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Asylum Seekers
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his timetable is for the review of vouchers for asylum seekers; and if he will make a statement. [143638]
20 Dec 2000 : Column: 222W
Mrs. Roche: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Ms Jackson) on 27 November 2000, Official Report, column 446W.
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to change the rules governing asylum seekers' ability to undertake (a) voluntary work and (b) paid employment; and if he will make a statement. [141705]
Mrs. Roche [pursuant to her reply, 11 December 2000, c. 51W]: The answer should have read that I have no plans to limit the ability of asylum seekers to undertake unpaid voluntary work rather than "paid" voluntary work as given in my original reply.
SOCIAL SECURITY
SERPs
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 13 December 2000, Official Report, columns 132-33W, for each month between April 1999 and November 2000 to how many pensioners arrears were paid; what was the amount of arrears paid; and what was the average number of weeks of arrears that fell to be paid to each pensioner. [143267]
Mr. Rooker: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Month | Pension arrears paid (£) | Number of pensioners |
|---|---|---|
| April/May 1999 | 478,979 | 1,522 |
| June 1999 | 2,598,954 | 12,256 |
| July 1999 | 2,358,507 | 9,580 |
| August 1999 | 2,990,594 | 10,567 |
| September 1999 | 1,990,580 | 7,557 |
| October 1999 | 6,728,176 | 12,082 |
| November 1999 | 4,153,782 | 12,191 |
| December 1999 | 2,619,020 | 10,273 |
| January 2000 | 2,974,503 | 7,958 |
| February 2000 | 2,575,161 | 6,740 |
| March 2000 | 2,229,035 | 5,279 |
| April 2000 | 2,043,878 | 5,168 |
| May 2000 | 2,121,227 | 6,814 |
| June 2000 | 2,102,673 | 5,264 |
| July 2000 | 1,374,305 | 5,103 |
| August 2000 | 1,600,579 | 4,733 |
| September 2000 | 1,825,299 | 4,377 |
| October 2000 | 2,344,819 | 5,142 |
| November 2000 | 2,053,352 | 4,625 |
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answers of 13 December 2000, Official Report, columns 132-33W, what the total amount of interest foregone by pensioners on late payment of pensions was in each six month period from January 1997 assuming Bank of England base rate of interest on deposits had been obtained. [143150]
Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table. No information is available prior to April 1999.
20 Dec 2000 : Column: 223W
| Period | Value of lost interest (£) |
|---|---|
| April 1999--September 1999 | 700,000 |
| October 1999--March 2000 | 900,000 |
| April 2000--September 2000 | 200,000 |
| October 2000--November 2000 | 100,000 |
The potential loss of interest of £1.9 million has been redressed by the payment of compensation of over £2.7 million under the special £10 scheme announced in February 1999 and the DSS Special Payments Scheme.
Working Age Agency
Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Working Age Agency will be established. [143254]
Angela Eagle: I refer my hon. Friend to the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 16 March 2000, Official Report, columns 257-58W, that the Working Age Agency will be established during 2001.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what directions overriding a note of dissent by an accounting officer have been given since May 1997 by the boards of non-departmental public bodies within his Department's remit; and if he will place details of such directions in the Library. [143541]
Angela Eagle: There have been no such directions.
Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he will take to ensure local authorities are allowed to offer stakeholder pensions to employees within the local government pension scheme. [143505]
Mr. Rooker: The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is responsible for the regulation of the Local Government Pension Scheme. As every local government employee has the right to join the Local Government Pension Scheme, participating employers are not required to offer their employees access to a stakeholder pension. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions will consider any proposals from local government to give Local Government Pension Scheme employers the choice of offering their employees access to a stakeholder pension under the rules relating to concurrency. It is of course possible for members of the Local Government Pension Scheme to take out Stakeholder Pensions individually within the same rules.
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many pensioners have not yet received this year's winter fuel payment; [143512]
- (2) how many men between the ages of 60 and 64 years have not yet received this year's winter fuel payment; [143511]
20 Dec 2000 : Column: 224W
(3) how many of this year's winter fuel payments were sent out to pensioners by 18 December; and how many were outstanding. [143625]
Mr. Rooker: Around 11 million were issued before 18 December.
All automatic payments have been issued, where a clear entitlement has been established, as have payments in respect of claims determined by 9 November. Claims can be made at any time and payment will be made thereafter.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assumptions he has made about the level of next year's Winter Fuel Payment in calculating next year's planned expenditure. [143527]
Mr. Rooker: The level of the Winter Fuel Payment for next winter (2001-02) is set out in The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment and Maternity and Funeral Expenses (General) Amendment Regulations 2000, and is included in the Government's spending plans.
Pensions
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many British nationals living abroad are in receipt of a British state retirement pension. [143614]
Mr. Rooker: There are about 839,000 pensioners living abroad in receipt of a UK state retirement pension.
- Notes:
- 1. Figure rounded to nearest thousand.
- 2. Figure is not confined to British nationals. UK retirement pension is paid to those who satisfy the relevant conditions.
- Source:
- 5 per cent. sample from the Pensions Strategy Computer System at 31 March 2000.
Personal Pensions
Mr. Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people have contracted back into SERPS from COMPS--contracted out money purchase schemes--and approved personal pensions in each of the last three years; and how many COMPS there were in each of the last three years. [143367]
Mr. Rooker: We cannot answer the first part of the hon. Member's question as information from NIRS2 will not be available until mid-2001. The answer to the second part is in the following table.
| Date | Number of COMP schemes |
|---|---|
| 1 November 1998 | 6,472 |
| 1 November 1999 | 4,254 |
| 1 November 2000 | 3,189 |
Source:
Inland Revenue National Insurance Contributions Office.
Pension Rebates
Mr. Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans the Government have to change the 9 per cent. cap on SERPS pension rebates. [143365]
20 Dec 2000 : Column: 225W
Mr. Rooker: The cap on age-related rebates to those in Contracted-out Money Purchase Schemes and Appropriate Personal Pensions is one of the issues my hon. Friend the Secretary of State will address in his report on the level of rebates for the five years beginning April 2002 which will be published next year.
Mr. Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the effect of the 9 per cent. cap on the contracting out decisions of people from SERPS. [143366]
Mr. Rooker: Age-related National Insurance rebates to members of Contracted-out Money Purchase Schemes and to Appropriate Personal Pensions are currently capped at 9 per cent. of earnings between the Lower and Upper Earnings Limits to restrain the costs to public finances. At that level it enables most people who were already contracted-out when age-related rebates were introduced to continue to stay in their pension scheme.
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