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SOCIAL SECURITY
Child Benefit
Miss Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what checks operate to prevent those living abroad receiving child benefit paid into a United Kingdom bank account; and what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money thus claimed. [14751]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: Child benefit is normally payable only to those who are resident in the UK. Exceptions are made for temporary absences abroad for up to eight weeks, and for longer periods in certain circumstances where a child is absent abroad for education or medical purposes. When people leave the country, payment of child benefit terminates after the eighth week. A number of different mechanisms are used to prompt notification by those leaving the country for longer than eight weeks.
The most commonly identified situation where payment could continue into a United Kingdom bank account despite a lack of entitlement is where a person from
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abroad returns home without notifying the child benefit centre. Special inquiries are made in cases where this is thought to be a possibility.
Operation Rattle was launched in November 1995 to deter this type of abuse. To date, cases have been found which, if action had not been taken, could have led to expenditure of up to £8 million.
Mr. Barry Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will review his policy concerning cold weather payments; and if he will make a statement. [14911]
Mr. Roger Evans:
There are no plans for major changes to the scheme. However, after the end of March each year, the operation of the scheme is reviewed with the Meteorological Office. In particular, links between weather stations and postcode areas are reviewed and, where appropriate, changes are made.
Mr. Redmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the temperature level at which cold weather payments are triggered; and if he will make a statement. [15007]
Mr. Evans:
Cold weather payments give extra help to vulnerable groups towards additional heating costs resulting from sustained periods of very cold weather. An average temperature of 0°c (freezing point) or below, over seven consecutive days, is considered a clear and reasonable indication of a sustained period of very cold weather, not normally expected to occur in the majority of British winters. During the winter, the scheme is monitored, and at the end of each March, a review of the scheme takes place with the Meteorological Office. Changes are considered, if appropriate. No further research has been considered necessary.
Mr. David Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many representations he has received since 1 January 1995 about delays in payment of attendance allowance for blind people; and how many representations there were in the last five years. [14915]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
I receive many representations concerning almost every area of the Department's business both from individuals and organisations. Detailed information on the nature of those representations is not routinely collected.
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many and what percentage of cases the parent with care has indicated on the Child Support Agency maintenance application forms that the absent parent is unaware of the child. [14959]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell:
As the agency has no business need for the information requested, it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. Andrew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were in each year from 1979 to 1994, in real terms, (a) the running costs of Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff and (b) the running costs of the Department. [15357]
Mr. Burt:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
The running costs of Ministers' private offices is only available for 1994-95 and is in table 1:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Salaries | 1,474,194 |
| Running costs | 449,049 |
| Total | 1,923,243 |
Ministers are currently housed in Richmond house and all facilities are provided by the Department of Health. This Department has been responsible for paying its own share of the rent and rates since 1992. All expenditure on accommodation is included in the running cost expenditure of the two Departments, which is published in their annual reports, copies of which are in the Library.
The available information on departmental running costs in table 2.
| 1982-83 | 2,008 |
| 1983-84 | 1,933 |
| 1984-85 | 1,850 |
| 1985-86 | 1,901 |
| 1986-87 | 2,026 |
| 1987-88 | 2,400 |
| 1988-89 | 2,364 |
| 1989-90 | 2,334 |
| 1990-91 | 2,483 |
| 1991-92 | 2,542 |
| 1992-93 | 2,798 |
| 1993-94 | 2,888 |
| 1994-95 | 3,010 |
Notes:
1. Real term--calculated on the basis of the December 1995 figures.
2. From 1987-88 running costs include costs of Accruing Superannuation Liability Charge (£165m cash in 1987-88).
3. ITSA moved to net running costs control from 1994-95.
Source:
Running Cost tables. The Government's expenditure plans 1986-87 to 1988-89 and Social Security Departmental Report (The Government's expenditure plans 1995-96 to 1997-98).
State Earnings-related Pension Scheme
Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of people (a) paying contributions to SERPS each year since its inception and (b) drawing pensions in each year since the scheme's inception and if he will detail his estimates for both (a) and (b) 10, 20 and 30 years hence. [15235]
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Mr. Heald:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
| Million | |
|---|---|
| 1978-79 | 9.7 |
| 1979-80 | 10.1 |
| 1980-81 | 9.5 |
| 1981-82 | 8.7 |
| 1982-83 | 8.6 |
| 1983-84 | 8.8 |
| 1984-85 | 9.1 |
| 1985-86 | 10.2 |
| 1986-87 | 10.4 |
| 1987-88 | 7.8 |
| 1988-89 | 7.8 |
| 1989-90 | 7.5 |
| 1990-91 | 7.5 |
| 1991-92 | 6.7 |
| 1992-93 | 6.5 |
Notes:
1. Figures exclude Appropriate Personal Pension holders and women paying Reduced Rate National Insurance contributions.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.
Source:
NIRS 1 per cent. sample.
| Million | |
|---|---|
| 30th September 1985 | 1.4 |
| 30th September 1986 | 1.8 |
| 30th September 1987 | 2.1 |
| 30th September 1988 | 2.4 |
| 31st March 1989(16) | 2.6 |
| 30th September 1990 | 3.1 |
| 30th September 1991 | 3.4 |
| 30th September 1992 | 3.7 |
| 30th September 1993 | 4.0 |
| 30th September 1994 | 4.3 |
Notes:
(16) September figures are not available.
1. Figures are for all Countries and include widows.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.1 million.
Source:
10 per cent. sample of Retirement Pension Bi-annual enquiry.
Burnley Benefit Agency
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many telephone calls were made to the Burnley Benefits Agency office under Operation Speakeasy; and if he will make a statement. [14930]
Mr. Heald:
A freephone telephone line was piloted for three months up to 31 January 1996, to help the public refer cases of suspected fraud to the Benefits Agency for
15 Feb 1996 : Column: 713
investigation. A total of 570 calls were made for the Blackburn and Burnley areas. It is not possible to identify separately the number of calls for the Burnley office.
Ms Hodge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assumption was made for financial year 1995-96 on the flowback to the Exchequer from encouraging women back to work; and what revisions
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have been made to those assumptions during the course of the year. [15223]
Mr. Burt:
No specific estimate has been made on the overall flowback to the Exchequer from social security and employment measures focused on helping women into work. On average, encouraging a lone parent to move from income support to family credit saves £50 per week from a combination of public expenditure savings and increased revenue. For those women, or their partners, who are not in receipt of income-related benefits, the payback will be lower.