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ONE Pilot Scheme

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) who employs the personal advisers working in the ONE pilot area currently being run by the Reed/Shaw Trust; [114230]

(2) from which organisations personal advisers in the ONE pilot areas run by the Reed/Shaw Trust are on secondment. [114231]

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Angela Eagle: Reed in Partnership Ltd. is leading a consortium (also comprising the Shaw Trust, Nat West Bank plc and SEMA Group Ltd.) to deliver the ONE pilot in North Nottinghamshire. Their teams of Personal Advisers are staffed by direct employees from Reed in Partnership Ltd., and also by staff on voluntary secondment from the Employment Service, the Benefits Agency, and Ashfield District Council.

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what training in adjudication has been given to the personal advisers in the ONE pilot scheme. [114229]

Angela Eagle: Personal advisers are not trained to adjudicate on benefit entitlement which is the responsibility of fully trained officers of the Benefits Agency or relevant local authority. From 3 April, the personal advisers will decide whether a client has fulfilled the new requirement to take part in a work-focused meeting as part of the normal claims process.

Benefit Statistics

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the margin of error of the statistics being used to measure (a) Jobseeker's Allowance, (b) Income Support and (c) Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance for his Department's Public Service Agreement. [114671]

Angela Eagle: There is 95 per cent. confidence that the true figure for fraud and error for Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support individually is within 8 per cent. of the estimate.

There is 95 per cent. confidence that the true figure for fraud and error in Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance combined in the Public Service Agreement are within 5 per cent. of the estimate.

Landlords

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if a representative sample of landlords is included in the current area benefit review. [114670]

Angela Eagle: The review's objective is to measure the extent of losses due to fraud and error, including fraud involving landlords, in Housing Benefit paid with Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Based). The sample to be reviewed is therefore made up of a random selection of Housing Benefit claimants including those whose benefit is paid direct to their landlord. The results will give us a representative value for the amount lost through landlord fraud.

Pensions

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will seek to amend the Pensions Act 1995 to ensure that the remit of the trustees of a pension scheme includes improving the level of protection of the interests of employees. [112865]

Mr. Rooker: We have no plans to amend the Pensions Act in this respect. Under Trust Law pension scheme trustees already have a fiduciary duty to act in the best

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interests of the beneficiaries of the scheme, including those members who are employees of the sponsoring employer.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases the Office of the Pensions Advisory Service has referred to the Pensions Ombudsman in the last year for which figures are available; and of these how many were upheld and subsequently enforced. [112864]

Mr. Rooker: In the year ending 31 March 1999, the Office of the Pensions Advisory Service (OPAS) recommended 170 complainants take their case to the Pensions Ombudsman. OPAS suggested that a further 73 complainants, where the evidence was inconclusive, might consider taking their case to the Pensions Ombudsman. Of the 510 cases determined by the Pensions Ombudsman in the year to 31 March 1999, 122 of those upheld had been referred by OPAS.

It is expected that the determinations of the Pensions Ombudsman will be complied with. Determinations are enforceable by the complainant by means of a County Court order. The Pensions Ombudsman will assist in this procedure if necessary but is not able to keep records as to the total number of cases that have been enforced. There were no Court applications with which he assisted in the year to 31 March 1999.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he will take to ensure all pension schemes are compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [112861]

Mr. Rooker: The Department for Education and Employment has published a Code of Practice which provides practical guidance for anyone with duties under the Act's employment provisions, including managers and trustees of occupational pension schemes.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many grievances about occupational pension schemes have been considered by the Pensions Ombudsman in the last year for which figures are available. [112863]

Mr. Rooker: In the year to 31 March 1999, the Pensions Ombudsman's office received 3,067 inquiries. The majority of these inquiries (1,940) were either referred back to the scheme to undergo the internal dispute resolution procedure or on to the Office of the Pensions Advisory Service or the appropriate regulatory authority. 719 cases were accepted for investigation. In addition, 624 cases were already being investigated at the start of the year. The Pensions Ombudsman issued 510 determinations in the year to 31 March 1999.

Source:

The Pensions Ombudsman's annual report 1998-99.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what cases of complaint to the (a) Office of the Pensions Advisory Service and (b) the Pensions Ombudsman, have involved breaches of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [112867]

Mr. Rooker: No complaints specifically involving breaches of the Disability Discrimination Act have been received by either the Office of the Pensions Advisory Service or the Pensions Ombudsman. Both organisations are aware that a small number of individuals may make reference to this Act in support of complaints about other

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pensions matters. However, neither office keeps statistics on the number of complaints that refer to the Disability Discrimination Act.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what reports he has received as a result of monitoring and evaluating pension schemes of failures to comply with the Pensions Act 1995. [112866]

Mr. Rooker: The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) is responsible for securing compliance with those provisions of the Pensions Act 1995 which govern the running of occupational pension schemes. As required by section 2 of that Act, the Secretary of State receives annual reports from the Chairman of OPRA about the activities of the Authority and lays them before Parliament.

The reports include detailed information and statistics relating to the investigations undertaken by OPRA in the last financial year, the numbers of investigations opened and closed, referrals to the Police and the Serious Fraud Office, and the nature of the penalties imposed by OPRA on those found to have failed to comply with the provisions of the Pensions Act. Copies of the three reports received to date, covering the financial years from 1996-97 to 1998-99, are in the Library.

Benefit Savings Scheme

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the amount of the Security and Control Programme funding for the weekly benefit savings scheme for each year between 1996 and 1999. [114589]

Mr. Rooker: The Security and Control Program (S and CP) funding from 1996 to 1999 is shown in the table:

£ million

Year	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
S and CP Funding	106.5	164	246	264

Note:

Figures are the audited figures validated by the NAO. (As reported in the NAO Report on Vote 1 Appropriation Account 1995-96 to 1998-99).

PRIME MINISTER

Ministerial Conduct

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Prime Minister if the Chancellor of the Exchequer sought his advice on whether the circumstances in which he acquired a flat from AGB Research Ltd. in 1992 presented a possible conflict of interest with his present role in Her Majesty's Government. [104669]

The Prime Minister: No.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the operation of the Ministerial Code, with particular reference to actual or apparent conflicts of interest between Ministers' public duties and private interests in relation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's purchase of a flat which had been owned by AGB Research Ltd. [104671]

The Prime Minister: None.

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