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24 Feb 2003 : Column 193W—continued
Free TV Licences
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners there are in Nottingham, North; how many qualify for a free TV licence; and how many get the minimum income guarantee. [98323]
Mr. McCartney: The information is not available in the format requested. However such information as is available shows that in the parliamentary constituency of Nottingham, North:
- The number of recipients of state pension for September 2002 was 14.9 thousand.
The number of pensioners over the age of 75 and therefore eligible to qualify for a free TV licence as at May 2002 was 6.5 thousand; and
In November 2002, there were 4.2 thousand minimum income guarantee claimants.
Notes:
- 1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to sampling variation.
- 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and are expressed in thousands.
- 3. MIG claimants are defined as any live income support benefit unit where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 and over.
- 4. Parliamentary constituency is assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
- Sources:
- 1. Pension Strategy Computer System as at 30 September 2002.
- 2. Client Group analysis of the population over state pension age May 2002.
- 3. Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, November 2002.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action the Department is taking to co-ordinate housing benefit anti-fraud work with the Inland Revenue's work on tax credit fraud; whether a
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working group has been established to consider this; and how many joint local authority and Inland Revenue fraud prosecutions have occurred. [91969]
Malcolm Wicks: A working group, whose members include representatives from the Inland Revenue and local authority associations, has been meeting to consider all the implications for local authorities of the introduction of new tax credits.
Information is not available on the number of joint local authority and Inland Revenue fraud prosecutions that have occurred.
Income-related Benefits
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to publish Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-Up 2000–01; and for what reason it has been delayed. [92154]
Malcolm Wicks: Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-up 2000–01 will be published on 27 March 2003. This has been pre-announced in Updates—the ONS diary of statistical releases. The forthcoming statistics will incorporate findings from research commissioned to improve the precision and accuracy of MIG take-up estimates; this addition has extended the production process.
Minimum Income Guarantee
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost per claimant of administering the minimum income guarantee. [96505]
Mr McCartney: Information is not currently available in the format requested. The Department now accounts for its administration and benefit expenditure by Strategic Objective, as set out in its Public Service Agreements (PSA), and by individual Requests for Resources (RfRs), as set out in the Departmental Estimates and Accounts.
Pension Credit
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether all pensioners newly entitled to the pension credit will be able to claim the money in October. [99068]
Pension Payments
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners draw their retirement pensions at (a) post offices, (b) banks and (c) building societies in the Portsmouth, South constituency; and if he will make a statement. [98099]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of pensioners in receipt of Retirement Pensions collectable at Post Office in the Portsmouth, South constituency was 7,886 at 28 December 2002. This figure includes payments by giro cheque, which can also be paid into a bank or building society account. The number of pensioners in receipt of Retirement Pension paid directly into a bank or building society was 6,373 as at 28 December 2002. Information to differentiate between payments into bank and building society accounts is not available.
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Some customers who are paid direct into an account can also collect their benefit in cash at post offices through network banking arrangements at the Post Office. There is no data available on the number of benefit claims collected in this way.
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners draw their retirement pensions at (a) post offices, (b) banks and (c) at building societies in the Easington constituency. [97158]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of pensioners in receipt of retirement pension collectable at post offices in the Easington constituency was 9,939 at 28 December 2002. This figure includes payments by giro cheque, which can also be paid into a bank or building society account. The number of pensioners in receipt of retirement pension paid directly into a bank or building society was 2,853 as at 28 December 2002. Information to differentiate between payments into bank and building society accounts is not available.
Some customers who are paid direct into an account can also collect their benefit in cash at post offices through network banking arrangements at the Post Office. There are no data available on the number of benefit claims collected in this way.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have migrated from over-the-counter benefit payments to direct bank transfer in Portsmouth, South; and if he will make a statement. [97274]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of pensioners in Portsmouth, South constituency that have migrated from payments collectable at post offices to payment into a bank or building society account is 50 as at 28 December 2002, compared with the same records from data available four weeks earlier.
