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Personal Pensions
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate he has made of the number of employees covered by group personal pension schemes; [14780]
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(3) what are the average earnings of members of group personal pension schemes; [14782]
(4) what assessment he has made of the number of employers who contribute to group personal pension schemes; and what is the average annual contribution per employee. [14784]
Mr. Heald:
A group personal pension, GPP, scheme is a grouping of individual personal pensions usually involving a single employer. Official data do not distinguish between personal pensions within a group arrangement and other personal pensions.
Private sector research 1 suggests that around half a million people are covered by upwards of 50,000 GPP arrangements. Some, but not all, of these people will have personal pensions contracted out of the state earnings-related pension scheme, SERPS.
Preliminary results from the survey of employers' pensions provision 2 show that among private sector organisations making some form of pension provision, GPPs were the main arrangement--accounting for the largest percentage of the work force--in just under 20 per cent. of organisations with fewer than 100 employees, falling to just 2 per cent. of organisations with over 500 employees. The survey also shows that 90 per cent. of employers who have arranged a GPP make contributions to their employees' pension.
Information on the participation rates of employees who are offered a GPP arrangement, average earnings of GPP members and the average employer contribution is not available.
Mr. Heald:
Regulation of the sale and marketing of group personal pension schemes, like all investment products, is governed by the Financial Services Act 1986--FSA.
In response to concerns that employers would become liable under the FSA by offering group schemes, the Department of Social Security, in association with the Securities and Investments Board, produced leaflet PP4; "A guide to the Financial Services Act for employers", which makes it clear that provided they follow certain rules of thumb, employers should be able to offer a group scheme to their employees without infringing the FSA.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 5 February, Official
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Report, column 51, on pension incomes, if he will give the same information for 1979. [14896]
(2) what is the average number of employees of companies which currently offer group personal pension schemes; and what proportion of those entitled to participate do so; [14781]
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the regulatory obstacles to the promotion of group personal pension schemes; and if he will make a statement. [14783]
Notes:
1 Income Data Services (IDS) Pensions Bulletin--May 1994.
2 The survey of employers' pension provision is a Social and Community Planning Research (SCPR)/Policy Studies Institute (PSI) survey of over 1,000 private sector organisations in Great Britain. It is expected that a final report will be published in summer 1996.
| Age | 65 to 74 | 75+ |
|---|---|---|
| Mean | 108.50 | 88.60 |
| Median | 81.80 | 72.20 |
Notes:
1. Income figures are gross income before housing costs and are rounded to the nearest 10p.
2. A pensioner unit is defined as a single person over state pension age (SPA) or a couple where the husband, or head is over SPA.
3. Due to insufficient sample sizes reliable estimates of further age breakdowns for single male pensioners and pensioner couples are not available at tables 1 and 3.
Source:
Family Expenditure Survey 1979.
| Age | 65 to 69 | 70 to 74 | 75 to 79 | 80+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | 80.60 | 79.70 | 78.60 | 76.50 |
| Median | 70.00 | 70.40 | 71.10 | 67.20 |
Notes:
1. Income figures are gross income before housing costs and are rounded to the nearest 10p.
2. A pensioner unit is defined as a single person over state pension age (SPA) or a couple where the husband, or head, is over SPA.
3. Due to insufficient sample sizes reliable estimates of further age breakdowns for single male pensioners and pensioner couples are not available at tables 1 and 3.
Source:
Family Expenditure Survey 1979.
| Age | 65 to 69 | 70 to 74 | 75+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | 187.70 | 160.00 | 138.30 |
| Median | 145.40 | 125.70 | 108.70 |
Notes:
1. Income figures are gross income before housing costs and are rounded to the nearest 10p.
2. A pensioner unit is defined as a single person over state pension age (SPA) or a couple where the husband, or head, is over SPA.
3. Due to insufficient sample sizes reliable estimates of further age breakdowns for single male pensioners and pensioner couples are not available at tables 1 and 3.
Source:
Family Expenditure Survey 1979.
| Age | 60/65 to 74 | 75+ | 60/65 + |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | 124.80 | 93.20 | 113.40 |
| Median | 97.40 | 75.30 | 85.90 |
Notes:
1. Income figures are gross income before housing costs and rounded to the nearest 10p.
2. A pensioner unit is defined as a single person over state pension age (SPA) or a couple where the husband, or head, is over SPA.
3. Due to insufficient sample sizes reliable estimates of further age breakdowns for single male pensioners and pensioner couples are not available at tables 1 and 3.
Source:
Family Expenditure Survey 1979.
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Maxwell Pension Scheme
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 743, what safeguards are in place to protect the interests of the Exchequer in relation to any merger of a closed Maxwell pension scheme with another pension scheme. [14895]
Mr. Heald: The Secretary of State has indicated to each of the Maxwell pension schemes trustees on a scheme-by-scheme basis, the circumstances under which he is prepared to exercise discretion to defer the collection of state scheme premiums that are payable by them. He will review the position in the light of any proposal from trustees for a merger of a closed Maxwell scheme.
There are detailed agreements with Maxwell pension scheme trustees setting out the conditions under which grants from the Government's £2.5 million emergency funding support package, made available in June 1992, are repayable.
HEALTH
Paediatric Intensive Care Beds
14. Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring he is undertaking of the availability of paediatric intensive care beds. [13317]
Mr. Bowis: For the period until 31 March 1996 we have arranged for Sheffield children's hospital to undertake a daily survey of the availability and occupancy of paediatric intensive care beds in hospitals in England.
Accident and Emergency Provision, Liverpool
15. Mr. Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received in respect of accident and emergency provision at hospitals in Liverpool. [13318]
Mr. Horam: I have received one letter in the last six months.
Public Appointments
16. Mr. Hicks: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has for altering the procedures for appointments to health authorities and NHS trusts; and if he will make a statement. [13319]
Mr. Malone: We have no plans to alter the appointment procedures which fully meet the recommendations for public appointments set out by the committee on standards in public life under its chairman, Lord Nolan.
Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications have been made for the position of chairmen of the new health authorities; and what percentage of those applicants are women. [14779]
Mr. Malone:
This information is not available in the form requested.
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17. Mr. Gunnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring he has undertaken of community care provision. [13320]
Mr. Bowis:
We monitor community care on a regular basis. This includes work by the social services inspectorate, the regular collection and publication of statistics and longer-term research to evaluate progress.
There is clear evidence both from our own monitoring and from independent reports that community care is a success.
18. Mr. Tredinnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the total NHS budget is spent on research and other matters related to alternative and complementary medicine. [13321]
Mr. Horam:
The information available centrally does not identify national health service research into alternative and complementary medicine, nor the expenditure by the NHS on the provision of alternative and complementary medicine services.
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