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Foot and Mouth

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will review Social Fund adequacy and availability for those affected by foot and mouth disease. [157594]

Angela Eagle: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, Central (Ms Winterton) on 30 March 2001, Official Report, column 795W.

Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy (a) to review eligibility for Working Families Tax Credit and other benefits to take account of short-term drops in income as a result of the foot and mouth outbreak and (b) to make representation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to disregard as income on savings any compensation payments paid by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food whose purpose is to finance restocking of farms. [157837]

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.

10 Apr 2001 : Column: 620W

A new leaflet, WK11, "Foot and Mouth--Financial help you may get if your employment has been disrupted" has been produced to explain the financial help available to people, via the benefit and tax credit systems, whose employment or business is disrupted because of the foot and mouth outbreak. The leaflet is now available on the DSS website and stocks are being issued to local Benefits Agency offices, local authorities and other agencies in affected areas.

Compensation for the loss of a farmer's stock is treated as a business asset and will be disregarded when estimating income from personal capital.

Porton Down

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many former service personnel and members of their families have made appeals to the pensions appeal tribunals since 1 January 1999 regarding claims for disablement arising out of experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment at Porton Down; and how many such appeals have been (a) approved and (b) rejected. [157303]

Mr. Bayley: The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners of War

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for compensation by former POWs held in Japan have yet to be processed. [157518]

Mr. Bayley [holding answer 9 April 2001]: As at 6 April 2001, 18,302 payments have been issued and 5,629 applications are awaiting determination.

Departmental Policies (Ribble Valley)

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Ribble Valley constituency, the effects on Ribble Valley of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [157844]

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 Ribble Valley since May 1997.

10 Apr 2001 : Column: 621W

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 Ribble Valley 11,475 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 Ribble Valley the number has reduced from 1,200 to under 500. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally; in Ribble Valley the number has increased from 500 to 600.

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 19,500 older people in Ribble Valley have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter (2000-01).

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 18,800 pensioners in Ribble Valley 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 7,500 in Ribble Valley. 2,100 pensioner families in Ribble Valley 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.

Departmental Policies (Tiverton and Honiton)

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Tiverton and Honiton constituency, the effects on Tiverton and Honiton of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [157810]

10 Apr 2001 : Column: 622W

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 Tiverton and Honiton 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 Tiverton and Honiton 11,845 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 Tiverton and Honiton the number has reduced from 1,500 to 700. Since May 1997 the number of lone parents who claim Income Support has decreased from 1,013,500 to 894,100 nationally and in Tiverton and Honiton from 1,100 to 800.

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 24,200 older people in Tiverton and Honiton have received a Winter Fuel Payment for this winter (2000-01).

To demonstrate our commitment to combating pensioner poverty, this year we will spend £4.5 billion extra in real terms on pensioners. Some 22,500 pensioners in Tiverton and Honiton 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 9,900 in Tiverton and Honiton. 2,600 pensioner families in Tiverton and Honiton 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.

10 Apr 2001 : Column: 623W

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.

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