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Staff Training (Maidstone)

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the expense of retraining staff following the re-rolling from a full benefits office to a gateway of Medvale House, Maidstone. [110437]

Angela Eagle: This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Miss Ann Widdecombe, dated 17 February 2000:

The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your Parliamentary Question about Maidstone Benefits Agency Office.

Following the move of work from Maidstone in May 2000 there will be 24 staff who will need to be redeployed.

Out of the 24 staff, 2 are already contracted to work in other offices. A further 3 are on long term career breaks and will not be affected by the moves of work in May. The assignments for the remaining 19 staff are not due to be decided until the end of February, in anticipation of moves in May. A number of those staff will be transferred to another location where their skills and knowledge will be fully utilised, doing the same type of work. Staff

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moving to other offices on different duties will require training. However they will be filling posts that otherwise would be filled by new recruits who would have required extensive training. Therefore it is anticipated that the net cost of retraining will in effect be marginal.

I hope this is helpful.

Savings

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out the basis for his Department's calculation that savings attract annual interest of 20 per cent.; when this figure was last reviewed; and if he will make a statement. [110918]

Mr. Bayley: The basis for the Department's calculation of tariff income in the income-related benefits, with a system of graduated deductions, is not intended to represent any return that could be obtained from investing capital and hence is not based on any assumed rate of return. A tariff income of £1 per week is assumed for each £250, or part thereof, held between the appropriate lower and upper limits ¹ . The system provides a straightforward method of calculating the weekly contribution which people with capital in excess of the lower limit are expected to make from those resources to help meet their normal living expenses.

There have been no changes to the tariff income formula since 1988. The capital rules are kept under regular review.

Deduction rates rise with savings. At £3,250 the notional interest rate would be only 1.6 per cent. This rises until at £8,000 the tariff income is equivalent to an interest rate of 13 per cent. So the rule is most generous to people with relatively low savings, in line with the policy of targeting resources on those most in need.

¹ £3,000 and £8,000 in Income Support and income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, except in residential care home and nursing home cases where the limits are £10,000 and £16,000, and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit where the limits are £3,000 and £16,000.

Residential and Nursing Homes

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when his Department last (a) reviewed and (b) uprated the amount payable to people in residential and nursing homes in the form of pocket money; and what would its current value be if it had been uprated in line with (i) prices and (ii) earnings, in each year since it was last set. [110921]

Mr. Bayley: The level of the personal expenses allowance (PEA) paid to people in residential care and nursing homes is reviewed annually as part of the general uprating of benefits.

The current rate of PEA is £14.75. The rate from 10 April 2000 will be £15.45, which represents an increase in line with average earnings. If the allowance had been increased in line with prices the rate would have been £15.00.

Notes:

1. The figures are rounded to the nearest 5 pence at each uprating date.

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2. For income related benefits the ROSSI index (Retail Prices Index less rent, local taxes and mortgage interest payment) as published by the Office of National Statistics.

3. Average Earnings Index Whole Economy (Non-Seasonally Adjusted) as published by the Office of National Statistics

SERPS

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will make an announcement on the future of SERPS payments to those whose partner has died. [111309]

Mr. Rooker: We will make a statement on inherited SERPS once we reach a conclusion on the way forward.

Disabled Children

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to introduce direct benefit payments for disabled children aged 16 and 17. [110586]

Mr. Bayley: Social Security benefits can already be paid directly to disabled young people aged 16 and 17. In addition, provisions in the Carers and Disabled Children Bill, now before the House, would enable local authorities to make direct payments to 16 and 17 year old disabled young people for services that meet their assessed needs.

Mortgage Interest Rates

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out the basis on which his Department assumes a 6.6 per cent. interest rate in respect of mortgage repayments that are met by jobseeker's allowance and income support; when this figure was last set; and if he will amend the system to reflect changes in market interest rates. [110924]

Angela Eagle: Mortgage repayments for Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support claimants are calculated by using a standard interest rate (SIR). The SIR is based on the weighted average of basic rates charged by the main building societies. The Building Societies Commission is responsible for the calculation of the average rate which is then passed to the Office for National Statistic's who publish it monthly in their financial statistics table 7.1L. Changes to the SIR are triggered by a 0.25 per cent. move in the published figure. The current figure of 6.66 per cent. was set in June 1999 and will be amended whenever a change is triggered.

