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7 Jan 2003 : Column 171W—continued
Pension Credit
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of pensioner benefit units have been in receipt of income-related benefits in each of
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the last five years, including the effects of the (a) guarantee and (b) savings elements of the pension credit; and what his estimate is for the proportion in the next five years. [88222]
Mr. McCartney: I refer to the hon. member to the answer given on 6 November 2002, Official Report, column 292W.
Pensions
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the net present value is of the Government's liability for pensions to be paid to its employees in (a) the public sector as a whole and (b) in the Ministry of Defence; in each case how much of this has been funded; and whether provision has been made for it in the Government's accounts. [87759]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The Government Actuary's Department estimate that the unfunded public service pension scheme liabilities are approximately #380 billion as at 31 March 2002. It is not possible to separate out the liabilities relating to civil servants working for the Ministry of Defence, but the liabilities of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme covering armed forces personnel is #53.5 billion. The liabilities of the major public service schemes are reported in Resource Accounts, and from 2003–04, the liabilities of the smaller schemes will be incorporated into the balance sheets of employers who are mainly non-departmental public bodies.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what up-rating assumptions for the pension credit were used when calculating the spending on pensions as a proportion of gross domestic product outlined in the Pre-Budget document, XLong-term Public Finance Report: An Analysis of Fiscal Sustainability". [88210]
Mr. McCartney: Estimates of pension credit spending, included as part of total state pension spending in HM Treasury's publication, XLong-term Public Finance Report: An Analysis of Fiscal Sustainability", assumed that the savings credit threshold would be up-rated in line with increases to the basic state pension, and the guarantee credit would be up-rated by average earnings. The long-term assumption was that average real earnings would grow in line with productivity of two per cent. a year. This is one of several possible up-rating scenarios.
Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 212W, which companies were registered as stakeholder pension providers on 6 April 2001; and whether any of these have stopped offering stakeholder pensions direct to individuals since then. [88221]
Mr. McCartney: Information available is in the table.
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| Companies registered as stakeholder pension providers on 6 April 2001(23) | Address | Companies since 6 April 2001 notified that they have stopped offering stakeholder pensions direct to individuals(24) |
|---|---|---|
| Abbey National Life Plc | Abbey National House, 287 Vincent Street, Glasgow | |
| Allied Dunbar Assurance Plc | UK Life Centre, Station Road, Swindon | |
| AXA Sun Life Plc | AXA Centre, PO Box 1810, Bristol | |
| St Andrew's Life Assurance Plc | PO Box 10,Walton Street, Aylesbury | De-registered(25) as a stakeholder pension scheme August 2002 following parent company's (Bank of Scotland) merger with the Halifax |
| B&CE Insurance Ltd | Manor Royal, Crawley | |
| Brittanic Assurance Pic | 1 Wythall Green Way, Wythall, Birmingham | |
| Canada Life Ltd | Canada Life Place, Potters Bar | De-registered as a stakeholder pension scheme December 2002 |
| Chamber Pensions Ltd | Manning House, 22 Carlisle Place, London | Stopped(26) July 2001 |
| Co-operative Insurance Society | Miller Street, Manchester | |
| Clerical Medical Investment Group | Narrow Plain, Bristol | |
| Deutsche Asset Management Life and Pensions Ltd | One Appold Street, London | |
| Eagle Star Life Assurance Company Ltd | UK Life Tower, Montpellier Drive, Cheltenham, Gloucester | |
| Friends Provident Life and Pensions Ltd | Pixham End, Dorking, Surrey | Stopped January 2002 |
| Halifax Life Ltd | Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire | |
| HSBC Life (UK) Ltd | Norwich House, Nelson Gate, Commercial Road, Southampton | |
| INVESCO Pensions Ltd | INVESCO Park, INVESCO Park Drive, Henley on Thames | |
| Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd | Temple Court, 11 Queen Victoria Street, London | |
| Marks and Spencer Life Assurance Ltd | Kings Meadow, Chester | |
| Merrill Lynch Pensions Ltd | 33 King William Street, London | |
