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Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) by what means he will ensure that smaller companies provide stakeholder pensions to their employees; [10436]
Mr. McCartney: Employers are required to provide employees with access to a stakeholder pension scheme. Employers are not themselves required to set up a pension scheme or to contribute to it.
Regulation of compliance with the requirement for employers to designate a stakeholder pension scheme for their employees will be undertaken by the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra).
The number of employees in companies that have designated stakeholder pensions schemes for their staff is not available. However, figures from the Association of British Insurers show that the end of September this year, 212,242 employers of all sizes had designated stakeholder pension schemes for their workforces.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he is taking to improve access to free or low-cost advice to those intending to take out stakeholder pensions. [13901]
Mr. McCartney: Stakeholder pensions are designed to be simple. Many pension providers currently offer basic advice within the 1 per cent. annual management charge cap for stakeholder pensions. Additionally, the Financial Services Authority has produced decision trees to assist consumers.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he has taken to ensure that local authorities have implemented their action plans drawn up in response to reports by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate. [11816]
Malcolm Wicks: Shortly after the publication of a Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) report, the local authority concerned is invited to respond to the BFI's findings, giving its proposals for improvement. Where the response indicates that the actions the authority has already taken or plans to take to improve its performance are satisfactory, the Department monitors the performance of the authority through the management information they provide and their performance against Best Value performance indicators.
Where there are continuing concerns, authorities are asked to submit progress reports to ensure that their planned improvements are being implemented and achieved. If it is thought necessary to gain additional assurance that improvements have been implemented, the BFI may be asked to undertake a further inspection.
13 Nov 2001 : Column: 701W
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) appeals and (b) successful appeals there were in respect of each centre processing
13 Nov 2001 : Column: 702W
(i) disability benefit claims and (ii) incapacity benefit claims (A) in 200001 and (B) since April. [11907]
Maria Eagle: The information is in the table.
1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 | 1 April 2001 to 30 September 2001 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Appeals service regional centre/disability benefit | Appeals cleared at hearing | Appeals found in favour of the appellant | Appeals cleared at hearing | Appeals found in favour of the appellant |
Birmingham | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 1,056 | 399 | 413 | 165 |
Disability Living Allowance | 7,191 | 3,126 | 3,475 | 1,576 |
Incapacity Benefit | 2,771 | 983 | 1,333 | 533 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 1,273 | 526 | 541 | 262 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 172 | 62 | 75 | 33 |
Cardiff | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 1,266 | 516 | 725 | 311 |
Disability Living Allowance | 11,696 | 5,685 | 6,422 | 3,426 |
Incapacity Benefit | 4,761 | 1,777 | 2,667 | 1,111 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 2,546 | 956 | 1,416 | 569 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 295 | 118 | 163 | 78 |
Glasgow | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 2,215 | 1,026 | 1,210 | 632 |
Disability Living Allowance | 13,691 | 7,115 | 7,254 | 4,180 |
Incapacity Benefit | 5,136 | 2,169 | 2,549 | 1,098 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 3,241 | 1,261 | 1,767 | 795 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 238 | 83 | 123 | 50 |
Leeds | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 1,035 | 407 | 468 | 194 |
Disability Living Allowance | 7,668 | 3,681 | 3,508 | 1,775 |
Incapacity Benefit | 4,846 | 1,913 | 1,886 | 743 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 2,857 | 659 | 1,526 | 315 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 185 | 41 | 59 | 10 |
Liverpool | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 869 | 345 | 304 | 129 |
Disability Living Allowance | 9,755 | 4,697 | 3,940 | 1,935 |
Incapacity Benefit | 4,785 | 2,115 | 1,980 | 961 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 1,597 | 606 | 749 | 309 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 135 | 63 | 89 | 34 |
Newcastle | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 790 | 347 | 315 | 148 |
Disability Living Allowance | 7,162 | 3,337 | 3,540 | 1,727 |
Incapacity Benefit | 2,801 | 1,002 | 1,404 | 545 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 2,583 | 1,311 | 1,485 | 730 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 100 | 47 | 71 | 30 |
Nottingham | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 1,462 | 668 | 680 | 289 |
Disability Living Allowance | 10,356 | 4,957 | 5,614 | 2,800 |
Incapacity Benefit | 5,000 | 1,761 | 2,016 | 694 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 2,733 | 1,277 | 1,554 | 726 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 392 | 135 | 192 | 77 |
Salford | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 455 | 183 | 208 | 84 |
Disability Living Allowance | 5,220 | 2,498 | 2,699 | 1,279 |
Incapacity Benefit | 2,866 | 1,036 | 1,325 | 460 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 824 | 380 | 342 | 140 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 69 | 33 | 53 | 27 |
Sutton | ||||
Attendance Allowance | 999 | 625 | 642 | 400 |
Disability Living Allowance | 6,095 | 3,990 | 3,613 | 2,439 |
Incapacity Benefit | 4,626 | 2,432 | 2,154 | 1,145 |
Industrial Injuries and Disability Benefit | 944 | 498 | 330 | 177 |
Severe Disablement Allowance | 255 | 124 | 96 | 38 |
Source:
Generic Appeals Processing System
13 Nov 2001 : Column: 703W
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what were the total running costs in respect of each centre of (a) processing disability benefit appeals and (b) processing incapacity benefit appeals in (i) 200001 and (b) 2001. [11908]
Maria Eagle: The information is in the tables:
£ | ||
---|---|---|
1 April 2000 to 31 March 2001 | ||
Appeals service regional centre | Disability benefits(14) | Incapacity benefit |
Birmingham | 1,298,036 | 582,388 |
Cardiff | 2,095,244 | 1,332,337 |
Glasgow | 2,517,265 | 1,183,681 |
Leeds | 1,111,209 | 1,026,671 |
Liverpool | 1,449,165 | 1,359,845 |
Newcastle | 1,352,022 | 708,351 |
Nottingham | 1,926,581 | 985,176 |
Salford | 1,037,612 | 665,707 |
Sutton | 1,484,387 | 1,298,467 |
1 April 2001 to 30 September 2001 | ||
---|---|---|
Appeals service regional centre | Disability benefits(14) | Incapacity benefit |
Birmingham | 669,145 | 300,225 |
Cardiff | 1,272,719 | 809,305 |
Glasgow | 1,396,331 | 656,590 |
Leeds | 599,987 | 554,341 |
Liverpool | 662,309 | 621,487 |
Newcastle | 791,802 | 414,840 |
Nottingham | 1,191,271 | 609,168 |
Salford | 533,631 | 342,365 |
Sutton | 830,748 | 726,697 |
(14) Only Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance
Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Morley and Rothwell are receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee; and how many pensioners he estimates are entitled to it. [13450]
Mr. McCartney: Estimates of the numbers of people who may be eligible for, but who have not claimed Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) are not available below national level.
As at May 2001, there were an estimated 2,600 MIG recipients in the Morley and Rothwell constituency.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the cost of the launch of the new agency to bring together the work of the Employment Service and parts of the Benefits Agency. [14095]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 28 June 2001, Official Report, column 160W.
13 Nov 2001 : Column: 704W
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