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Denise Eckersley
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reach a decision on the West Yorkshire Coroner's request for an order to be issued to allow an inquest to be held into the death of Denise Eckersley. [146103]
Mr. Boateng: An order was issued on 10 January.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Pensions (Overseas Residents)
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those countries where British citizens who have retired receive frozen state pensions. [145177]
Mr. Rooker: The information is as follows:
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Antilles (Netherlands)
Argentina
Armenia Republic of
Aruba (Netherlands)
Ascension Island
Australia
Azerbaijan, Republic of
Azores (Portugal)
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
- Belarus, Republic of
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia (aka Kampuchea)
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros Islands
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Cuba
- Czech Republic
- Djibouti
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya Arab Jamahiriy
Lithuania, Republic of
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mexico
Micronesia, Fed Stat
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Monaco
Mongolia
Monserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar (formally Burma)
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau Islands
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saba
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Sarawak (Malaysia)
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sharjah (UAE)
Sierra Leone
- Singapore
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Martins
St. Vincent and The Grenadine
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Syrian Arab Rep.
Tahiti
Taiwan
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Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tristan Da Cunha
Tunisia
Turkmenistan, Republic of
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
- Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Uzbekistan, Republic of
Vanuatu
Vatican City (Holy See)
Venezuela
Vietnam
Western Sahara
Western Samoa
Yemen, Republic of
Zaire
Zambia
Zimbabwe.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the method adopted to judge whether a claimant's combined savings and debts make them eligible to claim Jobseeker's Allowance. [145279]
Angela Eagle: Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) consists of both contribution-based and income-based elements. The personal rate of contribution-based JSA is payable for six months irrespective of the amount of savings a person and their partner has. Those who do not qualify for, or whose needs are not met by the contributory element, can claim income-based JSA. Claims to JSA are referred to an independent Decision Maker for a decision on entitlement which is based on the facts of each individual case.
Income-based JSA is available to unemployed people whose resources are insufficient to meet their day-to-day living expenses and are below a level approved each year by Parliament. Generally, capital up to £3,000 is ignored and people can have up to £8,000 capital, including their partner's capital, and still get some income-based JSA. Debts or liabilities are not usually offset against a person's assets when assessing capital for Income Support purposes.
Fraud
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were prosecuted for social security fraud in each year from 1989-90 to 1999-2000. [145200]
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Mr. Rooker: The number of people sanctioned or prosecuted for committing benefit fraud increased by nearly 60 per cent. in 1999-2000 compared to the previous year.
The number of prosecutions over five years old is not available. Such information as is available is in the table.
| Year | Prosecutions | Cautions and penalties as an alternative to prosecution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 10,677 | -- | 10,677 |
| 1996-97 | 12,863 | -- | 12,863 |
| 1997-98 | 12,009 | -- | 12,009 |
| 1998-99 | 11,185 | 2,835 | 14,020 |
| 1999-2000 | 9,977 | 12,332 | 22,309 |
Notes:
1. The figures do not include sanctions for benefit fraud by authorities administering Housing and Council Tax Benefits.
2. The Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997 introduced penalties as an alternative to prosecution, these came into effect in December 1998.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the total cost of benefit fraud in Scotland in each year since 1992 in (a) cash terms and (b) 1999-2000 prices. [145648]
Mr. Rooker: The information requested is not available.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases of benefit fraud were discovered in each constituency in Scotland in each of the last five years. [145677]
Mr. Rooker: Information on benefit fraud is not available by constituency.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the level of benefit fraud by (a) number of claimants and (b) value (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of total benefit payments for each benefit in (A) the UK and (B) Scotland. [145637]
Mr. Rooker: Information on the level of fraud on different benefits is derived from national and area benefit review exercises. Reports on these are placed in the Library as they become available. The latest report, "The Results of the Area Benefit Review and the Quality Support Team from April 1999 to March 2000" (for income support and jobseeker's allowance), was published on 18 January 2001. This contains information on Great Britain as a whole as well as specific information on Scotland.
Workless Households
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of children lived in workless households in Scotland in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [145673]
Mr. Bayley: The information is in the table.
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| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 19.5 |
| 1997 | 18.6 |
| 1998 | 17.9 |
| 1999 | 16.8 |
| 2000 | 16.7 |
Notes:
1. Children refers to all children aged under 16.
2. A workless household is a household that includes at least one person of working age where no-one is in employment.
3. The percentages given in the reply have not been adjusted for the small proportion of households where the household economic activity is not known.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, spring quarters (covering March to May). The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a quarterly sample survey of over 60,000 households in the United Kingdom.
Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will arrange for application forms for winter fuel payments to be available at post offices. [145620]
Mr. Rooker: Winter fuel payment claim forms are available either by contacting the winter fuel payment helpline or from the departmental website or the internet. The administrative arrangements for the scheme in the 2001-02 winter have not yet been established, but I will bear my hon. Friend's suggestion in mind.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much the Government spent on the winter fuel allowance in each of the years (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999 and (d) 2000. [145611]
Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.
| Year | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| 1997-98 | £191 million |
| 1998-99 | £194 million |
| 1999-2000 | £902 million |
| 2000-01 | £1.701 billion |
Source:
Administrative statistics
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assumptions his Department makes about the proportion of the winter-fuel payment that will be used by (a) low-income and (b) other households to defray the cost of their winter fuel bills. [145765]
Mr. Rooker: The winter fuel payment is intended to help elderly people defray their winter heating costs. This winter's £200 payment represents more than one third of the annual average fuel bill for a pensioner household.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioner households will receive the winter fuel allowance this financial year. [145612]
Mr. Rooker: Over eight million households containing at least one person aged 60 or over will have benefited from winter fuel payments in the current financial year.
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