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Pensioners
Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners in (a) Somerset and (b) Yeovil constituency who are entitled to, but not receiving, (i) income support, (ii) housing benefit and (iii) council tax benefit; how much money in each case is unclaimed; and if he will make a statement. [104711]
Mr. Rooker: The information is not available. It is not possible to produce reliable estimates of numbers not claiming their entitlement at constituency level.
Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners there are in (a) Somerset, (b) South Somerset and (c) Yeovil constituency; and what is the age distribution of such pensioners, indicating the total number aged 80 years or over in each of those areas. [104719]
Mr. Rooker: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
| Age | Somerset | South Somerset |
|---|---|---|
| 60-64 (women) | 13,000 | 3,900 |
| 65-69 | 25,100 | 7,700 |
| 70-74 | 23,600 | 7,400 |
| 75-79 | 20,700 | 6,600 |
| 80-84 | 12,800 | 4,100 |
| 85 plus | 12,400 | 3,800 |
| Total | 107,700 | 33,400 |
| Age | Yeovil |
|---|---|
| Pensionable age to 74 | 12,200 |
| 75-84 | 6,200 |
| 85 and over | 1,600 |
| Total | 20,000 |
Notes:
1. Mid-1998 population estimates of the number of people of pensionable age in Somerset and South Somerset are the latest available.
2. Mid-year population estimates are not compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for parliamentary constituencies. The lowest level at which population estimates are available is the local authority level. 1991 Census information has therefore been used to answer part (c).
3. The number of people of pensionable age is not necessarily the same as the number of pensioners.
4. 'Pensionable age' represents males aged 65 and over and females aged 60 and over.
5. Population estimates are rounded to the nearest hundred persons throughout. Age groups have been rounded independently and may not sum to the totals shown.
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Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he is taking to improve the take-up by pensioners of (a) income support, (b) housing benefit and (c) council tax benefit; and if he will make a statement. [104712]
Mr. Rooker: An announcement of our plans to encourage pensioners to take-up their entitlement to benefits will be made shortly.
Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages of developing a pensioner prices index; and if he will make a statement. [104713]
Mr. Rooker: The Office for National Statistics publish a Pensioner Price Index which reflects the spending patterns of pensioners in the lowest three income deciles. The Index shows that over the last 20 years the rate of price inflation for this group of pensioners is significantly below that of other groups and, if used as a basis for uprating, basic Retirement Pension would be £12.30 lower than it is now. Therefore we have no plans to adopt the Pensioner Price Index as part of the annual review of benefit levels.
Benefit Payment Methods
Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate he has made of the savings to the Exchequer from the proposed payment of benefits into bank accounts rather than through post offices from 2003 onwards; what is the estimated saving in each year from 2003-04 to 2008-09; what assumptions about the amount of business which will be transferred from post offices to banks underlie these figures; and if he will make a statement; [104715]
- (2) if he will make a statement on the timescale over which it is proposed to move towards paying benefits directly into bank accounts rather than through post offices; and if he will make a statement; [104750]
(3) if he will make it his policy to delay beyond the planned date of 2003 the proposed payment of benefits directly into bank accounts rather than through post offices; and if he will make a statement. [104714]
Mr. Rooker: We have decided to change the way people are paid benefit, from the current paper based methods to automated credit transfer (ACT). This reflects the fact that customers increasingly choose to be paid this way. The move is expected to generate £640 million savings per year from 2005.
Those benefit recipients who wish to collect their benefit in cash at post offices will continue to be able to do so.
It is planned to move to ACT as the normal method of payment for all benefit customers. The move will begin in 2003 and end in 2005.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 11 November 1999, Official Report, column 801W, what level of take-up of income support for pensioners is assumed in current forecasts of expenditure. [105316]
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Mr. Rooker:
Current forecasts assume that expenditure as a result of increased take-up by pensioners will increase by £43 million over the period 1999-00 to 2001-02. This estimate will need to be reviewed in the light of our plans for a national programme to increase pensioner take-up.
Sir Brian Mawhinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the right hon. Member for North West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 2 December on behalf of his constituent, Mrs. Wilson. [105925]
Mr. Darling:
I replied to the right hon. Member on 19 January 2000.
Sir Brian Mawhinney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the right hon. Member for North West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 30 November on behalf of his constituent, Mr. Hausell. [105923]
Mr. Darling:
A reply will be sent to the right hon. Member as soon as possible.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what orders his Department has made under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 in each year since 1994; and what plans it has to introduce such orders. [106083]
Mr. Bayley:
This Department has made no orders to date to remove regulatory legislation but we will continue to look for opportunities to use such orders where we can.
We do, however, plan to bring forward an order shortly which will enable our private and voluntary sector partners to play a full role in the delivery of the new ONE service which is currently being piloted.
We have brought forward a range of deregulatory measures on pensions in the Welfare Reform Act 1999 and the current Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Bill.
Mr. Crausby:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to increase the productivity and reduce the running costs of his Department. [103843]
Mr. Morley:
Delivering efficient and modern public services is a key part of the Government's agenda for improving productivity. Greater efficiency is being sought therefore within the public sector to ensure that the most effective results are obtained from available resources. The Ministry's Public Service Agreement (PSA) includes a range of measures for taking this forward, both within the Ministry itself and in other public sector bodies.
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Those measures which will help raise the Ministry's own productivity are as follows:
(a) Better Quality Services
The Ministry will regularly and systematically review services and activities over a five year period in line with Government policy as set out in the handbook "Better Quality Services". A review programme has been developed, setting out those services that will be reviewed each year with the intention to review at least 60 per cent. of services by March 2003.
(b) Fraud
The Ministry will continue to apply controls to detect and prevent fraud and other irregularities under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) farm-based schemes. The Ministry has designated a fraud contact officer to promulgate ministry policy and to give specific advice to managers.
(c) Sickness Absence
In line with the central initiative to improve attendance, an internal audit of the sickness absence recording and monitoring systems has been completed and targets set for reducing absence.
(d) Electronic Government
The Ministry will exploit opportunities for electronic communications and will increase the proportion of business undertaken electronically to contribute to the Government's commitment to a target of at least 25 per cent. for electronic dealings with the public by 2002.
(e) Procurement
The Ministry will combine central responsibility for the management of procurement with devolution of operational procurement where appropriate; develop strategies for delivering best whole life cost solution, optimising operational savings and minimising the administrative costs of procurement; improve information and procedures, and education and training; and undertake benchmarking using maturity profile analysis techniques.
(f) Asset Sales
The Ministry will dispose of most of its surplus land and buildings by April 2000.
(g) CAP Administration
The Ministry aims to increase the productivity of CAP administration by developing, testing and implementing an integrated IT system for administering CAP schemes by March 2002.
(h) Efficiency
The Ministry will also pursue efficiency gains, and will continue to develop better measures of efficiency and extend these to cover a wide range of departmental activities and also the activities of its executive agencies.
The Ministry's running costs provision for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 is set out in its PSA. The productivity measures listed above will enable the Ministry to increase the quantity and quality of its outputs delivered by its running costs expenditure over this period.
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