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Benefits (Epsom and Ewell)
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Epsom and Ewell constituency receive (a) disability living allowance and (b) carers allowance. [23428]
Maria Eagle: There were 1,795 recipients of disability living allowance in Epsom and Ewell at 31 May 2001.
No information is available on invalid care allowance by parliamentary constituency. At 30 September 2001 there were 379,780 recipients in Great Britain.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applicants for carers benefit in the Epsom and Ewell constituency have had their claims refused in each of the past five years. [23427]
Maria Eagle: This information is not readily available for individual constituencies.
Pension Credit
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library (a) a summary and (b) a complete set of responses to the Pension Credit consultation paper. [24242]
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Mr. McCartney: The responses were placed in the Library on 28 November.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the pension credit, the method of application and who is eligible to receive it. [19364]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 3 December 2001]: I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend's oral statement on 28 November.
A Bill to implement the Government's proposals for Pension Credit was introduced in the House of Lords on 28 November 2001. Copies of the Bill and the explanatory notes have been placed in the Library, together with a booklet, "The Pension Credit: the Government's proposals setting out how Pension Credit will work". Copies are also available in the Vote Office.
Advertising Campaign
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 27 November 2001, Official Report, column 828W, which section of the table shows the costs of the 'What Have You Got to Offer?' advertising campaign. [24230]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The information is in the table.
| Advertising and Media | Other costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Targeting benefit fraud | 5,747,000 | 402,252 |
| National Benefit Fraud Hotline advertising | 425,178 | |
| Minimum Income Guarantee | 3,365,000 | 176,000(16) |
| Inherited SERPS | 340,000 | 345,000 |
| Winter Fuel Payments | 616,000 | 294,000 |
| Pensions Education(18) | 5,232,000(17) | 1,297,000 |
| Bereavement Benefits | 155,000 | 90,000 |
| New Deal for Young People | 558,201 | 951,728 |
| New Deal 50+ | 2,175,367 | 63,793 |
| New Deal Partners | 99,445 | 67,310 |
| Action Teams for Jobs | 58,504 | 440 |
| New Deal for Lone Parents | 2,292,000 | 295,000 |
| "What have you got to offer" | 2,946,997 | 152,625 |
| New Deal for Disabled People | 31,372 | 240,387 |
(16) This includes £30,985 customer research into a new MIG claim form which straddled two financial years.
(17) The overall Pensions Education marketing budget figure remains unchanged at £6,529,062 (which was rounded to £6,530,000). Within this total, the advertising media and production cost given previously has changed from £5,212,000 to £5,232,000. This takes account of some photography costs that were previously included as part of "other costs", but can be directly attributed to advertising.
(18) In addition to the total of £6,529,062 (which was rounded to £6,530,000) £103,370 was spent on completing our previous pensions education activity (with a Monopoly theme) that preceded the new "Working Dogs" campaign, as well as some developmental work that was undertaken before the new Working Dogs Campaign was launched.
Older People
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what preparatory work his Department is undertaking in conjunction with other departments for the UN World Assembly for Older People in Madrid next March. [23121]
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Mr. McCartney: Our preparation for the United Nations' World Assembly on Ageing is on schedule and is being taken forward in close co-operation with other government departments and older people's organisations.
Much of the work to date has focused on developing the main objective of the Assembly—the International Strategy on Ageing. Consultation with colleagues across Government and the voluntary sector has helped to shape the UK's contribution to the Strategy.
The current draft can be found on www.un.org/esa/ socdev/ageing/waa.
The World Assembly will be an important event and we will be working closely with our colleagues across government, older people's organisations and older people themselves to finalise our plans.
Pensioners (Benefits)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimates he has made of non-take-up of means-tested benefits by pensioners by (a) expenditure and (b) caseload in (i) the English regions, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland. [24034]
Mr. McCartney: Estimates for non-take-up of income- related benefits (council tax benefit, housing benefit, income support, jobseeker's allowance) by pensioners are available for Great Britain and can be found in the DWP publication "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up 1999–2000". Copies are available in the House of Commons Library. No estimates are available for different parts of Great Britain.
Unemployment (West Wiltshire)
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people in Wiltshire have gained employment under the new deal; and what percentage this represents of all unemployed young people. [18406]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: Up to the end of September 2001, the new deal had helped 1,888 young people move into work in the Wiltshire Employment Service district. There are currently 919 unemployed young people in the district.
Setting the stock of unemployed young people at a point in time against the flow of young people into jobs through the new deal is not a meaningful comparison. However, in Wiltshire long-term youth unemployment has fallen by 70 per cent. since the new deal started. Although some of this reduction is a result of this Government's success in delivering steady economic growth, the new deal for young people has also played an important role.
Landlords (Compensation Payments)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what were the figures for compensation payments to landlords that were not specified on page 103 of the 2001 Departmental report. [18905]
Malcolm Wicks: The compensation scheme ended in April 2000 when the transitional housing benefit scheme was implemented.
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The information requested is in the table.
| Year | Outturn |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 6,000 |
| 1998–99 | 363,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 140,000 |
| 2000–01 (estimated) | 27,000 |
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000
IS and IT Services (Savings)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the saving from the contract for IS and IT services to deliver new wide area network services. [18983]
Mr. McCartney: The contract price of the new WAN service is broadly comparable to that of the old one.
However, the Department will receive a significantly improved service in the areas of service flexibility, performance, management information and security, and so position the Department to further modernise its IT in the future.
Council Tax Benefit
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to review the council tax benefits restriction scheme; and if he will make a statement. [19041]
Malcolm Wicks: We have no plans to review the present council tax benefit restrictions.
Since 2 July 2001, local authorities have been able to make discretionary housing payments to those people entitled to housing benefit and council tax benefit who require additional financial assistance with their rent or council tax. This includes those whose council tax benefit has been restricted. These payments are at the discretion of the local authority and subject to an annual cash limit.
Departmental Expenditure Limits
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the increase in the departmental expenditure limit from 2001–02 to 2002–03 will be accounted for by wage costs. [20670]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The level of wage costs within departmental budgets this year and in future years will be dependent upon negotiations. Departmental reports published next spring will give full retrospective costs.
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