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Ministerial Travel
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date he last used a train in the course of his official duties. [92659]
Mr. Chris Smith: In accordance with the terms of the Ministerial Code, Ministers are required always to make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Trips in and around London, which account for the majority of my working week, will normally be made by Government car. The last time I used a train in the course of my official duties was earlier this month when visiting Leeds.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Attorney-General on what date he last used a train in the course of his official duties. [92658]
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The Attorney-General:
I travelled to the Crown Prosecution Service in Colwyn Bay by rail on 8 March this year.
Benefits Agency
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) when the contract to develop the Benefits Agency Customer Accounting and Payment Strategy IT system was awarded; and to which company or consortium; [92833]
- (2) what the deadline is for completion of the Benefits Agency Customer Accounting and Payment Strategy IT system; [92835]
(3) what the estimated cost is of developing the Benefits Agency Customer Accounting and Payment Strategy system. [92834]
Angela Eagle: The Customer Accounting and Payments Strategy (CAPS) is a continuing programme involving new systems and processes to create a single customer account in order to improve the way in which the Benefits Agency manages customer details and benefit payment information and, until the cancellation of the Payment Card element of the Horizon project, to support the payment of benefit by Card at post offices.
The systems to do this were built by the Department's Information Technology Services Agency including the integration of an accounting package purchased from IBM during the Spring of 1996.
Following the cancellation of the Payment Card and the announcement of the intention to pay benefits by Automated Credit Transfer, it will be necessary to reassess what further work should be undertaken on CAPS in addition to those elements that have already been implemented. Consequently no estimate of final completion dates or future development costs is presently available.
However, the work to create a single, consistent, source of customer details for use by all benefits is already well advanced. All the Benefits Agency major benefit systems are now linked to the CAPS systems and there are presently 17 million customer records held on the new system that is in daily and constant use by staff in the Benefits Agency. The work to complete the transfer of records is due to be completed in 2002.
Mr. Alan Williams:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the level of spending on social security in Wales in each of the last five years (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of the United Kingdom total broken down to show spending on (i) benefit payments, (ii) Wales's pro-rata share of United Kingdom administration costs and (iii) actual spending on central and local administration and the branch network for facilities in Wales. [92644]
Mr. Timms:
DSS accounts for its administrative costs operationally (by Agency and Business Unit). It does not maintain accounting records by geographical territory and
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it is therefore not possible to provide reliable expenditure information covering all Departmental operations in the format requested. An estimate of Social Security Benefit Expenditure in Wales in the past five years can be found in the table.
| Expenditure (£million) | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 4,910 | 6.1 |
| 1995-96 | 5,160 | 6.1 |
| 1996-97 | 5,540 | 6.3 |
| 1997-98 | 5,490 | 6.2 |
| 1998-99 | 5,660 | 6.2 |
Note:
1. Expenditure excludes payments of certain benefits to people living overseas
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Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the amounts his Department and its agencies spends on (a) running costs, (b) wage costs and (c) other administrative costs for those facilities and staff based in Wales, indicating the headquarters administration costs and the total costs for the branch network. [92640]
Mr. Timms:
DSS accounts for its administrative costs operationally (by Agency and Business Unit). It does not maintain accounting records by geographical territory and it is therefore not possible to provide reliable expenditure information covering all Departmental operations in the format requested. Information for the Benefits Agency's operations in Wales is provided in the table.
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| AD7 Wales | Salaries | Goods/services | Estate costs | Total spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operational Directorate East | 18,588,724 | 1,436,343 | -- | 20,025,067 |
| Operational Directorate North | 10,928,534 | 988,656 | -- | 11,917,190 |
| Operational Directorate West | 16,136,083 | 1,311,969 | -- | 17,448,052 |
| Other | 10,485,323 | 17,585,267 | 9,846,196 | 28,070,590 |
| Total | 56,138,664 | 21,322,235 | 9,846,196 | 77,460,899 |
Note:
1. Other--This covers all expenditure on Human Resources Directorate, Fraud Investigation Services, Area Directors Support Team, Facilities Management Team, Voluntary Early Retirement and Finance and Business Development Directorate.
2. Estate Costs are charged at Area level only and are therefore included in other.
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Benefit Forecasts
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for each state benefit, if he will forecast the number of claimants and total cost by benefit for Wales for the next three years together with forecasts for (a) Wales's pro-rata share of the United Kingdom administration costs and (b) budgeted costs for the central and local administration and the branch network for facilities in Wales. [92641]
Mr. Timms: Forecasts of future expenditure and number of claimants for each Social Security benefit by country are not readily available. A breakdown by country of the future costs of administering the Department and its agencies is also not readily available.
Pensioners (Wales)
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the numbers in Wales of (a) single pensioners and (b) married couple pensioners (i) in 1980 and (ii) at the latest available date. [92642]
Mr. Timms: Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
State retirement pensions are paid to individuals. Category A pension is payable on a person's own contribution record and Category B pension is paid to a married woman (or a widow) on her husband's insurance record. It is not possible to identify someone's marital status from the category of pension.
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| November 1980 | March 1999 | |
|---|---|---|
| Men and women | 455,000 | 561,000 |
| Men | 160,000 | 206,000 |
| Women | 295,000 | 355,000 |
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures for November 1980 exclude Graduate Pension only cases.
Source:
November 1980--Pensions Computer System, 10 per cent. sample of 'live' cases.
March 1999--Pensions Strategy Computer System (PSCS), 5 per cent. sample of 'live' cases.
Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when his Department will publish a regulatory impact assessment of the burden on employers of administering stakeholder pensions. [92850]
Mr. Timms:
A regulatory impact assessment for the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill, including the estimated effects of stakeholder pension proposals, was published when that Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 10 February 1999. A revised assessment was issued when the Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 21 May 1999. Copies are available in the Library.
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Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners households were entitled to winter fuel payments in 1998-99, broken down between those in receipt of income support and others. [92854]
Mr. Timms:
An estimated 7.6 million pensioner households were entitled to a payment in 1998-99, of which 1.4 million were receiving Income Support. The remaining eligible households were receiving one or more of the other qualifying benefits.
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