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7 Nov 2002 : Column 665W—continued

Winter Fuel Payments

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost would be of extending winter fuel payments to those families who receive disability living allowance. [78645]

Maria Eagle: We estimate that the cost of extending Winter Fuel Payments to people under 60 who are receiving any rate of Disability Living Allowance would be around #270 million a year.

Notes:

Based on the 2000–2001 Family Resources Survey and data taken from DWP administrative records for November 2001 and May 2002.

Assumes that the payment is made to claimants in receipt of any rate of DLA who are aged under 60.

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the departmental computer error affecting the entitlement to the winter fuel payment of residents in separate tenement flats at the same street number has been rectified. [80083]

Mr. McCartney: It is not a question of a computer error but one of how we determine the number of eligible occupants of tenement flats in Scotland. This year, to ensure that the correct Winter Fuel Payments are made to people living in tenements in Scotland, staff have clerically intervened in the process.

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects pensioners to receive the winter fuel allowance this winter. [80089]

Mr. McCartney: The first payments were issued on 4 November, and payments will continue to be sent out over the next few weeks. The vast majority of eligible people, including those who receive payments automatically, will receive their payment before Christmas.

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much money has been paid as winter fuel allowance to UK citizens living abroad since the allowance was introduced. [79156]

Mr. McCartney: To date, we have paid Winter Fuel Payments totalling #154,200 to 2,040 eligible people who are now living in an European Economic Area country other than the UK.

Pensions (Employer Contributions)

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees with personal pension plans receive an employer contribution into their pension of (a) 0 (b) less than 3 per cent. (c) 3 to 3.9 per cent., (d) 4 to 4.9 per cent., (e) 5 to 5.9 per cent., (f) 6 to 6.9 per cent., (g) 7 to 9.9 per cent. and (h) 10 per cent. or higher (i) in total and (ii) broken down by (A) industry group (B) whether in the public or private sector and (C) employer size. [79959]

7 Nov 2002 : Column 666W

Mr. McCartney: The data are not available in the form requested. However, the Employers Pension Provision Survey 2000, the fourth in a series commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, examined different types of pension arrangements in the private sector. The survey includes information on the proportion of employers who contribute to employees' personal pensions, who provide access to group personal pensions and the contribution rates that such employers make.

A copy of the report, entitled ''Employers Pension Provision Survey 2000'' by Alison Smith and Stephen McKay, Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No. 163 is available in the Library.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many employees in defined benefit occupational pension schemes receive an employer contribution into their pension of (a) 0, (b) less than 3 per cent., (c) 3 to 3.9 per cent., (d) 4 to 4.9 per cent., (e) 5 to 5.9 per cent., (f) 6 to 6.9 per cent., (g) 7 to 9.9 per cent., and (h) 10 per cent. or higher (i) in total and (ii) broken down by (A) industry group, (B) whether in the public or private sector and (C) employer size; [79957]

(2) how many employees in defined contribution occupational pension schemes receive an employer contribution into their pension of (a) 0, (b) less than 3 per cent., (c) 3 to 3.9 per cent., (d) 4 to 4.9 per cent., (e) 5 to 5.9 per cent., (f) 6 to 6.9 per cent. (g) 7 to 9.9 per cent. and (h) 10 per cent. or higher (i) in total and (ii) broken down by (A) industry group. (B) whether in the public or private sector and (C) employer size. [79958]

Mr. McCartney: Information on contributions to defined contribution occupational pension schemes and deferred benefit occupational pension scheme was collected as part of the Government Actuary Department's Occupational Pension Scheme Survey 2000, preliminary results from which were published recently.

A full breakdown of results in the form requested not available at this time. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible with a full breakdown of the results and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Recruitment (Over-50s)

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new recruits to his Department in the past two years were aged 50 and over. [79300]

Mr. McCartney: The complete information requested is not readily available. Such information as is available is in the table.

Percentage of new recruits aged 50 or over

Period	Total new entrants	New entrants over 50	Percentage
01–04–00—30–09–00	5496	422	7.7	Ex ES
01–10–00—31–03–01	2857	404	14.1	Ex DSS
	5223	469	8.8	Ex ES
Total for Period	8080	873	10.8
01–04–01—31–03–02	13124	1594	12.1	Ex DSS
	8758	732	8.4	Ex ES
Total for period	21882	2326	10.6
01–04–02—31–10–02	8439	1037	12.3	Ex DSS
	2691	214	8	Ex ES
Total for Period	11130	1251	11.2

7 Nov 2002 : Column 668W

Telephone Helplines

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list the telephone helplines run by his Department and its agencies including (a) the relevant telephone numbers and (b) how many calls each helpline has received in each of the last 12 months. [74729]

Mr. McCartney: The following tables list: the numbers of calls received for each of the last 12 months by each helpline run by the Department for Work and Pensions for which figures are collected centrally; and the published telephone numbers for each of these centres.

