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SERPS

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps are being taken to inform British people living abroad of the reduction in inherited SERPS, including the transitional arrangements and the compensation procedures. [106192]

Malcolm Wicks: For those customers living overseas and affected by the reduction in Inherited SERPS, The Pension Service wrote to embassies, expat organisations, including website editors with full details of the transitional arrangements. As part of a concerted advertising campaign on-line banner adverts on websites were introduced which were only accessible overseas. These adverts were directly linked to the SERPS information pages on The Pension Service website. Press adverts appeared in the national press and TV listings during the advertising campaign, these publications are widely read overseas, latest figures show around 800,000 a day.

The Pension Service wrote to everyone who made inquiries about compensation. The majority of people who complained they had not been told about the original changes were either over pension age already or would reach pension age before October 2002. As a result they were not affected by the revised arrangements. The availability of compensation is signposted in The Pension Service complaints leaflets and full details of the scheme are publicly available on the internet. No specific action was taken to target British people living abroad with information about the compensation procedures when executing the advertising campaign, because it would not have been effective.

There is absolutely no requirement for people, other than those receiving benefits, to report changes of address to the Department. As a result the addresses held on Departmental systems, particularly those for people of working age, are not reliable. Addresses for people abroad are even less reliable than those of people living in the UK. This meant that direct mailing to people abroad would not have been effective. The local rate call telephone number was not available to people abroad, nor was the freepost return envelope service, so any direct mailing to people abroad would have been far more complicated to run operationally We therefore considered that other channels of communication, particularly advertising and internet, would be more productive.

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Social Exclusion

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures are in place to reduce social exclusion among older people and to enable them to take a fuller part in society. [106094]

Malcolm Wicks: The Government are committed to putting in place policies that will help older people play their full part in our society. A wide range of measures have already been introduced to tackle social exclusion among older people, a multi-dimensional problem, requiring a multi-agency response. Initiatives so far have included targeted service improvements as well as targeted benefit improvements.

One of our key measures in reducing social exclusion among older people is tackling pensioner poverty.

The Government will be spending around £7.5 billion extra on pensioners in 2003–04 as a result of the measures introduced since 1997. This includes around £3.5 billion on the poorest third of pensioners—the very people who need help most. This is almost six times as much as an earnings link to the basic state pension since 1998 would have given them. From April 2003, basic state pension will be £77.45 for singles—(£123.80 for couples). An increase of £100 a year for single people and £160 a year for couples. In future years the basic state pension will increase by 2.5 per cent. or the level of the September RPI, whichever is higher. Nearly four million households with someone aged 75 or over will benefit from free TV licences, worth around £116 per year.

We also recognised that we have to do something for the poorest pensioners; that is why we introduced the minimum income guarantee (MIG). As a result, nearly two million people are benefiting from MIG and the take up campaign has put an average £20 a week extra in the pockets of around 149,000 people who would not have received it otherwise.

We are now going a step further and introducing pension credit from October 2003 which will reward not penalise saving. It will be easy to apply for and will remove the indignity of the intrusive and bureaucratic weekly means test.

As a consequence of this change, those pensioners in receipt of pension credit will receive an average extra income of £400 a year—and at last the savings of those who are just above the MIG level are being recognised.

Following the Spending Review 2002, a Public Service Agreement target is now in place to pay pension credit to at least three million pensioner households by 2006. We have carefully devised a strategy to ensure maximum take-up of pension credit.

Winter fuel payments (WFP) are an important strand of the Fuel Poverty Strategy. Around 7.9 million households and 11.3 million individuals have benefited from the £200 WFP to each eligible household in 2002–03. The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme will have helped around 480,000 vulnerable pensioner households, by 2004. Further measures include a reduced level of VAT on fuel and on the installation of energy saving materials so that people can more easily afford to keep warm.

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But social exclusion is not just about tackling poverty, we are also actively promoting more engagement and participation of older people in public life and the community through our support for the Better Government for Older People Network. This has established partnerships across Government and is contributing to improvements in the delivery of services for older people at a local level. In addition, the Older People Advisory Group is becoming established at a basis for national, regional and local engagement with older people.

In the health and social care field we have introduced a National Service Framework for Older People setting clear national standards to ensure that older people receive the care, priority and attention that they should, root out age discrimination and promote health and active living among older people. In public transport, we have introduced for pensioners a free bus pass with a minimum half fare on local bus services. Recognising it plays a vital role in helping them remain active members of our communities, as well as keeping them in touch with friends and relatives.

In combating crime we are targeting crime against older people. The Distraction Burglary Task Force has brought together a wide range of organisations including the police, voluntary organisations, the utility companies, banks and local authorities, to gather data, publicise good practice, raise awareness and provide guidance for victims and those at risk of this type of burglary.

Providing opportunities to work are also key to tackling social exclusion. We have launched the Age Positive campaign aimed at employers and individuals to raise awareness of best practice and the business benefits of an age diverse workforce, using the Code of Practice on Age Diversity. The Experience Corps is aimed at encouraging older people to become involved in their communities through volunteering. The Learning and Skills Council is helping to increase participation of older people in adult and further education and the UK online centres are improving access to the Internet and new technologies—the over 55s make up almost one quarter of the total learners in these centres.

Sunset Clauses

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the sunset clauses included in legislation from his Department since 1997. [106951]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has not included a sunset clause in any Bill since coming into being in June 2001.

HEALTH

AAT Deficiency

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to speed up the time it takes to identify people with AAT Deficiency. [106608]

Jacqui Smith: The considerable extra investment that this Government has made, and continues to make, in national health service funding will improve services for

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all NHS patients, including those with anti-antitrypsin deficiency. However, we have no plans centrally to take specific steps to speed up the time it takes to identify people with this condition.

Agency Social Workers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the (a) Association of Directors of Social Services and (b) local authorities regarding the cost to them of the need to employ agency social workers. [106548]

Jacqui Smith: I have regular discussions with representatives from local authorities and the Association of Directors of Social Services on a range of finance related issues, however it is for local councils to decide what staff to employ taking account of local circumstances.

Alzheimer's Disease

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the incidence of Alzheimer's disease in each of the last 10 years. [107161]

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health does not routinely collect information about the incidence of Alzheimer's disease but it is estimated that about 5 per cent. of people over 65 have dementia, and that Alzheimer's disease causes up to 60 per cent. of cases of dementia. While there are different estimates available, in 2001 the national service framework for older people reported that approximately 600,000 people in the United Kingdom had dementia.

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