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Pensions Levy
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the proposed (a) rates of the general pensions levy and (b) maximum amounts of the pensions compensation levy payable in respect of occupational and personal pension schemes from April 1997. [10462]
Mr. Heald: The proposed rates of the general pensions levy are set out in the table. The proposed statutory maximum of the pensions compensation levy will be £0.23 for each scheme member. The general levy rates and the maximum compensation levy will be specified in the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Levy) Regulations 1997 which we intend to lay before the House by March 1997.
| Proposed rate | |
|---|---|
| For occupational pension schemes with up to 11 members | £8.75 per scheme |
| For occupational pension schemes with 12 to 99 members | £1.05 per member |
| For occupational pension schemes with 100 to 999 members | £0.75 per member, subject to a minimum of £105.00 per scheme |
| For occupational pension schemes with 1,000 to 4,999 members | £0.60 per member, subject to a minimum of £730.00 per scheme |
| For occupational pension schemes with 5,000 to 9,999 members | £0.45 per member, subject to a minimum of £3,000.00 per scheme |
| For occupational pension schemes with 10,000 or more members | £0.30 per member, subject to a minimum of £4,500.00 per scheme |
| For personal pension schemes with up to 11 members | £3.60 per scheme |
| For personal pension schemes with 12 to 99 members | £0.30 per member |
| For personal pension schemes with 100 to 999 members | £0.21 per member, subject to a minimum of £30.00 per scheme |
| For personal pension schemes with 1,000 to 4,999 members | £0.17 per member, subject to a minimum of £210.00 per scheme |
| For personal pension schemes with 5,000 to 9,999 members | £0.12 per member, subject to a minimum of £850.00 per scheme |
| For personal pension schemes with 10,000 or more members | £0.08 per member, subject to a minimum of £1,200.00 per scheme |
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Pensioner Incomes
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the level of (a) basic state pension or equivalent and (b) second state pension paid to (i) a single person and (ii) a couple in (1) the United Kingdom and (2) each other European Union country, expressed (A) in cash, and (B) as a percentage of average earnings. [9350]
Mr. Heald: The standard rate of retirement pension for a single pensioner in Great Britain is £61.15 per week, representing 17.4 per cent. of average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees. A couple, where the wife receives a standard rate pension based on her husband's contributions, currently receive £97.75 per week or 27.8 per cent. of average earnings. At 31 March 1996 it is estimated that the average gross weekly additional pension in payment was £18.14 per week or 5.2 per cent. of average earnings.
Information on retirement pensions in EU member states is contained in MISSOC 1995, "Social protection in the Member States of the European Union", published by the European Commission, a copy of which is in the Library. Some details of levels of state pensions as a percentage of earnings are included in this publication; however, because of the diverse nature of state pension schemes in member states, many of which are based on earnings-related calculations, straightforward comparisons of benefit amounts are not possible.
18 Dec 1996 : Column: 765
Source:
Earnings figures obtained from the New Earnings Survey, April 1995 and April 1996.
Average weekly net additional pension is obtained from the Retirement Pension Bi-Annual Enquiry, 31 March 1996.
Notes:
1. The 1996 Abstract of Statistics, published in October, shows a different figure for standard rate retirement pension as a percentage of average earnings. This is because the figure published in the 1996 edition of the Abstract of Statistics is based on the provisional level of earnings in April 1996, while this reply uses the final figure.
2. The gross weekly additional pension is the notional amount before the deduction of a contracted out deduction (COD). A COD is deducted when a person has been contracted out of SERPS, the state earnings-related pension scheme, into a contracted-out pension scheme or an appropriate personal pension used in place of SERPS.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the income of each quintile of the pensioner population, expressed in current values and as a percentage of the average earnings of the equivalent quintile of the working age population in (a) 1994 and (b) 2025. [9351]
Mr. Heald: Information is not available in the format requested. Estimated mean incomes for quintiles of the single pension and pensioner couple populations are given in the table for 1994 and 2025, at 1996 prices. Also shown in the table are estimates of the growth in mean income in each quintile between 1994 and 2025. All estimates have been made using Pensim, a dynamic simulation model that projects pensioners' incomes into the next century.
18 Dec 1996 : Column: 766
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | Mean | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single pensioners | ||||||
| 1994 | £60 | £76 | £91 | £108 | £181 | £103 |
| 2025 | £68 | £99 | £120 | £158 | £350 | £159 |
| Growth | 15 per cent. | 30 per cent. | 30 per cent. | 45 per cent. | 95 per cent. | 55 per cent. |
| Pensioner couples | ||||||
| 1994 | £121 | £150 | £183 | £235 | £390 | £216 |
| 2025 | £151 | £205 | £260 | £338 | £606 | £312 |
| Growth | 15 per cent. | 30 per cent. | 35 per cent. | 45 per cent. | 65 per cent. | 45 per cent. |
1. Estimates are based on uprated data from the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey, 1988 Retirement Survey and 1987 Social Change and Economic Life Initiative, in order to provide consistent estimates for 1994 and 2025. These estimates are not consistent with the 1994-95 Pensioners' Incomes Series, which is mainly based on data drawn from the 1994-95 Family Expenditure Survey.
2. Pensioners are defined as those single aged at state pension age or above, or couples in which the husband is aged at state pension age or above.
3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £1 and 5 per cent.
4. Quintiles for single pensioners and pensioner couples have been calculated separately--i.e. the bottom quintile of single pensioners represents those pensioners in the bottom 20 per cent. of the income distribution of single pensioners.
18 Dec 1996 : Column: 765
Social Fund (Flood Damage Payments)
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what help is available from the social fund to people on income support who have suffered loss and damage as a result of the recent flooding in the Folkestone area; and if he will make a statement. [10298]
Mr. Roger Evans: Disaster relief following any such crisis is essentially a matter for the relevant local authority. However, help is available through the social fund in the form of community care grants, budgeting loans and crisis loans. The particular circumstances of each application will determine which type of payment may be made. Access to crisis loans is not restricted to people on income support. Applications to the social fund are dealt with, as speedily as possible, by specially trained social fund officers who look carefully at the individual circumstances surrounding each application and use discretion and flexibility when forming their decisions.
On 22 November, Channel district reported a total of 28 community care grant awards had been made to people most affected by the flooding, at a cost of £13,392. I have therefore agreed that an additional allocation of £13,392, should be made immediately to reimburse Channel's community care grant budget.
18 Dec 1996 : Column: 766
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Independent Tribunal Service expects to respond to the letter of 14 June from the hon. Member for Aylesbury about appeal Ref. 2/01/95/12694, N1 ZY11 0634A. [8947]
Mr. Roger Evans
[holding answer 13 December 1996]: This is a matter for the President of the Independent Tribunal Service, Judge Bassingthwaighte, who will arrange for a written reply to be sent directly to the hon. Member.
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