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Carers Allowance
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether persons over 65 who are to receive carers allowance will receive it in addition to their pensions. [62390]
Maria Eagle: Retirement pension (RP) and invalid care allowance (ICA) are income maintenance benefits. The former provides income replacement for those who have
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reached pensionable age, while the latter provides a measure of financial support for those who have given up the opportunity of full-time paid employment in order to care for a severely disabled person. It is a basic principle of the social security system that only one such benefit can be paid at any time because to pay both of them in full at the same time would amount to duplicate provision for the same need.
The Regulatory Reform (Carer's Allowance) Order 2002, made on 29 May 2002, will enable older carers with little or no retirement pension to receive invalid care allowance, while those with low incomes will benefit by gaining access to the carer premium worth £24.80 a week, paid with income-related benefits such as the minimum income guarantee. This follows the substantial increases to the carer premium and to the earnings limit for entitlement to invalid care allowance made in April 2001.
There are no plans to change these arrangements.
Disability Living Allowance
Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applicants for DLA were (a) granted on first application, (b) rejected on first application and did not appeal, (c) granted on appeal and (d) rejected on appeal in each of the last five years. [63502]
Maria Eagle: Information is not available in the form requested. The available information is in the following tables.
| Year | Successful applications | Unsuccessful applications(46) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 211,200 | 255,700 |
| 1998–99 | 175,600 | 208,200 |
| 1999–2000 | 181,000 | 190,400 |
| 2000–01 | 211,300 | 206,100 |
| 2001–02(47) | 171,200 | 158,000 |
(46) Figures represent total number of unsuccessful applications; information is not available on how many did not appeal.
(47) Figures are for nine months to 1 December 2001
Source:
Analytical Services Division Information Centre; 5 per cent. data rounded to nearest 100.
| Year(49) | Awards made on review(50) | Awards made on appeal |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 37,700 | 13,100 |
| 1998–99 | 27,000 | 15,400 |
| 1999–2000 | 24,800 | 15,500 |
| 2000–01 | 16,600 | (51)25,900 |
| 2001–02 | 10,400 | 24,200 |
(48) A claim for DLA which is unsuccessful in one year may not be reviewed or go to appeal until the next year, so the tables are not directly comparable.
(49) Figures relate to 12 month periods to the end of February
(50) Figures include reconsiderations under the new system of decision making and appeals introduced from October 1999
(51) The numbers of appeals increased substantially after the introduction of the new system of decision making and appeals
Source:
Analytical Services Division Information Centre; 5 per cent. data rounded to nearest 100.
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Discrete figures are not available for unsuccessful appeals involving first applications for DLA.
West Pilton Post Office
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) when officials at the Benefits Agency were first informed of suspected fraud at West Pilton post office in Edinburgh; [63481]
- (2) when officials at the Benefits Agency expect to conclude their investigations into suspected fraud at West Pilton post office in Edinburgh; [63484]
(3) what allegations led officials at the Benefits Agency to investigate fraud at West Pilton post office in Edinburgh. [63479]
Malcolm Wicks: In line with part 2 paragraph 4 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information we do not discuss information about on-going investigations.
Lone Parents
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how work is defined in relation to the target of getting 70 per cent. of lone parents into work. [64123]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: The lone parent employment rate is calculated using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) definition of employment. This definition includes anyone aged 16 or over who does at least one hour's paid work in the week prior to their LFS interview, or who has a job that they are temporarily away from (for example because they are on holiday). Also included are people who do unpaid work in a family business and people on Government-supported employment training schemes, in line with ILO definitions.
Criminal Offences
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner), of 20 May 2002, Official Report, column 46W, on criminal offences, which offences have been (a) created, (b) abolished and (c) redrafted. [64209]
Malcolm Wicks: Sections 13 and 14 of the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997 created six new offences (four triable in the Crown court or magistrates court and two offences triable in the magistrates court) by adding new sections 112(1A) and 111A(c) and (d) to the Social Security Administration Act 1992. Section 13 of the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 creates three new offences relating to information required to be furnished to a child support officer.
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The offences in sections 112A and 111A(c) and (d) were redrafted and substituted for the previous ones by the Social Security (Fraud) Act 2001 because of difficulty in drafting linked regulations sufficiently precisely to be workable. Section 19 of the Social Security (Fraud) Act repeals the previous provisions.
New offences created by the Jobseekers Act 1995 were brought within the scope of the offences in the 1992 Act and the original provisions were consequentially repealed by schedule 1 para 4 and schedule 2 to the 1997 SSA (Fraud) Act.
Benefits (Scotland)
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 13 June 2002, Official Report, column 1422W on benefits, how many people in Scotland are in receipt of (a) income support, broken down by parliamentary constituency and (b) council tax benefit and housing benefit, broken down by local authority area. [63972]
Malcolm Wicks: The available information has been placed in the Library.
National Insurance (Reduced Rate)
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the contributory benefits to which married women paying the reduced rate of national insurance contributions would have been entitled to in each year since 1972. [65295]
Mr. McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Paymaster General on 10 June 2002, Official Report, columns 838–39W.
Widows and Widowers' Benefits
Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that widows and widowers are informed of their entitlement to widows and widowers' benefits. [63414]
Malcolm Wicks: We recognise that at the time of a spouse's death it is important for a bereaved person to know about the full range of benefits that he or she may be entitled to.
Information about benefits that may be claimed is made available in a variety of ways. In the case of bereavement benefits, since March 2001 the Department has issued leaflets to doctors' surgeries, post offices and support organisations. Articles explaining the new benefits were placed in a variety of magazines prior to their introduction in April 2001. As with other benefits, information and a claim form can also be accessed through a number of Government internet sites.
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TRANSPORT
Ministerial Salaries
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the annual cost was of ministerial salaries in his Department in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2001–02. [60939]
Mr. Jamieson: The level of ministerial salaries are recommended by the Senior Salaries Review Body. From May 1997, in the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions there were two Cabinet Ministers, at an annual salary of £43,991; three Ministers of State, at an annual salary of £31,125; and four Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, at an annual salary of £23,623. From June 2001, in the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions there was one Cabinet Minister, at an annual salary of £68,157; three Ministers of State, at an annual salary of £35,356 and three Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, at an annual salary of £26,835.
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