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Cattle and Sheep (Devon)
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will remove the interim measures on the movement and sale of cattle and sheep in Devon. [43509]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 15 March 2002]: The Interim rules for livestock movements, which my noble Friend, the Lord Whitty announced on 5 February 2002, allow greater flexibility for farmers to move their animals. However, there is a low but very real risk that there are still hidden pockets of live virus on a few premises or circulating at a low level in a handful of sheep flocks. This could be reactivated if animals are under stress, for example during lambing, so precautionary controls need to be kept in place.
A copy of the Veterinary Basis for the Interim measures has been placed in the Libraries of the House and is available on the DEFRA website. The measures are expected to remain in operation until November 2002. However, we expect to be able to relax some aspects of the regime during the course of the year if there is no further outbreak.
Sheep Transportation
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the maximum time period sheep can be held on board a ship during a live transport is. [42128]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 March 2002]: Ships used to transport live sheep must comply with Directive 91/628/EEC, as amended, on the protection of animals during transport. The vessel must be fitted to carry livestock, with access to feed and water and meet required space allowances. If these conditions are met the statutory maximum journey times do not apply. There is therefore no maximum time period that sheep may be held on board a ship during transport, provided they are not caused injury or unnecessary suffering. Time spent by a livestock vehicle on a roll-on roll-off ferry counts towards the statutory maximum journey time.
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Energy Efficiency
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answers of 26 October 2001, Official Report, column 409W, and 3 December 2001, Official Report, column 97W, on energy efficiency, when she will publish the overall percentage improvements in energy efficiency to 31 March 2001 as reported to her Department by energy conservation authorities in England. [39007]
Mr. Meacher: I hope to publish this information before the Whitsun recess.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of households in (a) Birmingham, (b) the west midlands and (c) England which meet the criteria for assistance under the home energy efficiency scheme. [38303]
Mr. Meacher: At the time of the announcement, it was estimated that some 4 million households in England would be eligible for the new home energy efficiency scheme (HEES)—households with children in receipt of an income-related benefit and people receiving a disability benefit. Around 3.7 million households were estimated to be eligible for New HEES Plus—for people aged 60 or over who receive an income-related benefit.
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Data are not available centrally on eligible households in Birmingham and the west midlands.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Theft and Fraud
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non- departmental public bodies in each of the last four years. [27987]
Malcolm Wicks: We are taking determined steps to combat internal fraud. We have published an internal fraud policy that sets out staff responsibilities, and appointed a senior accountable officer and a supporting central probity team. There are also security specialists and staff to investigate suspected internal fraud vigorously when it arises. We know that the overwhelming majority of staff are completely honest and trustworthy, and instances of internal fraud are not common, but we remain vigilant. We employ our 100,000 staff so these cases represent a small fraction of our work force.
The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in the current financial year.
The available information on the former DSS is in the table.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases | Loss £ | Number of cases | Loss £ | Number of cases | Loss £ | Number of cases | Loss £ | |
| Benefits Agency | (28)— | 918,790.47 | 112 | 430,780.04 | 139 | 389,874.73 | 65 | 44,309.65 |
| Departmental Directorates | (28)— | (29)— | (29)— | (29)— | (29)— | (29)— | 11 | — |
| War Pensions Agency | (28)— | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 1,500.00 | 2 | 3,583.67 |
| Child Support Agency | (28)— | 57.27 | 9 | 417.99 | 12 | 8,950.38 | 6 | 9,200.00 |
| Contributions Agency | (28)— | 2,572.00 | 6 | 1,824.00 | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— | (30)— |
| DSS HQ | (28)— | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | 8,317.00 | (31)— | (31)— |
| IT Services Agency | (28)— | 20,959.00 | 15 | 10,942.00 | 8 | 8,325.00 | (32)— | (32)— |
| Total for DSS | 189 | 942,378.74 | 142 | 443,964.03 | 161 | 416,967.11 | 84 | 71,112.34 |
(28) Not available.
(29) Departmental Directorates were formed in 2000.
(30) Contributions Agency transferred to the Inland Revenue with effect from 1 April 1999.
(31) DSS HQ was subsumed into Departmental Directorates in 2000.
(32) ITSA is now ITSG and no frauds were returned for 2000–01.
