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Minimum Wage
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the annual cost to his Department, in terms of salary payments, which would result from an increase of the minimum wage for all age groups to (a) £4, (b) £4.20 and (c) £4.50 per hour. [120246]
Mr. Morley: Staff in my Department and its Agencies are salaried and are not paid by the hour. However, for the purposes of this question I am able to calculate salary levels based on normal full-time working hours of 36 per week in London or 37 hours elsewhere.
No staff in my Department are paid at salary levels less than or equivalent to £4.00 or £4.20 per hour. If the minimum wage for all staff was increased to a salary level equivalent to £4.50 per hour the annual cost to my Department would be £51,464.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Child Support Agency
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many CSA inspectors are in post and operating in the Lancashire and Merseyside region. [120863]
Mr. Rooker: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to my right hon. Friend.
Letter from Mrs. Faith Boardman to Mr. Frank Field, dated 5 May 2000:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
At present, three members of Agency staff in the Lancashire and Merseyside regions carry out inspectoral duties, which include investigating the earnings of the self-employed and company directors and conducting interviews under caution. However the Wales and North West Business Unit plan to train an additional 25 officers to undertake inspectoral visits, of whom seven will operate in the Lancashire and Merseyside regions.
Under current legislation child support inspectors are appointed on a case by case basis which means that they must be given a time-limited certificate of appointment for each individual case. As a result, CSA Inspectors have not, to date, been used to their best effect. This rigid and cumbersome method of appointment has prevented the Agency from building up a team of dedicated and experienced inspectors.
However, the Agency has increased the number of locally based face to face officers to 600, a process that was completed at the end of March this year. The Agency is currently considering whether some, or all, of the face to face officers should also perform the role of child support inspectors or whether separate dedicated teams of inspectors would be more effective. Under the child support reforms it is planned to appoint permanent inspectors.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2000, Official Report, column 551W, if he will list the IT procurement contracts agreed with EDS since 1 May 1997 with a value over £10,000; when each contract was agreed; when the IT provision began to be installed; and if each IT system is (a) fully operational and (b) in use. [120922]
Mr. Rooker: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to my right hon. Friend.
5 May 2000 : Column: 254W
Letter from Mrs. Faith Boardman to Mr. Frank Field, dated 5 May 2000:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
No specific IT Procurement contracts have been awarded to EDS since 1/5/97. However, the Department's private sector partner Affinity (prime contractor EDS) was awarded an early contract in March 1999, to provide products key to the future development of modernised IT for the Department.
In addition, to maintain progress against legislative timescales for Child Support Reforms, an interim contract for early IT pre- development and preparation work was let to Affinity 23/12/99, to deliver products which pave the way for new IT for the CSA. In both cases, neither the contracts nor their products were intended to deliver an operational IT system.
The Department does not hold an existing contract with EDS, awarded in 1995, for the provision of some mainframe-based IT and associated services.
A number of consultancy contracts are also held with EDS to help determine the Department's business and financial requirements relevant to the delivery of the full IT systems, under the main contracts.
The award of all contracts has been subject to the Department's formal procurement controls to ensure fair and open competition.
I hope this is helpful.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Portillo: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the percentage change in the value of UK pension funds since May 1997. [120993]
Mr. Rooker: Information is not available from May 1997 as data is collected on an annual basis. The percentage increase in the value of UK pension funds between December 1996 and December 1997 (the most recent figure available), above is 17 per cent.
Note:
The amount of money set aside to meet pensions liabilities is a proxy for the amount of money held in pensions.
Source:
ONS estimates based partly on "DTI returns".