Pensioners

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the number of pensioners who are (a) entitled to claim income support and (b) who are claiming income support. [110584]

Mr. Bayley: As at August 1999, there were 1,628,000 Income Support pensioner claimants aged 60 and over. Latest estimates of take-up of income related benefits covering the year 1997-98 were placed in the Library on 24 September 1999.

Source:

Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, August 1999.

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Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures he has in place to encourage pensioners entitled to claim income support to do so. [110585]

Mr. Rooker: I expect to make an announcement shortly on measures to encourage pensioners to claim the minimum income guarantee.

Poverty

Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of (a) children and (b) adults were living in poverty in each of the past 10 years; and what estimate he has made of the figures over the next three years. [110821]

Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of (a) children and (b) adults living in poverty (i) in actual terms and (ii) as a percentage of the general population in each category (A) for each of the past 10 years and (B) expected for these categories in each of the next three years. [110767]

Mr. Bayley: Poverty and social exclusion are complex multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of people's lives, their income, health, housing, the quality of the environment, opportunities to work and to learn. There is no single measure which can capture the complex problems which need to be overcome.

We are determined to tackle the problems that condemn many individuals and communities to poverty. That is why we set out our strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion in our first annual report "Opportunity for All" (Cm 4445). The report includes a range of indicators that capture the many aspects of poverty and social exclusion. Information on the indicators, including definitions and baseline data, was placed in the House of Commons Library on 21 September to accompany "Opportunity for All".

The indicators outlined in "Opportunity for All" include the number of people living in low income households. Information for one of the indicators outlined in "Opportunity for All" is shown in the table.

Children below 60 per cent. of median income, including the self-employed

	Before housing costs		After housing costs
	Number (millions)	Proportion (percentage)	Number (millions)	Proportion (percentage)
FES years
1988-89	2.9	23	3.3	26
1990-91	3.2	26	3.9	31
1991-92	3.4	27	4.1	32
1992-93	3.5	27	4.3	33
1993-94	3.3	25	4.2	32
1994-95	3.2	24	4.2	32
1995-96	3.5	26	4.6	35
FRS years
1994-95	2.9	23	4	31
1995-96	2.7	21	4	31
1996-97	3.3	26	4.4	34
1997-98	3.2	25	4.3	33

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Adults below 60 per cent. of median income, including the self-employed

	Before housing costs		After housing costs
	Number (millions)	Proportion (percentage)	Number (millions)	Proportion (percentage)
FES years
1988-89	8	18	9.3	21
1990-91	8.2	19	9.6	22
1991-92	8.3	19	9.9	22
1992-93	7.9	18	9.7	22
1993-94	7.2	16	9.3	21
1994-95	6.9	16	9.2	21
1995-96	7.3	16	9.6	22
FRS years
1994-95	6.9	16	9.2	21
1995-96	6.6	15	8.9	21
1996-97	7	16	9.5	22
1997-98	7.1	16	9.3	21

Notes:

1. Households Below Average Income (HBAI) estimates are based on Family Expenditure Survey (FES) data for the UK up to 1995-96 (combined financial years 1995-96 and 1996-97). From 1994-95, HBAI estimates are available for single financial years based on the larger Family Resources Survey (FRS), covering Great Britain. Despite the change in the survey and some changes in the precise definition of income, the estimates in this table are judged to be broadly comparable over the years.

2. The estimates are presented on household income both Before Housing Costs and After Housing Costs in line with HBAI conventions.

3. All estimates are subject to sampling error.

Future year on year movements in the numbers of people falling below low income thresholds, and other poverty indicators, depend on a number of economic, social and demographic factors whose overall net effect cannot be predicted accurately, as well as on policy interventions.

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