| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Feb 2003 : Column 190W—continued
Benefit Uprating
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason benefits are uprated by (a) RPI and (b) the Rossi index. [97681]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 13 February 2003]: The levels of all benefits and their components are reviewed annually. Contributory benefits and non-contributory benefits are uprated by the Retail Prices Index to meet the statutory requirement to increase them in relation to the general level of prices. Income-related benefits are uprated by the Rossi index which is based on the Retail Prices Index less housing costs. This index most clearly reflects the cost of living increases for recipients of income-related benefits since housing costs are separately provided for, for example by Housing Benefit for rent. Uprating benefits in line with prices maintains their value in real terms.
Child Support Agency
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many CSA cases were referred to the Independent Case Examiner in (a) Haltemprice and Howden and (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since 1997; what the average time taken to determine each case was; and how many complaints were upheld. [96706]
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many CSA cases were referred to the Independent Case Examiner in Portsmouth, South in each year since 1997; what the average time taken to determine each case was; how many complaints were upheld; and if he will make a statement. [97279]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available.
Council Tax Benefit
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the change in the level of expenditure on council tax benefit if the average level of council tax (a) rose by £100 and (b) fell by £100; and if he will make a statement. [97021]
Malcolm Wicks: An increase of £100 a year in the average level of council tax would result in an estimated annual increase of up to £600 million in council tax benefit expenditure. This figure includes the cost of increased payments to people already receiving council tax benefit as well as people who would become eligible for the benefit because of the council tax increase. An equivalent decrease would reduce expenditure by an estimated £500 million a year.
- Note:
- Figures are rounded to the nearest £50 million.
- Source:
24 Feb 2003 : Column 191W
- Figures are derived from the Department's policy simulation model, and are based on the 2000–01 Family Resources Survey, uprated to 2003–04 prices, benefit rates and caseloads and earnings levels.
Departmental Equipment (Theft)
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what equipment was stolen from his Department in 2002; what the approximate value of each item was; and if he will list items valued at more than £50 stolen or lost from his Department in 2002. [88509]
Malcolm Wicks: The DWP employs over 130,000 staff operating from 1,500 different locations and deals with over one million customers per day. Losses from theft are low.
In total there have been 708 items of equipment recorded as stolen from the Department during 2002, with an approximate total value of £556,674.
- 5 Official Vehicles
103 Personal Computers
469 System Base Units
8 Printers
16 Flat Screen Monitors
60 Portable Computers
47 Miscellaneous Items
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his estimate is of the real growth of planned total expenditure by his Department for each year from 2002–03 to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement; [97351]
- (2) what estimate he has made of the change in real spending on total administration costs for gross controlled areas for each year from 1998–99 to 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [97347]
Mr. McCartney: The Department for Work and Pensions came into being on 1 April 2001. Consequently there are no comparable figures prior to this date. The final provision for 2002–03 has yet to receive parliamentary approval and therefore a comparison with actual expenditure for 2001–02 or planned expenditure for 2003–04 cannot be made. The current expenditure plans of the Department for Work and Pensions are contained in Tables 1–11 of the departmental report: The Government expenditure plans 2002–03 to 2003–04, Command 5424.
Departmental Finance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of his Department's total budget as a share of total public spending in each year from 1979–80 to 2003–04, planned. [96813]
Mr. McCartney: The Department for Work and Pensions came into being on 1 April 2001. Consequently there are no comparable figures prior to this date. The final provision for 2002–03 has yet to receive
24 Feb 2003 : Column 192W
Parliamentary approval and therefore a comparison with expenditure for 2001–02 or planned expenditure for 2003–04 cannot be made. The current expenditure plans for the Department are contained in Tables 1–11 of the Departmental Report: The Government expenditure plans 2002–03 to 2003–04, Cm 5424.
Departmental Staff Numbers
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed in each of the last four years for which figures are available by (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) local authorities in connection with the administration of (i) housing and (ii) council tax benefit. [94006]
Malcolm Wicks: The overall strategy of our wide-ranging package of reforms for housing benefit (HB) announced on 17 October 2002, is to improve administration, promote choice and responsibility, enhance work incentives and reduce levels of fraud and error in the system. We provide help, guidance and support to local authorities to assist them in achieving these goals.
The number of people currently employed by the Department identified as working exclusively on various aspects of housing benefit and/or council tax benefit (CTB) is 340. These figures are liable to fluctuation throughout the year as particular aspects of work expand and contract. In addition there are a number of officials whose cross cutting responsibilities include these benefits to a greater or lesser extent. Figures for earlier years are not available.
Local authorities have responsibility for the day to day administration of HB and CTB. The number of full-time staff or full-time equivalents employed by local authorities in Great Britain to administer HB and CTB in the last four years for which figures are available is in the table.
| Annual average number of full-time staff or full-time equivalents employed on HB/CTB administration | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 16,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 16,000 |
| 2000–01 | 17,000 |
| 2001–02 | 17,000 |
Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
3. Separate figures are not available for HB and CTB.
Source:
Housing Benefit Management Information System Quarterly Administration Returns April 1998 to March 2002
EU Pension Policies
Mr. David: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what studies he has made of the evolution of pension policies in other European Union countries; and what steps he has taken to reflect the findings of these studies in his policy on pensions provision. [98329]
Mr. McCartney: The United Kingdom has contributed to the voluntary exchange of information and good practice by EU Member States within a
24 Feb 2003 : Column 193W
framework of common objectives on pensions covering adequacy, financial sustainability and modernisation agreed during the Swedish Presidency of the EU.
As part of this process the European Commission published a draft joint report on adequate and sustainable pensions in December 2002 based on national contributions.The draft report recognises that Member States have pension systems that have developed in very different ways and do not conform to one single model of provision. A major theme in the draft report is the need for urgent reform in many public pension systems to ensure they are financially sustainable in the future. This concurs with the UK's position that financial sustainability is a prerequisite for the adequacy of public pension provision. The UK public pension system is one of those found to be financially sustainable in the long term.
The draft report concludes that the major challenge for the UK system is ensuring that there is increased access to occupational and personal pension provision and people are encouraged to save enough to meet their expectations in retirement. These same issues are addressed by the proposals set out in the Green Paper published in December 2002 on which we are currently consulting.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |