| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
European Programmes
Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has made to the German Government regarding their blocking of the older people's programme and the poverty programme in the Council of Ministers. [9991]
Mr. Heald: Officials are in regular contact with their German counterparts on a wide range of European Union and bilateral issues.
Social Security Appeal Tribunals
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many social security appeal tribunal sessions were held in each month of 1996 for which information is available; and to what extent changes in the number of sessions were affected by the financial situation of the Independent Tribunal Service. [10428]
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 152
Mr. Roger Evans: The information is set out in the table:
| January | 2,200 |
| February | 2,294 |
| March | 2,437 |
| April | 2,781 |
| May | 3,125 |
| June | 3,100 |
| July | 3,779 |
| August | 3,594 |
| September | 3,589 |
| October | 3,649 |
| November | 3,349 |
| December | (58)-- |
(58) Not yet available.
The running of sessions is a matter for the president of the Independent Tribunal Service (ITS), Judge Bassingthwaighte. However, the ITS has informed me that sessional activity is determined, and regularly reviewed, in the light of a number of factors including caseload, expected and actual intake of new appeals, the readiness of cases to proceed to hearing, the need to clear appeals expeditiously and value for money considerations.
Retirement Pensions (Payments Abroad)
Mr. Robert McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the foreign countries in which the highest number of retirement pensions are paid by the Northern Ireland Office, the numbers of pensioners involved and the average ages of pensioners per country, specifying if pensions are or are not uprated. [10446]
Mr. Heald: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table. The pensions of former Northern Ireland residents living outside the United Kingdom are paid by the pensions and overseas benefits directorate of the Benefits Agency. Figures are available only for the United Kingdom as a whole. It is not possible to identify the Northern Ireland cases separately.
| Country | Total number of United Kingdom retirement and widow pensioners in July 1996 | Average age of pensioners | Pensions uprated? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 189,520 | 73 | No |
| Canada | 129,512 | 72 | No |
| USA | 94,910 | 71 | Yes |
| Republic of Ireland | 78,128 | 72 | Yes |
| South Africa | 33,927 | 73 | No |
| New Zealand | 32,789 | 74 | No |
| Spain | 30,870 | 71 | Yes |
| Italy | 21,981 | 70 | Yes |
| Germany | 21,373 | 70 | Yes |
| Jamaica | 20,946 | 72 | Yes |
Pensioner Incomes
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will recalculate charts 1 to 7 in Government economic service working paper No. 129 using pensioner incomes for 1994 which are compatible with those given in table 5 of the pensioners' income series 1994-95. [10525]
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 153
Mr. Heald: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
PENSIM is based on data from the 1988 retirement survey, the 1987 social change and economic life initiative, which contain details of work histories essential to the way in which PENSIM forecasts pensioners' incomes, and the 1988 family expenditure survey. The results are not compatible with the pensioners' income series, which is based mainly on data from the family expenditure survey covering the financial year 1994-95.
The rates of growth in pensioners' incomes, and their individual components, forecast by PENSIM are robust and present a best estimate of what is likely to happen under certain assumptions. It is planned to restructure PENSIM and incorporate more recent data in the future.
Mr. Denham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of net pensioner income by quintile in 2010 and 2025; and what assessment he has made of how these figures relate to the figures given in table 5 of the pensioners' income series 1994-95. [10524]
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 154
Mr. Heald:
Estimated mean incomes for quintiles of the single pensioner and pensioner couple populations are given in the table for 2010 and 2025, at 1996 prices. Also shown in the table are estimates of the growth in mean income in each quintile between 1994 and 2010 and 1994 and 2025. All estimates have been made using PENSIM, a dynamic simulation model that projects pensioners' incomes into the next century. PENSIM estimates are based on a number of economic and behavioural assumptions. Due to the reliance on assumptions and the time period covered, estimates should be treated with caution, and have been rounded.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | Mean | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single pensioners | ||||||
| 2010 | £61 | £89 | £107 | £139 | £293 | £138 |
| Growth | 20 per cent. | 20 per cent. | 30 per cent. | 60 per cent. | 35 per cent. | |
| 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 | ||||||
| 2010 | £141 | £193 | £248 | £335 | £635 | £310 |
| Growth | 15 per cent. | 30 per cent. | 35 per cent. | 45 per cent. | 65 per cent. | 45 per cent. |
| 2025 | £151 | £205 | £260 | £338 | £606 | £312 |
| Growth | 25 per cent. | 35 per cent. | 40 per cent. | 45 per cent. | 55 per cent. | 45 per cent. |
(59) Represents less than 5 per cent.
1. Growth figures show growth from PENSIM estimates for 1994.
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.
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 153
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 153
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will recalculate the figures in table 6, paragraph 7.12 of "Options for Equality in State Pension Age" for a woman retiring aged between 55 and 65 years, with a pivotal age of 60 years, on the basis of current prices. [10526]
Mr. Heald: The information is in the table:
| Age 60 'pivot' | |
|---|---|
| (£) | |
| 55 | 44 |
| 56 | 47 |
| 57 | 50 |
| 58 | 53 |
| 59 | 57 |
| 60 | 61 |
| 61 | 66 |
| 62 | 71 |
| 63 | 76 |
| 64 | 82 |
| 65 | 89 |
Source:
Government Actuary's Department.
Note:
Table 6, paragraph 7.12 of "Options for Equality in State Pension Age" applies to men and woman as it was assumed that, as now, men and women would receive the same adjustment to their pension for retiring at different ages. Thus the equivalent figures given above apply equally to men and to women.
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 155
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
BSE
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the agreement entered into at Florence relating to BSE will be implemented in full by the United Kingdom. [9218]
Mr. Baldry: There are five preconditions for the lifting of the export on UK beef under the Florence agreement. We have made substantial progress on four of these. With regard to the fifth precondition, the selective cull, I refer the hon. Member to the statement that the Minister made in the House on 16 December, Official Report, columns 632-34.
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the total number of cases reported to his Ministry of BSE in cattle imported from the Netherlands since January 1996, by month. [9845]
Mrs. Browning: No cases of BSE have been reported in cattle imported into Great Britain from the Netherlands since January 1996.
We are however investigating the possibility that one cow, confirmed positive in September 1996, may have been imported from the Netherlands in 1994, but was carrying a British ear tag at the time of report. The Dutch authorities will not be contacted until all details have been verified.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research into BSE has been conducted on behalf of his Department at the ADAS research establishment. [10642]
Mr. Boswell:
ADAS conducts BSE research on behalf of MAFF on maternal transmission at three research centres and embryo transfer at one research centre.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will place in the Library a list of the contracted research undertaken on BSE for his Department. [10643]
Mrs. Browning:
The contracted research undertaken on BSE for my Department has been placed in the Library, as requested by the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent.
Mr. Rooker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent reports his Department has received of strains of BSE in lambs. [10765]
Mrs. Browning:
There have been no reports of BSE strains being found in lambs. Scrapie, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of sheep, became a notifiable disease on 1 January 1993.
Mr. John Townend:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about bovine spongiform encephalopathy.[10143]
Mr. Douglas Hogg
[pursuant to his reply 17 December 1996, c. 574]: A further report on bovine spongiform encephalopathy was placed in the Library of the House today.
13 Jan 1997 : Column: 156
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |