---

Post Offices

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Minister of State, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) to the Post Office, instructing sub-postmasters not to issue forms encouraging customers to opt for benefit payment at post offices. [122236]

Mr. Rooker: I have written no such letter.

I did recently write a private letter to Colin Baker (General Secretary of the National Federation of Sub-postmasters) about payment of benefits by automated credit transfer. However, it is not Government policy to make private letters such as this public.

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the documents and publications produced by his Department and Agencies that are available at sub-post offices. [121625]

Mr. Rooker: The following leaflets have been distributed to all post offices in Great Britain:

Leaflet
Benefit Rates	(Leaflet GL23)
Financial Help If You Work Or Are Looking For Work	(WK1)
Sick Or Disabled	(SD1)
Babies and Children	(BC1)
Retirement	(RM1)
For Parents Who Live Apart	(CSA 2001)
New Deal For Parents	(LP15)
Help With Your Rent	(GL16)
You have A Choice	(PAY10)

"You Have A Choice" is a joint leaflet produced with the Post Office to advise customers on the payment of benefits.

15 May 2000 : Column: 40W

In addition posters have been distributed for display. Which posters are displayed depends on whether a Post Office Point Of Sale (POPOS) display board and viewing area are available in the post office. The distributed posters are:

Poster
Social Security Benefit Rates	(GL23P)
Lone Parents	(LP20P)
Fraud Hotline Poster	(NBFH0300)
Help With Your Rent and Council Tax	(GL16/17P)

Welsh bilingual versions of all leaflets and posters are available in Wales.

Taxes and Benefits

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide illustrative examples of cases where taxes and benefits interact to produce a replacement ratio of (a) 70 per cent. and above, (b) 80 per cent. and above, (c) 90 per cent. and above, and (d) 100 per cent. and above on the same basis as figure 36 in the departmental report, Cm 4614, p.80. [120383]

Mr. Rooker: Replacement ratios in Figure 36 of the latest departmental report were calculated by micro-simulation modelling, using a sample of households from the 1996-97 Family Resources Survey. The examples are drawn from the sample underpinning the latest estimates, for 1999-2000. They are shown by 10 per cent. bands. As in Figure 36, the examples are for the head of household only where the head of the household works 30 hours or more a week, and are based on income levels after housing costs.

70 per cent. to 79 per cent. ratio: a single person with no children and an in work income after income tax (£5), National Insurance contributions (£5) and housing costs (£41) of £71 per week, and an income out of work from contributory Jobseeker's Allowance of £51 (replacement ratio 73 per cent.).

80 per cent. to 89 per cent. ratio: a single person with no children and an in work income after income tax (£4), National Insurance contributions (£5) and housing costs (£48) of £64 per week, and an income out of work from contributory Jobseeker's Allowance of £51 (replacement ratio 81 per cent.).

90 per cent. to 99 per cent. ratio: the head of household in a benefit unit with two earners and two children and a combined in work income of £389 per week, after income tax (£33), National Insurance contributions (£23) and housing costs (£45), and including Child Benefit (£24) and Family Credit (£4), and an out of work income of £271 per week, including contributory Jobseeker's Allowance (£51), Child Benefit (£24), Family Credit (£78) and the partner's original earnings (£172). (replacement ratio 94 per cent.).

100 per cent. + ratio: the head of household in a couple benefit unit with one earner and one child and a combined in work income of £4 per week, after income tax (£18),

15 May 2000 : Column: 41W

National Insurance contributions (£13) and housing costs (£217), and including Child Benefit (£14), and an out of work income of £7 per week, including contributory Jobseeker's Allowance (£51), income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (£159), Child Benefit (£14). (replacement ratio 186 per cent.).

Pensions

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what co-operation the European Commission is seeking from the Government in respect of (a) its objective of modernising the system of pensions and social protection in member states, and if such modernisation is to extend to applicant member states and (b) its intention to establish a legal framework for supplementary pensions. [121635]

Mr. Rooker: Heads of State and Government agreed at the Lisbon Special Summit in March that social protection systems should be adapted as part of an active welfare state to ensure that work pays, and that they should be sustainable in the long-term in the face of an ageing population. It was agreed at the Summit that the High Level Working Party on social protection, of which the Commission is a member along with representatives from all member states, should arrange a study on the future long-term evolution of social protection, with particular attention on pensions. The Commission has indicated it will produce a new Communication on modernising social protection, concentrating on pensions, later this year. The High Level Working Party is due to produce a progress report on social protection by December at the Nice summit; and a more substantial report for the Spring Council 2001.

In December 1999, in the context of modernising social protection, the Council of Ministers concluded that the Community should pay particular attention to a balanced economic and social development in the applicant countries in the process towards an enlargement of the European Union. The High Level Working Party is considering ways of involving applicant countries in their work.

The Commission's Communication "Financial Services: Implementing the Framework for Financial Markets: Action Plan" (COM(1999)232) noted that the Commission would propose a Directive on the prudential supervision of pension funds. The Commission has held informal discussions with member states.

Child Support Agency

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been (1) the highest compensation payment paid to date by the Child Support Agency; [121475]

(2) the total amount of money paid by way of compensation payments by the Child Support Agency. [121476]

Angela Eagle: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to my hon. Friend.

15 May 2000 : Column: 42W

Letter from Faith Boardman to Mr. Tom Cox, dated May 2000:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about compensation payments paid by the Child Support Agency.
In common with other DSS Agencies, the CSA operates a discretionary "special payments" scheme to compensate customers for actual financial losses, or any suffering and distress caused in cases of maladministration. For CSA these arrangements cover maintenance lost to a parent with care (PWC), as well as expenses incurred by PWCs or non-resident parents (NRPs) in dealing with the Agency. It is also possible to make consolatory payments in recognition of the less tangible effects of maladministration, such as inconvenience, embarrassment and the worry and distress that can result from delay and errors.
The largest individual amount of compensation paid was £27,393.60. This figure did not include any consolatory element but represented monies due to a parent with care, which would have been paid by the non-resident parent, had it not been for the Agency's maladministration. It also included a payment for loss of use of monies (interest). Each case is considered on its own merits and payments of this magnitude are particularly exceptional. The average payment during 1998/99 was £795.
The largest individual consolatory payment is £1,150, however, on average this type of payment is around £133.
Since its inception, the Agency has made compensation payments to a value of £8.6 million (figure to end February 2000). During 1998/99 the Agency paid out £4.3 million in compensation payments. Evidence this year shows that this amount is falling. From April 1999 to the end of February 2000 the Agency had paid out £2.4 million for the 1999/2000 financial year. The main reason why this figure was so high in recent years is that the Agency has been clearing the backlog of cases that had built up during the early years of its operations. As the Agency is now more up to date with its work, payments of this scale are unlikely to recur.
I hope this is helpful.

---