Helpline	DWP Public enquiry Office	BA & ES Chief Executive Helpline(22)	Chief Executive's helpline Jobcentre Plus(23)	Chief Executive's Helpline The Pension Service(23)	Employer Direct(24)	Jobseeker Direct	National Benefit Fraud Hotline
Telephone Number(s)	020 7712 2171	Discontinued	020 7273 6060	0113 232 4143	0845 601 2001	0845 6060 234	0800 854 440
Sep-01	7,402					334,405	20,644
Oct-01	10,044	395				351,863	18,852
Nov-01	7,658	407				417,758	15,771
Dec-01	5,162	342				178,736	8,299
Jan-02	8,776	400			193,854	617,598	16,147
Feb-02	8,582	354			159,230	505,711	12,809
Mar-02	9,381	294			140,285	429,282	15,013
Apr-02	15,649		250	194	163,170	475,210	14,139
May-02	13,185		230	112	172,674	507,160	15,747
Jun-02	13,099		297	120	151,079	500,873	11,390
Jul-02	20,939		245	131	144,405	508,151	14,569
Aug-02	23,868		245	119	188,132	578,813	10,735
Total	143,745	2,192	1,267	676	1,312,829	5,405,560	174,115

Helpline	Child Benefit Enquiry Line(25)	CSA National enquiry Line	CSA Midlands Customer Help Line	CSA South Eastern CHL	CSA Eastern CHL	CSA South Western CHL	CSA Wales North West CHL	CSA Scotland and North East CHL
Telephone Number(s)	08701 555540/08701 555501	0845 713 3133	08457 131 000	08457 134 000	08457 132 000	08457 137 000	08457 138 000	08457 136 000
Sep-01	225,073	45,728	39,466	30,994	46,859	34,520	39,403	43,836
Oct-01	262,668	44,722	38,213	30,386	43,396	34,795	36,616	41,285
Nov-01	214,731	56,039	45,429	37,422	40,393	46,645	45,475	53,099
Dec-01	158,633	28,776	30,490	22,595	57,806	27,294	31,949	35,364
Jan-02	259,415	36,513	38,782	29,663	35,126	34,764	41,389	42,664
Feb-02	233,487	59,661	38,907	30,560	46,914	38,260	39,496	45,571
Mar-02	216,689	43,729	45,056	34,464	48,647	47,403	50,958	57,514
Apr-02	222,148	52,531	37,091	28,818	53,130	35,983	35,395	42,901
May-02	221,342	63,376	45,327	36,301	41,876	46,646	44,783	53,505
Jun-02	213,215	45,700	35,875	27,234	50,475	35,711	29,128	41,489
Jul-02	260,523	48,453	37,476	28,275	38,167	34,991	34,769	44,066
Aug-02	227,970	58,028	43760	35,677	47,949	41,230	41,389	53,911
Total		583,256	475,872	372,389	550,738	458,242	470,750	555,205

Helpline	International Pension Centre	Pension Direct	Retirement Pension Teleclaims	Retirement Pension Forecasting Team(26)	Minimum income Guarantee Claimline	Benefit Enquiry Line	DLA AA
Telephone Number(s)	0191 218 7777	0845 301 3011	0845 300 1084	0845 300 0168/0191 22 87585	0800 0281111	0800 882200	08457 123456
Sep-01	16,894	78,755	38648	27,323	7,387	96,150	358,946
Oct-01	14,061	88,502	42823	32,946	10,060	99,869	424,764
Nov-01	14,375	106,923	29077	29,366	16,606	123,403	406,454
Dec-01	11,632	73,849	28156	15,448	8,595	63,484	292,704
Jan-02	16,297	110,517	51271	39,686	15,702	137,473	413,295
Feb-02	14,738	118,186	42403	37,113	16,703	112,503	386,341
Mar-02	12,993	115,360	41986	37,887	17,110	113,234	340,135
Apr-02	13,240	107,855	43930	43,234	26,969	117,225	395,570
May-02	17,875	103,395	39991	40,838	22,494	136,573	428,375
Jun-02	13,886	76,998	33217	34,858	19,472	98,095	312,259
Jul-02	16,550	97,403	38538	47,861	20,042	110,567	416,802
Aug-02	13,879	88,175	34325	39,506	15,515	129,478	347,579
Total	176,420	1,165,918	464,365	426,066	196,655	1,338,054	4,523,224

Notes:

⁽²²⁾ Closed in March upon the foundation of Jobcentre Plus and The Pension Service.

⁽²³⁾ Opened in April following the formation of Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service.

⁽²⁴⁾ Employer Direct—The 11 centres were established incrementally mainly during 2001. Meaningful national figures are only available from January 2002.

⁽²⁵⁾ The first of the two telephone numbers shown is in widest use.

⁽²⁶⁾ The first of the two telephone numbers shown was introduced recently but the second number is still used widely.

7 Nov 2002 : Column 669W

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