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1 May 2003 : Column 489W—continued

Kenya

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of Kenya's progress towards meeting World bank and IMF targets for reform and policy changes on corruption, reform of the judicial and legal system and macro-economic framework; and what time-frame she expects for increases in financial assistance through (a) the IMF, (b) the World bank and (c) her Department. [110733]

Clare Short: The new Kenyan Government have made a good start in developing their policies to tackle corruption, reform the legal sector, stimulate economic growth and improve basic services. Tough decisions are needed to implement them. Provided these are taken, I would expect to see increased financial assistance from both the IMF and World bank within the next few months. My Department has already responded to the new opportunities for poverty reduction in Kenya by providing an additional £10 million to support the implementation of universal primary education. This brought total DFID spending in Kenya to over £40 million in 2002–03.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Fishing Vessels

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) UK based fishing vessels, (b) Northern Ireland based fishing vessels and (c) foreign based fishing vessels were boarded by UK based enforcement officers in the last year for which figures are available. [109691]

Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.

1,209 UK fishing vessels and 861 foreign fishing vessels were inspected at sea by British Sea Fisheries Officers during 2002, some more than once. It is not possible to readily distinguish between Great Britain and Northern Ireland vessels within the UK figure.

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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Contact Orders

Mr. Watson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what alternatives there are to the court system for dealing with contact order disputes. [110369]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government encourages family mediation in suitable cases. It provides an opportunity for parties to reach a workable solution, with the assistance of an impartial third party. Evidence suggests that agreed solutions are more likely to last. Publicly funded mediation has been available throughout England and Wales since March 1997.

Departmental Annual Report

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the annual report of the Department will be published. [107875]

Yvette Cooper: The spring 2003 departmental reports will be published by 16 May 2003.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Staff

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by how much he intends to change his Department's staffing level (a) across the UK and (b) in Gloucestershire, in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [109714]

Malcolm Wicks: Staffing levels in the Department of Work and Pensions are expected to reduce by around 15 per cent. from the numbers at the end of December 2002 to around 112,000 by March 2006. Detailed information is not available by year and individual location.

The Department has undertaken a programme of modernisation, designed to improve the service we provide to our customers. The Department is investing in new offices and new ways of working through greater use of telephony and the internet. This investment will enable us to deliver our services with fewer staff and the reductions in staffing will enable this investment to be funded. Our aim will be to deliver the changes without the need for any compulsory redundancies.

Means-tested Benefits (Pensioners)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up rates are for (a) male and (b) female pensioners for means tested benefits in the Redcar and Cleveland council area. [110854]

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available. The latest estimates of take-up of income related benefits are for Great Britain only and can be found in the DWP report, "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up 2000–01". A copy of the report is available in the-Library.

As at November 2002, there were 2,000 men and 3,000 women claiming the minimum income guarantee in the local authority area of Redcar and Cleveland.

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Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up rates for means tested benefits by pensioners in the Easington area were in 2002–03. [111202]

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available. The latest estimates of take-up of income related benefits are for Great Britain only and can be found in the DWP report, "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-up 2000–01". A copy of the report is available in the Library.

As at November 2002, there were 3,000 people claiming the minimum income guarantee in the local authority area of Easington.


Pensions

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his Answer of 31 March 2003, Official Report, column 605W, if he will break down the number of people who will remain without second-tier pension arrangements by (a) the self-employed, (b) those earning less than the lower earnings limit, (c) the unemployed and (d) other non-contributors. [109648]

Malcolm Wicks: Following the introduction of State Second Pension (S2P) in April 2002, we estimate that based upon evidence from the Family Resources Survey 2001–02 around 7 million people will not be accruing S2P rights nor making private pension provision.

These 7 million consist of:


These figures have been estimated using the Family Resources Survey, 2001/02. Figures do not sum to 7 million due to rounding.

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what proportion of the over-70 population in Devon the state pension is their sole source of income. [109639]

Malcolm Wicks: This information is not available.

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 31 March 2003, Official Report, column 605W, if he will break down the different groups of workers who will account for the increase in those that will gain second-tier pension coverage. [109647]

Malcolm Wicks: We estimate that following the introduction of the State Second Pension (S2P) in April 2002, the number of people not accruing rights to S2P or making private pension arrangements will be reduced by about 4.5 million. This 4.5 million consists of 2.5 million disabled people and 2 million carers.

These figures have been estimated using the Family Resources Survey, 2001–02.

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Mr. Howard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many advance applications have been received for the pension credit; and how many minimum income guarantee customers will automatically receive their pension credit entitlement from October. [110242]

Maria Eagle: The pension credit application line has been in operation since 7 April and up to 15 April had handled over 8,000 calls. Details of how many applications result from this ongoing activity will be provided on a regular basis.

By 6 October, all minimum income guarantee customers (c.1.8 million) will have been converted to pension credit.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of pensioners who will benefit from changes to pension payments for long term hospital patients in 2003. [109930]

Malcolm Wicks: The information is not available in the format requested.

Over 20,000 pensioners are affected at any one time by reductions in their State Pension as a result of a stay in hospital of between 6 and 52 weeks. All of these pensioners will therefore benefit from the recent announcement which will change the rules so that hospital deductions are made after a stay of 52 weeks in hospital.




Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what criteria are used to assess the relative living costs of single pensioners and pensioner couples when setting the rates for the basic state pension; [110850]

Malcolm Wicks: The amount of the basic state pension paid to married women based on their husband's national insurance contributions is 60 per cent. of the amount of the husband's basic state pension.

The figure of 60 per cent. is expected to reflect the fact that some expenditure is the same for two people as for one, such as heating, lighting, rent and other shared facilities. The rate was set at the start of the National Insurance scheme and we are satisfied that this ratio is still right.

The level of the basic state pension is increased each year to ensure that, as a minimum, it retains its value in relation to prices. Since April 2001, we have uprated basic state pension by more than the annual retail price

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increase (RPI), and for the future lifetime of this Parliament we are committed to increasing basic state pension by the higher of 2.5 per cent. and RPI.

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