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Winter Fuel Payments

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received concerning the late payment of back-dated winter fuel allowance. [156342]

Mr. Rooker: There have been a number of representations from hon. Members and the public. Statistics on these representations are not available.

Our intention has always been to make payments for past winters as soon as practically possible. The first payments were issued in the week commencing 19 June last year, just two months after the claims process was up and running.

9 Apr 2001 : Column: 485W

Claims for past winters are not subject to any time limits. As it is up to the individual to choose whether and when to claim, we are still receiving and processing new claims.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the cost of the advertising campaign to inform men aged 60-64 of their eligibility for backdated Winter Fuel Payments. [157051]

Mr. Rooker: The information is not available in the format requested. The total cost of the overall communication campaign for Winter Fuel Payments which ran from April 2000 was £1.1 million. The campaign, which featured national and regional press advertising, information leaflets and posters in outlets such as post offices, supermarkets and libraries, included messages for those seeking retrospective Winter Fuel Payments alongside information for people who get their payments automatically and for those who have to claim.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to continue with the advertising campaign informing men aged 60-64 of their eligibility for backdated Winter Fuel Payments. [157052]

Mr. Rooker: The communications strategy for delivery of Winter Fuel Payments for 2001 is currently being developed.

Home Visits (Benefit Claims)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information he collects on the number of home visits made by local authority employees in connection with social security claims. [156532]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 2 April 2001]: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit statistical returns collected by the Department include information about the number of home visits successfully made by local authority benefit fraud officers.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners he expects to be eligible for the Minimum Income Guarantee following the introduction of the new capital limits; and what plans he has to contact them. [156978]

Mr. Rooker: In March, some 102,000 pensioners were written to with information on the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) and invited to make a claim. These consisted of pensioners who were part of the original take-up campaign but were not entitled due to excess income or capital and those pensioners who had been excluded from the original mailings because they held capital over £8,000. Some 140,000 pensioners will newly benefit as a result of this month's increase to the MIG rates and capital limits.

Fraud

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much he expects to pay to organisations who have provided information under the terms of the Social Security Fraud Bill in the first year after the Bill is enacted. [157083]

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Mr. Rooker: The costs to the Department of using the powers to obtain information are detailed in paragraphs 20 to 23 of the Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Fraud Bill. The exact amount paid to the information providers will depend upon detailed negotiations after the Bill has received Royal Assent.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many telephone calls have been made to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline in each month since May 1997. [157075]

Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.

Number of calls received by the National Benefit Fraud Hotline (NBFH)

Month	Number
June 1997	16,272
July 1997	18,808
August 1997	14,755
September 1997	16,236
October 1997	13,202
November 1997	11,770
December 1997	10,829
January 1998	17,206
February 1998	15,780
March 1998	15,345
April 1998	19,007
May 1998	13,149
June 1998	13,692
July 1998	15,512
August 1998	11,104
September 1998	13,694
October 1998	12,805
November 1998	14,285
December 1998	12,160
January 1999	13,925
February 1999	13,798
March 1999	16,901
April 1999	11,996
May 1999	11,303
June 1999	13,415
July 1999	10,491
August 1999	10,336
September 1999	12,971
October 1999	9,291
November 1999	14,683
December 1999	10,906
January 2000	14,272
February 2000	19,285
March 2000	23,118
April 2000	12,815
May 2000	21,674
June 2000	18,212
July 2000	17,440
August 2000	20,289
September 2000	15,851
October 2000	13,980
November 2000	15,243
December 2000	9,073
January 2001	17,340
February 2001	18,191
March 2001	28,093

Community Service Orders

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many benefit claimants have been subjected to sanctions under the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 for failing to comply with community service orders. [157082]

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Angela Eagle: None. These measures will be commenced on 15 October 2001. Initially they will be piloted in four areas from that date.

Pensions Advertising Campaign

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 26 March 2001 to my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait), Official Report, column 481W, on the pensions advertising campaign, what subjects apart from pension education were included in the brief given to the agency responsible for the current advertising campaign. [157084]

Mr. Rooker: The pensions education marketing brief covered all aspects of the future pension policy.

Personal Pensions

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many new personal pension schemes were first made available; and how many personal pension products ceased to be open to new members for each year between 1988 and 2000. [157072]

Mr. Rooker: The information is in the table.

Number of personal pension schemes newly registered in each year between 1988 and 2000

Year	Number of schemes newly registered	Number of frozen or closed schemes
1988	197	n/a
1989	47	n/a
1990	30	n/a
1991	37	n/a
1992	16	n/a
1993	6	n/a
1994	2	n/a
1995	9	n/a
1996	18	n/a
1997	16	33
1998	22	1
1999	14	4
2000	13	0
Total	427	38

Notes:

1. The information in the table is on schemes that are required to pay the Pension Schemes Registry levy.

2. Information on frozen and closed schemes was only required to be reported from 1997. "Frozen schemes" are schemes which admit no new members and do not permit existing members to make new contributions. "Closed schemes" are schemes that admit no new members but allow existing members to continue to contribute.

3. In addition there are 83 schemes that are no longer required to pay the Registry levy. These include schemes that have merged or wound up.

Source:

Pension Schemes Registry.

Stakeholder Pensions

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the Government's estimate is of the fines likely to be imposed on employers who fail to offer access to a stakeholder pension; and what leeway will be offered to employers in the first year of the scheme. [157071]

Mr. Rooker: The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) will have the power to impose fines, under the Pensions Act 1995, on an organisation for failure to provide employer access to a stakeholder

9 Apr 2001 : Column: 488W

pension. The level of any fine will depend upon the circumstances surrounding a breach, including how the employer has responded on being contacted about the breach.

Departmental Advertising

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what basis he calculated the figures for the costs of his Department's advertising campaigns in (a) his answer of 7 March 2001, Official Report, column 233W, (b) his answer of 19 March 2001, Official Report, column 75W and (c) the most recent departmental annual report. [157106]

Mr. Rooker: The figures given in my answer on 19 March 2001, Official Report, column 75W, were for all estimated advertising related expenditure for current campaigns. These cover advertising and other marketing activity eg. leaflets, research, direct mail, etc.

Figures given in my answer on 7 March 2001, Official Report, column 233W, were estimated for spend solely on advertising to be consistent with figures given for previous years as requested in the question.

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