.00 |1985-86 |137.7
1986 |207.50 |285.00 |1986-87 |137.3
1987 |224.00 |295.00 |1987-88 |131.7
1988 |245.80 |305.00 |1988-89 |124.1
1989 |269.50 |325.00 |1989-90 |120.6
1990 |295.60 |350.00 |1990-91 |118.4
<1> Average weekly full-time earnings of all adult males.
Source: New Earnings Survey.
Non-contributory benefits
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost implications of abolishing non-contributory benefits and replacing them with their nearest contributory equivalent.
Mr. Scott : Many of the non-contributory benefits have neither direct nor approximate contributory equivalents. Even where there is a near equivalent, for example severe disablement allowance and invalidity benefit, it is not
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possible to abolish that benefit and transfer recipients to the contributory benefit without breaching the contributory principle, or diluting it to the point where it becomes meaningless. Such beneficiaries are very often receiving a non-contributory benefit because of failure to satisfy the contribution conditions for a contributory benefit. The scenario implied in the question would require a fundamental change to the social security system for which no cost estimates are available.
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