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CAP Reform
Mr. Woolas: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, with particular reference to wheat production. [74080]
Mr. Morley: The Government strongly support the European Commission's proposal for a 20 per cent. cut in the intervention price for cereals. If this is agreed by the Council of Ministers, European wheat prices would come into line with world prices, to the benefit of consumers.
Supermarket Chains
Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from (a) farmers and (b) consumer groups on the buying power of supermarket chains; and if he will make a statement. [74092]
Mr. Rooker: We have received a number of representations from both farmers and consumer groups on the buying power and pricing policies of supermarkets. These are matters within the competence of the competition authorities and are currently subject to an inquiry by the Office of Fair Trading which expects to report on their findings later this month.
SOCIAL SECURITY
National Insurance
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the (a) number and (b) value of national insurance payments in arrears; and if he will make a statement. [74034]
Mr. Timms: The collection of National Insurance contributions is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Contributions Agency, George Bertram. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from George Bertram to Mr. David Atkinson, dated 10 March 1999:
11 Mar 1999 : Column: 341
As Chief Executive of the Contributions Agency, I have responsibility for answering questions about the Contributions Agency and operational matters relating to the collection of National
Insurance contributions (NICs). I have been asked to reply to your question about the number of National Insurance (NI) debtors and the amount of NI in arrears.
Although the Agency has the ability to collect information on the debt outstanding from some of our customer groups, problems with the implementation of the Agency's NIRS2 computer system mean that these figures are not readily available.
Currently the Agency is concentrating its efforts on the NIRS2 Stabilisation and Recovery plan. However, when NIRS2 is fully implemented it will allow the Agency to provide improved debt management and accountability.
The latest reliable information about NIC debt was reproduced in the National Audit Office report on the National Insurance Fund 1997-98 and used the information available within the Agency at 31 March 1998.
At the time the only figures available related to self-employed contributors who pay Class 2 NICs monthly by direct debit, or in quarterly instalments. The figure quoted in the NAO report was an estimate based on the outstanding debt recorded on the Agency's three main systems for recording Class 2 debt and amounted to £513 million, which represents a significant proportion of the Agency's total debt.
Overseas Pensioners
Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost or uprating the pensions for UK citizens resident overseas in 1999-2000 in line with UK pensioners, for (a) all overseas pensioners and (b) only those overseas pensioners whose net income would increase as a result. [75238]
11 Mar 1999 : Column: 342
Mr. Timms:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Not frozen cases | 19 |
| Frozen cases | 18 |
| Total | 37 |
Notes:
1. The figures are based on recent data and allow for some increase in the numbers of overseas cases.
2. The numbers are presented in terms of the total cost of paying an annual uprating to all UK pensioners living overseas, including both cases that already receive annual uprating and those who do not (ie, the frozen cases).
Source:
Figures are provided by the Government Actuary's Department. The measure used to uprate pensions is the Retail Prices Index (RPI).
Pensioners (Income Support)
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (i) single and (ii) married pensioners aged (a) 80 or above and (b) 75 to 79 are receiving weekly amounts of income support of (I) £0.01 to £2.99, (II) £3.00 to £4.99, (III) £5.00 to £9.99 and (IV) £10.00 to £14.99. [75538]
Mr. Timms:
The information is in the table.
11 Mar 1999 : Column: 341
| Thousand | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly amount of Income support | ||||||
| All amounts | £0.01 to £2.99 | £3.00 to £4.99 | £5.00 to £9.99 | £10.00 to £14.99 | £15.00 and over | |
| All aged 75 and over | 931 | 33 | 34 | 148 | 186 | 530 |
| Single | 861 | 27 | 28 | 129 | 173 | 504 |
| Aged 75-79 | 238 | 14 | 15 | 69 | 16 | 124 |
| Aged 80 and over | 623 | 14 | 13 | 60 | 157 | 379 |
| Couples | 70 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 13 | 26 |
| Aged 75-79 | 27 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| Aged 80 and over | 43 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 14 |
Notes:
1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of all cases and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand and may not sum due to rounding.
3. The figures for couples relate to both married and unmarried couples, and will include cases where one member is aged 75 or over and the other is under 75.
Source:
Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry, August 1998
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Housing Benefit
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many households in receipt of housing benefit have no one in work in (i) Bolton, (ii) the North West and (iii) England. [75634]
Angela Eagle:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
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| North West | England |
|---|---|
| 387,000 | 3,287,000 |
Notes:
1. The figures relate to those recipients where no earnings are declared, either full-time or part-time.
2. Recipients may be a single person or a couple.
3. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Source:
Annual 1 per cent. sample taken in May 1998--the sample is too small to give single local authority information.
11 Mar 1999 : Column: 343
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in receipt of housing benefit live in (a) local authority properties, (b) housing association properties and (c) owner-occupied housing, in (i) Bolton, (ii) the North West and (iii) England. [75632]
| Bolton | North West | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local authority | 14,810 | 263,580 | 2,135,100 |
| Housing association | 3,860 | 79,560 | 729,620 |
| Private tenants (excluding HA) | 4,030 | 96,660 | 861,200 |
Notes:
1. Figures for Bolton are estimated.
2. Figures for North West and England include estimates where individual local authority data are not available.
3. Recipients may be a single person or a couple.
4. Figures rounded to the nearest ten.
Source:
Quarterly caseload inquiries.
Council Tax Benefit
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what savings have been made so far by the Government as a consequence of the changes to council tax benefit regulations introduced on 1 April 1998; [75615]
- (2) what estimate his Department has made of the savings in financial year 1999-2000 resulting from the changes to council tax benefit regulations introduced on 1 April 1998; [75696]
(3) when he will make a statement on the planned review of the changes to council tax benefit regulations introduced on 1 April 1998. [75695]
Angela Eagle: The information on savings made so far as a result of the April 1998 changes to the Council Tax Benefit regulations is not currently available. Savings for the financial year 1999-2000 are estimated to be £4 million (to the nearest million).
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