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Pensioners (Over-75s)

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received on the impact on pensioners approaching 75 years of the obligation to purchase annuities or risk losing their pension; and if he will make a statement. [138542]

Mr. Rooker: We have received various representations on the requirement to use tax-approved pension funds to purchase an annuity by the age of 75. These are

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long-standing rules which ensure that such funds are used to provide secure lifelong pensions in retirement. We are considering the points that have been made and an announcement will be made in due course if it is decided that any changes to the current rules are needed.

Housing Benefit

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 22 June 2000, Official Report, column 254W, what is the average time taken to process Housing Benefit claims by Chelmsford Borough Council; and what proportion of new claims for which all the relevant information has been provided are not dealt with within the 14 day guidelines to process applications. [139076]

Angela Eagle: The information requested about the average time taken to process Housing Benefit claims is not currently available. So far very limited information has been provided by local authorities on performance against Best Value indicators for the period April to June 2000. This information is currently being considered and analysed by the Department. Full year results will not be available until late summer 2001.

Between April 1999 and March 2000, the latest period for which data are available, Chelmsford Borough council cleared 57 per cent. of its new Housing Benefit claims within 14 days of receipt of all necessary information.

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 22 June 2000, Official Report, column 254W, on Housing Benefit, what is the average length of time taken to determine new Housing Benefit claims by each local authority in England. [139075]

Angela Eagle: The information requested is not currently available. So far very limited information has been provided by local authorities on performance against Best Value indicators for the period April to June 2000. This information is currently being considered and analysed by the Department. Full year results will not be available until late summer 2001.

Pensioner Income

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what proportion of (a) single and (b) married couple pensioners have an income of £20,000 a year or more; and if he will list for those groups the main sources of income. [139301]

Mr. Rooker: Some 398,000 pensioner couples have an annual net income of more than £20,000. This represents 15 per cent. of all pensioner couples. Corresponding information for single pensioners is not available since the sample size is too small to provide statistically reliable estimates.

The main sources of income for pensioners who have an annual net income of more than £20,000 are benefit income (including pensions), Occupational pensions, investment income, earnings and other income.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security at what level of income entitlement to the pension credit would run out in the case of a single pensioner receiving the basic pension at (a) 20 per cent., (b) 30 per cent., (c) 40 per cent., (d) 50 per cent.,

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(e) 60 per cent., (f) 70 per cent., (g) 80 per cent., (h) 90 per cent. and (i) 100 per cent. of the full rate. [139311]

Mr. Rooker: The pension credit does not work in this way. The aim of the pension credit is to reward savings income of up to £135 a week for a single pensioner and £200 a week for couples.

Stakeholder Pensions

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the additional cost which would result from increasing the stakeholder exemption limit to 20 employees. [137443]

Mr. Rooker: Exempting employers of less than 20 people from providing access to Stakeholder Pensions could affect over one million businesses and 1.89 million employees. There would be no additional cost.

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what research has been carried out by his Department to estimate the additional costs of introducing stakeholder pensions to be met by smaller scale employers with numbers of employees just above the proposed exemption limits. [137442]

Mr. Rooker: The Regulatory Impact Assessment published with the Stakeholder Pension Scheme Regulations 2000 (SI 1403) set out estimates of the range of costs likely to be faced by employers in providing access to a stakeholder pension scheme. A copy of the Assessment is in the Library of the House.

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the organisations consulted on the implementation of the proposals for stakeholder pensions; what proportion of those consulted raised concerns about the additional administrative work involved; and what changes were made as a result of the consultation. [137440]

Mr. Rooker: Over 400 organisations were consulted on our proposals for stakeholder pension schemes. There was a specific consultation on proposals for the employer access requirement on which more than 100 responses were received. These included responses from the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Several responses, by or on behalf of employers, expressed concerns about the likely administrative burden. The consultation proposals were subsequently amended to exempt employers with fewer than five employees from the requirement. An exemption was also added for employers who offer their employees at least a 3 per cent. contribution to a personal pension which meets certain conditions.

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many recent representations he has had from employers and their representatives on the administrative work involved in the introduction of stakeholder pensions. [137441]

Mr. Rooker: We have not received any formal representations from employers or their representatives on the administrative work involved in providing access to stakeholder pension schemes since the consultation exercises (proposals for the employer access requirement

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were issued in June 1999, and the draft regulations in May 2000). However, we continue to receive inquiries from employers seeking clarification on the ways in which the employer access requirement will work.

Winter Fuel Allowance (Carers)

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of extending the Winter Fuel Allowance to carers in receipt of ICA where there is no one in the household over 60; and how many beneficiaries there would be. [138909]

Mr. Rooker: It is estimated that the cost of extending Winter Fuel Payments to carers in receipt of Invalid Care Allowance, where there is no-one in the household over 60, would be £50 million in the winter of 2000-01, with approximately 250,000 extra recipients.

Notes:

1. Based on survey information, subject to sampling error.

2. Cash prices, to the nearest 10 million.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to ensure that respondents to the Minimum Income Guarantee take-up campaign who are not eligible for Minimum Income Guarantee but might be eligible for the pensioner credit are notified of their entitlement. [138693]

Mr. Rooker: We are considering what steps are needed to do this.

NIRS2

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of incomplete national insurance records on the NIRS2 computer system for the financial year 1997-98; and if he will make a statement on the implications of these incomplete records on the benefit and pension entitlements of those effected. [137694]

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.

At the end of each year we receive contributions details for approximately 50 million individual employees, some of whom have had several jobs during the year. We have updated over 98 per cent. of individual records for which we have received 1997-98 details.

Of the remaining two per cent., in the majority of cases the information we have received is incomplete, or in a format that we cannot use to update the individual record. This is a feature of any year and we are continuing to work with employers to put this right. The remaining details are currently being entered into NIRS2.

By the end of November we estimate that we will have updated over 99 per cent. of records on NIRS2 for which we have received 1997-98 contributions details.

The effect on an individual's benefit or pension entitlement of their 1997-98 National Insurance contribution record being incomplete varies from case to case.

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