---

SERPS

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the impact of changes to the regulations governing inherited SERPS. [156572]

Mr. Rooker: The Social Security (Inherited SERPS) Regulations 2001 were made on 20 March 2001 and come into force on 6 October 2002.

The effect of these Regulations will be to provide protection for the spouses of people who reach State pension age between 6 October 2002 and 5 October 2010, in recognition of the fact that the amount someone needs to save to make up for the reduction to 50 per cent. inheritance increases the closer they are to pension age. The amount of SERPS that the surviving spouse can inherit will be reduced from a maximum of 100 per cent. to a maximum of 50 per cent., but on a sliding scale.

This is in addition to the protection for the spouses of existing pensioners or of people due to reach State pension age by 5 October 2002.

The overall effect of the changes will be to prevent the cliff edge effect of the original proposals.

Pensions

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes have been made since 1997 to help pensioners with small occupational pensions. [156645]

Mr. Rooker: Pensioners with small occupational pensions will have gained from some or all of the extra increases in basic State pension, tax allowances and Minimum Income Guarantee, together with Winter Fuel Payments and free TV licences.

As a result of tax and benefit measures introduced by this Government, pensioner households will, on average, be over £11 a week, or £580 a year, better off.

3 Apr 2001 : Column: 158W

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what role the Pension Credit will play in encouraging people to save for retirement. [156569]

Mr. Rooker: The Pension Credit will ensure that people of modest means are rewarded for building on basic pension level through SERPS, a private pension or other forms of income and savings.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will amend the National Insurance Act 1946 to prevent companies from exercising their powers to take account of a person's basic state pension. [156326]

Mr. Rooker: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer to my hon. Friend for Leeds, Central (Mr. Benn) on 14 March 2001, Official Report, column 605W.

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress is being made with the introduction of the Pension Credit. [156553]

Mr. Rooker: We are considering more than 400 responses to our consultation paper. We will consider our response in due course.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what efforts are being made to ensure that pensioners entitled to back-dated payments for winter fuel allowance are (a) made aware of their entitlement and (b) given guidance on how to claim. [156341]

Mr. Rooker: An information campaign has been running since last April. Its aim is to ensure that existing and potential customers know about changes to the scheme and what, if anything, they need to do to get a payment. It is up to the individual to choose whether to claim payments for past winters. There is no time limit on claiming payments for previous years of the scheme.

Departmental Policies (Hazel Grove)

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Hazel Grove constituency, the effects on Hazel Grove of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [156183]

Mr. Rooker: The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of:

Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10;

Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and

Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.

These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report "Opportunity for all--One year on: making a difference" (CM4865, September 2000) sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done. Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than data at a local authority level, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in Hazel Grove since May 1997.

3 Apr 2001 : Column: 159W

Measures in our five Budgets so far will lift over 1.2 million children nationally out of poverty. These include record increases to Child Benefit, the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, increases in the income-related benefits, the minimum wage and tax changes.

Child Benefit will be worth £15.50 a week for the eldest child and £10.35 a week for other children from April 2001: nationally about 7 million families receive Child Benefit, and in Hazel Grove 9,744 families benefit.

We now have the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years. The New Deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over-50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since May 1997 the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,562,400 to 960,600; in Hazel Grove the number has reduced from 1,000 to 600. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally and in Hazel Grove from 1,000 to 900.

Older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty. So we have introduced Winter Fuel Payments to help with their heaviest fuel bill. This winter, the payment is £200 for households who qualify. Around 18,000 older people in Hazel Grove have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter.

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 16,500 pensioners in Hazel Grove will benefit from the substantial increases in the basic State pension this April and next; this year's increase is £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for couples. In addition we have introduced free TV licences for the over-75s of whom we estimate there are about 6,500 in Hazel Grove. 1,900 pensioner families in Hazel Grove are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee, which we introduced in April 1999 to help our poorest pensioners. From April they will be at least £15 a week, or £800 a year, better off in real terms as a result of Government measures since 1997.

Other reforms in the pipeline: the new Pension Credit in 2003 designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings; the launch of Stakeholder Pensions in April this year; and the introduction of the State Second Pension in April 2002 both of which will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.

Departmental Policies (Luton, South)

Ms Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effects on the Luton, South constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [156160]

Mr. Rooker: The Department's policies and initiatives have made a significant contribution to the Government's overall objectives of

Eradicating child poverty in 20 years, and halving it within 10;

Promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age while protecting the position of those in greatest need; and,

Combating poverty and promoting security and independence in retirement for today's and tomorrow's pensioners.

3 Apr 2001 : Column: 160W

These goals are being pursued nationwide and our achievements are set out in our annual "Opportunity for all" reports. Our second report, "Opportunity for all--One year on: making a difference" (CM4865, September 2000) sets out what progress has been made in the past year, as well as highlighting what more needs to be done. Nationwide statistical information is necessarily more complete than data at a local authority level, but the following provides a comparative guide to the effect of the Department's policies and actions in Luton, South since May 1997.

Measures in our five Budgets so far will lift over 1.2 million children nationally out of poverty. These include record increases to Child Benefit, the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, increases in the income-related benefits, the minimum wage and tax changes.

Child Benefit will be worth £15.50 a week for the eldest child and £10.35 a week for other children from April 2001: nationally about 7 million families receive Child Benefit, and in Luton, South 12,540 families benefit.

We now have the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years. The New Deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the over 50s and partners of the unemployed to move from benefit into work. In the period since May 1997 the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance nationally has reduced from 1,562,400 to 960,600; in Luton, South the number has reduced from 3,100 to 1,900. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally and in Luton, South from 1,800 to 1,700.

Older people are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty. So we have introduced Winter Fuel Payments to help with their heaviest fuel bill. This winter, the payment is £200 or households who qualify. Around 13,900 older people in Luton, South have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter.

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 13,000 pensioners in Luton, South will benefit from the substantial increases in the basic State pension this April and next; this year's increase is £5 a week for single pensioners and £8 for couples. In addition we have introduced free TV licences for the over 75s of whom we estimate there are about 4,600 in Luton, South. 2,900 pensioner families in Luton, South are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee, which we introduced in April 1999 to help our poorest pensioners. From April they will be at least £15 a week, or £800 a year, better off in real terms as a result of Government measures since 1997.

Other reforms in the pipeline include: the new Pension Credit in 2003 designed to ensure that pensioners benefit from their savings; the launch of Stakeholder Pensions in April this year; and the introduction of the State Second Pension in April 2002 both of which will help provide greater security for tomorrow's pensioners.

---