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Some customers who are paid direct into an account can also collect their benefit in cash at post offices through network banking arrangements at the Post Office. There are no data available on the number of benefit claims collected in this way.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners collect benefits from post offices in Portsmouth, South; and if he will make a statement. [97277]
Malcolm Wicks: The number of pensioners receiving DWP benefits (including war pensions) collectable from post offices in Portsmouth South is 10,034 as at 28 December 2002. This figure includes benefits paid by giro cheque, which can also be paid into a bank or building society account.
Some customers who are paid direct into an account can also collect their benefit in cash at post offices through network banking arrangements at the Post Office. There are no data available on the number of benefit claims collected in this way.
Pension Schemes
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many defined benefit schemes are (a) open, (b) closed to new members and (c) closed to further contributions from existing members, giving for each type of scheme the estimated number of members, in each of the past five years. [90827]
Mr. McCartney: The information requested is not available. However, the Pensions Scheme Registry that is administered by the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority contains some relevant data that are shown in the table.
Defined Benefit Occupational Pension schemes, 1998–99 to 2002–03
| Open | Closed | Frozen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of schemes | Number of members at registration date (thousand) | Number of schemes | Number of members at effective date of status change (thousand) | Number of schemes | Number of members at effective date of status change (thousand) | |
| 1 April 1998–31 March 1999 | 111 | 25 | 103 | 180 | 41 | 11 |
| 1 April 1999–31 March 2000 | 86 | 16 | 115 | 54 | 52 | 8 |
| 1 April 2000–31 March 2001 | 97 | 59 | 161 | 94 | 87 | 113 |
| 1 April 2001–31 March 2002 | 78 | 32 | 263 | 560 | 65 | 45 |
| 1 April 2002–31 March 2003 | 22 | 19 | 198 | 146 | 65 | 41 |
There are some important points to note with regard to the data in the table:
'Open' schemes are those that had a registerable date on to the Pensions Scheme Registry during the year in question, and were also recorded as being open on 10 February 2003. This does not represent the total number of schemes that were open in the year in question. Figures in the table refer to the 'flow' of new open schemes in each particular year, rather than the 'stock' of all open schemes. Because of the way scheme-status changes are recorded on the Registry, it is not possible to identify the stock of all those schemes that were open at a particular point in time prior to the current date. Furthermore, scheme trustees have 12 months to notify OPRA of any change to the status of an open scheme, and so some schemes currently included in the table as open may since have changed status.
'Closed' schemes are those that have become closed to new members during the year in question and remain closed as at 10 February 2003. Existing members in these schemes can continue to accrue additional pension rights. 'Frozen' schemes are those that have become closed to new accruals during the year in question and remain frozen as at 10 February 2003. The dates used for closed and frozen scheme figures relate to the effective
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date of change as notified by schemes and recorded by the Registry. In some cases, schemes do not supply an effective date and where this has occurred the date of inputting the change onto the Registry database has been used.
Data for closed and frozen schemes refer only to the number becoming closed or frozen in the year in question, and do not represent the stock of the total number of schemes that were closed (previously closed plus newly closed in that year).
The table updates previous information used to answer earlier PQs. As referred to above, the Registry system holds information on the most recent change in scheme status and the effective date of the change. Because of the way the data are held a later change will overwrite an earlier change, so data for earlier years become increasingly inaccurate. Trustees are required to report changes within 12 months so there could be a lag between the closure or freeze of a scheme and trustees informing the Registry that the scheme has actually closed or frozen. The table reflects the most up to date data available.
Scheme members are those individuals that have accrued pension benefits and do not include those receiving pensions in payment. An individual may have pension benefits accrued in, and therefore may be a member of, more than one scheme.
Membership figures for open schemes are given at the date of registration. Membership figures for closed or frozen schemes are given at the effective date of change of status.
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This information relates only to those schemes recorded on the Registry database as Defined Benefit. It does not include schemes where the benefit type is unknown or those offering a mixture of salary related and money purchase benefits.
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