| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Benefits Agency
35. Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to improve the ways in which the Benefits Agency communicates with the public. [124983]
Angela Eagle: Much has already been done to improve communications--but there remains much more to do.
We are improving the way we notify and explain decisions to people. We have re-designed leaflets around age groups and life events instead of benefits, making them simpler and easier to follow. A similar structure is planned for our website.
19 Jun 2000 : Column: 83W
Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress his Department is making with its proposals for stakeholder pensions. [124963]
Mr. Rooker: The Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000 were laid on 25 May. Work is progressing for stakeholder pensions to be available from April 2001.
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will set out the assumptions behind the predicted stakeholder pension pay-outs published by the Financial Services Authority; [126562]
- (2) what is the expected monthly stakeholder pension for those contributing (a) £30 per month and (b) £40 per month consistent with Decision Tree 3 of the stakeholder discussion paper published by the Financial Services Authority. [126561]
Mr. Rooker: The assumptions on which the illustrative pension figures are based are listed on page 14 of the discussion paper "The FSA's approach to the regulation of the conduct of stakeholder pension business" published on 23 May 2000.
The estimated monthly pension figures in decision tree three are proportionate to the level of contributions (subject to rounding). The estimated pension figures for alternative levels of contributions can therefore be calculated from the information given. For example the expected pension outcomes for a 20 year old contributing £30 a month would be £250 for retirement at 65, and £172 for retirement at 60.
Bridging Allowance
Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current level of the Bridging Allowance; and if he will make a statement. [124881]
Mr. Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The Bridging Allowance was introduced to provide short-term help for young people awaiting a training place. It is a national scheme, payable for up to eight weeks only. It is not a form of social security benefit and was never intended to support young people in any way over a long period of time.
The Department is currently taking forward the recommendations in the Social Exclusion Unit's "Bridging the Gap" report: to consider the rationalisation of financial support for young people. As part of this work we will be looking at the future of all financial support available to young people including the Bridging Allowance.
Social Fund
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the gross discretionary Social Fund budget for 2000-01 will be, broken down by (a) the community care grant (b) budgeting loans and (c) crisis loans. [125287]
Angela Eagle: The gross discretionary Social Fund budget for 2000-01 is £596 million, which will be funded by Annually Managed Expenditure of £138.2 million and loan recoveries of £457.8 million. The community care
19 Jun 2000 : Column: 84W
grant budget is £100 million and the gross loans budget is £494 million. Both budgeting loans and crisis loans are paid from the same budget.
A contingency reserve of £2 million has been retained centrally to provide additional help to any Benefits Agency Districts that face unexpected and unplanned expenditure as a result of a local emergency or disaster.
Details of individual Benefits Agency District budget allocations were placed in the Library on 3 April.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what have been the administrative costs of the Disability Living Allowance in each of the last five years. [124710]
Mr. Bayley: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 15 June 2000:
- The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what have been the administrative costs of the Disability Living Allowance in each of the last five years.
- For the years 1995/1996 through to 1999/2000 the cost of administering the benefit was £104.78 million, £130.99 million, £125.47 million, £125.67 million and £142.5 million respectively. The figures are inclusive of Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance costs. The totals cannot be apportioned into DLA and AA separately.
- As you may be aware we have recently introduced new procedures for assessing claims for DLA/AA to try and improve the accuracy of decision-making. We want to get decisions right first time so that fewer cases go to reconsideration or appeal. Inevitably this has led to some delays in processing cases and the Benefits Agency have been taking action to reduce the backlog as soon as possible. This is the reason for the increase in costs for 1999/2000.
- I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measurements of the time taken to process an application for Disability Living Allowance have been made in each of the last five years. [124709]
Mr. Bayley: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 15 June 2000:
- The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what measurements of the time taken to process an application for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) have been made in each of the last five years.
- For the years 1996/97 through to 1999/2000 the average number of days taken to clear an application for DLA has been 31, 34, 35 and 43 respectively.
- As you may be aware we have recently introduced new procedures for assessing claims for DLA/AA to try and improve the accuracy of decision-making. We want to get decisions right first time so that fewer cases go to reconsideration or appeal. Inevitably this has led to some delays in processing cases. These delays will hopefully reduce as staff become accustomed to the new procedures and we are taking action to achieve this as soon as possible.
- I hope this is helpful.
19 Jun 2000 : Column: 85W
Child Benefit
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the level at which a family premium for families with one or more children under the age of five years could be introduced into the Child Benefit system by the expenditure of £600 million (a) assuming no changes to levels of mean-tested benefits and (b) assuming corresponding changes to levels of mean-tested benefits. [125284]
Angela Eagle: The information is in the table.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| No corresponding increase in means-tested benefits | 5.70 |
| With corresponding increase in means-tested benefits | 4.20 |
Notes:
1. The figures provided do not make allowance for the additional administrative and system change costs.
2. The proportion of families with a child under the age of five has been estimated from the February 2000 5 per cent. scan of the Child Benefit computer system.
3. Proportions of families on income-related benefits who have a child under the age of five have been estimated from the February 2000 5 per cent. scans of the Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance computer systems and the May 1998 1 per cent. sample of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit claims.
4. The overall case loads underpinning the estimates have been controlled to forecast 2001-02 Child Benefit case loads.
5. Value of family premium rounded to the nearest 10 pence.
Surveys
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much his Department is spending in the current financial year on representative surveys of its customers; how much was spent in (a) 1998-99 and (b) 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [125534]
Mr. Rooker: Details of representative surveys of customers and other research carried out under the Department's Research Programme can be found in the Research Yearbook published annually. The information includes costs and objectives. The most recent Yearbook was published in December 1999 and includes all projects undertaken in 1998-99. A copy is available in the Library.
New surveys commissioned under the Research Programme are normally subject to a competitive tender procedure. This year's commissioning process is under way and therefore the costs for the current financial year are unavailable. The remaining expenditure on representative surveys under the Research Programme can be provided only at disproportionate cost. This is because, for a number of projects, customer surveys are carried out as part of a wider programme of work and disaggregated figures for the survey costs are not held centrally.
The Department also undertakes representative surveys of customers that are not funded through the Research Programme. Information on their costs is shown in the table.
19 Jun 2000 : Column: 86W
| 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits Agency(14) | 450 | 474 | 480 |
| Child Support Agency(15) | - | 20 | - |
| War Pensions Agency(16) | 21 | 7 | - |
| Appeals Service(17) | - | - | - |
| DSS Corporate Communications(18) | 204 | 94 | - |
Note:
All amounts are rounded to the nearest thousand and exclude VAT.
Sources:
(14) Benefits Agency (BA) Customer Service Team. Figures include field, computer and data collation costs and, as internal costs, are not liable for VAT. Figures are for national surveys only. BA Directorates may conduct local surveys but costs are not held centrally and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
(15) Child Support Agency (CSA). The figure represents a customer survey commissioned by CSA Scotland and North East England Business Unit.
(16) War Pensions Agency (WPA). As part of its Business Plan for 2000-01, the WPA will conduct research to identify the services customers require, and will act on the findings. The research has yet to be commissioned.
(17) The Appeals Service (AS). AS will commission a customer survey later this year but costs are not yet available.
(18) DSS Corporate Communications. The total for 1998-99 includes a small element of qualitative research which it has not been possible to itemise separately. In the current financial year some surveys will be commissioned subject to a competitive tender procedure and cost estimates cannot therefore be provided.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |