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13 May 2003 : Column 235W—continued
Young Carers
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his latest estimate is of the number of carers in the UK under the age of 16. [109937]
Jacqui Smith: Figures from the 2001 census indicate that there are 97,362 carers under the age of 16.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Citizens Advice Bureaux
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases funded by legal aid monies have been handled by Citizens Advice Bureaux in each year since 2000–01. [111416]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of cases completed by Citizens Advice Bureaux for Legal Help for the years in question was as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 29,871 |
| 2001–02 | 42,425 |
| 2002–03 | 56,166 |
The General Civil Contract for Not-for-Profit organisations allows agencies to perform up to 10 per cent. of their contracted casework at 'level 1' work. This allows for the provision of up to 20 minutes of legal advice to a client without a financial eligibility check. Figures pertaining to 'level 1' work are not included in the answer because this work is not recordable as 'cases' and so no data is available relating to the individual occurrences of this work
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much legal aid funding has been paid to Citizens Advice Bureaux for legal aid work in each year since 2000–01. [111417]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Legal Services Commission has paid Citizens Advice Bureaux the following amounts for Legal Help:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 4.61 |
| 2001–02 | 20.02 |
| 2002–03 | 22.47 |
Civil Service (People with Disabilities)
Mr. John Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations she has received about the Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Fast Track Procedure) Rules. [110513]
Ms Rosie Winterton: None, other than a response from the Council on Tribunals to formal consultation on the proposals.
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Immigration and Asylum
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations she has received about the Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules. [111727]
Ms Rosie Winterton: None, other than responses to a formal consultation on the proposals.
Parliamentary Elections
Bob Russell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Lord Chancellor will move polling day for future (a) general and (b) European parliamentary elections to a Sunday. [112383]
Yvette Cooper: Following consideration of the responses to the consultation paper "Combining English Local Authority, Greater London Authority and European Parliament Elections in 2004", my Department, together with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, issued a statement on 6 May 2003 which included an indication that the Government intend to undertake further piloting and evaluation of voting at weekends.
PRIVY COUNCIL
Ceremonial Clothing
David Winnick: To ask the President of the Council if he will propose to the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons that ceremonial clothing worn by officers should be dispensed with. [112863]
Dr. John Reid: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave at Business Questions on 8 May 2003, Official Report, column 841. I will pass to the Modernisation Committee the suggestion that it consider the question of ceremonial dress by officers of the House.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Child Care (Hendon)
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average cost of full time child care in Hendon; and if he will make a statement. [109024]
Maria Eagle: The cost of child care reported in the Department for Education and Skills 2001–02 audit shows average costs for Barnet, the LEA within which Hendon falls, of £150 per week for full day care. The audits were completed for each local authority by their respective Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships. The audits do not give a further breakdown for constituency areas.
The Government recognises that making child care affordable is a key challenge for the National Childcare Strategy and has made a substantial investment to achieve this.
Working parents, subject to the level of their income, may receive support through the child care element of the working tax credit. Tax credits are rightly targeted at
13 May 2003 : Column 237W
lower and middle income families who may use a range of types of child care. The child care element of the working tax credit provides for up to 70 per cent. of costs of eligible child care. It can pay up to £94.50 a week for one child (where the child care cost is £135), and up to £140 a week for two or more children (where the cost is £200).
£1 million a day is now spent on supporting parents with child care costs through the working tax credit.
Benefits Applications
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications have been received in each quarter since September 2000 for (a) attendance allowance, (b) disability living allowance and (c) invalid care allowance; of those how many were (i) successful, (ii) unsuccessful, (iii) subject to appeal and (iv) successful at appeal; how many (A) claims, (B) reviews, (C) reconsiderations and (D) appeals there were on which a decision had not been reached at the end of each quarter; how many applications have been (1) subject to reconsideration and (2) successful at reconsideration; what was the average number of days taken to process appeals; and what the average processing time has been for (a) first-time claims and (b) appeals for claims to be reconsidered in each quarter over the last three years. [105398]
13 May 2003 : Column 238W
Maria Eagle: Not all information requested is available, nor is all available information in the form requested. Such information as is available has been placed in the Library.
Disability Living Allowance
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people aged 65 and over are receiving the mobility component of disability living allowance (a) at the higher rate, (b) at the lower rate and (c) in total; [111679]
- (2) how many people aged (a) 60, (b) 61, (c) 62, (d) 63 and (e) 64 made a successful claim for the mobility component of disability living allowance in each of the last five years; and what the average age was of successful mobility claimants in each of the last five years; [111680]
(3) how many people in receipt of the mobility component of disability living allowance reached their 65th birthday in each of the last five years. [111683]
Maria Eagle: As at 30 November 2002, the latest date for which information is available, about 538,000 people aged 65 and over were receiving the disability living allowance mobility component, of which some 496,500 were receiving the higher rate and around 41,500 were receiving the lower rate. The other information requested is in the table.
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (i) Annual number of new awards of DLA mobility component to people aged: | |||||
| 60 | 7,400 | 6,900 | 8,700 | 7,200 | 7,700 |
| 61 | 6,400 | 6,300 | 7,500 | 6,900 | 6,800 |
| 62 | 7,000 | 6,500 | 7,500 | 7,200 | 8,400 |
| 63 | 7,400 | 7,000 | 8,100 | 7,200 | 8,700 |
| 64 | 7,900 | 8,000 | 8,600 | 8,600 | 8,900 |
| (ii) Average age in years of people with new awards of DLA mobility component | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 | 41 |
| (iii) Number of DLA mobility component recipients aged 65 | 58,800 | 63,700 | 66,200 | 66,700 | 69,000 |
Notes:
1. Figures are taken from a 5 per cent. sample of DLA computer system records as at 30 November each year.
2. All figures are rounded to the nearest hundred, except for those for item (ii) of the table.
Source:
IAD Information Centre
Pensions
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average age was of those starting to draw (a) personal pensions and (b) occupational pensions in (i) 1980, (ii) 1985, (iii) 1990, (iv) 1995 and (v) 2000. [112893]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not available because it is not collected centrally. As the recent pensions Green Paper made clear, however, increasing longevity means that individuals will need to consider their retirement options carefully if they are to get the retirement income they want. The Green Paper contains a range of proposals to allow individuals to both increase their retirement income through saving and extend their working lives.
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