| Nationwide Unit Trust Managers Ltd | Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon | |
| National Westminster Life Assurance Ltd | PO Box 886, Trinity Quay, Avon Street, Bristol | |
| National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Ltd | Tiddington Road, Stratford-Upon-Avon | |
| CGNU Life Assurance Ltd | 2 Rougier Street, York | |
| NPI Ltd | Box 89, 55 Calverley Road, Tunbridge Wells | |
| Pearl Assurance (Unit Linked Pensions) Ltd | Box 89, 55 Calverley Road, Tunbridge Wells | |
| Police Mutual Assurance Society Ltd | Alexandra House, Queen Street, Lichfield | |
| The Prudential Assurance Company Ltd | Abbey Gardens, 55 Kings Road, Reading | |
| Royal and Sun Alliance Life and Pensions Ltd | St Marks Court, Chart Way, Horsham | |
| Royal Liver Assurance Ltd | Royal Liver Building, Pier Head, Liverpool | |
| The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Ltd | Royal London House, Middleborough Colchester | |
| Royal Scottish Assurance Plc | 42 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh | |
| Schroder Pensions Ltd | 31 Gresham Street, London | |
| Scottish Amicable Life Plc | PO Box 25, Craigforth, Stirling | |
| Scottish Equitable Plc | Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh | |
| The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Ltd | Royal London House, Middleborough, Colchester | |
| Scottish Mutual Assurance Plc | Abbey National House, 301 Vincent Street, Glasgow | |
| Scottish Widows Plc | 69 Morrison Street, Edinburgh | |
| FPS Stakeholder Trustee Limited | Castle House, Park Road, Banstead | |
| The Standard Life Assurance Company | Standard Life House, 30 Lothian Road, Edinburgh | |
| Teachers Provident Society Ltd | Deansleigh Road, Bournemouth | |
| TUG Stakeholder Trustees Ltd | Congress House, Great Russell Street, London | |
| Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers Ltd | Discovery House, Whiting Road, Norwich | |
| Wesleyan Assurance Society | Colmore Circus, Birmingham | |
| Winterthur Life UK Ltd | Winterthur Way, Basingstoke |
(23) 1nformation from The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority's (Opra) register of stakeholder pension schemes.
(24) Whilst registered stakeholder pension providers are required to inform Opra of any restrictions they impose on membership to their scheme, they do not have to inform the Authority of any changes to their marketing or publicity strategies.
(25) XDe-registered" effectively means leaving the stakeholder pensions market altogether.
(26) XStopped" means the provider does not accept business from individuals but does offer stakeholder pensions to group clients.
Note:
James Hay Trustees Ltd is not included in the table above because it did not register until after 6 April 2001 (registered March 2002 and de-registered August 2002).
7 Jan 2003 : Column 175W
HEALTH
Child Protection Staff (Assaults)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) social workers and (b) health visitors were assaulted in 2002 in their duties in child protection. [89344]
Jacqui Smith: The Department does not collect statistics on violence against social workers centrally. However, it did commission a national task force on violence against social workers that reported early in 2001. The task force made a number of recommendations that were accepted by Government and social care employer organisations.
The early targets recommended by the task force were for employers to: undertake an audit of their organisation's ability to deal with violence and abuse, do a training needs analysis for their workforce, prepare an action plan and begin to effect planned developments. The longer term target was for local authority employers to reduce incidents of violence and abuse by 25 per cent. by 2005 and the Department is working with employers to set up the means to measure their progress. The Department maintains and updates a website that was set up under the auspices of the task force on violence against social care. It is at www.doh.gov.uk/violenttaskforce. The Department does not collect information on reported number of violent or abusive incidents by groups of staff or by services such as child protection within the national health service. However, in June 2002 the following survey was published: X2000/2001 Reported Violent or Abusive Incidents, Accidents Involving Staff and Sickness Absence in NHS Trusts and Health Authorities in England". This survey states that there were a total of 84,273 reported violent or abusive incidents across all the staff in NHS trusts and health authorities in England in 2000–01. A copy of this report is available in the Library.
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