The available information on the Employment Service, as recorded by the former Department for Education and Employment, is in the table.
| Number of cases | Loss £ | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 12 | 97,242.00 |
| 1998–99 | 36 | 54,107.01 |
| 1999–2000 | 16 | 45,621.83 |
| 2000–01 | 5 | 3,023.20 |
Benefit Systems
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he proposes to introduce before the introduction of pensioner credit in regulations affecting the assessment of entitlement to housing benefit, council tax benefit and income disregards; and if he will give example calculations of the effect of these changes. [28379]
Malcolm Wicks: We are proposing to make a number of changes to housing benefit and council tax benefit as a result of the new pension credit. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) on 7 February 2002, Official Report, column 1124W.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total external spend by his Department was on Private Finance Initiative consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant
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was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [31045]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Department does not record information about the use of PFI consultants in the form requested and an answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Pensioners
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women have neither paid national insurance contributions nor received credits for pension purposes, in each year since 1979. [32614]
Mr. McCartney: The available information is set out in the table:
| Men | Women | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 245 | 6,668 | 6,913 |
| 1980 | 305 | 6,466 | 6,771 |
| 1981 | 351 | 6,363 | 6,715 |
| 1982 | 388 | 6,210 | 6,598 |
| 1983 | 421 | 6,058 | 6,479 |
| 1984 | 468 | 5,849 | 6,317 |
| 1985 | 510 | 5,622 | 6,133 |
| 1986 | 548 | 5,418 | 5,966 |
| 1987 | 626 | 5,264 | 5,889 |
| 1988 | 696 | 5,119 | 5,815 |
| 1989 | 808 | 4,981 | 5,789 |
| 1990 | 926 | 4,911 | 5,837 |
| 1991 | 1,028 | 4,998 | 6,025 |
| 1992 | 1,125 | 4,982 | 6,107 |
| 1993 | 1,213 | 4,947 | 6,160 |
| 1994 | 1,288 | 4,779 | 6,067 |
| 1995 | 1,390 | 4,674 | 6,064 |
| 1996 | 1,652 | 4,679 | 6,331 |
Notes:
1. Figures are taken from a 1 per cent. sample so are subject to rounding error and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures exclude those not registered on NIRS in each year (particularly affecting women in the early years of this analysis and those aged 18–21).
3. In defining credits autocredits, invalid care allowance credits, local office credits, unemployment credits and starting credits have been included.
4. The numbers of women is thought to have decreased over this period due to the increased involvement of women in the labour market. The numbers of men may have increased because of an increase in the number of older men inactive within the labour market.
5. Figures are not available after 1996 because of the change in the NIRs system—national insurance recording system.
Source:
Figures are taken from the Lifetime Labour Market Database (LLMDB), extracted from the national insurance recording system (NIRS).
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated weekly income was of (a) a single pensioner and (b) a pensioner couple who are on 60 per cent. of median income in the last year for which figures are available. [41880]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is in the table.
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| Net disposable weekly household income | ||
|---|---|---|
| Before housing costs | After housing costs | |
| Single pensioner | 104 | 81 |
| Pensioner couple | 171 | 147 |
Notes:
1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data set which is derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS does not include Northern Ireland. 1999–2000 is the latest year for which data is available.
2. The estimates are presented on both a Before Housing Costs (BHC) and an After Housing Costs (AHC) basis in line with HBAI conventions.
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of (a) single pensioners and (b) pensioner couples are expected to have incomes of less than 60 per cent. of median income for each year between 2002 and 2010. [41882]
Maria Eagle: The information is not available.
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of (a) single pensioners and (b) pensioner couples had incomes of less than 60 per cent. of the median income in the last year for which figures are available. [41881]
Maria Eagle: The information requested can be found in the publication "Households Below Average Income 1994/95–1999/2000", a copy of which is held in the Library.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the proportion of (a) men and (b) women who will reach state pension age in 2002 with entitlement to a full basic state pension based on their own contributions and if he will provide corresponding estimates for (i) 1992, (ii) 1982 and (iii) 1972. [32617]
Mr. McCartney: At 31 March 2001, 85.6 per cent. of 65-year-old men in receipt of a state retirement pension were getting a full basic state pension based on their own contribution record. The corresponding figure for 60-year-old women was 22 per cent. We would expect these proportions to remain broadly similar in 2002.
Historic data are not available in the required format to estimate the corresponding proportions for 1992, 1982 and 1972.
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners there are in East Leeds; how many are in receipt of the minimum pension guarantee; and what average amount is paid to pensioners in East Leeds. [40850]
Maria Eagle: As at 30 September 2001 there were 14,700 1 retirement pension recipients in the parliamentary constituency of Leeds, East. At November 2001, there were 3,400 2 minimum income guarantee claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Leeds, East. The average amount of minimum income guarantee paid to these claimants is £50.81.
- Source:
- 1 Pension Strategy Computer System, 30 September 2001
- 2 Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, November 2001
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Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under what circumstances two (a) married and (b) cohabiting pensioners could separately claim the proposed pension credit. [42956]
Malcolm Wicks: Two married pensioners will be able to receive pension credit separately if they are no longer living together as husband and wife. In practice, if one or both are living permanently in a residential care or nursing home they will be able to receive pension credit separately.
Two single pensioners will only be treated as a couple if they are living together as husband and wife. In these circumstances they will be treated in the same way as a married couple.
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