Mr. Portillo: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many new occupational pension schemes were set up in (a) 1979 to 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998 and (d) 1999. [121018]
Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.
| Period | Number |
|---|---|
| 1979 to 1996 | 159,054 |
| 1997 | 6,133 |
| 1998 | 4,939 |
| 1999 | 3,170 |
Note:
Pension schemes have to register with the Pension Schemes Registry when they have two or more members and have applied for, or received, tax approval from the Inland Revenue
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the total costs for (a) each of the past two years, (b) the current year and (c) projected
5 May 2000 : Column: 255W
for each of the next two years, broken down into administrative and non-administrative costs and including the cost of the telephone helplines. [121043]
Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.
| Year | Non-administration costs | Administration costs |
|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 200 million | 13.7 million |
| 1998-99 | 200 million | 13.1 million |
| 1999-2000 | 760 million | 14.3 million |
| 2000-01 | 1.4 billion(11) | Not yet available(12) |
| 2001-02 | 1.2 billion(11) | Not yet available(12) |
(11) Includes the cost of making backdated payments as a result of changes to the eligibility rules.
(12) Projected figures are not available for these years as the process details are not yet finalised.
Minimum Income Guarantee
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2000, Official Report, column 551W, how many pensioners are excluded from the minimum income guarantee because of income from an occupational pension. [120921]
Mr. Rooker: An estimated 1,120,000 cases would qualify for the minimum income guarantee if their occupational pension were completely disregarded.
Fraud
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the Government have fulfilled their commitment in paragraph 3.18 of the White Paper, "Safeguarding Social Security", to ensure that data are correct on 1.8 million payroll items; how many anomalies (a) were found, (b) were passed to fraud investigators, (c) resulted in prosecution and (d) resulted in conviction; and of the anomalies, how many arose from cases where people were simultaneously working and claiming. [120859]
Mr. Rooker: During 1999-2000, 626,641 payroll records were checked. 288,924 anomalies were found, of which 251,201 were name and address changes. 6,223 cases were referred to fraud for investigation because of possible fraud. Of these, 5,943 involved suspicions that people might be claiming benefit without declaring their earnings. As of 31 March 2000, fraud has been proved in 683 of these cases and there have been 114 prosecutions leading to a conviction. We do not know how many prosecutions were unsuccessful in this area.
The National Insurance Contributions Office has a target to check 3 million payroll records in 2000-01.
5 May 2000 : Column: 256W
Postgraduate Maintenance
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements exist to provide income maintenance for persons who are forced to suspend a course of postgraduate education because of illness. [118911]
Mr. Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
Responsibility for postgraduate awards is shared with the Arts and Humanities Research Board or one of the six Research Councils, depending on the field of study. Each Research Council is an independent body, free, within the terms of its Charter and the resources available to it, to make its own decisions about expenditure on postgraduate support.
Support for postgraduate teacher training is generally provided by my Department under the Student Support Regulations. Maintenance support is in the form of a student loan. Support is payable for absence from a course due to illness for up to 60 days, and for longer periods at the discretion of the relevant local education authority, which will take into account financial hardship.
The Department provides support to 50 postgraduate students at three European Institutions, the Bologna Center, the College of Europe and the European University Institute and provides continuing support for the first 60 days of illness. Thereafter each case is considered by my Department on its own merits.
In relation to Research Council students, where a student becomes sick during their studies, arrangements vary depending on the awarding body and the nature of the course. The Economic and Social Research Council, for example, allows a student's grant to continue unaffected for the first eight weeks of sickness. The Medical Research Council continue to pay the grant at the full rate for the first 21 days of sickness and at half rate for the next 28 days and would then suspend payment.
Separate, broadly similar arrangements apply in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, the system of support for postgraduates largely follows that for undergraduates and, in the main, continues to be paid during periods of illness.
Additional assistance for postgraduate students studying in the UK who are absent from their course due to illness may be available through the Access Funds. These allow universities and colleges to provide extra discretionary support for students in particular need; and a total of £76.4 million has been made available in England for the 1999-2000 academic year.
Full-time students who interrupt their studies because of illness and have been incapable of work for 28 weeks may be eligible for income support. Details of benefits are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security.