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Contributions Agency
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much is being spent on the new computer system at the Central Office of the Contributions Agency in Newcastle; and when it (a) was originally and (b) is currently expected to be fully operational. [64853]
Mr. Timms:
If Andersen Consulting were to process anticipated volumes of the new National Insurance Recording System (NIRS2) the budget for the financial year to 1 April 1999 is expected to be £5.301 million. The
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base annual service charge for NIRS2 over the next three years is budgeted at £6.850 million per annum. This amount is subject to volumes of work processed and also any charges for agreed enhancements to the system.
The original contract allowed for the delivery of the system over 3 releases between February 1997 and April 1999. A subsequent Deed of Amendment was agreed in July 1996, which allowed for a phased delivery of the first release. NIRS2 Release 1 is expected to be fully operational by April 1999.
Mr. Stinchcombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what instructions have been given to the Benefits Agency and other related agencies to expedite claims for benefits from victims of Gulf War Syndrome. [64998]
Mr. Timms:
Extensive international research has not identified a specific Gulf-related illness.
Claims by Gulf war veterans in respect of Social Security benefits are dealt with by the Benefits Agency in the same way as all other claims.
The War Pensions Agency endeavours to action all claims for war pension (which may be made in respect of any condition believed to be due to any service in the armed forces) as expeditiously as possible. Claims for war pension in respect of Gulf-related illnesses are dealt with by a dedicated section within the War Pensions Agency. A high proportion of Gulf claims are for a number of ill-defined conditions and consideration of these requires extensive medical and other evidence before claims can be determined.
In order to expedite awards, partial decisions are made as an interim measure whilst other inquiries continue, and, where despite these inquiries the diagnosis remains unclear, the World Health Organisation international classification of diseases (ICD 10) "symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions" is used. Also, medical evidence from any previous attendance at the Ministry of Defence Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme is used whenever possible as this may reduce the requirement to seek further evidence.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many, and what proportion of, employers submitting evidence to the Pension Review called for the right to make the membership of occupational pension schemes compulsory. [64937]
Mr. Timms:
It is not possible to identify how many of the respondents to the Pensions Review were employers. Of the more than 2,000 submissions to the Pensions Review, 310 commented on compulsion and a small number proposed that membership of occupational
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schemes should be compulsory. As part of the consultation arising from the Green Paper on Pensions "A New Contract for Welfare: Partnership in Pensions" the Government are seeking views on whether employers should be allowed to require employees to be members of their occupational schemes, subject to a right for employees to opt out in certain circumstances.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish the consultation paper on occupational pension changes. [64820]
Mr. Timms:
The consultation document, "Strengthening the Pensions Framework", was published on 16 December 1998. Copies were placed in the Library.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the grounds were for his decision not to make membership of occupational pension schemes compulsory for relevant employers. [64936]
Mr. Timms:
While we recognise that most employees benefit from membership of occupational schemes, not all employees do so.
We are therefore seeking views on whether we should allow employers to require employees to be members of their occupational schemes, subject to a right for employees to opt-out. We are also seeking views on the conditions which should be satisfied before an opt-out is permitted.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list (a) by constituency and (b) by county the number of pensioners that have not taken up their income support entitlement in Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [64657]
Mr. Timms:
The information is not available.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the proportion of pensioners who will be dependent on income support in 2050 (a) on present policies and (b) under his proposed pensions policies. [64707]
Mr. Timms:
The proposals in the Government's Green Paper "A New Contract for Welfare: Partnership in Pensions" are designed to ensure that someone with a full working life, or years covered by credits, will receive a pension on retirement above the minimum income guarantee. The impact of the new State Second pension in 2050, once individuals have experienced a full working lifetime under the new scheme is shown in the table accompanying paragraph 14 of chapter 6 of the Green Paper.
The precise impact of the proposals will, therefore, depend on a variety of factors, including employment records and additional voluntary savings. The proposals in "Partnership in Pensions" will promote behavioural changes through the spread of good value funded second pensions, improved pensions education, and the greater reward in retirement form moving from benefits to work.
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Projections forward to the year 2050 are subject to a high degree of uncertainty, given the number of assumptions that need to be made in making these estimates. Some of those who will be pensioners in 2050 have yet to begin work, and most are today in their 20s and 30s.
Estimates have been made by extrapolating projections from the PENSIM model, but these can only give a broad indication of the likely order of magnitude of figures so far into the future.
On the basis of unchanged policies, estimates suggest that approximately 1 in 3 pensioners in 2050 could rely on Income Support. Even if no behavioural changes are assumed, the new insurance contract for pensions will mean that these estimates are reduced to approximately 1 in 4 pensioners receiving income from the Minimum Income Guarantee in 2050, and a lower proportion in years after 2050.
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As an illustration of the possible impact of the behavioural effects of the proposals in "Partnership in Pensions", if all those in work saved an additional 5 per cent., the figure would fall to approximately 1 in 5 in 2050.
Mr. MacShane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate (a) how many children are living in households which have below half average income and (b) how many children live in households headed by (i) a married couple, (ii) a cohabiting couple and (iii) a lone parent; and if he will break down the figures between (A) two working parents, (B) one working parent and (C) no working parent families. [64673]
Angela Eagle
[pursuant to her reply, 17 December 1998, c. 718]: The information is in the tables.
| Number of children (Million) | |
|---|---|
| Before housing costs (BHC) measure of income | 3.3 |
| After housing costs (AHC) measure of income | 4.5 |
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| Million | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before housing costs (BHC) | After housing costs (AHC) | |||||
| Couples | Couples | |||||
| Married | Co-habiting | Lone parents | Married | Co-habiting | Lone parents | |
| 2 working parents | 0.3 | (5)-- | 0.0 | 0.4 | (5)-- | 0.0 |
| 1 working parent | 0.8 | (5)-- | 0.2 | 1.0 | (5)-- | 0.3 |
| 0 working parents | 0.7 | (5)-- | 1.0 | 0.8 | (5)-- | 1.6 |
| Total | 1.8 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
(5) The figures for co-habiting couples are not shown because their respective sample sizes are too small to provide robust figures at the required level of detail. However, approximately half of the children belonging to all such couples live in households with at least one working parent.
Source:
All figures are estimates taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data set based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS).
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