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24 Mar 2003 : Column 107W—continued
Pensions
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 28 January, ref 91305, on married women's pensions, (1) (a) what criteria were used to determine which women were invited to claim, (b) how many such women were invited to claim, and (c) how many responses he received; and if he will place in the Library (i) a copy of the promotional material relating to the publicity campaign and (ii) a copy of the letter sent to the women identified from the database trawl; [95041]
- (2) what steps his Department took to alert women below state pension age of the implications of the abolition of the half-test for the advisability of their remaining on the married women's reduced national insurance rate. [95275]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 31 January 2003]: The women invited to claim a Category A pension where they had previously failed the married women's half-test, were determined by using the following criteria, that:
- (i) they were now entitled to a Category A pension of at least 25 per cent.;
(ii) no Category A pension had previously been awarded because of a failure to satisfy the half-test; and
(iii) results of previous claims had been fed back to Newcastle Records specifically as either "Claim disallowed" or "No title established" because of the half-test.
Information on how many women were invited to claim and how many responses were received is not available. However, it was estimated that some 25,000 married women would benefit from the change.
A copy of leaflet NI256 issued as part of the publicity campaign has been placed in the Library. Other publicity material and actual copies of the letters sent to women are no longer readily available as over time they have become obsolete.
There is a distinct difference between the married women's' half-test and the married women's reduced national insurance rate contributions in that the half-test provided women with entitlement to a State Pension in their own right but the married women's reduced national insurance rate contributions do not.
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans the Government have to promote (a) take-up of the new Pension Credit and (b) take-up of the credit by the poorest and most isolated pensioners. [104594]
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Mr. McCartney: To support the take-on of pension credit a marketing campaign has been developed that seeks to address the specific needs of pensioners and those who support them such as family and friends.
The core of the campaign involves contacting all pensioner households by direct mail and inviting them to make their applications by telephone. In this way we can support and complete the application form for them. The Pension Service will start writing to pensioner households to invite applications in April 2003 and plan to complete this activity in June 2004. This systematic approach will be supported by regional and national advertising around the launch of Pension Credit and when it becomes payable.
By working with local partners, The Pension Service will be able to help vulnerable pensioners or those who need to overcome barriers that might prevent them from applying.
To ensure pensioners do not lose out, a 12 month backdating provision will exist until October 2004. This will allow applications to be backdated to October 2003 where entitlement exists.
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential impact of combined pension forecasting on encouraging people to save for their retirement. [104571]
Mr. McCartney: The purpose of the combined pension forecast is to provide people with good information about their current and future retirement incomes in order to help them make better informed decisions about their needs in retirement and raise awareness of the importance of making adequate provision.
The pilot phase of the combined pension forecast initiative provided us with an indication of the potential impact of the statement on recipients. Individual detailed results demonstrating the impact of the combined statement and their potential to encourage people to save more for their retirement are commercially sensitive. We do not have the permission of all the participating companies to release all the data. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to publish this information. However, in total some 98 per cent. of those who received a forecast found it useful and 31 per cent. sought further information about increasing their pension provision.
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will adjust council tax benefit and housing benefit for pensioners to ensure that council tax and rent increases do not exceed any increase in the state retirement pension. [94052]
Malcolm Wicks: We want all pensioners to have a decent and secure income in retirement and to share fairly in the rising prosperity of the country. The Government's first priority has been to help the poorest pensioners and from April 2002, we are spending an extra £6 billion a year in real terms on pensioners as a result of policies introduced since 1997.
In general, people receiving council tax benefit or housing benefit have any increases in their rent or council tax paid in full.
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The only exceptions to this are for people living in expensive properties in council tax band 'F' or above (council tax benefit is restricted to the level of band 'E'), and for people in the private rented sector who have their housing benefit capped because of the level of their rent. However, these affect only a very small proportion of pensioners.
Housing benefit and council tax benefit are targeted at those people with the lowest incomes who are in most need of financial support. We have no plans to extend the availability of these benefits more widely.
Pensioner Income
Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of pensioners with an income of (a) £200 to £210, (b) £211 to £220 and (c) £221 and above who are in receipt of council tax benefit and housing benefit in Northampton. [100787]
Malcolm Wicks: The available information is in the table.
| Weekly income | Housing benefit recipients | Council tax benefit recipients |
|---|---|---|
| £200.01 to £210.00 | 6,000 | 8,000 |
| £210.01 to £220.00 | 5,000 | 7,000 |
| £220.01 and above | 28,000 | 34,000 |
Notes:
1. Information is not available for Northampton borough council area.
2. Figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are subject to a degree of sampling variation.
3. The data refer to households claiming housing benefit which may be a single person, a couple or a family. More than one benefit household can live in one property, for example two or more adults in a flat or house share arrangement.
4. Pensioners are defined as households where the benefit recipient or their partner is aged 60 or over.
5. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
6. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
7. The figures exclude any extended payment cases.
8. Council tax benefit figures exclude second adult rebates.
9. There will be a significant overlap between the figures as a number of people receive both housing benefit and council tax benefit.
10. Income figures are derived from those declared for the assessment of income-related benefits (including disregarded income) and net earnings from employment and self-employment.
Source:
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2001.
Post Office Accessibility
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what discussions he has had with members of organisations representing people with disabilities on ensuring that cash machines used to access benefits at post offices will be accessible for disabled people; and if he will make a statement; [102790]
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- (2) what steps he is taking to ensure blind and partially sighted people are able to withdraw benefits in cash from a post office. [102791]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 13 March 2003]: The detailed arrangements for collecting cash from bank accounts or the Post Office card account at Post Office branches are the responsibility of Post Office Limited. Post Office Limited have already acknowledged that some people may have problems using the PIN pads that have recently been installed in post office branches. The Post Office are now taking immediate action to address this and have invited the RNIB and other disability groups to work further with them.
All Customers will be given information about all of the account options available and it will be for them to consider which account best meets their needs and circumstances. The Department meets regularly with external interest groups including RNIB, RNID and Disability Alliance to discuss all issues surrounding Direct Payment.
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